Latest Records
Newest first across public DOJ and U.S. Attorney press releases.
Wednesday 18 December 2013
Lead Synthetic Drug Dealer Sentenced to 15 Years in PrisonRead the Press Release
PHOENIX – On Dec. 17, 2013, Michael Rocky Lane, 52, of Scottsdale, Ariz., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge David G. Campbell to 180 months’ imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release. Lane was found guilty by a federal jury on July 19, 2013 of two counts of conspiracy to manufacture and distribute a controlled substance analogue and one count of possession with the intent to distribute a controlled substance analogue.
“This sentence reflects the seriousness of manufacturing and distributing drug analogues,” stated U.S. Attorney John S. Leonardo. “The defendant tried to avoid prosecution by manufacturing chemically re-designed drugs to imitate the effects of illegal drugs. This is not only illegal, but very dangerous because the effects of the re-designed drugs are often unpredictable. The U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to prosecute such novel attempts to circumvent our drug laws.”
Evidence presented at trial proved that during the spring and summer of 2011, Lane was one of the lead sales personnel at Consortium Distribution (Consortium). Consortium was the manufacturer of “Eight Ballz Bath Salt,” which contained the powerful stimulant Methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV), an analogue of the Schedule I controlled substance methcathinone.
In October of 2011, the DEA temporarily scheduled MDPV as a Schedule I controlled substance. Despite this scheduling, Consortium’s activities did not cease. Lane found replacement chemicals to be used in their next generation of “bath salts” products.
These replacement chemicals included, among others, MDPV analogues like Alph-Pyrrolidinopentiophenone (APVP) and Alpha-Pyrrolidinobutiophenone (APBP). The product was then re-named “Eight Ballz Ultra Premium Glass Cleaner.” Consortium manufactured this APVP product up until approximately May of 2012, at which time it ceased manufacturing “bath salts” products due to law enforcement investigations involving designer drugs.
Lane left Consortium around the fall of 2011 and started his own designer drug business, Dynamic Distribution (“Dynamic”). Dynamic’s main products were “Amped Lady Bug Attractant Exuberance Powder,” “White Water Rapid Lady Bug Attractant Exuberance Powder,” and “Snowman Glass Cleaner.” Lane was the mastermind behind Dynamic’s operations and employed approximately 20 individuals, who were involved in manufacturing, packaging, and distributing these designer drugs, and running its day-to-day operations.Evidence at trial showed that Dynamic’s “designer drugs” were powerful cocaine-like or methamphetamine-like stimulants that got people high, were marketed like other illicit drugs and were purposefully mislabeled in an effort to circumvent federal law. Lane was aware of all of this, but falsely assured many of his employees that his business was legitimate.
Dynamic made millions of dollars manufacturing and selling these products to smoke shops and individual users across the United States. The operations at Dynamic continued until July 25, 2012, when DEA executed a federal search warrant at Dynamic and arrested Lane at his residence.
The investigation in this case was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration. The prosecution was handled by Donald Pashayan, Theresa Rassas, Mark Wenker and Monica Edelstein, Assistant U.S. Attorneys, District of Arizona, Phoenix.
CASE NUMBER: CR-12-1419-PHX-DGC
RELEASE NUMBER: 2013-098_LaneFor more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
Keshena, Wisconsin Man Sentenced to Prison for Sexual Abuse of a MinorRead the Press Release
United States Attorney James L. Santelle announced that Anthony J. Bruette, (age: 32), of Keshena, located on the Menominee Indian Reservation, in the State of Wisconsin, was sentenced on December 13, 2013, to 27 months imprisonment, followed by seven years on supervised release. The sentence was the result of a guilty plea by Bruette on September 12, 2013, to a federal indictment charging him with sexual abuse of a minor.
According to information released in court Bruette pursued and entered into a relationship with a 13 year old female. During the relationship, Bruette engaged in sexual intercourse and impregnated the child at his residence located on the Menominee Indian Reservation.
The case was investigated by the Menominee Tribal Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Benjamin L. Whittemore.
# # # # #Kanawha Co. Men Who Attempted Theft of Dangerous Chemical to Make Meth Sentenced to Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
Attempted theft at mining waste treatment site caused a substantial chemical leak, prompted shelter-in-place for nearby eastern Kanawha residents
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Two men who participated in a scheme to steal anhydrous ammonia from an eastern Kanawha County mining waste water treatment site in October 2008 in order to make methamphetamine were sentenced yesterday to federal prison, U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin announced. Jason Hudnall, of Malden, W.Va. was sentenced to three and a half years in prison. Hudnall, 36, previously pleaded guilty in September to conspiracy to steal anhydrous ammonia and negligent release of anhydrous ammonia into the air. Hudnall’s co-defendant John Wesley Tucker, 48, of Georges Creek, W.Va., was sentenced to one year in prison and fined one thousand dollars after pleading guilty in October to conspiracy to steal anhydrous ammonia to be used to manufacture methamphetamine. Both sentences were handed down by United States District Court Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr. in Charleston.
Anhydrous ammonia, an extremely hazardous chemical, is ammonia in a gaseous form that does not contain water. The chemical is generally used to treat mining runoff in waste water ponds. Anhydrous ammonia has also been sought by individuals as a component in the illegal production of methamphetamine.
During the scheme, Tucker, Hudnall and two other co-conspirators, used tools, including a battery-powered saw, to cut a security lock on a 1000-gallon storage tank containing anhydrous ammonia.
The co-conspirators also brought portable tanks onto the property to store and transport the stolen anhydrous ammonia. Tucker, Hudnall and two associates split a theft-prevention valve cover which caused anhydrous ammonia to leak into the air. As a result of the chemical exposure, the co-conspirators fled the scene and left the anhydrous ammonia storage tank valve open. Approximately 500 gallons of anhydrous ammonia leaked into the air. Emergency service units, including the Belle and Chesapeake Fire Departments, DuPont Chemical Company’s Hazardous Material Team, members of the West Virginia State Police, employees from Penn-Virginia Resources, and employees from Republic Mining, responded to the unsuspected leak.The anhydrous ammonia leak also prompted the Kanawha County Office of Emergency Services to issue a shelter-in-place safety procedure as a precaution for nearby eastern Kanawha County residents.
Penn-Virginia Resources, owner of the damaged storage tank, lost approximately 2500 pounds of anhydrous ammonia at a cost of $1,725. The company also paid Mallard Environmental approximately $3,325 to clean up the area surrounding the damaged tank. DuPont Emergency Response Group also incurred approximately $1,800 in expenses as a result of the chemical leak.Co-conspirator Mitchell Ray Workman, 34, of Chelyan, Kanawha County, W.Va., was previously sentenced in April to 2 ½ years in prison for his role in the conspiracy to steal anhydrous ammonia.
A fourth co-conspirator, Jason Brown, 34, of Malden, W.Va., previously pleaded guilty in April for his role in theft scheme—driving the other three conspirators to the mine site. Brown was sentenced in October to three years of supervised release with the first six months to be served in community confinement. Brown’s supervised release term also called for six months to be served home confinement, which included an electronic monitoring device.
Each defendant was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $6,850 for the damage caused by the leak. The anhydrous ammonia tank has since been removed from the site.
The Environmental Protection Agency and the West Virginia State Police conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Erik S. Goes, William King and Blaire Malkin handled the prosecutions.
Jasper Man Pleads Guilty to Walker County Bank Robbery and Bomb ThreatsRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM -- A Jasper man pleaded guilty today in federal court to armed robbery of a Walker County bank, calling in bomb threats on a hospital and a highway bridge before the robbery, and possessing guns as a convicted felon, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard D. Schwein Jr.
BRANDON JOSEPH PEAKE, 32, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Karon O. Bowdre to the July 5 armed robbery of Traders and Farmers Bank on Curry Highway in Jasper and to brandishing a gun during the robbery, a Heckler & Koch .40-caliber pistol that he pointed at one of the tellers. Peake also pleaded guilty to using a telephone to make false bomb threats against Walker Baptist Medical Center and a bridge spanning Alabama Highway 69. Peake called in the bomb threats on July 5, before the afternoon bank robbery, according to his plea agreement with the government.
The hospital was evacuated, a police bomb squad dispatched, and the bridge and a stretch of Highway 69 closed because of the bomb threats, according to court documents.
Peake, who was convicted in Jefferson County Circuit Court in August 2012 for felony possession of a controlled substance, pleaded guilty today to three counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
A Walker County Sheriff's deputy found the H&K .40-caliber pistol used in the robbery of Traders and Farmers Bank in woods near the bank. The gun was traced to Peake, who bought it in 2007.
Peake also acknowledged that he traveled to Tupelo, Miss., two days after the bank robbery to meet an acquaintance who sold him a Glock 9mm pistol and a Bushmaster .223-caliber semi-automatic rifle. The fourth gun Peake possessed illegally was a Beretta 9mm pistol, found July 11 in the Chattanooga hotel room where police arrested him for the Walker County bank robbery.
Peake's sentencing is scheduled April 21.
The maximum sentence for armed bank robbery is 25 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The sentence for brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence is seven years to life in prison, which must be served after completion of any other sentence imposed for the crime. The maximum sentence for using a telephone to maliciously convey a false threat to burn or bomb a building is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The FBI, Walker County Sheriff's Office and the Walker County District Attorney's Office investigated the case. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney E. Wilson Hunter is prosecuting the case.
Indictments Returned in Hammond Federal CourtRead the Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECONTACT: Mary Hatton
www.usdoj.gov/usao/inn/ CELL: (219) 314-9993
Hammond, Indiana- The United States Attorney’s Office announced that the following Indictments were returned on December 18, 2013:
Alejandro Murillo, 26, of Chicago, Illinois, was charged with distribution of methamphetamine and eluding examination and inspection by immigration officers. These charges were filed as the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration HIDTA Task Force.This case has been assigned to and will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dean Lanter.
Keith Cloudy, 37, of Gary, Indiana, was charged with nine counts of distribution of crack cocaine and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.These charges were filed as the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation GRIT Task Force.This case has been assigned to and will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Chang-Adiga.
Dajon Rowlett, 31, and Hudie Scott, 27, both of Gary, Indiana, were charged with distribution of crack cocaine.These charges were filed as the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation GRIT Task Force.This case has been assigned to and will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Chang-Adiga.
Luis Pecina, 33, of Phoenix, Arizona, was charged with possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine.This charge was filed as the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration HIDTA Task Force.This case has been assigned to and will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Chang-Adiga.
Mario Stokes, 40, of Gary, Indiana, was charged with possession with the intent to distribute marijuana, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.These charges were filed as the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation GRIT Task Force.This case has been assigned to and will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Chang-Adiga.
As the result of an investigation by the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the following nine individuals were charged with conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and mail fraud:
Dwayne Ashford, 52, of Michigan City, Indiana;
Robert Lemon, 48, of Michigan City, Indiana;
Tomika Yates, 49, of Grand Prairie, Texas;
Roberta Butler, 31, of Valparaiso, Indiana;
Archie Hamilton, 48, of Calumet City, Illinois;
Theodus Lanfair, 32, of Grand Prairie, Texas;
Andy Mitchell, 54, of Michigan City, Indiana;
Toni Alexander, 42, of Calumet City, Illinois; and
Melissa Yates, 37, of Michigan City, Indiana.
This case has been assigned to and will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Toi Houston.
The United States Attorney's Office emphasized that an Indictment is merely an allegation and that all persons charged are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.
Houston Men Ordered to Prison for Wells Fargo RobberyRead the Press Release
HOUSTON - Aaron Derrow, 43, and Terrance Jackson, 35, both of Houston, have been sentenced for their roles in the robbery of the Wells Fargo Bank on Kirby Drive in Houston in December 2012, announced United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Both pleaded guilty as did co-defendants Willie Wright III, 32, and Justin Levar Taylor, 33, both also of Houston.
Today, U.S. District Judge Nancy Atlas sentenced Derrow to 51 months for aggravated bank robbery as well as a consecutive seven years for brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence for a total of 135 months in federal prison. Last Friday, Jackson was given a sentence of 108 months for his conviction of aggravated bank robbery.
On Friday Dec. 28, 2012, Derrow and the others robbed the Wells Fargo Bank at 5202 Kirby Drive in Houston. All of the men were wearing various disguises, and Wright, Derrow and Taylor were armed with pistols. Jackson and Derrow jumped over the teller counter while Wright and Taylor controlled the lobby. Derrow threatened a male teller with his gun while filling a bag with money. After getting the money, the two jumped back over the teller counter and all four ran out of the bank to their getaway vehicle, a stolen white Toyota pickup truck. All were apprehended a short time later at a residence several miles away.
Earlier this month, Judge Atlas sentenced Wright to 46 months for aggravated bank robbery as well as a consecutive seven years for brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence for a total of 130 months in federal prison. Taylor will be sentenced in January 2014 and was also convicted of aggravated bank robbery and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.
All have been and will remain in custody.
The case was investigated by the FBI’s Bank Robbery Task Force and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennie Basile.
Hedge Fund Portfolio Manager Convicted in Manhattan Federal Court of Scheme to Inflate Value of Hedge FundRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that MICHAEL BALBOA, formerly a portfolio manager for Millennium Global Emerging Credit Fund (“MGEC” or the “Hedge Fund”), was found guilty today in Manhattan federal court of securities fraud, wire fraud, and investment adviser fraud charges, as well as conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud, in connection with BALBOA’s scheme to undermine the independent valuation process relating to the Hedge Fund, and to overvalue the assets of the Hedge Fund. BALBOA’s overvaluation of one particular security held in his portfolio, a sovereign contingent debt instrument issued by the Government of Nigeria (the “Nigerian Oil Warrant”), caused the Hedge Fund’s reported net asset value to be overstated by approximately $80 million dollars. BALBOA was convicted after a two-and-a-half-week trial presided over by U.S. District Judge Paul A. Crotty.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “Today’s verdict ensures that Michael Balboa will be punished for deceiving investors by manipulating the valuations at his former hedge fund to falsely inflate the fund’s performance, and enlisting others to help him. As Balboa now knows, those who mislead investors for their own personal gain, and then try to cover their tracks, will be pursued and prosecuted by this Office.”
