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25 September 2013
Dallas Man Sentenced to 40 Years in Federal Prison for Committing Several Violent Takeover-Style Armed Bank RobberiesRead the Press Release
Co-Defendant, Who Murdered a Brinks Security Guard, Serving Two Consecutive Life Sentences
DALLAS — Jesus Sandoval, 51, was sentenced this morning by U.S. District Judge Barbara M. G. Lynn to 40 years in federal prison after pleading guilty in January 2013 to his role in three violent, takeover-style, armed bank robberies that he and co-conspirator Enrique Lopez, 29, committed in 2009, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas.
Specifically, Sandoval pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank robbery and two counts of using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to, and possessing firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.
Lopez was sentenced in October 2012 to two consecutive life sentences, plus 85 years in federal prison, following his guilty plea in June 2012 to murdering a Brinks Security Guard and committing five violent takeover-style, armed bank robberies.
Factual resumes filed in the case detail the robberies. On February 13, 2009, Lopez and Sandoval, armed with firearms, robbed a Loomis security guard as he replenished cash in an automatic teller machine (ATM) located at the Bank of America on Camp Wisdom Road in Dallas. Lopez grabbed the guard from behind, put a pistol to his neck, threatened to kill him and demanded money. The two took the guard’s service weapon and money bags, and Lopez fired at the Loomis driver.
On August 1, 2009, Lopez and Sandoval, each armed with a firearm, robbed the Wachovia Bank located at 39703 Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway, in Dallas, threatening bank employees with death during the course of the robbery. After taking the cash, they fled in a vehicle fitted with stolen license plates.
On the morning of October 3, 2009, Sandoval and his accomplice, Lopez, each armed with a loaded pistol, entered the Chase Bank located at 12329 Lake June Road in Balch Springs. The bank was celebrating its grand opening and more than 40 people were in the bank. Lopez and Sandoval, with their pistols, threatened the lives of the people inside the bank and claimed they had a bomb in the backpack that would detonate if anyone notified the police. Following a high-speed chase, Lopez and Sandoval were arrested. Police recovered the loaded pistols, the bank’s money and the backpack from the car, which, while it did not contain a bomb, contained two boxes of ammunition.
The case was investigated by the FBI, the Dallas Police Department and the Balch Springs Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brandon McCarthy and Jerri Sims prosecuted.
Creston Kindness Sentenced in U.S. District CourtRead the Press Release
The United States Attorney's Office announced that during a federal court session in Great Falls, on September 25, 2013, before Chief U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen, CRESTON KINDNESS, a 30-year-old resident of Fort Hall, Idaho, and an enrolled member of a federally-recognized tribe, was sentenced to a term of:
Prison: 63 months
Special Assessment: $100
Forfeiture: firearm
Supervised Release: 3 years
KINDNESS was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to assault resulting in serious bodily injury.
In an Offer of Proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Danna R. Jackson, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
KINDNESS became agitated when the victim did not tell him where his girlfriend was so he shot the victim in the leg with a .40 caliber Smith and Wesson handgun. The handgun was found in the bathroom, where KINDNESS had been when he was apprehended by tribal law enforcement.
The bullet went through the victim's leg and she was hospitalized for two nights. The bullet, that was retrieved at the crime scene, had mushroomed.
The crime occurred within the exterior boundaries of the Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that KINDNESS will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, KINDNESS does have the opportunity to earn a sentence reduction for "good behavior." However, this reduction will not exceed 15% of the overall sentence.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Counter-Proliferation Working Group Holds 5th Annual U.S. Export Controls and Espionage ConferenceRecord-breaking Numbers with over 250 in AttendanceRead the Press Release
BOSTON – The Counter-Proliferation Working Group (CPWG), chaired by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, today hosted more than 250 individuals at the fifth annual conference on U.S. export controls and espionage at Boston University. Representatives from U.S. corporations, including defense contractors, and academic institutions were in attendance.
During the conference, participants were provided information on how to comply with their export obligations and protect critical technology. Also discussed was the growing national security and economic threats posed by cyberattacks and procurement efforts by foreign nationals and foreign governments, primarily the People’s Republic of China and Iran, to illegally obtain export restricted U.S. military and dual-use technology as well as intellectual property and proprietary information of U.S. companies.
The conference was organized and moderated by Assistant U.S. Attorney and Export Case Coordinator B. Stephanie Siegmann of the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Opening remarks were provided by United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Gloria Waters, Vice President and Associate Provost for Research at Boston University.
During her remarks, United States Attorney Ortiz said, “Preventing our adversaries from obtaining U.S. export restricted technology is one of our highest priorities. It is clear, however, that the government cannot guard our nation from this immense threat alone; we need the help of our business and academic partners to safeguard sensitive U.S. technology.”
Presentations were provided by representatives of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Department of Justice’s National Security Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, and Defense Security Service. Kevin J. Wolf, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration, attended the conference and spoke on the changes to U.S. export laws resulting from the recent export reform initiative. Lastly, export compliance officers from Harvard Medical School, Boston University, and iRobot spoke on a panel on export compliance issues.
The Massachusetts CPWG, chaired by AUSA Stephanie Siegmann of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, was created in December 2007 to help combat illegal exports of U.S. military parts and sensitive technology. The CPWG consists of representatives of law enforcement and intelligence agencies, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Homeland Security Investigations, Department of Commerce's Office of Export Enforcement, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Defense Security Service, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Army, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Missile Defense Agency, and Defense Intelligence Agency. The CPWG shares information regarding current threats and suspicious activities regarding the transfer of sensitive U.S. technology through illegal means and coordinates investigations.
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Conroe Man Gets Hefty Sentence for Interstate Transportation of A MinorRead the Press Release
HOUSTON – Jacob Daniel West, 34, has been ordered to prison for 13 years following his conviction of transporting a minor with the intent to engage in sexual activity, announced United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson. West pleaded guilty July 11, 2013.
U.S. District Judge Sim Lake, who accepted the plea, heard a statement written by the victim’s grandmother and handed West a sentence of 156 months in federal prison to be followed by 15 years of supervised release. West will also be ordered to register as a sex offender.
West travelled with the 14-year-old minor female from Texas through several states over the course of approximately a week in January 2013. They travelled together through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, New York, Virginia and the Carolinas before arriving in Florida.
The victim had engaged in sex acts on previous occasions with West, who was a neighbor of her mother and father. She was legally in the custody of her grandmother but had been staying with her parents on occasion at the time she left the area with West.
On Jan. 28, 2013, the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office in Ft. Pierce, Fla., located West’s car at a Sleep Inn hotel. West had rented a room at the hotel the previous night during which time he engaged in sexual activity with the victim. Officers had observed the room and arrested West as he exited.
West admitted he stole an AR-15, hand guns, money and credit cards from a deceased friend in Texas prior to leaving the state with the victim.
West will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service investigated.This case, prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sherri Zack, was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."
Coats IndictmentRead the Press Release
BATON ROUGE, LA—The United States Attorney’s Office announced today that SCOTT E. COATS, age 44, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was indicted today for robbing the First NBC Bank in Denham Springs, LA, on August 16, 2013, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2113(a). COATS is charged with taking approximately $1500 during the robbery.
COATS was previously convicted in 2005 of robbing a Hancock Bank in Baton Rouge on November 1, 2003, and an AmSouth Bank in Denham Springs on November 5, 2003. COATS was sentenced in February 2005 to 84 months imprisonment and three years of supervised release for each robbery, to be served concurrently. In December 2011, while on supervised release, COATS’ release was revoked for violations of the terms of his supervision and he was sentenced to an additional 24 months imprisonment.
This investigation was conducted by the Denham Springs Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer M. Kleinpeter who also serves as Deputy Criminal chief.
Churchill Man Pleads Guilty to Selling Drug SamplesRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH - An Allegheny County resident pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge of unlawfully selling drug samples, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
Lawrence A. Swanson, 54, pleaded guilty to one count before United States District Judge Cathy Bissoon.
In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised that Swanson, from in and around January 2005, to in and around May 2011, knowingly and unlawfully sold drug samples, specifically, samples of Allegra, Avalide, Avapro, Avelox, Benicar, Celebrex, Crestor, Cymbalta, Diovan, Diovan HCT, Evista, Janumet, Januvia, Lexapro, Lovaza, Lyrica, Micardis HCT, Namenda, Nexium, Plavix, Prevacid, Prilosec, Seroquel XR, Singular, TriCor, Vytorin, Zetia, Zyprexa, Benicar, Lipitor, and Pristi Q, prescription drugs.
Judge Bissoon scheduled sentencing for Jan. 31, 2014. The law provides for a total sentence of 10 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the offense and the criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant United States Attorney Nelson P. Cohen is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration-Office of Criminal Investigations, and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Lawrence A. Swanson.
Child Pornography Producer Sentenced to Nearly 20 Years in Federal Prison Followed by A Lifetime of Supervised ReleaseRead the Press Release
DENVER – Robert Arthur Brewster, age 42, of Clifton, Colorado, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Court Judge R. Brooke Jackson to serve 235 months (just under 20 years) in federal prison for production of child pornography, United States Attorney John Walsh and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent in Charge Kumar Kibble announced. Following the nearly 20 year sentence, Judge Jackson ordered Brewster to spend the rest of his life on court supervision as well as register as a sex offender. Brewster was also ordered to pay $3,000 to one of the victims of his crime that submitted a request for restitution. The defendant appeared at the hearing in custody, and was remanded at its conclusion.
Brewster was indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver on February 26, 2013. He pled guilty before Judge Jackson on July 10, 2013. He was sentenced on September 24, 2013.
According to court documents, including the stipulated facts contained in the plea agreement, on January 7, 2010, and Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force officer with the Kenton County Police Department in Kenton, Kentucky, working in an undercover capacity as a 13-year old girl, received an instant message from the online profile of the defendant. The chat was short, with both parties simply saying “hi”.
On January 9, 2010, the defendant identified himself as a 38-year old male living in Clifton, Colorado. The undercover officer (UCO) responded by identifying himself as a 13-year old girl living in Kentucky. The defendant and the UCO had several message sessions where the conversation became more focused on pornography. The defendant asked the UCO if she shared porn on the internet and subsequently began forwarding the UCO pictures and video clips of prepubescent minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
During the chats the defendant admitted that he took sexually explicit pictures of a minor child under the age of 12 with whom he had access. He provided those pictures to the UCO. The pictures, investigators determined, where of a minor child, under 12-years of age, to whom the defendant had access. The pictures showed sexually explicit conduct, including one where the defendant was touching the child’s vaginal area.
The defendant and the UCO discussed via chat that the UCO wanted to get a webcam. The defendant asked if the UCO would share pictures with the defendant. The defendant continued to share pictures with the UCO. Brewster also pointed the UCO to various internet locations where the UCO could view additional child pornography. The defendant also admitted that he had thousands of pictures and videos that he could share with the UCO.
On January 16, 2010, the defendant told the UCO that he had purchased the webcam for her. He then showed the UCO his bedroom via his own webcam. During this session, the UCO saw the defendant’s tattoos, which were later used to help identify him as the person who produced child pornography of the minor victim. The UCO ultimately received the webcam sent by the defendant.
A search warrant was then executed at Brewster’s residence in Clifton, Colorado. Law enforcement seized computer media from the defendant’s residence, which yielded 870 images and 22 videos of child pornography. The media also contained 23 images of the minor the defendant had access to and used to produce child pornography.
“This case shows why federal law provides for severe punishment of child pornography defendants: the defendant in this case produced child pornography by photographing his sexual abuse of a child, and then distributed the images over the internet,” said U.S. Attorney John Walsh. “This defendant will spend the rest of his life either in prison or being supervised by the court as the government does its best to stop him from hurting children ever again.”
“Some of the longer federal prison sentences are reserved for those who sexually exploit children to produce child pornography, as in Mr. Brewer’s case,” said Kumar C. Kibble, special agent in charge of HSI Denver. “Our HSI special agents are extremely vigilant about rescuing these innocent children, and pursuing prosecution against their victimizers.”
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). The Mesa County Sheriff’s Office assisted with the search warrant. The Colorado Springs ICAC officers and forensics also participated in the investigation.
The defendant was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Shana Martin and Assistant U.S. Attorney Alecia Riewerts Wolak.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about PSC, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ For more information about Internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/resources.html and click on the tab "resources."
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Charlotte Man Sentenced to 12 Months in Prison for Vehicle Emissions FraudRead the Press Release
Defendant Was A Licensed Emissions Inspector At Carolina Tire & Auto In Pineville
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – U.S. District Judge Robert J. Conrad, Jr. sentenced a Charlotte man today to 12 months in prison for conducting false vehicle emission inspections, announced Anne M. Tompkins, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Jose Manuel Cabrera, 28, of Charlotte, was also ordered to serve three years under court supervision following the prison term with the condition that he will not obtain a license to or actually conduct any vehicle emissions testing. Cabrera was also ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and to complete 100 hours of community service.
U.S. Attorney Tompkins is joined in making today’s announcement by Special Agent in Charge Maureen O’Mara of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Criminal Investigation Division (EPA-CID), Atlanta Area Office; Greg McLeod, Director of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (NC SBI); and Steven M. Watkins, Director of the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles License & Theft Bureau (NC DMV L&T).
According to court records and today’s sentencing hearing, Cabrera worked at Carolina Tire & Auto service center (Carolina Tire) in Pineville, as a mechanic and a vehicle emissions inspector licensed by the state of North Carolina. As a state-licensed emissions inspector, Cabrera tested vehicles to ensure they met federally-mandated emissions requirements. Court records show that from February 2011 to May 2012, and while employed at Carolina Tire, Cabrera conducted 164 illegal vehicle emissions inspections using surrogate vehicles to falsely pass vehicles that would have failed emissions inspection. According to court records, Cabrera performed these fraudulent emissions tests at Carolina Tire by entering into the state database the information of the vehicle that needed to be tested but then connected the testing equipment to a vehicle that was either being worked on at Carolina Tire or had already been repaired and had not been picked by the owner. The illegal practice of utilizing substitute vehicles for emissions testing is referred to in the industry as “clean scanning.” Court records indicate that Cabrera charged $60 to clean scan a vehicle. Carolina Tire’s Pineville service center was suspended from conducting emissions testing for ten years by the NC DMV L&T.
Cabrera’s sentence was enhanced because of Cabrera’s criminal history, including membership in the MS-13 gang. Cabrera was taken into custody following the sentencing hearing. He will be transferred into the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility. Federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.
The Clean Air Act is a federal law that authorizes the EPA to establish air quality standards to protect public health and welfare and to regulate emissions of hazardous air pollutants. As required by the Act, the State of North Carolina has established a vehicle emissions testing program that requires cars in 48 out of North Carolina’s 100 counties be inspected to ensure that their emissions do not exceed limits for hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, and other compounds. According to the EPA, the Charlotte metropolitan area exceeds the 8-hour standard set for ozone, a potent irritant that can cause lung damage and other types of respiratory problems. The Clean Air Act prohibits making false statements in records, including emissions certificates and database records that are required to be maintained by the Act.
The investigation of this case was conducted by the EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division, NC SBI’s Diversion and Environmental Crimes Unit and the NC DMV License & Theft Bureau, with assistance from the North Carolina Division of Air Quality, Mobile Sources Compliance Branch. The prosecution was handled by Assistant United States Attorney Steven R. Kaufman of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte.
Cary Man Sentenced for Manufacturing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
RALEIGH – United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced that today in federal court, United States District Judge Terrence W. Boyle sentenced KYLE MARTIN INCH , 28, of Cary, North Carolina to 300 months imprisonment, followed by a lifetime of supervised release.
INCH was named in an Indictment filed on February 5, 2013 charging him with three counts of Manufacture/Production of Child Pornography; ten counts of Receipt of Child Pornography; and one count of Possession of Child Pornography. On May 21, 2013, INCH pled guilty to Count 1, Manufacture/Production of Child Pornography in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 2251(a) and (e).
According to the investigation, in January 2011, the Cary Police Department initiated an online undercover investigation related to the distribution of child pornography. Agents determined that the computer used by INCH offered to distribute child pornography numerous times between January and September of 2011. Agents executed a search warrant pursuant to which they discovered that INCH had not only amassed a collection of hundreds of images and videos of child sexual abuse, but had been recording his own sexual abuse of a child.
This case is part of the Project Safe Childhood initiative, a national program aimed at ensuring that criminals exploiting children are effectively prosecuted by making full use of all available law enforcement resources at every level. For more information about this important national initiative, go to www.projectsafechildhood.gov.Investigation of this case was conducted by the Cary Police Department. Assistant United States Attorneys Leslie Cooley, Ethan Ontjes, and Jay Exum prosecuted this case for the United States, in coordination with the Wake County District Attorney’s Office.
California Mobile Lab and X-ray Provider, <br /> Diagnostic Laboratories and Radiology, to Pay $17.5 Million <br /> for Falsely Billing Medicare and Medi-CALRead the Press Release
Kan-Di-Ki LLC, formerly known as Kan-Di-Ki Inc., doing business as Diagnostic Laboratories and Radiology (Diagnostic Labs), will pay $17.5 million to settle allegations that the California-based company violated the federal and California False Claims Acts by paying kickbacks for referral of mobile lab and radiology services subsequently billed to Medicare and Medi-Cal (the state of California’s Medicaid program), the Justice Department announced today.
“This settlement demonstrates the Department of Justice’s continuing efforts to protect public funds,” said Stuart F. Delery, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division. “We will continue to work with our state partners to recover misspent monies from companies that abuse government health care programs.”
Diagnostic Labs allegedly took advantage of Medicare’s different reimbursement system for inpatient and outpatient services by charging Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs) in California discounted rates for inpatient services paid by Medicare in exchange for the facilities’ referral of outpatient business to Diagnostic Labs. For inpatient services, Medicare pays a fixed rate based on the patient’s diagnosis, regardless of specific services provided. For outpatients, Medicare pays for each service separately. Diagnostic Labs’ scheme enabled the SNFs to maximize profit earned for providing inpatient services by decreasing SNFs’ costs of providing these services. It also allegedly allowed Diagnostic Labs to obtain a steady stream of lucrative outpatient referrals that it could directly bill to Medicare and Medi-Cal. The provision of inducements, including discounted rates, to generate referrals is prohibited by federal and state law.
“When medical facility owners illegally offer discounts to customers to generate business, it results in inflated claims to government health care programs and increases costs for all taxpayers,” said Glenn R. Ferry, Special Agent in Charge for the Los Angeles Region of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General. “This $17.5 million settlement demonstrates OIG’s ongoing commitment to safeguarding federal health care programs and taxpayer dollars against all types of fraudulent activities.”
This settlement illustrates the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud and marks another achievement for the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) initiative, which was announced in May 2009 by Attorney General Eric Holder and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. The partnership between the two departments has focused efforts to reduce and prevent Medicare and Medicaid financial fraud through enhanced cooperation. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act. Since January 2009, the Justice Department has recovered a total of more than $16.6 billion through False Claims Act cases, with more than $11.8 billion of that amount recovered in cases involving fraud against federal health care programs.
This settlement resolves a lawsuit filed by former Diagnostic Lab employees, Jon Pasqua and Jeff Hauser, under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the federal and state False Claims Acts. The acts allow private citizens with knowledge of fraud to bring civil actions on behalf of the government and to share in any recovery . Together, Pasqua and Hauser will receive $3,755,500 as their share of the federal government’s recovery.
The investigation was jointly handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, the Justice Department’s Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General.
The qui tam case is captioned United States and State of California ex rel. Pasqua et al. v. Kan-Di-Ki LLC f/k/a Kan-Di-Ki Inc. d/b/a Diagnostic Laboratories and Radiology, Civ. Action No. 10 0965 JST (Rzx) (C.D. Cal.). The claims resolved by this settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
Bullhead Man Pleads Guilty to Two Counts of Domestic Assault by an Habitual OffenderRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that Derek Archambault, age 31, of Bullhead, South Dakota, appeared before U.S. District Judge Charles B. Kornmann on September 23, 2013, and pled guilty to two counts of Domestic Assault by an Habitual Offender.
Each charge carries a maximum sentence of 5 years’ imprisonment and/or a $250,000 fine, 3 years of supervised release and an additional 2 years of supervised release upon revocation. Restitution and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund may also be ordered on each count.
The conviction stems from an incident on May 20, 2010, when the Defendant assaulted the victim by hitting her in the face causing her mouth to be swollen and bruised, with cuts on her lips. At the time of the assault, Archambault had a final conviction on at least two separate prior occasions for offenses that would have been, if subject to federal jurisdiction, an assault against a spouse and intimate partner.
The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Standing Rock Agency. Assistant U.S. Attorney Troy R. Morley is prosecuting the case.
Archambault was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending sentencing which has been set for December 30, 2013.Brooklyn Man Charged with Conspiracy to Commit Honor Killings in PakistanRead the Press Release
Mohammad Ajmal Choudhry was arraigned earlier today on a superseding indictment charging him with conspiring to commit murder in a foreign county, transmitting threats via interstate communications, and visa fraud. He is next scheduled to appear in court before United States District Judge William F. Kuntz II tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. at the United States Courthouse in Brooklyn, New York.1
The charges were announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; James T. Hayes, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), New York; and Michael R. Fogarty, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge, New York Field Office, U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service.
According to the superseding indictment and other court filings submitted by the government, Choudhry’s daughter, Amina Ajmal, was held against her will in Pakistan for more than three years by relatives at her father’s direction. During that time, Ajmal, a U.S. citizen, was forced into an arranged marriage with a Pakistani national for the purpose of obtaining a U.S. visa for that individual. Ajmal eventually escaped Pakistan and returned to the United States with the assistance of a cousin and U.S. State Department officials. During subsequent recorded telephone calls between Ajmal and Choudhry, the defendant threatened to orchestrate the murder of Ajmal’s cousin if Ajmal, whose whereabouts remained unknown to the defendant, did not return immediately to the family home in Brooklyn. On February 25, 2013, after Ajmal refused to return home, Ajmal’s cousin’s father and sister were shot and killed in Pakistan. According to an eyewitness, Choudhry’s brother was observed standing over the victims, holding a gun and desecrating the bodies. Agents from HSI and the Diplomatic Security Service placed Choudhry under arrest in Brooklyn later that same day.
“As alleged, the defendant viewed his daughter as a commodity to be bartered. When she escaped those holding her overseas and fled to safety in the U.S., the defendant enlisted his confederates to retaliate against those who had helped her to freedom. As a result of his plot, two innocent people were murdered in Pakistan,” stated United States Attorney Lynch. “We are committed to ensuring that people in the United States who export murder abroad will be brought to justice.” Ms. Lynch expressed her grateful appreciation to HSI and the State Department, which have worked closely together to investigate the case, and added that the government’s investigation is ongoing.
“There is nothing less honorable than the murder of innocent people,” said HSI New York Special Agent-in-Charge Hayes. “HSI and our global law enforcement partners work diligently crimes like these and serve justice on the predators who commit them.”
“The Diplomatic Security Service is firmly committed to working with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations to bring those who commit crimes to justice,” said Gregory B. Starr, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary and Director, U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service. “The Diplomatic Security Service’s strong relationship with our law enforcement partners continues to be essential in the pursuit of justice.”
The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Amanda Hector, Richard M. Tucker and Margaret E. Gandy.
The Defendant
MOHAMMAD AJMAL CHOUDHRY
Age: 60_____________________________
1 The charges contained in the superseding indictment are merely allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Belcourt Man Convicted of Assault with a Dangerous WeaponRead the Press Release
BISMARCK – U.S. Attorney Timothy Q. Purdon announced that on Sept. 25, 2013, Jason A. Azure, 31, Belcourt, N.D., was found guilty by a federal jury in U.S. District Court on a charge of assault with a dangerous weapon.
On May 6, 2013, Azure stabbed a tribal security officer in the face with a butter knife. The injury resulted in a cut to the officer’s cheek, which required medical treatment.
The charge of assault with a dangerous weapon carries a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.