According to the Superseding Indictment filed in Manhattan federal court, other court documents, and the evidence presented at trial:
From December 2006 to October 2008, BALBOA served as the portfolio manager for the Hedge Fund. The Hedge Fund’s strategy was to invest in a portfolio of corporate and sovereign debt instruments in emerging countries. The Hedge Fund utilized an independent valuation agent (the “IVA”) to determine the Hedge Fund’s “net asset value” (“NAV”), which is the value of the Hedge Fund’s assets, less liabilities and estimated costs of sale/liquidation. The Hedge Fund’s manager, the entity that employed Balboa, represented to investors that sources independent from Balboa would provide prices to the IVA for each security held in the Hedge Fund for purposes of determining the NAV on a monthly basis. For example, in one due diligence questionnaire sent on March 7, 2008, to a potential investor for the purpose of providing certain information about the Hedge Fund’s valuation process, the Hedge Fund’s manager noted that “[t]here are no assets valued in house” and that the IVA “calculates the NAV of [the Hedge Fund] independently of Millennium Global.”
Contrary to representations he made to investors about the independent valuation process, BALBOA himself provided inflated prices for the Nigerian Oil Warrant that were used for the Hedge Fund’s monthly valuation. BALBOA accomplished this by instructing Gilles DeCharsonville and Samuel Pratt, two co-conspirators with whom BALBOA worked, to provide the IVA with those values while falsely representing that the values were generated independently by DeCharsonville and Pratt. For example, in 2008, although the Nigerian Oil Warrant traded at a price no higher than $239, BALBOA directed DeCharsonville and Pratt to provide the IVA with marks ranging from approximately $525 to $3,500. The IVA then used these falsely inflated marks to compute the Hedge Fund’s monthly NAV, which, in turn, as of August 2008, caused the NAV to be overstated by approximately $80 million. These false values were then sent to investors by means of monthly newsletters, among other types of communications.
After Balboa’s employer, along with U.S. and foreign securities regulators, began to investigate the scheme, BALBOA took steps to cover his tracks. For example, BALBOA sent DeCharsonville false justifications for the inflated valuations for the purpose of further conveying to BALBOA’s employer, as well as the U.S. and foreign securities regulators.
BALBOA, 44, who currently resides in Melville, New York, and formerly resided in the United Kingdom, was convicted of all five counts in the Superseding Indictment, namely (1) securities fraud conspiracy; (2) wire fraud conspiracy; (3) securities fraud; (4) wire fraud; and (5) investment adviser fraud. He faces a maximum of five years in prison on each of the conspiracy counts, and 20 years in prison on each of the substantive fraud counts. The date for sentencing has not yet been scheduled.
Mr. Bharara praised the work of the United States Postal Inspection Service, which investigated this case. He also thanked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
This case was brought in coordination with President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, on which Mr. Bharara serves as a Co-Chair of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Working Group. The task force was established to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. attorneys’ offices and state and local partners, it’s the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations. Over the past three fiscal years, the Justice Department has filed nearly 10,000 financial fraud cases against nearly 15,000 defendants including more than 2,900 mortgage fraud defendants. For more information on the task force, please visit www.StopFraud.gov.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jason H. Cowley and David I. Miller, and Special Assistant United States Attorney William T. Conway, are in charge of the prosecution.
Haverhill Man Sentenced for Bankruptcy FraudRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Haverhill man was sentenced today for concealing a property he owned in Puerto Rico from his bankruptcy creditors.
Peter A. Schutter, 57, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Timothy S. Hillman to two years of probation. In July 2013, Schutter pleaded guilty to bankruptcy fraud.
In 1994, Schutter’s mother deeded a parcel of property in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico to Schutter and his wife. In April 2009, the Schutters filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition in Worcester, but failed to list the Puerto Rico property as an asset. In May 2009, at a meeting of creditors, Schutter was specifically asked by his bankruptcy trustee whether he had owned any real estate in the prior four years and Schutter answered, under oath, “no, sir.” Schutter later disclosed the property to the trustee, but only after the trustee requested records from Schutter that would have led inevitably to the discovery of that property. The trustee later sold the property for $115,000 for the benefit of creditors.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Vincent B. Lisi, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today. The case was referred for investigation by the U.S. Trustee=s Office in Worcester. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark J. Balthazard of Ortiz=s Economic Crimes Unit.
Guatemalan Drug Smuggler Sentenced to 30 Years in PrisonRead the Press Release
Tampa, Florida - Senior District Court Judge Susan C. Bucklew yesterday sentenced Alma Lucrecia Hernandez-Preciado, a/k/a "La Tia," (40, Tecun Uman, Guatemala) to 30 years in federal prison for violations of the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act (MDLEA). She was convicted on two counts, by a jury, on September 20, 2013.
Specifically, the jury found that Hernandez-Preciado, from a date unknown to the date of the indictment (September 22, 2011), conspired with others, including persons who were on board a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine. Hernandez-Preciado was also convicted of aiding and abetting others, including persons who were on board the same vessel, to commit the above offense.
Hernandez-Preciado was arrested in Guatemala on October 10, 2011 pursuant to the indictment. She was extradited to Tampa in February, 2013, to face the charges.
Evidence presented at trial proved that Hernandez-Preciado organized a series of maritime cocaine smuggling shipments from Ecuador to Guatemala, including a smuggling venture where the crew of a go-fast boat was interdicted by the United States Coast Guard (USCG) on May 19, 2011, off the coast of Guatemala. Three hundred and forty-seven kilograms of cocaine were seized by the USCG during that interdiction. Trial evidence also included testimony from the USCG, wiretap intercepts conducted by the Guatemalan National Police, cooperating witnesses in the smuggling conspiracy, as well as communications from Hernandez-Preciado's email account, which were obtained from a search warrant by Panama Express Strike Force agents.
This case was investigated by the Panama Express Strike Force, an OCDETF funded operation targeting maritime smuggling. Operation Panama Express currently targets South American-based drug trafficking organizations responsible for smuggling drugs to the United States and elsewhere for distribution. Participating agencies include the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), including DEA's Guatemala City Country Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the United States Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Joint Interagency Task Force - South (JIATFS) and the United States Marshals Service, with assistance from the government of Guatemala and Guatemalan law enforcement agencies.
The case was indicted by Assistant United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joseph K. Ruddy.
Former Villa Rica School Teacher Sentenced for Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
ROME, Ga. – Joseph Monroe Wilson has been sentenced today to three years in federal prison for possessing images of child pornography on his home computer.
“This prosecution successfully removed a teacher from the classroom who not only ordered and collected child pornography, but who also had unfettered access to children as a school teacher,” said United States Attorney Yates. “Because children innocently trust teachers like this man, it is essential that we identify and prosecute such individuals.”
“The Postal Inspection Service is charged with enforcing the laws that defend the nation's mail system from illegal use. The use of the U.S. mail to exploit children is intolerable and those responsible will be held accountable, just as this defendant with today's sentencing,” said George Frazier, Assistant Postal Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Atlanta Field Office.
According to United States Attorney Yates, the criminal indictment, and material presented in court: In February and March 2011, Wilson ordered numerous images and movies containing sexually explicit images of young boys from a company based in Canada. In March 2012, the United States Postal Inspection Services executed a federal search warrant at Wilson’s home in Paulding County, Ga. During the search warrant, law enforcement found a large portrait of a young, naked boy hidden in Wilson’s closet and numerous images of child erotica and child pornography on Wilson’s home computer. At the time the search warrant was executed, Wilson was a teacher at New Georgia Elementary School in Villa Rica, Ga., and was in the process of adopting a seven‑year‑old boy. He is no longer teaching at the school and the adoption did not take place.
Wilson, 44, of Spartanburg, SC, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Robert L. Vining, Jr. to three years in prison to be followed by 30 years of supervised release. The defendant will be required to register as a sex offender when he is released from prison.
This case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service.
Assistant United States Attorneys Jill E. Steinberg and Brent A. Gray are prosecuting 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 is www.justice.gov/usao/gan.
Former Vice President of Wells Fargo Advisors and Morgan Stanley & Co. Sentenced to 20 Months in PrisonRead the Press Release
SAN FRANCISCO – Adorean Boleancu was sentenced yesterday to 20 months in prison and ordered to pay $360,199.25 in restitution for a wire fraud offense, United States Attorney Melinda Haag and FBI Special Agent in Charge David J. Johnson announced.
Boleancu pleaded guilty on September 13, 2013, to one count of wire fraud. According to the plea agreement, Boleancu admitted to executing a fraud scheme by writing more than $1.8 million in checks on accounts of an elderly, widowed client for his personal benefit.
Boleancu, 47, of Napa, Calif., was Vice President, Senior Financial Consultant in the Wealth Management Group of Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC and, before that, a Vice President, Financial Advisor with Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc. In pleading guilty, Boleancu admitted to signing the victim’s name to checks drawn on the victim’s brokerage account and home equity lines of credit without the victim’s knowledge or authorization. The checks were payable to Boleancu’s family members, his girlfriend, another female acquaintance, cash, and financial companies where Boleancu had credit card accounts.
Boleancu was indicted by a federal grand jury on July 9, 2013. He was charged with 14 counts of bank fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1344; 4 counts of wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343; 5 counts of money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1957; and 4 counts of aggravated identity theft, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028A.
The sentence was handed down by the Honorable Richard Seeborg, United States District Court Judge, in San Francisco. Judge Seeborg also sentenced the defendant to a three-year period of supervised release, and ordered him to refrain from working in the financial industry. The defendant will begin serving his prison sentence on February 4, 2014.
Robert S. Leach and Kyle F. Waldinger are the Assistant U.S. Attorneys who are prosecuting the case with the assistance of Rayneisha Booth and Mary Mallory. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
(Boleancu indictment )
Former S.C. Corrections Officer Pleads Guilty to Civil Rights ViolationRead the Press Release
Robin Smith, a former corrections officer at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center in Richland County, S.C., pleaded guilty today in federal court in Columbia, S.C., to violating the civil rights of a pre-trial detainee.
During his guilty plea, Smith admitted that on Feb. 11, 2012, while working as a corrections officer, he used unreasonable, unprovoked force against a restrained inmate with mental illness. During the course of a routine search of the victim’s cell, Smith twisted the victim’s wrist and arm and kicked him in the upper body. During the assault, the victim was lying on the floor of the cell with one hand cuffed. The victim was not combative and did not pose a threat to Smith.
“The overwhelming majority of correctional officers dispatch their difficult duties with honor and professionalism,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jocelyn Samuels for the Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department will aggressively prosecute those who cross the line to engage in acts of criminal misconduct.”
“Every minute of every day, corrections officers across this state handle extraordinarily difficult situations in a way that protects the detainees, the institution and the public,” said U.S. Attorney Bill Nettles for the District of South Carolina. “However, when a corrections officer’s conduct crosses the line between lawful use of force and an abuse of authority, we will take that case before the grand jury.”
U.S. Attorney Nettles thanked Sheriff Lott and the Richland County Sheriff’s Department for their commitment to the investigation, without which the prosecution would have been nearly impossible. Today’s plea resulted from the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Richland County Sheriff’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Jared Fishman and Nicholas Murphy for the Civil Rights Division, and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Beth Drake for the District of South Carolina.
Former Laredo Business Owner Convicted in Large Marijuana CaseRead the Press Release
LAREDO, Texas - A federal jury has returned a guilty verdict against Marco Antonio Marchan, 45, for engaging in a conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute in excess of 1,000 kilograms of marijuana, announced United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson.
During trial, evidence was presented that Marchan was a former Laredo resident who had several businesses but moved to the Dallas area in 2008, where he operated a business known as Bumper World. According to testimony, upon moving there, he began coordinating to have Los Zetas supply him with multi-ton quantities of marijuana in the Laredo area for ultimate delivery to him in the Dallas area.
A former co-conspirator testified that Marchan had previously been kidnapped by the Zetas for a drug debt and decided to move his drug trafficking operation to the Dallas area. From 2008 to 2009, Marchan had been supplied with at least seven marijuana loads. The investigation revealed Marchan’s co-conspirators had sent him 5,500 pounds to the Dallas area on Nov. 30, 2009, and then an additional load of 1,132 kilograms three days later.
Between Nov. 24, 2009, through Dec. 2, 2009, Marchan recruited a person to secure a warehouse and truck driver who could deliver 1,300 kilograms of marijuana from Laredo to Dallas. That person reported the incident to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and an undercover operation was launched during which time agents coordinated to receive the marijuana.
Marchan ordered the drugs to be delivered to a certain address on Dan Morton Street in Dallas. Marchan’s business trucks were seen throughout the area conducting counter surveillance while the transaction was underway. Marchan’s people also followed a white van to a second location where the marijuana was off-loaded from the undercover tractor trailer to the van. The white van then transported the marijuana to a third location, a residence on Lynnacre in Dallas. There, a search warrant was executed which resulted in the discovery of the 1,132 kilograms of marijuana in the van. An additional 2,877 kilograms of marijuana was also found inside the residence which was believed to be the load sent to Marchan on Nov. 30, 2009.
The total weight of marijuana seized was 4009 kilograms with a value of more than $2.5 million.
The jury deliberated for less than an hour in returning the guilty verdict today.
Marchan will remain in custody pending sentencing, which will be set at a later date before U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo.