The case was investigated by Bureau of Indian Affairs – Turtle Mountain Agency.
Sentencing for Azure has not been scheduled.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandi Sasse Russell is prosecuting the case.
Baltimore Conspirator Pleads Guilty in Bank Fraud SchemesRead the Press Release
Greenbelt, Maryland – Nelly Dadson, age 23, of Baltimore, pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiring to commit bank fraud, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft in connection with two bank fraud schemes.The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Postal Inspector in Charge Gary R. Barksdale of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service - Washington Division; John Phillips, Acting Assistant Inspector General for Investigations, U.S. Department of the Treasury Office of Inspector General; and Special Agent in Charge Kathy A. Michalko of the United States Secret Service – Washington Field Office.
“Protecting postal customers from mail theft and identity theft is a priority for the Postal Inspection Service,” said Gary R. Barksdale of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service - Washington Division. “This case demonstrates Postal Inspectors' commitment to that mission.”
According to her plea, from June 14, 2010 to March 11, 2013, Dadson and others opened bank accounts in their own names and in the names of shell corporations that they controlled. Dadson and others used counterfeit checks that resembled convenience checks that had been stolen from mailboxes in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties. The counterfeit checks contained names, addresses and account information that appeared on the convenience checks. Dadson deposited these counterfeit checks into accounts controlled by the conspirators and then withdrew funds from the accounts. Her co-conspirators paid Dadson between $1,000 and $5,000 per check to deposit these checks and withdraw funds.
In addition, between June 14, 2010 and November 13, 2012, Dadson conspired to defraud The Home Depot, Inc. On multiple occasions, a conspirator placed an order by phone with a Home Depot store for flooring in amounts ranging from $2,500 to $8,000, using a stolen credit card number. Within a few days, a conspirator called to cancel the order and supplied the debit card number of a conspirator, including Dadson, requesting that the refund for the order be placed on the conspirator’s debit card. Dadson received 38 credits to her bank accounts totaling approximately $141,159.07, which she then withdrew and provided to a conspirator. Dadson was paid $600-$800 per transaction.
On April 29, 2013, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Dadson’s home and upon entry, saw Dadson attempting to flush several stolen credit cards down a toilet. Dadson admits that she used a victim’s name to make fraudulent transactions on approximately 10 credit cards and numerous gift cards in the victim’s name, purchasing electronics and other expensive items.
The total loss caused by Dadson’s conduct is between $200,000 and $400,000, involving between 10 and 50 victims.
Dadson faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine for the conspiracy and bank fraud, and a mandatory minimum of two years in prison for aggravated identity theft to be imposed consecutive to any other sentence. Dadson has agreed to pay forfeiture and restitution of at least $251,745.52. U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm scheduled her sentencing for December 16, 2013, at 1:00 p.m.
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 thanked the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Treasury – Office of Inspector General and U.S. Secret Service for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein praised Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bryan Foreman and Christen A. Sproule, who are prosecuting the case.
Another Telemarketer Sent to Prison for Timeshare Resale FraudRead the Press Release
Hank Quimby, 35, of Rockford, IL, was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for knowingly participating in a fraudulent telemarketing scam that victimized timeshare owners nationwide, Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today. Quimby previously worked as a telemarketer for Universal Marketing Solutions and Creative Vacation Solutions – scam companies that operated out of Palm Beach County, Florida, from October 2007 to January 2010. All told, the companies defrauded 22,000 consumers to the tune of $30 million dollars. Victims were found in all 50 States, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, all 10 Canadian provinces and the Northwest Territory of Canada. There were at least 54 victims in the Southern District of Illinois, representing 28 of the district’s 38 counties.
In May, Quimby pled guilty to a one-count felony Information charging conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud in connection with the conduct of telemarketing. As part of his plea, Quimby admitted that he and other telemarketers lied to consumers over the phone, falsely representing that their company had actual buyers for the consumers’ timeshare properties. In exchange for this false hope, Quimby and others solicited advanced fees of up to several thousand dollars from each victim in purported closing costs – fees they promised would be refunded to the timeshare owner once the closing on the property occurred. Many timeshare owners were told that their closings would take place within 60 to 90 days. Quimby and his co-conspirators, however, simply pocketed the fees. No closings ever took place, and despite collecting fees from 22,000 victims, not a single timeshare unit was ever sold.
Approximately 30 other people have been charged in connection with this scam. The former chief executive of Creative Vacation Solutions, Jennifer Kirk, pled guilty on June 30, 2011. She was sentenced on January 9, 2012, to over 16 years in prison and five years’ supervised release. Over 20 others have also been sentenced, receiving prison terms that range from 8 months to 14 years.
The prosecutions follow an investigation by the St. Louis Field Office of the Chicago Division of the United States Postal Inspection Service, working in concert with the Florida Attorney General’s Office, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and the Boynton Beach Florida Police Department. The case against Quimby was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Nathan D. Stump and Bruce E. Reppert.
As part of his sentence, Quimby was ordered to pay a $300 fine and a $100 special assessment. He will also spend three years on supervised release after his prison term.
American Citizen Arrested and Charged with Bribery, Visa Fraud and Conspiracy-Scheme Allegedly Yielded Millions of Dollars in Bribes-Read the Press Release
WASHINGTON - Binh Vo, 39, an American citizen living in Vietnam, has been arrested and charged with bribery, visa fraud and conspiracy to commit those offenses as well as to defraud the United States, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. and U.S. Department of State Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) Director Gregory B. Starr announced today.
Vo appeared this afternoon before the Honorable Magistrate Judge John M. Facciola in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, where a criminal indictment was pending against him. He was arrested on Sept. 24, 2013, at Washington Dulles International Airport. Magistrate Judge Facciola ordered that he remain in custody pending further court proceedings.
According to the indictment, Vo conspired with co-defendant Michael Sestak and others to obtain visas to the United States for Vietnamese citizens. Sestak, 42, was the Non-Immigrant Visa Chief in the Consular Section of the U.S. Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam from August 2010 to September 2012.
According to the indictment, Vo and Sestak conspired with other U.S. citizens and Vietnamese citizens who worked to recruit customers – or to recruit other recruiters - to the visa scheme. Co-conspirators reached out to people in Vietnam and the United States and advertised the scheme by creating a website and by spreading the word through emails and telephone calls.
According to the indictment, co-conspirators assisted visa applicants with their applications and prepared them for their consular interviews. Upon submitting an application, the applicants would receive an appointment at the Consulate, be interviewed by Sestak, and approved for a visa. Applicants or their families paid Vo between $20,000 and $70,000 per visa.
Applicants paid for their visas in Vietnam, or by routing money to co-conspirators in the United States. According to affidavits filed in this case, Vo received millions of dollars for arranging for Sestak to approve the visas. He ultimately moved some of the money out of Vietnam by using money launderers through off-shore banks. Co-conspirators also had money laundered through off-shore banks to bank accounts in the United States.
To date, the investigation has seized over $2 million from conspirators’ accounts in the United States.
Three others have been charged in the scheme.They are Hong Vo, 27, an American citizen, Truc Tranh Huynh, 29, a Vietnamese citizen, and Anhdao Dao Nguyen, 30, a Vietnamese citizen, all of whom are charged with conspiring with Sestak and Binh Vo. Hong Vo is Binh Vo’s sister. She allegedly assisted with the recruitment of visa applicants and communicated with others about the payment for the fraudulent visas.
According to charging documents, fraudulent visas granted by Sestak were connected to an Internet Protocol (“IP”) address controlled by Hong Vo. Huynh allegedly participated in the visa scheme by obtaining documents necessary for the visa applications, collecting money and providing model questions and answers for visa applicants. Sestak also allegedly approved a visa for Huynh to the United States, the application for which was submitted by the IP address controlled by Hong Vo. Anhdao Thuy Nguyen is Binh Vo’s wife. She allegedly assisted with recruiting applicants and laundering funds during the course of the conspiracy.
Sestak and Hong Vo were arrested in May 2013 and Huynh was arrested the following month. All remain held without bond pending further proceedings. Nguyen remains at large, and a warrant has been issued for her arrest.
An indictment is merely an allegation that a defendant has committed a violation of criminal laws and every defendant is presumed innocent until, and unless, proven guilty.
The case is being investigated by the U.S. Department of State Diplomatic Security Service and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brenda J. Johnson, Christopher Kavanaugh, and Mona N. Sahaf of the National Security Section and Catherine K. Connelly of the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
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Albuquerque Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Child Enticement ChargeRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Raymond Berger, 32, of Albuquerque, N.M., pleaded guilty this morning to an indictment charging him with coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Under the terms of the plea agreement, Berger will be sentenced to ten years in federal prison followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court. Berger will be required to register as a sex offender after he completes his prison sentence.
Berger’s guilty plea was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Steven C. Yarbrough, 2nd Judicial District Attorney Kari E. Brandenburg, Special Agent in Charge Dennis A. Ulrich, II, of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in El Paso, Texas, Chief Allen Banks of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD), and Bernalillo County Sheriff Dan Houston.
Berger was arrested on May 26, 2013 by HSI agents on an indictment charging him with enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity. The indictment alleged that between May 2, 2013 and May 6, 2013, Berger used the Internet and a cellular telephone to coerce and entice an individual whom he believed to be a minor to engage in sexual activity. Berger was arrested on state charges of solicitation of a child with an electronic communications devise on May 6, 2013; the state charges were dismissed after Berger was federally charged.
During today’s proceedings, Berger pleaded guilty to the indictment. In his plea agreement, Berger admitted that between May 2, 2013 and May 6, 2013, he engaged in a text messaging relationship with a person whom he believed to be a 12-year-old girl and that he made multiple solicitations for a sexual relationship with the “girl.” Berger further admitted that he made arrangements to meet with the “girl” in a parking lot on May 6, 2013 and was arrested by APD officers when he arrived at the parking lot.
Court filings reflect that Berger initiated the text messaging with the “girl” on May 2, 2013, when he responded to an Internet ad that included a photograph of a minor. The ad was placed by an APD officer who represented to Berger that he was a 12-year-old girl.
Berger has been in federal custody since his arrest on May 26, 2013, and remains detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.
This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of HSI, APD and the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Charlyn E. Rees as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and DOJ’s Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.
The case also was brought as part of the New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force’s mission, which is to locate, track, and capture Internet child sexual predators and Internet child pornographers in New Mexico. There are 64 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies associated with the ICAC Task Force, which is funded by a grant administered by the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office. Anyone with information relating to suspected child predators and suspected child abuse is encouraged to contact federal or local law enforcement.
24 September 2013
White River Man Sentenced for Assaulting A Federal OfficerRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that a White River, South Dakota, man convicted of Assaulting a Federal Officer was sentenced on September 23, 2013, by U.S. District Judge Roberto A. Lange.
Anthony Black Wolf, age 26, was sentenced to 12 months plus 1 day of imprisonment, 18 months of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Black Wolf was indicted by a federal grand jury in May of 2013. He pled guilty to Count I of the Indictment on July 3, 2013.
The conviction stems from an incident that took place on March 3, 2013, when Black Wolf fled from law enforcement officers who had to run down the Defendant before apprehending him. Black Wolf then resisted arrest by striking an officer in the face and tried to remove the officer’s duty weapon from its holster as he was being handcuffed. He continued to try and pull the officer’s pistol out of its holster until a neighbor came out of his house and assisted by pulling on the Defendant’ s thumb until the Defendant released the weapon.
The investigation was conducted by the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marie H. Ruettgers.
Black Wolf was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.Wesley Allen Cross Guns Pleads Guilty in U.S. Federal CourtRead the Press Release
The United States Attorney(s Office announced that during a federal court session in Great Falls, on September 24, 2013, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Keith Strong, WESLEY ALLEN CROSS GUNS, a 24-year-old resident of Browning and an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Tribe, pled guilty to burglary. Sentencing has been set for January 16, 2014. He is currently detained.
In an Offer of Proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan G. Weldon, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
On February 4, 2012, "Jane Doe" was in Great Falls because her father was in the hospital. Three individuals walked by her residence in Browning, which was located within the exterior boundaries of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.
On February 4, 2012, a neighbor was out on his porch and observed three male individuals walking by his neighbor's residence. While he saw the three individuals walking by the residence, he did not see them pass by. He then heard three kicks and he knew that someone was breaking into "Jane Doe's" residence. He told his wife to call their son who is an officer with the Blackfeet Law Enforcement Services.
His wife called their son and then she grabbed her camera. When their son, the officer, pulled up, the officer and the neighbor went into "Jane Doe"'s residence. The neighbor's wife then took pictures of all three individuals running out of the house. The burglary occurred in broad daylight.
The individuals who broke into the house then climbed the fence, and CROSS GUNS escaped. Dustin Jay After Buffalo and Michael Bad Old Man were caught. Bad Old Man had items in his pockets. While waiting for law enforcement to arrive, Bad Old Man stated that he was going to kill the neighbor and the officer when he gets out of jail.
After backup arrived, the officer took pictures of "Jane Doe's" front door to the residence. The door was damaged. The officer stated that he was able to identify all three defendants by name when he saw them in the residence. In particular, the one who had escaped, CROSS GUNS, because he is aware of and knows CROSS GUNS.
When questioned, After Buffalo stated that he did not remember the incident because he was high on methamphetamine. After Buffalo however acknowledged that he "come to" while he was in the house. He stated that after entering the house, the other two individuals started throwing things in their pockets and ordering After Buffalo to do the same. After Buffalo stated that Bad Old Man kicked the door in and he claimed that the other two were going to beat him up if he did not go in there with them. After Buffalo stated that when the cops showed up he ran outside the back door, jumped a fence, and that the officer "beat him up with a bat." After Buffalo then identified all 3 individuals in the photos the neighbor's wife had taken. After Buffalo claimed that he never took anything from the house but stated that he did eat a sandwich in the house.
Bad Old Man and After Buffalo pled guilty to federal charges.
CROSS GUNS faces possible penalties of 20 years in prison, a $20,000 fine and 3 years supervised release.
The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Webster Man Charged with Distributing CrackRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Webster man was charged yesterday for selling crack cocaine to a cooperating witness.
Anthony Cruz, 27, was charged in a criminal complaint with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and distribution of crack cocaine.
The complaint alleges that on January 23, 2012, and again on February 3, 2012, Cruz sold 35 grams of crack cocaine to a cooperating witness in Webster. On July 17, 2013, Cruz agreed to sell the cooperating witness another 40 grams of crack cocaine. On the day of the deal, Cruz arranged the transaction and another individual, working with Cruz, distributed a controlled substance to the cooperating witness. Preliminary tests indicated that the substance tested positive for cocaine. Cruz was arrested on September 20, 2013 after distributing approximately 150 grams of a substance purported to be crack cocaine to the cooperating witness.
If convicted, Cruz faces a minimum mandatory sentence of five years and up to 40 years in prison, a minimum of four years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a $5 million fine.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; John J. Arvanitis, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Boston Field Division; Daniel J. Kumor, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division; and Chief Timothy J. Bent of the Webster Police Department, made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Karin M. Bell of Ortiz’s Worcester Branch Office.
The details contained in the complaint are allegations. The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Vail, Iowa, Man to Federal Prison for Meth ChargesRead the Press Release
A man who possessed with intent to distribute methamphetamine was sentenced September 19, 2013, to 10 years in federal prison.
Jeffrey Duane Krowiorz, II, 25, from Vail, Iowa, received the prison term after a March 16, 2013, guilty plea to possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
At the guilty plea, Krowiorz admitted that on September 28, 2012, he possessed over 18 grams of actual (pure) methamphetamine and intended to distribute the methamphetamine to other persons. Krowiorz attempted to flee (on foot) when officers made contact with him regarding an outstanding arrest warrant. Krowiorz was apprehended a short distance away and officers seized from Krowiorz three separate baggies of methamphetamine concealed within a body spray container converted into a storage container.
Krowiorz was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Judge Donald E. O’Brien. Krowiorz was sentenced to 120 months’ imprisonment. A special assessment of $100 was imposed. He must also serve an eight-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system. Krowiorz 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 Shawn S. Wehde and investigated by the Iowa Department of Narcotics Enforcement, Spirit Lake Police Department, and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigations.
Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is 12-4098.U.S. Attorney, Dea and Fbi to Hold Press Conference to Announce Major Law Enforcement ActionRead the Press Release
AMARILLO, Texas —– Sarah R. Saldaña, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, Dan R. Salter, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Dallas Field Division, and Diego Rodriguez, Special Agent in Charge for the FBI Dallas Division will host a Press Conference TODAY, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2013, AT 2:00 P.M. to announce a major law enforcement action in Amarillo.
DIGNATARIES ATTENDING INCLUDE:
Sarah R. Saldaña, U.S. Attorney, Northern District of Texas
John Parker, First Assistant U.S. Attorney, Northern District of Texas
Dan R. Salter, Acting Special Agent in Charge, DEA Dallas Field Division
Diego Rodriguez, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Dallas Division
Brian Thomas, Sheriff, Potter County
Scott Brumley, County Attorney, Potter County
Randall Sims, District Attorney, Potter County
Joel Richardson, Sheriff, Randall County
James Farren, District Attorney, Randall County
Robert Taylor, Amarillo Police Chief Randy Prince, Regional Commander, Texas Department of Public SafetyWHAT: Press conference to announce major law enforcement action in Amarillo
WHEN: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2013
2:00 p.m.WHERE: J. Marvin Jones Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse*
205 East Fifth Street (Front Steps)
Amarillo, Texas*In case of inclement weather, Press Conference will be held at Randall County Sheriff’s Office located at 9100 S. Georgia St., in Amarillo.
Press inquiries regarding logistics should be directed to Kathy Colvin at 214-659-8600 or [email protected].
Two Florida Residents Plead Guilty to Defrauding and Threatening Spanish-Speaking ConsumersRead the Press Release
Two individuals charged with running a telemarketing operation that defrauded Spanish-speaking consumers pleaded guilty today to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, the Department of Justice and U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) announced. Daniel Carrasco, 54, and Federico Martin Gioja, 45, both of Miramar, Fla., pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Miami to charges alleging they owned and operated Florida companies that used a telemarketing sales room in Argentina to consistently lie to consumers about products they would receive and to threaten consequences of failure to pay for shipments.“The Department of Justice is committed to protecting consumers from fraud,” said Stuart F. Delery, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division. “As these guilty pleas demonstrate, we will be particularly vigilant towards schemes that target specific populations, and we will not be deterred by those who seek to evade detection by changing the name of their fraudulent companies.”
Carrasco’s and Gioja’s telemarketers promoted products such as vitamins, lotions and English-language training products. They also promised buyers would receive valuable gifts such as expensive watches and perfumes, gift cards and medical assistance and insurance. However, the companies frequently did not deliver products ordered by consumers. Since the companies did not have many of the products they promised to send to consumers, consumers received other products instead. Then, after consumers refused delivery of the companies’ shipments, the Argentinian phone room telemarketers called and falsely threatened consumers with arrest, deportation or fines on their gas and electric bills.
Wifredo A. Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, stated: “ Fraud, of any kind, is unacceptable. Fraud by threat and intimidation is particularly troublesome because it targets the perceived, but oftentimes real, vulnerabilities of those preyed upon. In this case, the defendants targeted Spanish-speaking consumers and falsely threatened them with arrest and deportation when the consumers refused delivery for products they had not ordered. Such tactics are intolerable. Together with the Department of Justice’s Civil Division, Consumer Protection Branch, we stand united to stem such fraud.”
As part of their guilty pleas, Carrasco and Gioja admitted they routinely changed the names of the companies under which they did business to evade consumer complaints, regulators and law enforcement. A variety of state agencies contacted the businesses regarding their illicit practices. Those working with Carrasco and Gioja, in emails cited in the affidavit in support of arrest, referred to these companies tainted by complaints as “burnt.” Rather than changing the “burnt” companies’ practices, Carrasco and Gioja incorporated new companies and started the same illegal practices again.Also in pleading guilty, Carrasco and Gioja admitted their telemarketers falsely represented to consumers that they were affiliated with Spanish-language television networks. The alleged fraud first came to light when the Spanish language network Univision informed the USPIS they believed a company was involved in a fraud scheme in which it misrepresented its affiliation with the network. Subsequently, the Postal Inspection Service investigated the case, submitted the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint and arrested the defendants.
"The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is committed to unraveling operations that scheme to defraud innocent people,” said Ronald Verrochio, U.S. Postal Inspector in Charge in Miami. "Our postal inspectors aggressively investigate mail fraud scams such as this one, with a concerted effort to protect consumers.”
Carrasco and Gioja originally were charged by criminal complaint and arrested on June 26, 2013. Both defendants were later indicted on July 25, 2013. They have remained incarcerated since that time. Carrasco and Gioja, and a third individual, Romino Tasso, also were named in a civil suit filed by the Justice Department. In the civil case, the Justice Department requested and obtained a preliminary injunction barring further lies to consumers and freezing the assets of Carrasco, Gioja, Tasso and companies under their control.Assistant Attorney General Delery commended the Postal Inspection Service for their investigative efforts and thanked the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida for their contributions to the civil case. The criminal case was prosecuted by Assistant Director Richard Goldberg with the Department of Justice’s Civil Division, Consumer Protection Branch and Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Abraham of the Southern District of Florida.
Two Florida Residents Plead Guilty to Defrauding and Threatening Spanish-Speaking ConsumersRead the Press Release
Two individuals charged with running a telemarketing operation that defrauded Spanish-speaking consumers pleaded guilty today to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, the Department of Justice and U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) announced. Daniel Carrasco, 54, and Federico Martin Gioja, 45, both of Miramar, Fla., pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Miami to charges alleging they owned and operated Florida companies that used a telemarketing sales room in Argentina to consistently lie to consumers about products they would receive and to threaten consequences of failure to pay for shipments.
Wifredo A. Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, stated: “Fraud, of any kind, is unacceptable. Fraud by threat and intimidation is particularly troublesome because it targets the perceived, but oftentimes real, vulnerabilities of those preyed upon. In this case, the defendants targeted Spanish-speaking consumers and falsely threatened them with arrest and deportation when the consumers refused delivery for products they had not ordered. Such tactics are intolerable. Together with the Department of Justice’s Civil Division, Consumer Protection Branch, we stand united to stem such fraud.”
“The Department of Justice is committed to protecting consumers from fraud,” said Stuart F. Delery, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division. “As these guilty pleas demonstrate, we will be particularly vigilant towards schemes that target specific populations, and we will not be deterred by those who seek to evade detection by changing the name of their fraudulent companies.”
Carrasco’s and Gioja’s telemarketers promoted products such as vitamins, lotions and English-language training products. They also promised buyers would receive valuable gifts such as expensive watches and perfumes, gift cards and medical assistance and insurance. However, the companies frequently did not deliver products ordered by consumers. Since the companies did not have many of the products they promised to send to consumers, consumers received other products instead. Then, after consumers refused delivery of the companies’ shipments, the Argentinian phone room telemarketers called and falsely threatened consumers with arrest, deportation or fines on their gas and electric bills.
As part of their guilty pleas, Carrasco and Gioja admitted they routinely changed the names of the companies under which they did business to evade consumer complaints, regulators and law enforcement. A variety of state agencies contacted the businesses regarding their illicit practices. Those working with Carrasco and Gioja, in emails cited in the affidavit in support of arrest, referred to these companies tainted by complaints as “burnt.” Rather than changing the “burnt” companies’ practices, Carrasco and Gioja incorporated new companies and started the same illegal practices again.
Also in pleading guilty, Carrasco and Gioja admitted their telemarketers falsely represented to consumers that they were affiliated with Spanish-language television networks. The alleged fraud first came to light when the Spanish language network Univision informed the USPIS they believed a company was involved in a fraud scheme in which it misrepresented its affiliation with the network. Subsequently, the Postal Inspection Service investigated the case, submitted the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint and arrested the defendants.