The case was investigated by DEA with the assistance of local Dallas law enforcement authorities and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Mary Lou Castillo and Sanjeev Bhaskar.Former Federal Employee Pleads Guilty to $113,000 Scheme to Steal from Co-workersRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a former IT specialist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture pleaded guilty in federal court today to a scheme to steal $113,000 from three co-workers, one of whom is blind.
Paula M. Steen, 49, of Overland Park, Kan., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner to wire fraud. Steen was employed as an IT specialist for the USDA Farm Service Agency at the USDA facility at 6501 Beacon Drive, Kansas City, Mo.
By pleading guilty today, Steen admitted that she engaged in a wire fraud and identity theft scheme to steal from her co-workers at USDA over a four-year period, from Dec. 30, 2008, to Dec. 29, 2012. Steen attempted to steal at least $113,282; the actual loss totaled $103,682. Under the terms of today’s plea agreement, Steen must pay a money judgment of $103,682.
Steen admitted that she charged $57,693 on the credit accounts of one co-worker (identified in court documents as “S.S.”), who is legally blind. Steen later repaid $18,278 of that amount to creditors. Steen also secured four personal loans from this co-worker totaling $48,171, which she did not repay. Steen attempted to borrow $2,600 in the co-worker’s name, but after submitting the personal loan application to a financial institution, she later withdrew it.
Steen admitted that she illegally transferred $16,096 from another co-worker’s credit union account to her own creditors and to her own bank account. (This co-worker is identified in court documents as “R.H.”) Steen also attempted to illegally transfer another $2,000.
Steen attempted to open a joint credit card account in the name of a third co-worker (identified in court documents as “J.S.”), using his Social Security number and date of birth without his authorization.
Under federal statutes, Steen is subject to a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000 and an order of restitution. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel M. Nelson. It was investigated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Officer of Inspector General.Former Erie County Sheriff's Deputy Pleads Guilty to Gun ChargeRead the Press Release
Buffalo, N.Y.--U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Thomas J. Blajszczak, 43, of Lancaster, N.Y., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Arcara, to unlawful user of a controlled substance in possession of a firearm. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, a fine of $250,000 or both.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Tripi, who handled the case, stated that the defendant was intercepted in November and December of 2009, pursuant to a court-authorized wiretap, communicating with an a cocaine supplier named Jose De Leon. De Leon was previously convicted of conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine. The conversations between the defendant and De Leon, his cocaine supplier, established that Blajszczak was receiving cocaine for his personal use while employed by the Erie County Sheriff’s Department. At that time, the defendant owned and was in possession of a Glock, Model No. 23, .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol.
During an interview with the FBI, the defendant admitted that part of a monetary debt referenced during some of the intercepted telephone conversations related to money owed by the defendant to his cocaine supplier for powder cocaine. Blajszczak further admitted that he provided at least one box of 9mm ammunition, and one box of .45 caliber ammunition, to Jose De Leon.
Blajszczak’s plea is part of an FBI investigation which resulted in the arrest of a group of individuals between December 2009 and February 2010, who were involved in trafficking kilograms of cocaine from sources in Puerto Rico, and in New Jersey, and re-distributing the cocaine to drug dealers and users in Buffalo New York. The defendant is the 27th person convicted in the investigation.
"In our efforts to rid this area of narcotics trafficking organizations, this office will follow the evidence to wherever it takes us and will prosecute accordingly," said U.S. Attorney Hochul.
The plea is the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Brian P. Boetig, the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Michael Cerretto, and the Erie County Sheriff’s Department, under the direction of Sheriff Timothy Howard.
Sentencing is scheduled for April 14, 2014, at 11:00 a.m. before Judge Arcara.Former EPA Senior Policy Advisor Sentenced to 32 Months in Prison for Carrying Out Scheme That Cost Government Nearly $900,000-Admitted Collecting Pay for Hundreds of Days He Wasn’t Working-Read the Press Release
WASHINGTON – John C. Beale, a former senior policy advisor for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, was sentenced today to 32 months in prison for carrying out a long-running scheme that cheated the government of nearly $900,000 in pay and expenses.
The sentencing, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, was announced by
U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. and Arthur A. Elkins, Jr., Inspector General for the EPA.Beale, 65, of New York, N.Y., pled guilty in September 2013 to a federal charge of theft of government property. He was sentenced by the Honorable Ellen S. Huvelle. Under terms of his plea agreement, Beale agreed to pay a total of $886,186 to the EPA in restitution and to a forfeiture money judgment of another $507,207.
According to the government’s evidence, for more than a dozen years, Beale engaged in a pattern and scheme of deception during which he lied to the U.S. government, his supervisors, friends, and his family to avoid performing his job at the EPA. Among other things, Beale kept collecting pay from the EPA after claiming he was working on a project for the CIA’s Directorate of Operations and on other efforts that kept him out of the office. In fact, Beale was not working for the CIA or for the EPA on the many days he was away.
All told, between January 2000 and April 2013, Beale was absent from his duties at the EPA for about 2 ½ years in which he was drawing a salary and benefits.
"John Beale spent a decade telling one fantastic lie after another to steal our tax dollars," said U.S. Attorney Machen. "At some point, his commitment to public service warped into a sense of entitlement fueled by greed. Through this prison sentence John Beale will pay the price for his years of deception."
"Today’s sentencing closes the sordid chapter of John Beale's numerous and egregious fraudulent actions perpetrated against the federal government over a very long period of time," said Inspector General Elkins. "While that chapter has ended, we have started a new one in which the OIG is actively looking at the EPA’s sloppy internal controls and management actions that enabled Mr. Beale’s frauds to occur. Last week we issued two reports related to Mr. Beale’s audacious pay and travel frauds. Expect to see the results of more audits from us in the coming months. I truly hope that this extraordinary case will encourage federal employees — at all levels — to immediately approach the OIG with any allegations of fraud, waste and abuse. Let this case also serve as a cautionary tale to those individuals who would take advantage of the system."
According to a statement of offense, signed by the defendant as well as the government, Beale was employed by the EPA from 1989 until April 30, 2013. He was assigned to the Office of Air and Radiation, a division responsible for the development of national programs, policies and regulations designed to control air pollution and radiation exposure. For much of his time at the EPA, Beale was a senior policy advisor. His duties included assisting in the planning, policy implementation, direction, and control of EPA programs. He also attended and participated in several international conferences regarding air quality issues, many in foreign countries.
In August 2000, Beale was promoted to a senior-level employee, making him among the highest-paid non-elected federal government employees.
According to the statement of offense, Beale collected $886,186 that he was not entitled to receive in various ways:
Unauthorized Absences:
From in or around 2000, continuing until April 30, 2013, Beale failed to report to work for extended periods of time and failed to submit required requests for leave for these absences. Rather, Beale falsely claimed that he was working on a project at the CIA and other matters.
According to the statement of offense, starting in approximately 2000 until in or around June 2008, Beale took about 102 days off under the auspices of his work with the CIA. From 2005 to 2007, Beale claimed to be working on a research project for the EPA. For example, the statement of offense details payments of $57,235 in travel expenses for five trips to the Los Angeles area. Beale did not need to travel to California, where he visited family members, and could have done the research work at home or at his EPA office. In fact, he never produced any written work regarding the research project, which was never completed.
Starting in June 2008, Beale failed to report to the EPA offices for about six months, either claiming to be working on the research project or spending time working for "Langley." He never submitted a leave request for this time and continued to receive his EPA salary.
From in or around January 2010 until in or around May 2011, Beale failed to report to work at the EPA for approximately nine days, claiming he was working with the CIA. He never submitted a leave request for these days, but was paid his salary from the EPA.
In or around May 2011, Beale announced that he was retiring from the EPA. In September 2011, he and two other long-term EPA employees celebrated a retirement party on a dinner cruise on the Potomac River. Following the party, an EPA manager believed that Beale had actually retired, and the manager did not see him at the EPA offices afterward.
However, in November 2012, the manager discovered that Beale was still receiving a paycheck.
Retention Incentive Bonus:
In or around June 2000, Beale was awarded a 25 percent retention incentive bonus for three years. The purpose of the bonus was to ensure that Beale remained with the EPA, rather than leave the federal government and seek employment elsewhere. It was supposed to expire after 2003, but Beale continued to receive it through 2013.
Fraudulently Obtained Parking Benefits:
In or around January 2002, Beale claimed that, because he had contracted malaria while serving in the U.S. Army in Vietnam, he needed a parking space for work. He was awarded a parking spot, and the EPA subsidized payment for it at a rate of about $200 a month. In fact, Beale never served in Vietnam and never contracted malaria. He held onto and used the parking spot until about June 2005, at a cost of about $8,000 to the EPA.>
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Machen and Inspector General Elkins expressed appreciation for the work of those who investigated the case from the EPA Office of Inspector General, including lead investigator Special Agent Mark Kaminsky. They also commended the efforts of those who handled the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialist Donna Galindo. Finally, they acknowledged the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney James E. Smith, who prosecuted the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine K. Connelly, who assisted with forfeiture aspects of the investigation.
13-390
Former EPA Senior Policy Advisor Sentenced to 32 Months in Prison for Carrying Out Scheme That Cost Government Nearly $900,000-Admitted Collecting Pay for Hundreds of Days He Wasn’t Working-Read the Press Release
WASHINGTON – John C. Beale, a former senior policy advisor for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, was sentenced today to 32 months in prison for carrying out a long-running scheme that cheated the government of nearly $900,000 in pay and expenses.
The sentencing, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, was announced by
U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. and Arthur A. Elkins, Jr., Inspector General for the EPA.Beale, 65, of New York, N.Y., pled guilty in September 2013 to a federal charge of theft of government property. He was sentenced by the Honorable Ellen S. Huvelle. Under terms of his plea agreement, Beale agreed to pay a total of $886,186 to the EPA in restitution and to a forfeiture money judgment of another $507,207.
According to the government’s evidence, for more than a dozen years, Beale engaged in a pattern and scheme of deception during which he lied to the U.S. government, his supervisors, friends, and his family to avoid performing his job at the EPA. Among other things, Beale kept collecting pay from the EPA after claiming he was working on a project for the CIA’s Directorate of Operations and on other efforts that kept him out of the office. In fact, Beale was not working for the CIA or for the EPA on the many days he was away.
All told, between January 2000 and April 2013, Beale was absent from his duties at the EPA for about 2 ½ years in which he was drawing a salary and benefits.
"John Beale spent a decade telling one fantastic lie after another to steal our tax dollars," said U.S. Attorney Machen. "At some point, his commitment to public service warped into a sense of entitlement fueled by greed. Through this prison sentence John Beale will pay the price for his years of deception."
"Today’s sentencing closes the sordid chapter of John Beale's numerous and egregious fraudulent actions perpetrated against the federal government over a very long period of time," said Inspector General Elkins. "While that chapter has ended, we have started a new one in which the OIG is actively looking at the EPA’s sloppy internal controls and management actions that enabled Mr. Beale’s frauds to occur. Last week we issued two reports related to Mr. Beale’s audacious pay and travel frauds. Expect to see the results of more audits from us in the coming months. I truly hope that this extraordinary case will encourage federal employees — at all levels — to immediately approach the OIG with any allegations of fraud, waste and abuse. Let this case also serve as a cautionary tale to those individuals who would take advantage of the system."
According to a statement of offense, signed by the defendant as well as the government, Beale was employed by the EPA from 1989 until April 30, 2013. He was assigned to the Office of Air and Radiation, a division responsible for the development of national programs, policies and regulations designed to control air pollution and radiation exposure. For much of his time at the EPA, Beale was a senior policy advisor. His duties included assisting in the planning, policy implementation, direction, and control of EPA programs. He also attended and participated in several international conferences regarding air quality issues, many in foreign countries.
In August 2000, Beale was promoted to a senior-level employee, making him among the highest-paid non-elected federal government employees.
According to the statement of offense, Beale collected $886,186 that he was not entitled to receive in various ways:
Unauthorized Absences:
From in or around 2000, continuing until April 30, 2013, Beale failed to report to work for extended periods of time and failed to submit required requests for leave for these absences. Rather, Beale falsely claimed that he was working on a project at the CIA and other matters.
According to the statement of offense, starting in approximately 2000 until in or around June 2008, Beale took about 102 days off under the auspices of his work with the CIA. From 2005 to 2007, Beale claimed to be working on a research project for the EPA. For example, the statement of offense details payments of $57,235 in travel expenses for five trips to the Los Angeles area. Beale did not need to travel to California, where he visited family members, and could have done the research work at home or at his EPA office. In fact, he never produced any written work regarding the research project, which was never completed.
Starting in June 2008, Beale failed to report to the EPA offices for about six months, either claiming to be working on the research project or spending time working for "Langley." He never submitted a leave request for this time and continued to receive his EPA salary.
From in or around January 2010 until in or around May 2011, Beale failed to report to work at the EPA for approximately nine days, claiming he was working with the CIA. He never submitted a leave request for these days, but was paid his salary from the EPA.
In or around May 2011, Beale announced that he was retiring from the EPA. In September 2011, he and two other long-term EPA employees celebrated a retirement party on a dinner cruise on the Potomac River. Following the party, an EPA manager believed that Beale had actually retired, and the manager did not see him at the EPA offices afterward.
However, in November 2012, the manager discovered that Beale was still receiving a paycheck.
Retention Incentive Bonus:
In or around June 2000, Beale was awarded a 25 percent retention incentive bonus for three years. The purpose of the bonus was to ensure that Beale remained with the EPA, rather than leave the federal government and seek employment elsewhere. It was supposed to expire after 2003, but Beale continued to receive it through 2013.
Fraudulently Obtained Parking Benefits:
In or around January 2002, Beale claimed that, because he had contracted malaria while serving in the U.S. Army in Vietnam, he needed a parking space for work. He was awarded a parking spot, and the EPA subsidized payment for it at a rate of about $200 a month. In fact, Beale never served in Vietnam and never contracted malaria. He held onto and used the parking spot until about June 2005, at a cost of about $8,000 to the EPA.>
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Machen and Inspector General Elkins expressed appreciation for the work of those who investigated the case from the EPA Office of Inspector General, including lead investigator Special Agent Mark Kaminsky. They also commended the efforts of those who handled the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialist Donna Galindo. Finally, they acknowledged the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney James E. Smith, who prosecuted the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine K. Connelly, who assisted with forfeiture aspects of the investigation.
13-426
Former Detroit Public Schools Accountant Sentenced on Fraud and Money Laundering ChargesRead the Press Release
Sandra Campbell, 60, a former Detroit Public Schools contract accountant and School Board candidate, was sentenced to nearly six years in federal prison today by United States District Judge Julian Abele Cook on charges of program fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and tax charges, following a five-week jury trial which took place in August, United States Attorney Barbara L. McQuade announced today.
McQuade was joined in the announcement by Special Agent in Charge Paul M. Abbate, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Special Agent in Charge, Erick Martinez, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation and Detroit Public Schools Emergency Manager Jack Martin.
Sandra Campbell was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison on charges of program fraud against the Detroit Public Schools, money laundering and criminal tax fraud. In addition, Campbell was ordered to pay restitution to the Detroit Public Schools in the amount of $530,091.00. Co-defendant Domonique Campbell, daughter of Sandra Campbell, is set to be sentenced on January 7, 2014 at 11am.
The evidence presented at trial established that between 2004 and 2008, Sandra Campbell and Domonique Campbell, obtained in excess of $530,000.00 from the Detroit Public Schools through a fraudulent scheme in which orders were placed with the Campbells’ sham company for books and educational materials never provided to the schools. Sandra Campbell and Domonique Campbell conspired to launder the fraud proceeds and to defraud the Internal Revenue Service and failed to report the money they fraudulently obtained from the Detroit Public Schools as income on their tax returns.
United States Attorney Barbara L. McQuade said, "Anyone who considers defrauding our schools should take note that we are scrutinizing records and conduct, and will prosecute those who steal funds intended to educate our children."
DPS Emergency Manager Martin stated, “This sentence sends a powerful message that fraudulently converting DPS resources for personal gain and thereby depriving students of the tools they need to prepare for educational and employment opportunities will not be tolerated. If you steal DPS resources, you will get caught and you will be prosecuted."
FBI Special Agent in Charge Paul M. Abbate stated, “In this case, the defendant’s criminal actions amounted to stealing the opportunity for a quality education from our children. Such conduct cannot, and will not, be tolerated. The FBI Detroit Field Office, together with our local, state, and federal partners will continue to battle public corruption and hold those responsible accountable for their actions."
IRS Special Agent in Charge Erick Martinez stated, “"Those who profit at the expense of our children and steal from our community will be held accountable for their greedy actions".The case was investigated by special agents of the FBI, IRS and Department of Education, Office of Inspector General, with the assistance of Detroit Public Schools, Office of Inspector General. The case was investigated and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys J. Michael Buckley and Bruce Judge of the Public Corruption Unit.
Former BP Engineer Convicted for Obstruction of Justice in Connection with the Deepwater Horizon Criminal InvestigationRead the Press Release
Kurt Mix, a former engineer for BP plc, was convicted today of intentionally destroying evidence requested by federal criminal authorities investigating the April 20, 2010, Deepwater Horizon disaster.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Anderson of the FBI’s New Orleans Division made the announcement after the verdict was announced by U.S. District Judge Stanwood R. Duval Jr.
Mix, 52, of Katy, Texas, was convicted by a federal jury in the Eastern District of Louisiana of one count of obstruction of justice and was acquitted on a second count of obstruction of justice. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison when he is sentenced on March 26, 2014.
“Today a jury in New Orleans found that Kurt Mix purposefully obstructed the efforts of law enforcement during the investigation of the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Raman. “This prosecution shows the commitment of the Justice Department to hold accountable those who attempt to interfere with the administration of justice. I want to thank the committed prosecutors and agents who have worked tirelessly over so many years on the Deepwater Horizon Task Force for their dedication and tenacity.”
According to court documents and evidence at trial, on April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon rig experienced an uncontrolled blowout and related explosions while closing the Macondo well. The catastrophe killed 11 men on board and resulted in the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history.
Mix was a drilling and completions project engineer for BP. Following the blowout, Mix worked on internal BP efforts to estimate the amount of oil leaking from the well and was involved in various efforts to stop the leak. Those efforts included Top Kill, the failed BP effort to pump heavy mud into the blown-out wellhead to try to stop the oil flow. BP sent numerous notices to Mix requiring him to retain all information concerning Macondo, including his text messages.
On or about Oct. 4, 2010, after Mix learned that his electronic files were to be collected by a vendor working for BP’s lawyers, Mix deleted on his iPhone a text string containing more than 300 text messages with his BP supervisor. The deleted messages included a text sent on the evening of May 26, 2010, at the end of the first day of Top Kill. In the text, Mix stated, among other things, “Too much flowrate – over 15,000.” Before Top Kill commenced, Mix and other engineers had concluded internally that Top Kill was unlikely to succeed if the flow rate was greater than 15,000 barrels of oil per day (BOPD). At the time, BP’s public estimate of the flow rate was 5,000 BOPD – three times lower than the minimum flow rate indicated in Mix’s text.
By the time Mix deleted these texts, he had received numerous legal hold notices requiring him to preserve such data and had been put on notice of the Department of Justice’s criminal investigation of the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
The Deepwater Horizon Task Force, based in New Orleans, is supervised by Acting Assistant Attorney General Raman and led by William Pericak, a deputy chief in the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section who serves as the director of the task force. The task force includes prosecutors from the Criminal Division and the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana and other U.S. Attorney’s Offices, and investigating agents from the FBI, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Interior, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other federal law enforcement agencies. The task force’s investigation of this and other matters concerning the Deepwater Horizon disaster is ongoing.
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Trial Attorney Jennifer L. Saulino and Trial Attorney Leo R. Tsao of the Fraud Section.Ferriday Man Sentenced to 120 Months in Prison for Transporting MethRead the Press Release
ALEXANDRIA, La. –United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that Marvin L. Thompson, 37 of Ferriday, was sentenced Thursday(December 12, 2013) by U.S. District Judge Dee D. Drell to 120 months in prison and five years of supervised release for conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine. He was also ordered to pay a $3,000 fine. Thompson pleaded guilty July 18, 2013.
According to evidence presented at the guilty plea, Thompson admitted that he conspired with Chavo Thomas, Maurice Smith and other defendants to deliver methamphetamine from California to Ferriday. Thompson and Thomas traveled to California to purchase and bring back the illegal drugs. The two defendants were arrested on October 28, 2011, at a Brookhaven, Miss., train station with 2 pounds of pure methamphetamine. Smith, who had organized the California trip, was arrested later in Ferriday.
Smith and Thomas were sentenced September 27, 2013. Smith received life in prison, and Thomas received 275 months in prison and 10 years of supervised release for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. A jury found Smith and Thomas guilty on May 31, 2013.
The defendants were arrested as part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Operation “Delta Blues” investigation. The Federal Bureau of Investigation Central Louisiana Safe Streets Task Force, which is composed of the Louisiana State Police, Louisiana Department of Probation and Parole, Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Alexandria Police Department, participated in the investigation. The U.S. Marshals and the Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office also participated in the investigation. The Southwest Mississippi Narcotics Task Force, Brookhaven (Mississippi) Police Department and the Lincoln County (Mississippi) Sheriff’s Office assisted in the defendants’ arrest. Assistant U.S. Attorney James G. Cowles Jr. prosecuted the case.
The OCDETF program is a joint federal, state and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nation’s primary tool for disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations, targeting national and regional level drug trafficking organizations, and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources to disrupt or dismantle the targeted criminal organization and seize their assets.
Felon Sentenced to Prison for Unlawfully Possessing Guns, Ammo and Controlled SubstancesRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH - Felix Cruz was sentenced in federal court in Pittsburgh for violating federal firearms laws, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
Cruz, 50, formerly of Houston, Pa., was sentenced by United States District Judge Gustave Diamond to serve 46 months in prison followed by three years supervised release for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm on Nov. 8, 2011. Cruz unlawfully possessed a pistol, two semi-automatic rifles with high-capacity magazines, another rifle, and a shotgun, along with 1,290 rounds of ammunition, at his place of employment in Washington County. By 2011, Cruz was prohibited from lawfully purchasing or possessing any firearms as a result of a prior felony conviction in New York for criminal possession of a loaded firearm. Some of the firearms Cruz possessed were unlawfully “straw purchased” for him by other people who could pass a background check. The straw purchasers have been prosecuted for doing so.
In addition to unlawfully possessing the firearms and ammunition at his place of employment, Cruz possessed several vials of synthetic drugs containing AM-2201, which has been designated as a Schedule I controlled substance as a result of its harmful health effects and the toll it has taken on many users, particularly adolescents and teenagers. Cruz was distributing the drugs, sometimes referred to as “K2” or “spice”, from his place of employment in addition to storing his firearms there.
Assistant United States Attorney Craig W. Haller prosecuted this case on behalf of the United States.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the Pennsylvania State Police investigated this case. This case was prosecuted under Project Safe Neighborhoods, a collaborative effort by federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and communities to prevent, deter, and prosecute gun crime.
Federal Jury Convicts Opelousas Man for Robbing and Assaulting Postal EmployeeRead the Press Release
LAFAYETTE, La. –United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that Brandon Handy, 33, of Opelousas, La., was found guilty by a federal jury on Tuesday of assaulting and robbing a postal employee. United States District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote presided over the trial.
Handy’s trial started Monday and ended Tuesday with the jury returning the guilty verdict after deliberating for one hour and 30 minutes. Witness testimony and documents admitted into evidence at trial established that Handy and another individual wearing masks and armed with a pistol robbed a U.S. Postal Service contract driver on August 13, 2011, at the Lawtell Post Office. Handy grabbed the driver from behind by the neck and wrestled him to his knees while the other individual took a bag of mail from the employee’s truck. After Handy and the other individual fled the scene, the driver was transported to a nearby hospital where he was treated for injuries.
Handy faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and five years of supervised release for aggravated robbery of mail matter. A sentencing date has been set for April 11, 2014.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett L. Grayson is prosecuting the case.
Federal Grand Jury Returns IndictmentCharging Wichitan with Planning Airport BombingRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, KAN. - A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging a Wichita man with attempting to explode a car bomb at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.
Terry Loewen, 58, Wichita, Kan., initially was charged in a criminal complaint filed Dec. 13 in U.S. District Court. On Wednesday, a federal grand jury reviewed the evidence and returned an indictment against Loewen. The charges in the indictment are identical to the charges in the complaint filed last week: One count of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, one count of attempting to damage property by means of an explosive and one count of attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
The crimes are alleged to have occurred Dec. 13 at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport in Wichita. Loewen was arrested about 5:40 a.m. Dec. 13 at the Wichita airport, where he is alleged to have attempted to detonate a car bomb.
If convicted, Lowen faces a maximum penalty of life in prison on the charge of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, not less than five years and not more than 20 years on the charge of attempting to use an explosive to damage property, and a maximum penalty of 15 years on the charge of attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization
The investigation was conducted by the Wichita FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, which includes members from the FBI, Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office and Kansas Highway Patrol. Assisting with the investigation were the FBI Kansas City Division, the Transportation Security Administration, the Wichita Airport Authority, the Wichita Police Department. The case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Smith and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tony Mattivi and by prosecutors from the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
OTHER INDICTMENTS
A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging two Chinese agricultural scientists with conspiracy to steal trade secrets with respect to particular rice seeds of a biopharmaceutical company with a research facility in Kansas.
Weiqiang Zhang, 47, Manhattan, Kan., and Wengui Yan, 63, Stuttgart, Ark., initially were charged in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court Dec. 12. Today’s indictment charges them with two counts: One count of conspiracy to steal trade secrets and one count of theft of trade secrets.
The indictment alleges that as part of the conspiracy, Zhang and Yan enabled visitors from a crops research institute in China to obtain possession of the unique rice seeds developed by Ventria Bioscience at a facility in Junction City, Kan. It is alleged that on Aug. 7, 2013, personnel with U.S. Customs and Border Protection found stolen seeds hidden in luggage belonging to Chinese scientists who were returning to China after a visit to the United States.
If convicted, Zhang and Yan face a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on each count. The Little Rock Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Kansas City Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Customs and Border Protection investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Rask is prosecuting with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Arkansas.
Scott Thario, 21, is charged with one count of bank robbery and one count of brandishing a shotgun during the robbery. The indictment alleges that on Dec. 16, 2013, Thario brandished a shotgun while he robbed the Intrust Bank at 19501 West 65th Terrace in Shawnee, Kan.
If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 25 years and a fine up to $250,000 on the bank robbery charge and a penalty of not less than 10 years on the firearm charge. The FBI and the Shawnee, Kan., Police Department investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Zabel is prosecuting.
David P. Drake, 54, Lone Tree, Colo., Donald D. Snider, Jr., 54, Littleton, Colo., Vicki A. Hall, 62, Lone Tree, Colo., Heather A. Gibbs, 51, Littleton, Colo., James Clarkson, 43, Casa Grande, Ariz., are charged in a superseding indictment with conspiracy to commit bank fraud. The indictment alleges the crimes occurred in connection with the development of Indian Ridge Resort, a resort community located near Branson, Mo.
Upon conviction, the crimes carry the following penalties:
Conspiracy to commit bank fraud and bank fraud: A maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison and a fine up to $1 million.
Conspiracy to commit money laundering and money laundering: A maximum penalty of 10 years and a fine up to $250,000.The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Oakley is prosecuting.