"The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is committed to unraveling operations that scheme to defraud innocent people,” said Ronald Verrochio, U.S. Postal Inspector in Charge in Miami. "Our postal inspectors aggressively investigate mail fraud scams such as this one, with a concerted effort to protect consumers.”
Carrasco and Gioja originally were charged by criminal complaint and arrested on June 26, 2013. Both defendants were later indicted on July 25, 2013. They have remained incarcerated since that time. Carrasco and Gioja, and a third individual, Romino Tasso, also were named in a civil suit filed by the Justice Department. In the civil case, the Justice Department requested and obtained a preliminary injunction barring further lies to consumers and freezing the assets of Carrasco, Gioja, Tasso and companies under their control.
Assistant Attorney General Delery commended the Postal Inspection Service for their investigative efforts and thanked the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida for their contributions to the civil case. The criminal case was prosecuted by Assistant Director Richard Goldberg with the Department of Justice’s Civil Division, Consumer Protection Branch and Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Abraham of the Southern District of Florida.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Two Chicago Men Indicted on Heroin ChargesRead the Press Release
An indictment was filed charging Marcellus C. Lee, age 33, and Gregory A. Collins, aka “D.D.”, age 36, both of Chicago, with one count of conspiracy to distribute a kilogram of heroin and with one count of possession with intent to distribute heroin, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.
The indictment results from an investigation conducted by the Northern Ohio Law Enforcement Task Force (NOLETF), in Cleveland, Ohio. The NOLETF is a long standing multi-agency task force comprised of investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority, Drug Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Cleveland Division of Police, Cleveland Heights Police Department, Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office, Euclid Police Department, Regional Transit Authority Police Department, Strongsville Police Department, Westlake Police Department and Shaker Heights Police Department. The NOLETF is also one of the initial Ohio High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) initiatives. The HIDTA Program supports and helps coordinate numerous Ohio drug task forces in their efforts to eliminate or reduce drug-trafficking in Ohio. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Christian H. Stickan.
If convicted, the defendant’s sentence will be determined by the court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.Topeka Man Charged with RobberyAt Kaw Valley BankRead the Press Release
TOPEKA, KAN. - A Topeka man who was arrested in Omaha has been charged with bank robbery, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.
A criminal complaint was unsealed today charging Cade Michael Sharples, 36, Topeka, Kan., with one count of bank robbery. The complaint alleges that on Sept. 17 Sharples robbed the Kaw Valley Bank at 3000 SE Croco Road. According to an investigator’s affidavit, a white male entered the bank about 2:45 p.m. and gave a teller a piece of paper saying he was there to rob the bank and he had a gun. The robber told the clerk several times that he had a gun and ordered her to hurry up and “stop messing around.” The man left the bank with money in a black bag.
After investigators made public surveillance photos of the robber wearing a gray hoodie, a blue shirt and a blue University of Kansas baseball hat, they received tips that led them to Sharples.
If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. The Topeka Police Department and the FBI investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared Maag is prosecuting.In all cases, defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. The indictments merely contain allegations of criminal conduct.
Telemarketer Sentenced in Manhattan Federal Court to 75 Months in Prison for Sweepstakes Fraud That Targeted Elderly VictimsRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and George Venizelos, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced that WARREN STELMAN, a/k/a “Dave Ford,” was sentenced today to 75 months in prison for his participation in a Dominican-based telemarketing fraud scheme that targeted elderly victims throughout the United States and defrauded those victims of nearly $1 million. STELMAN was arrested in the Dominican Republic in August 2012 and was subsequently extradited to the United States. He pled guilty in January 2013 to one count of wire fraud. Today’s sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “Warren Stelman admitted scheming in the Dominican Republic to fleece elderly people in the U.S. His pitch, dangling fictitious sweepstakes winnings, was persuasive enough to victimize many of these people repeatedly. Today he has been ordered to pay for his crime against these vulnerable victims in money and time.”
FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge George Venizelos said: “The defendant hid behind his telephone to prey upon his victims, many of whom were elderly, with promises of money and prizes. Although the victims never met the defendant, they relied upon his representations of wealth and in exchange, turned over their hard earned money. This case should be a reminder to the public to be cautious of get-rich-quick opportunities, many of which are merely schemes to defraud and take advantage of our unsuspecting community.”
According to the Indictment and other documents filed in Manhattan federal court, as well as statements made in court proceedings:
STELMAN and his co-conspirators, including his wife Lana Stelman, operated boiler rooms in the Dominican Republic, from which they telephoned victims in the United States, most of whom were elderly. They informed the victims falsely that they had won substantial amounts of cash through a sweepstakes or some other type of promotion, but that in order to claim their prize, they first needed to wire thousands of dollars in “fees” to the Dominican Republic. In reality, however, there were no cash prizes, neither STELMAN nor his co-conspirators worked in connection with a sweepstakes or other promotion, and none of the victims ever received any money in exchange for their fees.
The victims were typically told to send the money for the purported fees by, among other means, Western Union or Money Gram. After victims sent money to cover the supposed fees, STELMAN and his co-conspirators typically contacted them again and, using further fraudulent representations, persuaded them to send more money to pay for other costs. In some instances, when victims said that they had run out of money to pay additional fees, STELMAN and his associates urged the victims to come up with more money by borrowing from friends and relatives, taking cash advances on credit cards, and obtaining loans against their homes and vehicles.
The fraudulent scheme targeted U.S. residents who had previously subscribed to sweepstakes. STELMAN and his co-conspirators identified these victims by purchasing from U.S.-based brokers copies of sweepstakes entry forms the victims had previously filled out. These entry forms, which the conspirators referred to as “leads,” were typically written on narrow slips of paper that included the names, addresses, and telephone numbers for sweepstakes entrants. The conspirators used various Internet-based phone methods to mask their locations and identities, and communicated with the victims through numbers assigned to voicemail boxes located in Manhattan. In total, 78 victims – 54 of whom were over the age of 70 – were defrauded out of nearly $1 million.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Kaplan sentenced STELMAN, 54, of the Dominican Republic, to three years of supervised release. STELMAN was also ordered to forfeit $996,659.30 and to pay a total of $996,659.30 in restitution to 78 victims.
Four other defendants – Lana Stelman, Romeo Rawlins, Juana Santana and Lickenson Brooks – were also charged for their participation in the scheme. Lana Stelman and Brooks pled guilty and are awaiting sentencing. Charges remain pending against Rawlins and Santana, and they are presumed innocent until and unless they are proven guilty.
In related cases, Janice Pemberton, Peter Gruman, Randy Ortzman, and Avraham Fried were charged with participating in similar telemarketing fraud schemes from the Dominican Republic. All of these defendants have pled guilty. Fried was sentenced on September 10, 2013 by U.S. District Judge William H. Pauley to 44 months in prison. Pemberton, Gruman, and Ortzman are awaiting sentencing.
Mr. Bharara praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI.
The prosecution of this case is being handled by the Office’s Complex Frauds Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Thomas G. A. Brown and Rosemary Nidiry are in charge of the prosecution.
Stamford Man Pleads Guilty to Leading Illegal Gambling RingRead the Press Release
Deirdre M. Daly, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that STEPHEN JOYCE, 45, of Stamford, pleaded guilty today before Senior U.S. District Judge Alfred V. Covello in Hartford to one count of operating an illegal gambling business.
According to court documents and statements made in court, between January 2008 and August 2011, JOYCE led a lucrative illegal sports bookmaking operation in Stamford that involved at least five other bookmakers.
On July 27, 2011, investigators conducted a court-authorized search of JOYCE’s Stamford residence and seized extensive gambling records, a laptop computer and other items.
Judge Covello has scheduled sentencing for December 17, 2013, at which time JOYCE faces a maximum term of imprisonment of five years and a fine of up to $250,000.
JOYCE also has agreed to forfeit $175,000 in gambling proceeds.
This matter is being investigated by the FBI Fairfield County Organized Crime Task Force, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, the Stamford Police Department, the Bridgeport Police Department and the Connecticut State Police. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Chen.
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(203) 821-3722 [email protected]Stakeholders Partner to Convene the Worcester Reentry Initiative ProgramRead the Press Release
BOSTON – United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz announced today her office’s partnership with the Worcester Reentry Initiative Program. Drawing on its experience with reentry programs throughout the Commonwealth, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in partnership with the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office, Worcester County District Attorney’s Office and Worcester Police Department convened the initiative, bringing together important stakeholders in an effort to reduce recidivism rates.
A 2008 study funded by the Urban Institute Justice Policy Center, reported that four out of 10 inmates returning from prison in Massachusetts are re-incarcerated within three years of being released. The federal statistics are equally, if not more stark. Even though the United States comprises just five percent of the world’s population, it incarcerates almost 25% of the world’s prisoners. More than 219,000 federal inmates are currently behind bars. Almost half of them are serving time for drug-related crimes, and many have substance use disorders. Nine to 10 million more people cycle through America’s local jails each year. And roughly 40% of former federal prisoners – and more than 60% of former state prisoners – are rearrested or have their supervision revoked within three years after their release, at great cost to American taxpayers and often for technical or minor violations of the terms of their release.
Citing those above statistics in a speech last month, U.S. Attorney General Holder said that while the aggressive enforcement of federal criminal statutes remains necessary, we cannot simply prosecute or incarcerate our way to becoming a safer nation. To be effective, federal efforts must also focus on prevention and reentry.
U.S. Attorney Ortiz said, “We must never stop being tough on crime. But we must also be smart and efficient when battling crime and understanding the conditions and individual choices which cause it. We look forward to the interagency and community partnerships that will measurably contribute to a decrease in crime and improvement in the quality of life for Massachusetts residents.”
“The cooperation on this initiative among law enforcement and social service agencies has been spectacular. It is never a good idea have a prisoner behind bars one day and out on the street the next day without some sort of re-entry buffer. That is a recipe for failure. Having so many parties working together to allow a former prisoner to reintegrate into the lawful parts of society gives us the best chance to stop recidivism. Without these services we have a pretty good idea that history will just repeat itself,” said Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr.
The Worcester Reentry Initiative Program is part of a nationwide trend to reform the paradigm of punishing repeat criminals with more prison time. Through the Worcester Reentry Initiative Program, federal, state, and local law enforcement join forces with social service agencies, mental health and substance abuse providers and faith-based organizations to tackle the complexities associated with reentry into the community after incarceration. Members of the Worcester Reentry Initiative Program will work with an average of 90 to 100 high-risk inmates per year.
High-risk prisoners agreeing to participate in this reentry program will be provided with information regarding pre- and post-incarceration services as well as the consequences of reoffending. Law enforcement, probation/parole officers and prosecutors, including a representative from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, will conduct meetings every other month with Worcester Reentry Initiative Program participants in an effort to educate them about the realities of future criminal behavior. For many, reoffending could result in significant state or federal prison sentences.
Through the Worcester Reentry Initiative Program, participants will be offered “wrap-around” services, receiving focused assistance from social service providers, case managers, parole and probation officers and others to ensure accountability and continuity of care. They will be provided enhanced opportunities to participate in employment training, education programs, substance abuse and mental health treatment, and to work with mentors. Pre-release, participants will be encouraged to build relationships with individuals representing resources that are needed for success on the outside, including the parole or probation officer who is a crucial component of the program. Participants will undergo intense supervision upon release from prison to ensure greater success and accountability.
The Worcester Reentry Initiative Program social services and mental health partners include: Worcester Sheriff’s Department After Incarceration Support Services, Massachusetts Department of Revenue, Spectrum Health Systems, Valley Psychiatric Services and the Counseling and Psychotherapy Center, Worcester Community Action Council, Workforce Central, the WISR Program and Straight Ahead Ministries.
The Worcester Reentry Initiative Program model is based on the award-winning Boston Reentry Initiative (BRI), which has achieved measurable success and national attention for its model of recidivism reduction. Both programs focus their resources on inmates who pose the greatest risks to reoffend.
St. Joseph Police Detective Indicted for Firearm ViolationRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a longtime detective with the St. Joseph, Mo., Police Department was indicted by a federal grand jury today for aiding and abetting another person to illegally possess a firearm that he used in a gang-related shooting.