Yao Vignon Kpade, 31, who is in custody in the Johnson County Jail, is charged with one count of fraudulent use of credit card numbers and one count of aggravated identity theft. The crimes are alleged to have occurred at various times from Feb. 11, 2013 to July 23, 2013 in Johnson County, Kan.
The indictment alleges that while working at a Taco Bell restaurant Kpade used a credit card scanning device known as a “skimmer” to obtain electronic credit card information from credit and debit cards belonging to the restaurant’s customers. The indictment alleges he fraudulently used the credit card information to make purchases at Walmart in Overland Park, Ranchmart Wine and Spirits in Leawood and Hy-Vee in Shawnee, Kan.
If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on the credit card charge and a mandatory two years to run consecutively to the underlying sentence and a fine up to $250,000 on the identity theft charge. The U.S. Secret Service investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tanya Treadway is prosecuting.
Antonio Molina-Gonzalez, 40, a citizen of Mexico, is charged with
unlawfully re-entering the United States after being deported. He was found Nov. 25, 2013, in Franklin County, Kan.If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jabari Wamble is prosecuting.
Jayce A. Rymer, 20, Basehor, Kan., is charged with one count of destroying mail while working for the U.S. Postal Service. The crime is alleged to have occurred Aug. 14, 2013, in Johnson County, Kan.
If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. The U.S. Postal Service, Office of Inspector General, investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jabari Wamble is prosecuting.
Joshua Spurgeon is charged with escaping from federal custody at the Grossman Community Corrections Center, a halfway house in Leavenworth, Kan. The crime is alleged to have occurred Dec. 9, 2013.If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. The U.S. Marshals Service investigated. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Tomasic is prosecuting.
Jose Angel Aguilera-Franco, 19, Bonner Springs, Kan., is charged with one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. The crime is alleged to have occurred Dec. 5, 2013, in Kansas City, Kan.
If convicted, he faces a penalty of not less than 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $10 million. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Tomasic is prosecuting.
Jose Angel Ruiz-Pena, 31, Kansas City, Kan., is charged with one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. The crime is alleged to have occurred Nov. 20, 2013, in Kansas City, Kan.
If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $1 million. Homeland Security Investigations investigated. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Tomasic is prosecuting.
William D. Mitchell, 29, Lawrence, Kan., is charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine, one count of distributing crack cocaine, one count of possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine and one count of unlawful use of a telephone in furtherance of drug trafficking. The crimes are alleged to have occurred Sept. 22, 2011, in Lawrence, Kan.
If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $1 million on each of the crack cocaine charges and a maximum penalty of four years and a fine up to $250,000 on the phone count. The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office investigated. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Tomasic is prosecuting.
Justo Herrera-Quiroz, 49, who is not a citizen of the United States, is charged with unlawfully re-entering the United States after being deported. He was found Nov. 18, 2013, in Olathe, Kan.
If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. Homeland Security Investigations investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Zabel is prosecuting.
Juan Carlos Quezada-Martinez, 50, Wichita, Kan., is charged in a superseding indictment with one count of unlawful production of an identification document, six counts of aggravated identity theft, two counts of document fraud, two counts of making a false statement to the government and one count of misusing a Social Security number. The crimes are alleged to have occurred in 2012 and 2013 in Sedgwick County, Kan.Upon conviction, the crimes carry the following penalties:
Unlawful production of an identification document: A maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison without parole and a fine up to $250,000.
Aggravated identity theft: A mandatory two years to run consecutively to the underlying sentence and a fine up to $250,000 on each count.
Document fraud: A maximum penalty of 15 years and a fine up to $250,000 on each count.
Making a false statement to the government: A maximum penalty of five years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on each count.
Misuse of a Social Security number: A maximum penalty of five years and a fine up to $250,000.The Kansas Department of Revenue and DHS Enforcement and Removal Operations investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Anderson is prosecuting.
In all cases, defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. The indictments merely contain allegations of criminal conduct.
Federal Grand Jury Indicts Two Women in Immigration Document Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
In San Antonio today, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging two women with allegedly engaging in an immigration document fraud scheme for financial gain announced United States Attorney Robert Pitman and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent In Charge Armando Fernandez, San Antonio Division.
A six-count indictment charges 48–year-old Yolanda Hernandez de Arteaga, owner/operator of the Los Compadres Restaurant in LaVernia, TX, and 55–year-old Maria de Lourdes Montano-Vicencio, an undocumented alien living in Houston, TX, with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and five substantive counts of wire fraud.
According to the indictment, from October 2010 through December 2012, the defendants initiated a series of wire fraud schemes whereby they would induce vulnerable immigrants in the LaVernia area into giving them money in exchange for securing legal immigration status documents. In the schemes, the defendants claimed to have personal contacts with immigration authorities who could provide each victim with items such as a social security card, a resident alien car and a work permit in about six months-time. During the time of the conspiracy, the defendants allegedly collected over $100,000 from more than 20 immigrants desperate for legal immigration status documents. The indictment states that on at least 22 different dates, Arteaga wired proceeds from the scheme from LaVernia to Montano-Vicencio in Houston via Western Union or MoneyGram.
The indictment further alleges that when the victim-immigrants became angry regarding the lack of documents or refund of funds, the defendants threatened to notify immigration authorities and facilitate the deportation of the immigrants if the victims made trouble.
The defendants face up to 20 years for each charge upon conviction. The federal government is also seeking a $150,000 monetary judgment against the defendants representing the proceeds derived from their alleged scheme.
This indictment resulted from an investigation conducted by the agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the LaVernia Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Bettina Richardson is prosecuting this case on behalf of the Government.
An indictment is merely a charge and should not be considered as evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Elk County Man Violated Federal Firearms and Narcotics LawsRead the Press Release
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. - A resident of Brockport, Pa., pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of violating federal narcotics and firearms laws, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
James A. Volpe, 55, pleaded guilty to four counts before United States District Judge Kim R. Gibson.
In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised that Volpe distributed an imprint die on Aug. 20, 2012, which would facilitate the production of counterfeit Viagra tablets. In addition, on Nov. 1, 2012, Volpe possessed with the intent to distribute in excess of 50 marijuana plants and 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, and he also possessed a German Sports Gun pistol. He had been convicted in 2009 in United States District Court of unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Federal law prohibits persons who have been convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for more than one year from possessing ammunition or firearms. Unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon is such a crime.
Judge Gibson scheduled sentencing for April 29, 2014, at 9:30 a.m. The law provides for a total sentence of 58 years in prison, a fine of $5,510,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the criminal history of the defendant.
Assistant United States Attorney John J. Valkovci, Jr., is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration - Office of Criminal Investigations and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Volpe.
According to Mr. Hickton, Volpe is being prosecuted as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a collaborative effort by federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and communities to prevent, deter, and prosecute gun crime.
Dubuque Man Sentenced to over Eight Years' Imprisonment for Unlawful Possession of FirearmsRead the Press Release
A felon who unlawfully possessed two firearms was sentenced today to more than eight years in federal prison.
Daniel Campbell, age 30, from Dubuque, Iowa, received the prison term after a September 5, 2013, jury verdict finding him guilty of one count of possession of a firearm by a felon.
The evidence at trial showed that around 11:00 p.m. on June 10, 2013, officers from the Dubuque Police Department responded to a 911 call regarding a man with a firearm on Bluff Street. As officers approached the area, they spotted Campbell who matched the description provided in the 911 call. When an officer asked Campbell to stop, Campbell ran away and pulled two guns from his pants. Campbell tossed one gun as he ran through an alley behind a church. Campbell took the second gun and fired a shot over his shoulder at the pursuing officers before tossing the gun into a fenced-in area behind the church. Campbell hid from officers in a trash pile a couple of blocks away before being apprehended around 12:30 a.m. Campbell had previously been convicted in United States District Court in 2007 of providing a false statement to a federal firearms licensee, a felony offense.
Campbell was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge James E. Gritzner from the Southern District of Iowa. Campbell was sentenced to 97 months’ imprisonment. A special assessment of $100 was imposed. He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system. Campbell is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel C. Tvedt and was investigated by the Dubuque Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.
Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is 13-CR-1010.
Developer, Praveen Kailas, Sentenced to 30 Months for Theft of Government Funds and Conspiracy ChargesRead the Press Release
PRAVEEN KAILAS, age 30, a resident of New Orleans, Louisiana, was sentenced to 30 months in prison by the Honorable Sarah S. Vance after pleading guilty in August to a bill of information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit theft of government funds (18 U.S.C. § 371) and one count of theft of government funds (18 U.S.C. § 641), announced the U.S. Attorney’s Office today.
KAILAS’s charges stem from his company, Lago Construction, L.L.C.’s, overbilling its construction monitoring subcontract for the Louisiana Road Home’s Small Rental Property Program (“SRPP”). The Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) funds the SRPP which provides monetary assistance to property owners to repair their small scale rental properties damaged by Hurricanes Katrina or Rita. In order to receive the grant, a small rental property owner has to agree to make the renovated rental units available to moderate to low-income tenants for a period of years. HUD provided the State of Louisiana Office of Community Development with federal funds to administer the SRPP. The State of Louisiana in turn subcontracted with private entities to oversee the administration of the SRPP, including the renovation of the properties.
Starting on June 6, 2011, Lago Construction, L.L.C., began its subcontract performing construction monitoring of the renovations of SRPP funded properties. KAILAS’s theft of federal funds designated for SRPP administration began from the inception of Lago Construction, L.L.C.’s subcontract when Naveen Kailas was billed for working on the subcontract 40 hours each week, but did not spend 40 hours each week performing SRPP construction monitoring services or any other administrative services.
KAILAS admitted that he and other stakeholders of Lago Construction, L.L.C., solicited monitors to work on the construction of a home they owned in New Orleans, Louisiana, and/or to work at other companies owned and operated by them. Hours that these monitors spent on other projects for KAILAS and other stakeholders of Lago Construction, L.L.C., were not deducted from the hours that were billed to the SRPP contract nor were the monitors paid separately for the work they performed on other projects. KAILAS and Lago Construction, L.L.C., were paid from federal dollars for these monitors as if they had spent all the hours they billed each week performing services related to the SRPP.
The court found KAILAS overbilled $236,000 and ordered him to pay restitution to HUD in the amount of $67,524.00 because the entity dispersing the HUD funds previously withheld $168,476.00 from KAILAS’s invoices. KAILAS will be on 3 years supervised release following his release from prison.
The case was investigated by the Department of Housing and Urban Development-OIG and the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the Department of Homeland Security-OIG. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Emily K. Greenfield.
Detroit Woman Sentenced for Theft of Funds Earmarked for Lighthouse of Oakland CountyRead the Press Release
Linda Linseman, 56, of Detroit, Michigan, was sentenced yesterday to 32 months imprisonment by Judge Robert H. Cleland for her theft of more than $385,000 in Federal and State grant funds designated to Lighthouse of Oakland, a non-profit organization in Pontiac, Michigan, dedicated to helping the homeless, announced United States Attorney Barbara L. McQuade.
McQuade was joined in the announcement by Giovanni Tiano, Special Agent in Charge, Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General (DHS-OIG) and Barry McLaughlin, Special Agent in Charge, Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General.
The case arose from Linseman’s employment as the Program Manager for Lighthouse’s Emergency Services Division. During a four year period starting in late 2008, Linseman misdirected funds designated for rental housing for the homeless to her friends and relatives as phony landlords and even paid her own rent in this manner.
United States Attorney McQuade stated, "This defendant stole taxpayer funds intended to benefit the homeless. She not only abused her position of trust, but denied shelter to those who need it most."
Special Agent in Charge Abbate stated, “Ms. Linesman abdicated the responsibilities of her trusted position to line her own pockets. In the process, she not only breached the public trust, but also stole funds intended to provide basic shelter for those in our community who need it most. The FBI Detroit Field Office, working with our law enforcement partners, remains dedicated to rooting out those who corrupt essential public systems. We will continue to bring these criminals to justice.”
Special Agent in Charge Tiano stated, “The DHS OIG is pleased with the successful outcome of this investigation and will continue to be committed to aggressively pursuing those individuals who seek to exploit the integrity of the DHS programs and operations for their own greed-driven motivations.”
The investigation of this case was conducted by special agents of the FBI, and the Offices of Inspector General for the Departments of Housing and Urban Development and Homeland Security and by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ross MacKenzie.
Deported Guatemalan Sentenced to Time-Served for Re-Entering United StatesRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH - An individual found in Pittsburgh has been sentenced in federal court to time served on his conviction of re-entry into the United States after deportation, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
Chief United States District Judge Joy Flowers Conti imposed the sentence on Milton Garcia-Lopez, 25, formerly from Guatemala.
According to the information presented to the court, Garcia-Lopez, an alien, was removed from the United States by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement on April 12, 2007. Milton Garcia-Lopez was found on May 27, 2013, subsequent to his arrest in Pittsburgh, Pa.
Assistant United States Attorney Paul E. Hull prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
U.S. Attorney Hickton commended the Immigration and Customs Enforcement for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Milton Garcia-Lopez.
Defendants Sentenced for Roles in Major Methamphetamine Distribution ConspiracyRead the Press Release
WICHITA FALLS, Texas— Three defendants, who pleaded guilty in late August 2013 to their respective roles in a major methamphetamine distribution conspiracy operating in Wichita Falls, Texas, were sentenced on Monday by U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas.
Chance Terrell Dotson, 35, was sentenced to 235 months in federal prison; Heather Michelle Douglas, 33, was sentenced to 180 months; and Paula Aimee Vazquez, 40, was sentenced to 84 months.
According to documents filed in the cases, Dotson admitted that on numerous occasions from October 2010 to June 2012, he purchased pseudoephedrine tablets to use in manufacturing methamphetamine from numerous Walmart stores in the Houston area. He further admitted that he purchased pseudoephedrine from as many as 17 different Walmart stores in a single day and arranged to sell the pseudoephedrine to co-defendant Steve Ysasaga and others. Sometimes Ysasaga drove to Houston to obtain the pseudoephedrine from Dotson; other times Dotson transported the tablets to Wichita Falls. Dotson admitted purchasing 286 boxes of pseudoephedrine during the course of the conspiracy.
Douglas and Vazquez admitted that on multiple occasions between November 2011 and August 2012, they distributed quantities of methamphetamine to customers in the Wichita Falls area. Co-conspirators supplied them with the methamphetamine. Douglas also admitted she facilitated the manufacture of methamphetamine by purchasing pseudoephedrine tablets from various individuals. In turn, Douglas sold those tablets knowing they would be used to manufacture methamphetamine. Douglas and Vazquez also helped facilitate the May 13, 2012, beating of an individual in retaliation for that individual’s suspected theft of money and drugs.
To date, 38 of the 39 defendants charged in this conspiracy have entered guilty pleas; a total of 32 defendants have been sentenced. The case against one defendant has not been resolved.
Paragraph Seven.
This Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Texas DPS; and the Wichita Falls Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary F. Walters is in charge of the prosecution.
Daniel Gallagher Sentenced to Four Years in Prison for Bribery Involving Public OfficialsRead the Press Release
Former Cuyahoga County employee Daniel Gallagher was sentenced to four years in prison today for engaging in a series of bribery conspiracies involving public officials, federal law enforcement officials announced today.
Gallagher, 62, of Strongsville, was also ordered to pay $87,000 in restitution by U.S. District Judge Sara Lioi. He previously pleaded guilty to eight counts, including Hobbs Act conspiracy, conspiracy to bribe programs receiving federal funds, destruction of records and subscribing a false tax return.
“This defendant was involved in several bribery schemes involving public officials,” said Stephen D. Anthony, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Cleveland office. “The FBI will continue efforts to root out corruption at any level.”
Gallagher admitted to his involvement in several bribery schemes involving Frank Russo, Jimmy Dimora, J. Kevin Kelley, Kevin Payne, Samir Mohammad, Anthony Ma, Anthony Calabrese and others. All of those defendants have previously been found guilty of related offenses.
Gallagher worked as an employee in the Cuyahoga County Engineer’s Office until his retirement in 2002; he subsequently started a company called Eagle Consulting.
A company paid approximately $143,000 to Gallagher and Eagle Consulting related to efforts to keep theCounty Engineer’s Office at the Stonebridge complex. Gallagher in turn gave a portion of the money to Kevin Payne, who used it to pay for limousines, gambling trips and personal services for Dimora, according to court documents.
Other bribery schemes included orchestrating the use of certain software for the Engineer’s Office, with payments then going to Eagle Consulting, and helping steer another county contract to a business that paid $115,000 to Gallagher, which was distributed to Payne, Kelley and others. Eagle Consulting was also used as a way to funnel bribes to Kevin Kelley, who was a member of the Parma School Board, from a company that received a $1.8 million contract from the Parma Schools, according to court documents.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Antoinette T. Bacon and Ann C. Rowlandfollowing an investigation by the FBI and IRS – Criminal Investigation.
Convergex Group Subsidiary and Two Employees Plead Guilty <br /> to Securities and Wire Fraud ChargesRead the Press Release
A brokerage subsidiary of ConvergEx Group LLC pleaded guilty today to charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud. ConvergEx Group has also agreed to pay $43.8 million in criminal penalties and restitution as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice. In addition, Jonathan Daspin, the head trader at the brokerage subsidiary, and Thomas Lekargeren, a sales trader at a different ConvergEx subsidiary, both pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud before U.S. District Judge Jose Linares in the District of New Jersey.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Assistant Director in Charge Valerie Parlave of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and Inspector in Charge Phillip Bartlett from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) made the announcement.
ConvergEx Global Markets Limited (CGM Limited), a former broker-dealer registered in Bermuda, has also agreed to plead guilty today. The department also filed today a criminal information in connection with a deferred prosecution agreement, charging ConvergEx Group with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud and one count of wire fraud. To resolve the charges, ConvergEx Group and CGM Limited have agreed to pay in total a criminal penalty of approximately $18.0 million and forfeit approximately $12.8 million, for a total penalty of $30.8 million, and additionally to pay restitution of approximately $12.8 million to defrauded customers.
In a parallel action, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also reached a resolution today with three ConvergEx Group subsidiaries, Daspin and Lekargaren.
“As described in the guilty plea agreements and charging documents announced today, ConvergEx – which was a broker for some of the most sophisticated institutional investors in the world – along with several of its employees, engaged in a concerted and coordinated effort to fleece its clients by charging them millions of dollars in unwarranted fees – which ConvergEx called “trading profits,” or “spread” – and then concealing those charges from its clients through a pattern of deception,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman. “Although the theft of money from ConvergEx’s clients was large in scale, the fraud scheme was committed in the most basic of ways: ConvergEx and its traders, plain and simple, lied to their clients to hide that they were stealing their money. This coordinated bilking of clients by a broker-dealer – accomplished through intentional and repeated misrepresentations – not only inflicted real financial losses on investors, but also undermines investors’ confidence in the integrity and reliability of the financial markets. As the guilty pleas and resolutions announced today show, we will not tolerate this type of criminal conduct and we will hold both institutions and individuals to account.”
“With today’s guilty pleas, ConvergEx and two of its employees admitted their roles in a scheme in which they committed securities fraud,” said Assistant Director in Charge Parlave. “By doing so, they hid the fact that they were secretly earning millions of dollars by deliberately fabricating transaction reports which were provided to clients with false details regarding their orders. The FBI will continue to investigate allegations of securities fraud and abuse to ensure those who participate in the global trading market are doing so fairly.”
“This is yet another example of the significant results that can be achieved when law enforcement agencies partner, share information, and collaborate,” said USPIS Inspector Bartlett. “The Inspection Service values its partnership with the FBI and SEC in this case.”
According to court documents, certain ConvergEx Group broker-dealers that provided agency brokerage services and disclosed to clients that they would charge commissions for their services regularly routed securities orders to CGM Limited in Bermuda so that it could take a mark-up (an additional amount paid for the purchase of a security) or mark-down (a reduction of the amount received for the sale of a security) when executing the orders. ConvergEx employees referred to such mark-ups and mark-downs as “spread,” “trading profits,” or “TP.”
To hide the fact that spread had been taken on trades, traders at CGM Limited and sales traders at a ConvergEx Group subsidiary in New York sent false transaction reports to clients with fabricated details regarding the execution orders, including the number of shares involved in a trade, the time at which a trade was executed and the price at which shares were either purchased or sold. CGM Limited traders, including Daspin, created these false reports using exchange data from transactions entered into by others on the same trade date as the trades that had been executed by CGM Limited on behalf of its clients. Daspin instructed a sales trader while creating a false report to “Please put all Prints in one spreadsheet in the least Friendly Format….If possible take this out of spreadsheet Format and make a PDF – Or put this in picture file or something tricky to manipulate.” In another instance, Daspin notified an executive that “We need to be creative putting something together as did not have time and sales for the price given. Fyi.” In total, CGM Limited took approximately $12.8 million in trading profits from these clients after it had sent the false statements to them.
Daspin and others also came up with a plan to continue taking spread on a client by violating the client’s instructions to provide “real-time” transactional data, i.e., an immediate data feed of the details of trades that CGM Limited executed for the client in offshore markets through foreign brokers. If the client’s instructions had been followed, CGM Limited’s traders would not have been able to take spread on the client’s trades. Daspin and other CGM Limited traders “turned off” real time for certain portions of the client’s orders and took spread while “real-time” was turned off. On several occasions, when the client asked why it was not receiving real-time data, Lekargeren falsely blamed it on various “IT” issues.
Certain employees of CGM Limited and the broker-dealers offering agency brokerage services also took other steps designed to conceal the fact that CGM Limited was taking spread and the fact that spread was included in the trade prices reported to clients, including: taking smaller amounts of spread on certain price-sensitive clients; taking larger amounts of spread when it was less likely to be discovered; insuring that the marked-up price they charged to clients was within the high or low price at which the security traded that day; and using multiple local brokers during the course of a trade so that a client would not be able to track the execution of the client’s order through publicly available resources.
The head of the division offering transition management services – which provided clients in the process of changing fund managers or investment strategies the ability to execute large orders to buy and sell securities – provided several clients with false information to hide trading profits. In July 2010, for example, this executive caused a client to be told that “no principal trading has been carried out in any transition” for that client, when this executive knew CGM Limited had traded in a principal capacity and had taken approximately $1.75 million of trading profits on the client’s trades a month earlier. After that false response was sent to the client, CGM Limited’s traders took approximately $4.5 million of additional trading profits on that client’s trades.
In addition, ConvergEx employees assisted an unaffiliated provider of transition services in concealing that it was receiving a 50 to 60 percent share of the trading profits CGM Limited was taking on the unaffiliated company’s clients, in violation of the unaffiliated company’s client agreements. The unaffiliated company sent invoices addressed to ConvergEx Group that falsely stated that they were for trading cost analysis, when in fact the invoices were sent to cover up that the payments were in fact for the unaffiliated company’s share of the spread taken by CGM Limited on its clients.
As part of the deferred prosecution agreement with ConvergEx Group, the department highlighted the internal investigation conducted by the company; its extraordinary and ongoing cooperation; its extensive remediation, including terminating officers and employees, ceasing all trading activities at CGM Limited and voluntarily relinquishing the subsidiary’s Bermudan securities license; and enhancing its compliance program and internal controls; as well as the guilty plea by CGM Limited and its agreement to pay restitution and the significant sanctions imposed by the SEC.
The case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the Washington, D.C., and New York offices of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Justin Goodyear, Jason Linder and Patrick Pericak of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
The SEC referred the matter to the Justice Department for investigation, and the department expresses its appreciation for the significant assistance provided by the SEC.
The department also recognizes the assistance of the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.Columbus Man Sentenced to 44 Years in Prison for Drug Trafficking and Gun CrimesRead the Press Release
CONTACT: Fred Alverson
Public Affairs OfficerCOLUMBUS – Jack A. Morris, 38, of Columbus was sentenced to 44 years in prison for operating a drug trafficking organization and using violence to protect his drug trade.
Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Michael Boxler, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Columbus Field Division (ATF), and Gahanna Police Chief Dennis Murphy announced the sentence imposed today by U.S. District Judge Gregory L. Frost.A jury convicted Morris in August of one count of conspiracy to distribute oxycodone, two gun counts, and nine counts of illegally trafficking marijuana and oxycodone.
Trial testimony showed that Morris and others supplied street level distributors of marijuana, cocaine and oxycodone with firearms and body armor as a way of protecting themselves from potential robberies. Morris also placed firearms in strategic locations throughout his house in order to intimidate potential robbers and protect the narcotics and proceeds kept at the house.
Two others indicted with Morris in April 2013, Jeremy S. Baker, 25, of Blacklick, and Judy L. Kindle, 45, of Columbus, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute oxycodone. Baker was sentenced to 36 months in prison. Kindle was sentenced to 30 months in prison. Christopher Wilcox, 30, of Reynoldsburg, pleaded guilty to supplying firearms including an AK-47 and an AR-15, knowing that the weapons were to be used in the drug trafficking. Wilcox was sentenced to 48 months in prison.
Morris has been in custody since his arrest in May 2013.
U.S. Attorney Stewart commended the investigation conducted by ATF and the Gahanna Police officers, and Assistant U.S. Attorney David DeVillers and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen C. Dunbar with Columbus City Attorney Rick Pfeiffer’s Office, who prosecuted the case.
College Park Policeman Indicted for Illegally Obtaining U.S. CitizenshipRead the Press Release
ATLANTA – Devon Campbell, a/k/a Wilmott Alvin Livingston, a former Jamaican police officer who illegally entered the United States and has since become a U.S. citizen and a College Park police officer, has been arraigned on charges relating to false statements he made on his applications to obtain U.S. citizenship and a passport, and other related crimes.
“According to the indictment, over the last 13 years, Campbell has been engaged in a pervasive scheme to deceive U.S. immigration authorities,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates. “Even more boldly, Campbell has used his fraudulently obtained citizenship to become a police officer. Simply stated, the citizens of College Park deserve police officers who will follow the laws that they have been sworn to enforce.”
"Law enforcement officers hold positions of public trust requiring the highest levels of integrity," said Brock D. Nicholson, special agent in charge of HSI Atlanta. "The defendant has betrayed that public trust with a life of fraud and deceit. HSI special agents, with assistance from the HSI Jamaica attaché and the Jamaican Constabulary Force, have taken quick action to unmask this impostor and ensure he will never again wear a police officer's uniform in this country."
According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges, and other information presented in court: In 2000, Campbell lived in Jamaica, where he had previously worked as a police officer with the Jamaican Constabulary Force. On November 7, 2000, Campbell left Jamaica and entered the United States using a Jamaican passport bearing the fabricated name Wilmott Alvin Livingston with a false date of birth.
While in the United States, Campbell has lived under the Livingston alias. On April 19, 2001, Campbell (using the Livingston alias) married a United States citizen in Jonesboro, Ga. Shortly thereafter, Campbell (under the Livingston name) petitioned to become a Lawful Permanent Resident. On August 13, 2004, U.S. immigration authorities granted the application and Campbell become a permanent resident of the United States.
On October 15, 2007, Campbell, using the fake name and date of birth, filed an Application for Naturalization with U.S. immigration services. Although the application required Campbell to list any previously-used names, Campbell marked that section with the letters “N/A,” meaning “Not Applicable.” Campbell also signed the form under penalty of perjury using the name Wilmott Alvin Livingston. On April 11, 2008, Campbell (under the Livingston alias) became a naturalized U.S. citizen. Later that month, Campbell applied for and was issued a U.S. passport. On the passport application, Campbell falsely listed his name and date of birth. Campbell has used his fraudulently-obtained passport to travel back and forth to Jamaica.