“A sworn law enforcement has been charged with allowing a known violent criminal to keep his gun, even after it was used in a gang-related shooting,” Dickinson said. “Today’s indictment alleges a reckless violation of the public trust and blatant disregard of his duty to uphold the law.”
Scott Thomas Coates, 42, of St. Joseph, was charged in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo.
According to the indictment, Coates (in his official capacity as a police detective) interviewed Corey Andrew Barr on Oct. 24, 2007, about a recent gang-related shooting near 22nd and Messanie in St. Joseph. Barr admitted that he had brandished a Smith and Wesson .40-caliber handgun and fired four or five shots at other persons during the shootout. Barr brought the handgun with him to his interview with Coates, the indictment says, who merely photographed the gun and allowed Barr to leave with the handgun at the end of the interview.
Coates permitted Barr to leave with the handgun and to continue to possess the handgun, the indictment says, despite the fact that he knew Barr was prohibited by federal law from possessing a firearm due to his 2005 conviction for domestic violence.
Coates was ordered by a superior officer to locate Barr and seize the handgun, which he did on the same day. However, the indictment says, Coates did not book the firearm into evidence until July 7, 2009, more than 20 months later.
On Sept. 1, 2010, Coates allegedly caused the handgun to be returned to Barr, despite the fact that Barr was still prohibited by federal law from possessing any firearm. By that time, Barr had a second conviction for domestic violence. This alleged conduct by Coates forms the basis of today’s federal indictment for aiding and abetting the possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.
Barr was arrested on Sept. 7, 2010, when St. Joseph police officers responded to a disturbance call involving people with firearms, including assault rifles. A witness told officers that one of the men involved in the disturbance was walking through a nearby park. Officers located Barr in the park; he was carrying the loaded handgun in a holster on his waist. Barr was indicted by a federal grand jury for illegally possessing a firearm. After pleading guilty, Barr was sentenced to 47 months in federal prison.
Dickinson cautioned that the charge contained in this indictment is simply an accusation, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charge must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.
This case is being prosecuted by Deputy U.S. Attorney Gene Porter. It was investigated by the FBI, with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the cooperation of officers from the St. Joseph, Mo., Police Department.Springfield Landlord Charged with FraudRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Springfield man was charged yesterday in U.S. District Court in Springfield with making fraudulent claims for insurance proceeds following fires at two multi-family homes in Springfield.
Wilkenson Knaggs, 42, was indicted with mail fraud, forging check endorsements, and money laundering.
The Indictment alleges that following a November 16, 2008 fire on Franklin Street, Knaggs submitted a fraudulent contract for rehabilitating the three-family house in order to obtain a payout on his homeowner’s policy. He is also charged with forging the endorsement of the City of Springfield on a second check, cashing the check at a Boston check cashing company, and using the proceeds to buy a two-family house at on Central Street. The Indictment also charges Knaggs with putting the title of the Central Street property in the name of a relative and using the relative to make a claim on the insurance policy after a March 7, 2010 fire.
If convicted, Knaggs faces up to 20 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; John G. Collins, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston; Kevin Niland, Postal Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and Vincent B. Lisi, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Goodwin of Ortiz’s Springfield Branch Unit.
The details contained in the Indictment are allegations. The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
South Windsor Man Pleads Guilty to Stealing High-powered Rifle from East Windsor Gun StoreRead the Press Release
Deirdre M. Daly, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JORDAN MARSH, 27, of South Windsor, waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to one count of theft of a firearm from a federally licensed firearms dealer.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on December 11, 2012, MARSH stole a Windham Weaponry 5.56 mm caliber semi-automatic rifle from the front counter of Riverview Gun Sales, a former federal firearms dealer located in East Windsor. The theft was captured on the store’s video surveillance system, but no employee at Riverview observed the theft or realized the firearm was missing until the Hartford Police retrieved it from MARSH’s hotel room on December 17. On December 15, 2012, MARSH had been arrested for attempting to steal a Bushmaster .50 caliber rifle from Riverview.
Earlier in 2012, MARSH was convicted of a state felony stemming from his prior thefts of approximately 12 firearms from Riverview.
Judge Shea has scheduled sentencing for December 17, 2013, at which time MARSH faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.
On August 27, 2013, MARSH pleaded guilty in state court to firearms and probation violation offenses stemming from his attempted theft of the Bushmaster .50 caliber rifle, and was sentenced to eight years of incarceration. He is currently detained in state custody.
This matter is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Hartford and East Windsor Police Departments. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert M. Spector.
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(203) 821-3722 [email protected]Sioux Falls Man Sentenced for Mail FraudRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that a Sioux Falls, South Dakota, man charged with Mail Fraud was sentenced on September 23, 2013, by U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier.
Steven Isaacson, age 50, was sentenced to 4 years of probation and ordered to make restitution of $106,609.03.
Isaacson was indicted for 22 counts of mail fraud by a federal grand jury on April 2, 2013. He pled guilty to one count on June 26, 2013, and the remaining counts were dismissed.
Between January 2006 and July 2011, Isaacson was employed as an officer for AAA Collection Company and Metronova in Sioux Falls and was responsible for paying the company bills. During that timeframe, he mailed payments for his personal expenses and credit card bills using company funds.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Connie Larson prosecuted the case.Seminole Man Found Guilty of Possession and Distribution of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Tampa, FL - Acting United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that Michael Meister (57, Seminole) was found guilty yesterday of possession and distribution of child pornography following a bench trial. Meister faces a maximum penalty of 40 years in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for December 19, 2013, at 9:30 a.m. Meister was indicted on August 11, 2011.
According to the facts presented at trial, on July 30, 2007, Meister took his Dell laptop to a computer repair shop in Pinellas County and requested that certain files be moved from his old laptop onto a new laptop computer that he had recently purchased. While the computer technician was transferring files, he viewed what he believed to be child pornography and called law enforcement. Law enforcement obtained a search warrant and performed a search of the computer. A forensic analysis of the computer hard drive revealed that Meister knowingly possessed and distributed child pornography.
This case was investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in conjunction with their work on the U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Child Exploitation Task Force. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Amanda C. Kaiser.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Schuyler County Man Sentenced on Drug Trafficking and Firearms ChargesRead the Press Release
ROCHESTER, N.Y.– U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that John Anthony Barton, 33, of Dix, N.Y., was sentenced to 180 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Charles J. Siragusa. Barton was convicted following a jury trial of conspiracy to manufacture 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute 500 grams of more of methamphetamine, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, using his residence to manufacture, distribute and use methamphetamine and marijuana, and possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer Noto and Charles E. Moynihan, who handled the prosecution of the case, stated that Barton was arrested on May 18, 2011, after members of the New York State Police, Schuyler County Sheriff’s Office, Schuyler County District Attorney’s Office, Village of Watkins Glen Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration executed a search warrant at Barton’s residence on Roloson Hollow Road in Dix. During the search, law enforcement officers discovered an active methamphetamine laboratory, which was in the process of producing methamphetamine, in a shed on the property. In the shed, law enforcement officers also recovered a total of eight firearms, including a loaded .45 caliber handgun, more than 30 grams of methamphetamine, and over $8,000 in cash. Officers also recovered approximately a pound of marijuana from the house located on the property. Testimony at the trial, which occurred in June of this year, also revealed that Barton, together with others, manufactured methamphetamine and distributed as much as 900 grams between 2009 and May 18, 2011.
“Methamphetamine is a dangerous and addictive drug that even in small doses can cause permanent harm to those who use it,” said U.S. Attorney Hochul. “Besides causing lasting brain damage, this substance has been known to cause facial disfigurement and other serious physical maladies. Beyond what the drug does to the user, those who make methamphetamine create an environmental hazard for the entire community by the toxic substances used in the production process. This sentence is therefore completely appropriate given the entire facts of this case.”
At the time of Barton’s arrest, two others – Shawn Rickard and Chad Speicher – were also arrested. Rickard pleaded guilty to narcotics conspiracy involving 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and was sentenced to eight years in prison. Speicher pleaded guilty to narcotics conspiracy and is awaiting sentencing.
The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation on the part of the Schuyler County District Attorney’s Office, under the direction of District Attorney Joseph Fazzary, Special Agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Timothy Kernan, Resident Agent in Charge, New York State Police Community Narcotics Enforcement Team (CNET) under the direction of Major Wayne C. Olson, the Schuyler County Sheriff’s Department, under the direction of Sheriff William Yessman, and the Watkins Glen Police Department, under the direction of Chief Thomas R. Struble.Saddle River Valley Bank Agrees to $8.2 Million Penalty for Money Laundering ViolationsRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – Saddle River Valley Bank (SRVB) today agreed to pay an $8.2 million penalty to settle claims that it violated federal anti-money laundering laws, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman, District of New Jersey; Department of the Treasury Financial Crime Enforcement Network Director Jennifer Shasky Calvery; and Comptroller of the Currency Thomas J. Curry announced.
SRVB agreed to resolve civil claims brought by the U.S. Department of Justice in connection with violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), which requires financial institutions to maintain programs designed to detect and report suspicious activity that might be indicative of money laundering and other financial crimes. In addition to the combined monetary penalty of $8.2 million, the bank has agreed to a number of related regulatory actions.
The complaint alleged that SRVB failed to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program and processed transactions involving at least $4.1 million in violation of federal money laundering laws. While a joint investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) was underway, the majority of the assets of SRVB were acquired by another financial institution. The proceeds of that acquisition, plus all other assets of the bank, which are currently valued at approximately $9.2 million, were held pending the outcome of the investigation. SRVB has agreed to settle the government’s allegations with a combined penalty of $8.2 million of the remaining $9.2 million and has separately agreed with the OCC to cease operation and to dissolve its charter.
According to the complaint:
Beginning at least as early as 2000, numerous federal agencies, including the Department of State, the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve Bank, and the IRS, began issuing public warnings to United States financial institutions about the increased money laundering threat present in Mexico. These warnings were also available through industry-wide advisories. It was believed that the proceeds of narcotics sales in the United States were being disproportionately laundered and transferred through banking institutions in Mexico. Many of these warnings also discussed the specific money laundering risks associated with “casas de cambio,” (CDCs), which are non-bank currency exchange businesses located in Mexico and elsewhere.
Beginning in June 2009, SRVB began servicing what would ultimately become four CDCs, including three CDCs in Mexico and one in the Dominican Republic. SRVB voluntarily severed its relationship with the CDCs by May 2011, but only after processing at least $1.5 billion in transactions on behalf of the CDCs. SRVB’s anti-money laundering program related to the CDCs was deficient in several key areas
SRVB failed to:
• appropriately monitor at least $1.5 billion in transactions conducted on behalf of the CDCs;
• properly detect and report suspicious activity occurring within the CDC accounts and file Suspicious Activity Reports on a timely basis;
• conduct sufficient enhanced due diligence on the CDCs;
• have a BSA officer or other personnel with sufficient experience to operate an AML program;
• provide adequate training to its employees concerning anti-money laundering;
• retain qualified periodic independent testers for its anti-money laundering program, as required by the BSA.
After a joint investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey and the OCC, SRVB agreed to an assessed civil monetary penalty by the OCC of $4. 1 million for the deficiencies in its anti-money laundering program. SRVB has agreed to a concurrent civil monetary penalty by FinCEN of $4.1 million, to be satisfied by one payment to the U.S. Treasury Department on behalf of both actions by the OCC and FinCEN. SRVB also agreed to surrender and forfeit an additional $4.1 million to the United States to resolve the investigation conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey and the OCC, for a total penalty of $8.2 million.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents from the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations and thanked Counsel Elizabeth Ratliff and Noelle Kurtin of the OCC, as well as former Trial Attorney Joseph Markel of the Department of Justice, Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section.This case was brought in coordination with President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. 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 is 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.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Evan S. Weitz of the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Unit and Aaron Mendelsohn of the Economic Crimes Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark.