Two months after becoming a U.S. citizen, on June 12, 2008, Campbell (under the Livingston identity) and his wife divorced. Eight days later, Campbell (under the Livingston identity) married another woman.
Since 2011, Campbell has served as a police officer with the College Park Police Department. In obtaining his Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training certification, Campbell falsely claimed to be a naturalized United States citizen and submitted an unlawfully obtained Certificate of Naturalization.
On December 17, 2013, Campbell, 46, of Ellenwood, Ga., was indicted by a federal grand jury for one count each of: (a) Unlawfully Procuring Citizenship or Naturalization, (b) Making False Statements in a Passport Application, (c) Misusing Evidence of Citizenship, and (d) Using a Passport Secured by False Statements. The most serious of the charges carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. In determining the actual sentence, the Court will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders.
Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only contains charges. The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
This case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations.
Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey W. Davis is prosecuting 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/.
Codefendant in Methylone Distribution Case sentenced to one year in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
Anchorage, Alaska - U.S. Attorney Karen L. Loeffler announced today that Chad Cameron, 19, of Wasilla, Alaska, was sentenced to one year in federal prison for his role in the methylone conspiracy that resulted in the April 2012 death of Matt Scott. Robin Gattis, 20, was sentenced to 16 years in prison earlier this month.
Cameron pled guilty in March 2013, admitting that he attempted to possess 850 grams of methylone that was shipped from China to Alaska in July 2012. In the plea agreement, Cameron also admitted that he had wired money to China to pay for drugs beginning in November 2011, when he was still a juvenile. Cameron also admitted wiring money to China in June 2012, after Scott’s death, to purchase more methylone. That shipment, addressed to Cameron, was intercepted by U.S. Customs in Chicago. Cameron was arrested along with Gattis and codefendant Stephen Kimbrell on the Kenai Peninsula in July 2012, after Customs intercepted another package addressed to Kimbrell in Soldotna.
Chief U.S. District Court Judge Ralph R. Beistline imposed the sentence. Chief Judge Beistline referred to designer drugs such as methylone as “an epidemic” in this community. Cameron told the judge that the drugs were his “escape” and said “I did it for fun.” Cameron said that he thought it was “no big deal” to sell the drugs, and that he expected at most a “slap on the wrist” if he were caught. In addition to Gattis, two other defendants have already been sentenced to terms of probation. Three remaining defendants are scheduled for sentencing in January.
Methylone, a Schedule I controlled substance, also popularly known as “Molly,” “M1,” “MDMC,” and “Rolls,” is a synthetic drug similar to ecstasy (“MDMA”), and is commonly imported from China via the internet for use in the U.S., particularly at clubs, parties and other social gatherings such as “raves.”
Ms. Loeffler commends Homeland Security Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Anchorage Police Department, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Mat-Su Drug Unit for the investigation of this case.
Child Pornography Offenders Receive A Combined 43 Years in PrisonRead the Press Release
DES MOINES, IA - Nicholas A. Klinefeldt, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa, announced the conclusion of a multi-agency investigation of internet-related child pornography crimes in the Southern District of Iowa.
The investigation, spearheaded by Homeland Security Investigations-Des Moines, Iowa, centered on the trading of child pornography pictures and videos on peer-to-peer file-sharing networks. Five defendants were charged and convicted in separate prosecutions and were sentenced to a combined total of more than 43 years in prison: Francisco Zayas (Marshalltown), 240 months; Monroe Wardlow (Grinnell), 96 months; Enrique Guzman (Osceola), 80 months; William Trimble, Jr. (Albia), 60 months; and Michael Hanold (Creston), 48 months. After serving their terms of imprisonment, each defendant will be required to serve a term of supervised release of at least 5 years and to register as a sex offender.
Other law enforcement agencies assisting with the operation included the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, and the Iowa police departments of Albia, Creston, Grinnell, Marshalltown, and Osceola. The cases were prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa as part of its “Project Safe Childhood” initiative.
(Download Press Release )
Cape Cod Man Sentenced to 15 Years for Child Sex CrimeRead the Press Release
BOSTON - A Teaticket, Mass. man was sentenced today for attempted enticement of two teenage girls.
Kevin B. Reid, 30, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Sr. Mark L. Wolf to 15 years in prison and five years of supervised release. In April 2013, Reid pleaded guilty to attempted coercion and enticement of a minor.
Reid initiated contact with a 16-year-old Cape Cod girl over Facebook. The girl became bothered by the then 28-year-old defendant's contacts and told her mother. The girl's mother then initiated contact with Reid pretending to be her daughter. Eventually the mother's sister communicated with the defendant pretending to be a 14-year-old girl. When Reid’s communications became sexually explicit, the police were contacted and an undercover federal agent assumed the identity of the two "girls." Reid directed the two girls to make a pornographic video and ultimately instructed them to travel by bus to Cape Cod, where the three could have sex. In March 2012, Reid was arrested in Hyannis, as he ran to greet the bus he believed carried the two teenage girls.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Kevin Niland, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, made the announcement today. The case was prosecuted by David G. Tobin of Ortiz’s Major Crimes Unit.
Cambria County Woman Sentenced to Probation for Controlled Substances Distribution SchemeRead the Press Release
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. - A resident of Elmora, Pa., has been sentenced in federal court to two years probation on her conviction of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
United States District Judge Kim R. Gibson imposed the sentence on Lori A. Weaver, 43.
According to information presented to the court, from July 2008 to May 9, 2011, Weaver conspired to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute quantities of oxycodone and methadone. Evidence presented to the court at the time of Weaver's sentencing reflected that Weaver conspired with George M. Lowmaster and others in order to facilitate and promote Lowmaster's drug distribution organization.
Assistant United States Attorney John J. Valkovci, Jr., prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
A joint task force, headed by the Laurel Highlands Resident Agency of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Weaver. Other agencies participating on the task force include the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, Pennsylvania State Police, Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office, Cambria County District Attorney's Office, Carrolltown Police Department, Patton Police Department, Ebensburg Police Department, Portage Police Department and Paint Township Police Department.
Business Owner Indicted for BriberyRead the Press Release
ATLANTA – Jae Jun Bae has been indicted by a federal grand jury for wire fraud and bribery.
“The defendant is charged with offering bribes to subvert the proper operation of Doraville’s government,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates. “As is usually the case, the government employees reported Bae’s misdeeds – allowing law enforcement officers to thwart his efforts to offer cash for favors.”
Ricky Maxwell, Acting Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office, stated: “Public corruption matters at all levels continue to be an investigative priority for the FBI because of the harm that it causes both with government operations and public trust. We ask the public to remain vigilant regarding criminal activities not only by public or elected officials, but also by those engaging the government, and ask that they report those activities to their nearest FBI field office.”
"Doraville is thankful to be able to work in partnership with the FBI,” said Doraville Police Chief John King. “Public corruption erodes the confidence and trust that our citizens have in our government officials and employees. Doraville Police Officers works tirelessly with the citizens and our partnering law-enforcement agencies to make sure that our city is free of corruption and filled with trust."
According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges, and other information presented in court: Bae is the owner of Moon Lingerie, a lingerie business located in Doraville, Ga. In April 2012, Bae bought a commercial building located on Buford Highway in Doraville. At the time of the purchase, the property was zoned for retail use and could not be used as a wholesale location as Bae wanted. In August 2012, Bae met with an employee of the City of Doraville and attempted to give the employee an envelope of cash, ostensibly in an effort to have the Buford Highway property re-zoned. The employee did not take the envelope and reported Bae’s attempt to local law enforcement authorities.
In October 2013, Bae asked to meet with an employee of Doraville’s Community Development Department. Based on the allegations from August 2012, the employee (“Doraville Employee”) reported Bae’s request for a meeting to law enforcement authorities and agreed to cooperate with them. Thereafter, the FBI and the Doraville Police Department conducted a series of undercover operations involving Bae. In particular, on October 17, 2013, Bae met with the Doraville Employee and an undercover officer (“UC”), who was posing member of Doraville’s Community Development Department. During the meeting, Bae agreed to pay approximately $100,000 to have the Buford Highway property re-zoned to permit wholesale uses. On October 18, 2013, Bae met with the UC and re-negotiated the price to obtain a wholesale re-zoning from $100,000 down to $70,000. On October 29, 2013, Bae made a $5,000 payment to the Doraville Employee as a deposit to get the Buford Highway property re-zoned. On the next day, Bae gave the UC a $3,000 payment, which the UC said would secure a vote in favor of Bae’s re-zoning application. On November 14, 2013, the FBI arrested Bae.
On December 3, 2013, Bae, 34, of Duluth, Ga., was indicted by a federal grand jury on five counts of wire fraud and one count of bribery. The most serious of the charges (wire fraud) carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on each count. In determining the actual sentence, the Court will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders.
Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only contains charges. The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Doraville Police Department.
Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey W. Davis and Special Assistant United States Attorney Erin Sanders are prosecuting 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/.
Buffalo Man Pleads Guilty to Gun and Drug ChargesRead the Press Release
BUFFALO, N.Y.? U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Juan Lopez, 30, of Buffalo, N.Y., pleaded guilty to possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking activities and being a felon in possession of firearms before U.S. Magistrate Judge Leslie G. Foschio. The charges carry a maximum penalty of life in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa M. Marangola, who is handling the case, stated that in 2008, the defendant began utilizing Pennsylvania residents as straw purchasers to buy firearms in exchange for money and cocaine. These firearms were then brought to Buffalo for the purpose of drug trafficking. Lopez was a convicted felon at the time and unable to legally purchase firearms in New York.
“This office has made fighting violent criminal organizations a top priority,” said U.S. Attorney Hochul. “Sometimes those efforts require arresting gang members, as we have done on many occasions in the past. Another essential component, however, consists of arresting those who brings guns into the community where they end up in the hands of violent criminals.”
Lopez was arrested in September 2012 along with seven other defendants. A total of eight defendants have been convicted. He is currently serving 25 years in New York State prison for two previous attempted murder convictions.The Indictment is the culmination of an investigation by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, under the direction of Resident Agent in Charge Frank Christiano.
Breaux Bridge Man Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison for CounterfeitingRead the Press Release
LAFAYETTE, La. –United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that Joshua J. Dore, 28, of Breaux Bridge, La., was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Richard T. Haik to 18 months in prison and two years of supervised release for counterfeiting. He pleaded guilty August 8, 2013.
According to evidence presented at the guilty plea, St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office detectives questioned Jacob Boudreaux on November 12, 2012. He was caught on camera in Breaux Bridge attempting to use a counterfeit $5 bill at a convenience store. After questioning, the detectives determined Dore made the fake money. They searched a home where Dore was staying and found a color printer, a bag of résumé paper, and 22 pages of counterfeit U.S. Currency printed with denominations of $5, $10, $20, and $100 bills. Additionally, they found a bag of shredded counterfeit currency. Dore admitted to making the counterfeit money between November 5 and November 12, 2012, and providing the counterfeit bills to his friends. Authorities also found $263 of legitimate currency on his person. One of the bills had a serial number that matched the counterfeit $5 bill found with Boudreaux at the convenience store.
The U.S. Secret Service and the St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly P. Uebinger prosecuted the case.
Ben Avon Man Pleads Guilty to Receiving Pornographic Videos of MinorsRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH - A Pittsburgh-area resident pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge of receipt of material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
Charles Appel, 71, pleaded guilty to one count before Chief United States District Judge Joy Flowers Conti.
In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised that Appel received by United States mail, on or about Feb. 21, 2011, a video which depicted the sexual exploitation of minor boys from a Canadian video production company known as “Azov”, which previously operated a website offering DVD’s and streaming videos depicting children being sexually exploited. Appel ordered and received the video, titled “Boy Fights XIX: Triple Threat (2009)”, in both electronic and DVD format for $29.95 on Feb. 21, 2011, which he paid for with a credit card. During the period May 15, 2009 through March 13, 2011, Appel ordered videos from Azov on 29 occasions for a total cost of $1,864.54.
Judge Conti scheduled sentencing for March 28, 2014 at 3:00 p.m. The law provides for a total sentence of not less than 5 years nor more than 20 years in prison, a fine of $250,000.00, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Pending sentencing, the court continued defendant’s bond with the added condition that he register as a sex offender.
Assistant United States Attorney Carolyn J. Bloch is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The United States Postal Inspection Service conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Appel.
Belcourt Man Found Guilty of Assault in Fort YatesRead the Press Release
BISMARCK– U.S. Attorney Timothy Q. Purdon announced that on Dec. 18, 2013, Danny DeLong, 29, Belcourt, N.D., was convicted by a federal jury on a charge of assault with a dangerous weapon.
On Dec. 13, 2012, Danny DeLong and co-defendant Melvin DeLong were at the Diamond Z Bar in Fort Yates. Melvin DeLong and Danny DeLong initiated an altercation with several patrons before leaving the bar. Danny DeLong continued the altercation outside the bar, while Melvin DeLong retrieved his vehicle. Melvin DeLong used his vehicle to drive over the victim twice. Danny DeLong then approached the victim, who was then unconscious, and kicked the victim in the head. The victim’s injuries required medical treatment but were not life threatening.
On July 30, 2013, Melvin DeLong, 25, Belcourt, N.D., pleaded guilty to two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon. On Oct. 21, 2013, Melvin DeLong was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Daniel L. Hovland to serve two years and nine months in federal prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. Melvin DeLong was ordered to pay restitution of $19,166.65 and to pay a $200 special assessment to the Crime Victim’s Fund.
Sentencing for Danny DeLong has not been scheduled.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs – Standing Rock Agency.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Delorme is prosecuting the case.