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Defense counsel: Nicolas Bourtin Esq., New York
SRVB Settlement
SRVB ComplaintReal Estate Agent and Developer/loan Officer Both Sentenced to Prison for Mortgage FraudRead the Press Release
TUCSON, Ariz. – William Michael Naponelli, 69, and Bryan Atwood, 52, both from Tucson, Ariz., were sentenced to federal prison by U.S. District Court Judge Cindy K. Jorgenson for their role in a mortgage fraud scheme. Naponelli was sentenced to 24 months in prison on Sept. 23, 2013. Attwood was sentenced to 15 months in prison on Sept. 20, 2013. Naponelli previously pleaded guilty to the felony offenses of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and conspiracy to commit transactional money laundering on Dec. 20, 2012. Atwood previously pleaded guilty on Feb. 25, 2013, to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, also a felony.
As part of his guilty plea, Naponelli, a former real estate developer and loan officer, admitted his participation in a scheme to obtain various loans between July 2006 and May 2007. Naponelli and another co-conspirator real estate developer purchased several properties using various business entities with which they were associated. Thereafter, Naponelli and his fellow co-conspirator sold these properties to straw buyers.
As part of the loan approval process, Naponelli knowingly caused to be submitted documents with knowledge that they contained material false statements including representations that the borrowers would provide the down payment or cash to close the real estate transactions. After the fraudulently obtained loan proceeds were received, portions of these proceeds were wired or deposited into bank accounts controlled by Naponelli or another co-conspirator.
Atwood, who at the time of this conspiracy was a licensed real estate agent, admitted as part of his guilty plea that he obtained three properties through fraudulently obtained loans. He admitted that he knew that documents provided to the lenders on his behalf relating to these properties contained one or more material false representations.
The properties obtained as result of this mortgage fraud scheme went into foreclosure resulting in significant losses to the lenders. As part of Naponelli’s sentence, he was ordered to pay restitution totaling approximately $3.1 million dollars. Atwood was ordered to pay approximately $585,000.
Naponelli and Atwood are the third and fourth co-defendants to be sentenced in this case. Previously, co-defendants Walter Scott Fruit and Sandra Jackson were each sentenced to federal prison for their involvement in the conspiracy. Fruit, who was also a licensed real estate agent, received a 30 month prison sentence. Jackson, a former escrow agent, received six months in prison.
The investigation in this case was conducted by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The prosecution was handled by Jonathan B. Granoff, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Tucson.
CASE NUMBER: CR-11-3046-TUC-CKJ
RELEASE NUMBER: 2013-077_Naponelli_AtwoodFor more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az
Prince George’s County Heroin Dealer Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison on Drug and Gun ChargesRead the Press Release
Greenbelt, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams, Jr. sentenced Jerry Lamont Bush, age 35, of Fort Washington, Maryland, today to 12 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute heroin and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Steven L. Gerido of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - Baltimore Field Division; and Chief Mark A. Magaw of the Prince George’s County Police Department.
Bush admitted that from August 2008 through January 2009, he sold approximately 180 grams of heroin to individuals in Maryland. He was detained by law enforcement on January 30, 2009, after he was seen selling heroin. On four occasions between July 30 and September 11, 2009, Bush sold a total of 14 grams of heroin to a law enforcement confidential source.
On September 19, 2009, law enforcement patrolling in the vicinity of a nightclub in Temple Hills, Maryland, observed the butt-end of a gun protruding from underneath the driver’s seat of a vehicle that Bush had been seen operating. Members of law enforcement saw Bush approach the vehicle and use a remote key to unlock the car. Bush got into the front passenger seat and another individual got into the driver’s seat. Law enforcement detained Bush and the other individual and searched the car. A loaded .357 caliber revolver was recovered from under the driver’s seat and a .9mm pistol was found in the glove compartment. On October 14, 2009, Bush was arrested by law enforcement as he left his apartment. During a search of Bush following his arrest law enforcement recovered two baggies containing 5.6 grams of heroin from his mouth. A search of Bush’s apartment recovered approximately 55.6 grams of heroin, among other items.
Bush had two previous felony drug convictions and was prohibited from possessing a gun.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the ATF and Prince George’s County Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Arun Rao, Mara Zusman Greenberg and Deborah A. Johnston, who prosecuted this Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force case.
Philadelphia Pair Charged with Transporting Stolen JewelryRead the Press Release
Jerome Clinton Faison, 45, and David Thomas Jr., 49, both of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, were charged today by indictment with interstate transportation of stolen goods, announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger. The indictment charges that on December 27, 2012, Faison and Thomas unlawfully transported in interstate commerce approximately $100,000 of stolen jewelry from Ogden, Utah to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, three years of supervised, and a $100 special assessment.This case has been investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Philadelphia Police Department, and the Ogden Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Thomas M. Zaleski.
Click here to view the indictment
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, EASTERN DISTRICTof PENNSYLVANIA
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PATTY HARTMAN, Media Contact, 215-861-8525Philadelphia Man Charged with Attempted Bank RobberyRead the Press Release
Dean Ceraolo, 51, of Philadelphia, PA, was charged today by Indictment on charges that he committed an attempted bank robbery at Citizens Bank, 1970 Red Lion Road, Philadelphia, on September 3, 2013, announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger.
If convicted the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and $100 in special assessments.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Philadelphia Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Arlene Fisk.
Click here to view the indictment
An Indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, EASTERN DISTRICTof PENNSYLVANIA
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PATTY HARTMAN, Media Contact, 215-861-8525Permanent Resident Charged in Viagrar and Cialisr CaseRead the Press Release
HOUSTON – Mohammad Jamal Rashid, 45, a legal permanent resident from Pakistan residing in Houston, has been arrested following the return of a seven-count indictment involving counterfeit Viagra® and Cialis® products, announced United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson and Special Agent in Charge Patrick J. Holland of the Food and Drug Administration – Office of Criminal Investigations (FDA-OCI) Kansas City Field Office.
The indictment, returned Sept, 12, 2013, was unsealed today upon his arrest. Rashid made his initial appearance this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen Wm. Smith at which time he was permitted release upon posting bond.
“Today’s arrest demonstrates the continued commitment by the FDA-OCI and its law enforcement partners to aggressively pursue those allegedly involved in the sale of counterfeit pharmaceuticals,” said Holland. “Those ultimately convicted of such crimes are often motivated by greed and prey upon an unsuspecting public with no regard for public safety.”
The indictment charges Rashid with conspiracy, trafficking in counterfeit and misbranded Viagra® and Cialis® pills, introducing misbranded drugs into interstate commerce and smuggling.
Rashid allegedly conspired with others to import counterfeit and misbranded Viagra® and counterfeit and misbranded Cialis® to his home in Houston. The indictment alleges Rashid received a package containing approximately 3,200 counterfeit Viagra® and approximately 4,000 counterfeit Cialis® drugs. According to the indictment, Rashid accepted delivery and took possession of a package containing the counterfeit drugs which were addressed to Rashid’s home, under another person’s name on Jan. 26, 2012. The indictment further alleges Rashid delivered a package of counterfeit drugs to another individual on that same day.
The possible punishment for a conviction of trafficking in counterfeit goods is up to 10 years in prison and a fine of not more than $2 million. He further faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted of smuggling as well as another five years and $250,000 fine for the conspiracy, upon conviction. For introducing misbranded drugs into interstate commerce, the possible punishment is up to three years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations and the FDA-OCI. Assistant United States Attorney Julie Redlinger is prosecuting the case.
An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence.
A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.Pasco County Pharmacist Sentenced for Illegally Distributing Pain MedicationsRead the Press Release
Tampa, Florida - United States District Judge Susan Bucklew today sentenced Edward Benjamin Alister Beckles (59, Pasco County) to 4 years in federal prison for distributing Oxycodone. He was also ordered to serve a two-year term of supervised release. As part of his sentence, the court also entered a money judgment in the amount of $175,000, the proceeds of the charged criminal conduct. Beckles pleaded guilty on March 26, 2013.
According to court documents, in 2010, detectives from the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office and agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration began an investigation to identify members of a large Oxycodone pill distribution ring. As a result of the investigation, 33 individuals were arrested and prosecuted.
From August 2009 through January 2012, individuals presented fraudulent prescriptions for Oxycodone to Beckles at his pharmacy and he filled the prescriptions, knowing they were fraudulent. Beckles was a licensed pharmacist and the owner of Ed’s Family Friendly Pharmacy in New Port Richey. During the investigation, Beckles provided federal agents with a computer printout that showed the pharmacy made in excess of $130,000 in a 45-day period from the illegal sale of Oxycodone. According to this document, Beckles filled approximately 210 fraudulent prescriptions in the 45-day period. Each prescription was for 270 pills.
This case was brought as part of the Pill Nation initiative and was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez.
Panhandle Residents Arrested in Law Enforcement OperationRead the Press Release
Approximately $500,000 in Cash, Cocaine, Methamphetamine and Firearms Were Seized During Investigation
AMARILLO, Texas — A total of 14 individuals, residents of the Amarillo, Texas, and Panhandle area, are in custody following an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) operation this morning led by special agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the FBI, on conspiracy and drug trafficking charges outlined in two indictments returned by a federal grand jury earlier this month.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney John Parker, of the Northern District of Texas, Dan Salter, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA in Dallas, and Diego Rodriguez, Special Agent in Charge for the FBI Dallas Division, announced the results of the operation at a press conference held this afternoon in Amarillo, Texas. Mr. Parker represented U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña who was not able to attend.
“Targeting drug cartels that have infiltrated the Panhandle area and jeopardized the safety and security of our communities will continue to be a priority in this district,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Parker. “Today I commend the dedicated efforts of the DEA and FBI, who led this OCDETF investigation, along with the ATF, the Potter and Randall County Sheriff’s Offices, the Potter and Randall County Attorney’s Offices, the Potter and Randall County District Attorney’s Offices, the Amarillo Police Department and the Texas Department of Public Safety.”
“Today, the DEA, along with our federal, state, and local partners, dealt a serious blow to the Gulf Cartel, a Mexican Drug Trafficking Organization, operating in the Texas Panhandle,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Salter. “By combining efforts, this two-year investigation resulted in the federal indictment of 15 defendants determined to transport, distribute, and sell methamphetamine and cocaine throughout Amarillo and the surrounding communities. The DEA is committed to partner with federal, state, and local law enforcement to keep our citizens safe not only here in the Texas Panhandle but throughout the country. The DEA will continue to focus efforts to dismantle drug cartels determined to profit on the backs of addictions.”
“The cooperation and coordination amongst local, state and federal law enforcement resulted in the shared success of identifying the many participants of this criminal organization,” said Special Agent in Charge Rodriguez. “Today’s arrests reaffirm our commitment to the missions that we have each been charged to uphold.”
The following 11 defendants, who are charged in one indictment with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, were arrested this morning, and have made their initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Clinton E. Averitte.
• Omar Mendoza, a/k/a “Big O” and “O,” 36
• Sammy Augustin Galan, a/k/a “Hondu,” 36
• Miguel Carrasco, 33
• Conrad Nava, a/k/a “Chauncy,” 36
• Bobby Holman, a/k/a “Holmes,” 37
• Floyd Daniel Teafatiller, 32
• Jessie Herrera, Jr., 34
• Joey Nicholas Vallejo, 35
• Traci Michelle Ramos, 23
• Curtis Gonzales, 35
• Shannon Drell Harris, a/k/a “Shawn,” 43
Five of these defendants are also charged with substantive felony drug offenses and one defendant, Vongphrachanh, is also charged with a firearms offense.
The two below-listed defendants, also charged in that indictment, are presently in state custody:
• Arcel Vega Martinez, a/k/a “Chilango,” 40
• Thiraphong Vongphrachanh, 22
In the second indictment, two individuals, Juan Gabriel Mejia, a/k/a “J,” 37, and Richard Anthony Rios, a/k/a “Tex,” 36, are charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. Rios, who was arrested earlier this month on a related criminal complaint, and remains in federal custody, is also charged in the indictment with three substantive methamphetamine offenses. His trial is set for October 22, 2013. Mejia remains a fugitive, believed to be in Mexico.