Beaumont Jury Convicts Ohio Man in Credit Card Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
Department of Justice
Office of Public AffairsBEAUMONT, Texas – A 28-year-old Columbus, Ohio man has been found guilty of federal violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales today.
Mohamed Laye Dioubate, a naturalized citizen from Guinea, was found guilty by a jury of possessing 15 or more unauthorized access devices today following a three-day trial before U.S. District Judge Marcia Crone.
“This holiday season, I encourage everyone to be protective of their credit cards and their personal identifying information,” said U.S. Attorney Bales. “Grinches, like identity thieves, are unfortunately common this time of the year.”
According to information presented in court, on June 27, 2012, Dioubate was stopped on Interstate-10 in Beaumont for a traffic violation. A search of the vehicle revealed 158 fraudulent credit cards, a laptop computer and a credit card encoder. The credit cards contained various names and account numbers and had been used in multiple fraudulent purchases throughout the country. In November 2012, Dioubate was stopped on two separate occasions, once in Missouri and once in Indiana. During each of those stops, he was again found in possession of multiple fraudulent credit cards. On Apr. 17, 2013, Dioubate was indicted by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Texas and charged with federal violations.
Dioubate faces up to 10 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not been set.
Citizens can visit the Federal Trade Commission’s website to learn more on how to protect themselves from identity theft schemes: http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/features/feature-0014-identity-theft
This case was investigated by the Beaumont Police Department, U.S. Secret Service, St. Charles County, Missouri, Sheriff’s Office, and the Henry County, Indiana, Sheriff’s Office. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher T. Tortorice and Brit Featherston.
#######Bay Area Woman Guilty in Investment Scam That Caused over $9 Million in LossesRead the Press Release
SANTA ANA, California -- A San Jose woman was convicted today of a federal fraud charge for running a Ponzi scheme that bilked more than 250 victims out of approximately $9.5 million.
Bich Quyen Nguyen, 59, was found guilty conspiring to commit wire fraud, a crime that carries a possible penalty of 20 years in federal prison.
Nguyen was found guilty by a jury before United States District Judge Josephine L. Staton, who remanded Nguyen into custody after the jury’s verdict was returned. Judge Staton is scheduled to sentence Nguyen on March 13.
The evidence presented during a six-day trial showed that Nguyen told victims that she was the chief executive officer of a Swedish credit union that offered guaranteed returns as high as 46.2 percent on one-year certificates of deposit involving at least $1 million. Nguyen told victims that she used “trading platforms” and made trades at a high frequency and velocity to achieve the high rates of return. Nguyen told victims that their investments were safe because the victims’ money would be in “blocked” accounts. Nguyen told victims that she had prepared for the 2008 financial crisis so their returns were still protected and guaranteed.
To get the rates that Nguyen fraudulently promised, victims from southern California and Nevada organized private investment clubs to pool the required $1 million. Several of the victim investment clubs were located in Anaheim and Rialto. During the second half of 2008, Nguyen and co-conspirators made presentations to victims across the region, with some of the presentations taking place at churches.
In the Spring of 2009, the Securities and Exchange Commission obtained orders from United States District Judge David O. Carter that prevented Nguyen and her co-conspirators from continuing to offer these investments. Following the issuance of the injunctions, a receiver and forensic accountant reviewed records and determined that the victims’ money was never “safe,” in part because it was commingled with other victims’ money; some of the victims’ money was used to make Ponzi payments to other investors; and the promised investments were never made. Despite Judge Carter’s orders, Nguyen in May and July 2009 continued to offer investments in Las Vegas and overseas.
Previously in this case, another member of the conspiracy – Johnny Edward Johnson, 70, a former Bay Area resident who was arrested earlier this year while traveling in Central America – pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Johnson, who also faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Staton on March 28.
The investigation of Nguyen and Johnson was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The SEC provided substantial assistance.
Release No. 13-149
Bangor Man Sentenced to 15 Years for Producing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN – Thomas L. Wright, 63, of Bangor, Michigan, was sentenced in federal court to a term of fifteen years’ incarceration for producing child pornography. Wright was also sentenced to a lifetime term of supervised release. In sentencing Wright, Judge Robert Holmes Bell chastised Wright for sexually exploiting the victim.
Wright befriended a sixteen year-old boy and began a sexual relationship with the boy. In March 2009, Wright took the boy on a trip to Florida and visited Disney World. While in Florida, Wright took multiple sexually explicit pictures of the boy. Wright’s conduct was discovered in 2011, when Wright was identified as a suspect in a ring trading child pornography. Wright was confronted by federal agents from Homeland Security Investigations, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and confessed to having a sexual relationship with the then-eighteen-year-old-boy and to taking nude pictures of the boy when the boy was sixteen. Wright’s computer was examined and agents found Wright’s collection of child pornography. Wright was convicted after trial of five counts of producing child pornography, transporting child pornography across state lines, and possessing child pornography.
U.S. Attorney Patrick A. Miles, Jr., said, “Protecting children is one of our community’s highest priorities. Children should look to adults for guidance and support, and should not have to fear being exploited by them. We cannot abide those who betray that trust and prey on children for their sexual desires.”
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from sexual exploitation and abuse. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, county prosecutor’s offices, an Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force, federal, state, and local law enforcement are working closely together to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children. The partners in Project Safe Childhood work to educate local communities about the dangers of online child exploitation, and to teach children how to protect themselves. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit the following web site: www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
The investigation of this matter was conducted by HSI-ICE. Prosecution of this case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Mekaru.
END
Baltimore Business Owner Pleads Guilty in Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
Directed Persons to Steal Merchandise from Retail Stores and Exchange the Stolen Items for Gift Cards
Baltimore, Maryland – John Tadros, age 45, of Baltimore, pleaded guilty today to wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering.
The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Special Agent in Charge Brian Murphy of the United States Secret Service B Baltimore Field Office.
Tadros owned Busy Bees Convenience Mart located at 335 South Monroe Street, and J&J’s Bar and Liquor located at 1801 Ramsay Street, both in Baltimore. According to his plea agreement, from January 2009 to February 2013, Tadros directed Melissa Perry, Deanna Lynch, Mohamed Al-Omeri and others, known as boosters, to steal merchandise from large retail stores throughout Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Prince George’s, Howard and Harford Counties in Maryland, as well as Virginia, Pennsylvania and Delaware. The boosters then returned the stolen items in exchange for store gift cards. They used modified Maryland driver’s licenses that contained the personal identifier information of actual persons, without those persons’ knowledge, when returning the stolen items without a receipt.
Tadros bought the fraudulently obtained gift cards from the boosters for 50% of the card’s value. Tadros told the boosters to target specific stores at specific locations, and advised them of the best days to steal merchandise and the manner by which they modified their Maryland driver’s licenses. Tadros also collected the welfare benefit debit cards of the boosters which he held as collateral if he deemed that the boosters owed him money, and returned the benefit cards to the boosters for 50% of the card’s value. Tadros used the gift cards to purchase personal home goods, and supplies for his businesses and rental properties.
On February 27, 2013, the U.S. Secret Service executed a search warrant and seized 32 fraudulently obtained gift cards from his home. From Busy Bee, agents also seized 329 retail store receipts for purchases made with fraudulently obtained gift cards.
The actual loss to retailers in Maryland caused by the scheme is $401,326.12.
Tadros faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the wire fraud conspiracy and a $500,000 fine for money laundering. U.S. District Judge George L. Russell III scheduled his sentencing for April 14, 2014 at 9:30 a.m.
Melissa Perry, age 34; Deanna Lynch, age 44; and Mohamed Al-Omeri, age 39, previously pleaded guilty to their participation in the scheme and scheduled to be sentenced on April 3, March 7 and April 11, 2014, respectively.
Today’s announcement is part of efforts underway by President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (FFETF) which was created in November 2009 to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. attorneys’ offices and state and local partners, it’s the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations. Over the past three fiscal years, the Justice Department has filed more than 10,000 financial fraud cases against nearly 15,000 defendants including more than 2,700 mortgage fraud defendants. For more information on the task force, visit www.stopfraud.gov.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the U.S. Secret Service B Baltimore Field Office for its work in the investigation, and commended the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, Washington, D.C. Field Office for its assistance. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorney Mark W. Crooks, who is prosecuting the case.
Ball Cap Bandit Pleads Guilty to Eleven Bank RobberiesRead the Press Release
HUNTSVILLE -- A Huntsville man who was dubbed the Ball Cap Bandit because he often wore a ball cap during his crime spree pleaded guilty today in federal court to 11 counts of bank robbery, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard D. Schwein Jr.
CEDRICK LAMOND HICKS, 33, entered a guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Virginia Emerson Hopkins to 11 counts of bank robbery. Ten of those were in Alabama and one was in Tennessee. Hicks’ sentencing is scheduled March 25 in Huntsville.The date, location and amount of money stolen in the robberies Hicks pleaded guilty to are as follows:
• Feb. 22, 2012, Regions Bank, Madison Street, Huntsville, $2,870.
• March 23, 2012, First Jackson Bank, Sutton Road, Huntsville, $1,894.
• April 30, 2012, Renasant Bank, U.S. 72 West, Madison, $3,500.
• Aug. 2, 2012, Peoples Bank, U.S. 431 South, Guntersville, $890.
• Aug. 8, 2012, Traditions Bank, Alabama 67 South, Decatur, $7,243.
• Sept. 19, 2012, First National Bank of Pulaski, South First Street, Pulaski, Tenn., $23,067.
• Nov. 27, 2012, Regions Banks, Lee Street, Rogersville, $8,009.
• Jan. 7, 2013, Peoples Trust Bank, Military Street South, Hamilton, $9,000.
• March 6, 2013, ServisFirst Bank, Meridian Street, Huntsville, $6,575.
• Sept. 18, 2012, Cadence Bank, U.S. 431, Albertville, no money taken.
• Nov. 26, 2012, Traditions Bank, Second Avenue NW, Cullman, no money taken.
Hicks faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each robbery. The government also will seek restitution for the victims of his crimes.
The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Stuart Burrell is prosecuting the case.Australian National Sentenced to Prison for Child EnticementRead the Press Release
ATLANTA - Geoffrey William Hine, who traveled to Georgia to have a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl, has been sentenced on charges of child enticement.
“This office will continue to aggressively pursue individuals who seek to exploit young children, including those who travel here from foreign countries for this purpose,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates. “Engaging in sexual acts with children is a vile and violent act, and perpetrators will be held accountable for this reprehensible conduct.”
Ricky Maxwell, Acting Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office, stated: “The sentencing of Hine, an Australian national, ensures that there will be one less dangerous child predator among us. This was a unique international based child exploitation case that not only speaks to the ambitious state of mind of a predator but also to the determination of law enforcement at all levels and jurisdictions to work together in apprehending these individuals. The FBI will continue to dedicate significant investigative resources toward identifying, investigating, and presenting for prosecution those that prey on and exploit our children.”
According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court: In August 2011, Hine began a Facebook “relationship” with a 14-year-old girl who lived in Rome, Ga. At the time, Hine was a 33-year-old citizen of Australia. Hine and the girl had numerous online and phone conversations over the next few months. Hine even sent the girl's grandmother money on several occasions. Hine and the 14-year-old then planned a trip for him to come to the United States, specifically to visit her in Rome, Ga. Hine asked the girl if she would sleep in the same bed with him and engage in sexual activity when he visited. Hine continued to send sexually explicit texts to the young girl describing the sexual acts he intended to do with her. When Hine arrived in the U.S. on April 14, 2012, FBI agents met his plane at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and arrested him.
Hine, 35, of Western Australia, was sentenced to ten years in prison, to be followed by 30 years of supervised release.
This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Floyd County Police Department.
Assistant United States Attorney Cassandra J. Schansman prosecuted the case.
This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, the Attorney General launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices around the country, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
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/.
Albuquerque Man Charged with Production and Distribution of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Michael Dameon Blackburn, 28, of Albuquerque, N.M., made his initial appearance in federal court earlier today on a criminal complaint charging him with production and distribution of visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Steven C. Yarbrough, Special Agent in Charge Dennis A. Ulrich, II, of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in El Paso, Texas, Bernalillo County Sheriff Dan Houston and Albuquerque Police Chief Allen Banks.
Blackburn was arrested yesterday afternoon by HSI agents on the criminal complaint which charges Blackburn with producing and distributing child pornography in Bernalillo County, N.M., between March 2013 and Dec. 2013. Blackburn remains in federal custody pending a detention hearing scheduled for tomorrow morning.
The criminal complaint is the result of an investigation that began on Nov. 15, 2013, when the HSI in Albuquerque received information from the HSI Cyber Crimes Center about a pornographic image of a young child victim who might be in the Albuquerque area. HSI’s investigative efforts identified a residence in northeast Albuquerque as a potential location for the person who may have distributed the pornographic image of the young child victim.
According to the criminal complaint, on Dec. 17, 2013, law enforcement officers conducted a welfare check at the residence and made contact with Blackburn and two young children, a girl and a boy both two years of age, who apparently were left in Blackburn’s care while their parents were out of town. The complaint alleges that the officers learned that Blackburn had been sexually molesting the two young children from March 2013 through Dec. 2013, and taking photographs and making videos of the victims while he molested them. It further alleges that Blackburn emailed the child pornography images and videos to others.
The two young victims were removed from the residence and are in protective custody.
If convicted of the offenses charged in the criminal complaint, Blackburn faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years and a maximum of 40 years in federal prison for production of child pornography, and a mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years in federal prison for distribution of child pornography. If convicted, Blackburn also will be required to register as a sex offender after he completes his prison sentence. Charges in criminal complaints are merely accusations and a criminal defendant is presumed innocent unless found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of HSI, Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and the Albuquerque Police Department, all members of the New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, and is being 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 Operation also was brought as a part of the New Mexico 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.
-
Complaint
-