“Our local, state and federal law enforcement partners work every day to combat drug trafficking within Texas and beyond, and this proactive and successful operation will further enhance the safety of our communities,” said Randy Prince, Regional Commander of the Texas Department of Public Safety. “This multi-agency law enforcement effort has resulted in the arrest of multiple suspects, and it was a top priority for each agency involved to dismantle and render this drug trafficking organization ineffective in its constant pursuit to distribute narcotics throughout our communities. Working together as a team enables us to maximize our efforts and resources, and thanks to the dedication and coordination of the DPS Criminal Investigations Division agents and all participating law enforcement partners, this unified operation has removed these suspects from our communities.”
The investigation involved undercover purchases and search warrants. In total, throughout the investigation, approximately $500,000 in cash, 2.25 kilograms of cocaine, 1.75 pounds of methamphetamine and six firearms were seized.
A federal indictment is an accusation by a grand jury and a defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty. If convicted however, the statutory penalties for the conspiracy and substantive drug counts range from 40 years to life in federal prison and millions of dollars in fines. The maximum statutory sentence for the firearms offense charged is life in federal prison.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey R. Haag.
(Download Factual Basis)
Panasonic Executive Indicted for Role in Fixing Prices on <br /> Automobile Parts Sold to Toyota to Be Installed in U.S. CarsRead the Press Release
A Detroit federal grand jury returned an indictment against a Panasonic Automotive Systems Corporation executive for his role in an international conspiracy to fix prices of switches and steering angle sensors sold to Toyota and installed in U.S. cars, the Department of Justice announced today.
The indictment, filed today in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, in Detroit, charges that Shinichi Kotani, a Japanese national, participated in a conspiracy to suppress and eliminate competition in the automotive parts industry by agreeing to rig bids for, and to fix, stabilize, and maintain the prices of, switches and steering angle sensors sold to Toyota Motor Corporation and Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America Inc. for installation in vehicles manufactured and sold in the United States and elsewhere. Kotani is the Director of Global Automotive Marketing and Sales at Panasonic.
Panasonic is an Osaka, Japan-based manufacturer of automotive parts, including steering wheel switches, turn switches, wiper switches, combination switches, and steering angle sensors Panasonic pleaded guilty in August 2013, to its role in the conspiracy and was sentenced to pay a $45.8 million criminal fine.
The indictment alleges, among other things, that from at least as early as January 2004 until at least February 2010, Kotani and his co-conspirators attended meetings to reach collusive agreements to rig bids, allocate the supply and fix the prices of switches and steering angle sensors sold to Toyota. The indictment alleges that Kotani and his co-conspirators had further communications to monitor and enforce the collusive agreement.
“The Antitrust Division remains vigilant in its ongoing efforts to hold executives accountable when they engage in anticompetitive conduct that harms American consumers,” said Scott D. Hammond, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division’s criminal enforcement program. “As a result of the Antitrust Division’s ongoing investigation into bid rigging and price fixing in the auto parts industry, 19 executives have been charged.”
“I am proud of the hard work done by the FBI agents and the Department of Justice attorneys who worked on this case,” said John Robert Shoup, Acting Special Agent in Charge, FBI Detroit Division. “The global resources of the FBI are always ready to respond when these complex financial conspiracies threaten our national economy.”
Kotani is charged with price fixing in violation of the Sherman Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million criminal fine for individuals. The maximum fine may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine.
Including Kotani, 11 companies and 19 executives have been charged in the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation into the automotive parts industry. To date, more than $874 million in criminal fines have been imposed and 14 individuals have been sentenced to pay criminal fines and to serve jail sentences ranging from a year and a day to two years each. One other executive has agreed to serve time in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 25, 2013.
The charges are the result of an ongoing federal antitrust investigation into price fixing, bid rigging and other anticompetitive conduct in the automotive parts industry, which is being conducted by each of the Antitrust Division’s criminal enforcement sections and the FBI. Today’s charges were brought by the Antitrust Division’s National Criminal Enforcement Section and the FBI’s Detroit Field Office, with the assistance of the FBI headquarters’ International Corruption Unit. Anyone with information on price fixing, bid rigging and other anticompetitive conduct related to other products in the automotive parts industry should contact the Antitrust Division’s Citizen Complaint Center at 1-888-647-3258, visit www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.html or call the FBI’s Detroit Field Office at 313-965-2323.Owner of Roofing Company Admits to Filing False Income Tax ReturnsRead the Press Release
TRENTON – The owner of Kenal Enterprises LLC admitted today to filing false income tax returns for several years, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman, District of New Jersey, and Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Keneally of the U.S. Department of Justice, announced.
Kenneth Morton of Pitman, N.J., owner of Kenal (d/b/a Ken Morton Roofing and Siding), a residential roofing company located in Pitman, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Mary L. Cooper in Trenton federal court an information charging him with filing false income tax returns for tax years 2007 through 2009.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
From early 2007 through late 2009, Morton cashed $3,946,046 of Kenal’s gross receipts at a check cashing agency, the majority of which he did not deposit into his business bank account and did not report on his individual income tax returns. For the 2007, 2008, and 2009 tax years, Morton had unreported gross receipts of $1,343,348; $1,471,430; and $1,131,268, respectively, causing a loss to the IRS of $241,412.
Morton faces a maximum potential penalty of three years in prison and a fine of $250,000, along with restitution to the IRS. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 6, 2014.
Assistant Attorney General Keneally and U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of IRS – Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Shantelle P. Kitchen, for the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.
The government is represented by Trial Attorneys Jessica Moran and Tino Lisella of the Justice Department’s Tax Division. Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found at www.justice.gov/tax.
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Defense counsel: Robert H. Williams Esq., Haddonfield, N.J.
Morton, Kenneth Information
Operation ‘Smokin’ Aces’ Targets Mexican Mafia Operations in Orange CountyRead the Press Release
Federal and State Grand Juries Indict 129 Defendants who Allegedly Assisted the Prison Gang or Were Involved in the Business of Numerous O.C. Street Gangs
SANTA ANA, California – Hundreds of law enforcement officials this morning fanned out across Southern California to conclude Operation “Smokin’ Aces,” an investigation conducted by the Santa Ana Gang Task Force that targeted the Orange County wing of the Mexican Mafia, which allegedly exercises control over Latino street gangs and is a powerful force in the local jail system.
A total of 129 defendants have been named in indictments issued by county and federal grand juries. Each of the defendants is linked to an Orange County street gang that claims allegiance to the Mexican Mafia, which is also called the Eme. Some of the federal defendants also are associates of the prison gang who allegedly worked directly with one of the two Mexican Mafia members who oversee the Orange County wing of the criminal enterprise.
During the course of the investigation, task force members made undercover purchases of 67 weapons (38 handguns and 29 rifles). They also seized 22 pounds of methamphetamine, 1.5 pounds of heroin and three pounds of cocaine.
Over the past three months, a federal grand jury in Orange County has returned 26 indictments that charge a total of 86 defendants. The indictments allege a wide range of criminal conduct, including murder and assault, extortion and “tax” collection, and the street-level distribution of narcotics.
As part of Smokin’ Aces, the Orange County District Attorney has also obtained indictments that charge a total of 43 defendants.
At the center of Smokin’ Aces is a federal racketeering indictment that focuses on the operations of the Mexican Mafia in Orange County, a criminal organization that for many years has been headed by Peter Ojeda, who allegedly ordered murders and assaults on behalf of the Mexican Mafia. (Ojeda is not formally charged in the indictment unsealed today, but he is currently pending trial in another racketeering case that was filed in 2011 in relation to Operation “Black Flag.”)
The racketeering indictment alleges a conspiracy to violate RICO, the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. The RICO indictment unsealed today charges 26 defendants associated with the Orange County branch of the Mexican Mafia, including those who implemented orders given by Eme leaders, gang members who collected and delivered “tax payments,” and women associated with the organization who serve the “crucial” function of moving messages from incarcerated Mexican Mafia operatives to their minions on the streets.
The Mexican Mafia is a powerful and violent prison gang that controls drug distribution and other illegal activities within the California penal system and on the streets of Southern California by organizing Latino street gang members for the purpose of establishing a larger network for the Mexican Mafia’s illegal activities. If a street gang does not comply with the demands of the Mexican Mafia, the prison gang will order the assault or murder the offending gang’s members, whether they are in custody or on the streets.
The majority of the federal indictments target gang members who allegedly trafficked in significant quantities of narcotics and firearms. Two of the indictments outline large drug trafficking conspiracies, one of which focuses on the Santa Ana-based Delhi gang. The gang members and their associates were paying “taxes” or “rent” to the Mexican Mafia, and this revenue stream fortified the control the Mexican Mafia has over members of gangs, whether they are on the street or in custody.
The first large drug distribution indictment charges 15 people and outlines the activities of an organization allegedly run by George “Monk” Martinez and John Terrones, who are alleged leaders of the Santa Ana-based Delhi gang and who are also named in the RICO indictment. The narcotics indictment alleges a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and heroin.
The second narcotics trafficking indictment charges a dozen individuals with participating in a methamphetamine distribution organization headed by Mario Franco, a member of a Santa Ana-based gang who also is named in the RICO indictment.
Operation Smoking Aces is the latest action by the Santa Ana Gang Task Force to target the Mexican Mafia and its control over Latino street gangs in Orange County. In July 2011, authorities announced Operation “Black Flag,” which led to charges against 99 defendants, including Peter Ojeda (see: http://www.fbi.gov/losangeles/press-releases/2011/ninety-nine-members-and-associates-of-mexican-mafia-affiliated-gangs-charged-in-operation-black-flag).
Smokin’ Aces was an investigation conducted by the Santa Ana Gang Task Force, which is comprised of agents and officers with the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Santa Ana Police Department; the Orange County Sheriff’s Department; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives; and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation – Special Service Unit. Special Agents with IRS – Criminal Investigation also participated in Operation Smoking Aces.
Multiple agencies assisted during today’s operation, including personnel with the United States Marshals Service; the Anaheim Police Department; the Newport Beach Police Department; the Fountain Valley Police Department; the Huntington Beach Police Department; the Brea Police Department; the Irvine Police Department; the Buena Park Police Department; and the Garden Grove Police Department.
Release No. 13-118
Opelousas Man Pleads Guilty to Part in Aggravated Robbery at Lawtell Post OfficeRead the Press Release
LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that Willie Jamal Reynolds, 33, of Opelousas, La., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Magistrate Judge C. Michael Hill to taking part in the robbery at the U.S. Post Office in Lawtell, La., where a driver was attacked.
According to evidence presented at the guilty plea, two individuals robbed a U.S. Postal Service highway contract route driver on Aug. 13, 2011, while the driver was with his truck at the loading dock of the post office in Lawtell. One of the individuals grabbed the driver from behind by the neck and wrestled him to his knees. The other individual demanded money, but the driver said there was none, just mail. The driver noticed the individual who spoke had a gun and took a registry bag. They eventually left, and the driver was transported to a nearby hospital where he was treated for injuries. Several witnesses reported seeing a white van in the area, and a surveillance camera at a business located next door to the post office shows a white van drop off two individuals at the time of the robbery. Reynolds admits he used his mother’s white van to pick up the two assailants and transport them to and from the post office.
Reynolds faces up to 25 years in prison, five years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine for aggravated robbery of mail matter. Sentencing was set for Feb. 14, 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.
Newburgh Latin Kings Leader Jose Lagos Sentenced to 40 Years in Prison for Three MurdersRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that JOSE LAGOS, a leader of the Latin Kings gang in Newburgh, New York (the “Newburgh Latin Kings”), was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel in White Plains federal court to 40 years in prison. LAGOS’s criminal conduct, for which he was sentenced, included three murders, shootings, brandishing firearms, assaults, drug distribution, and other acts of racketeering. LAGOS, 23, is one of 35 members and associates of the gang who were charged in the case, all of whom have been convicted, 26 of whom have been sentenced. The remaining top two leaders of the gang, Wilson Pagan and Christian Sanchez, were convicted at trial of murder, racketeering, firearms, and narcotics offenses, and each faces a mandatory life sentence.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara stated: “With this sentencing, and the pending sentencing of Lagos’s two key accomplices, the leadership of the gang that deprived the citizens of Newburgh of their well-being has been decapitated. This result was only accomplished by the unflagging efforts of the federal, state and local law enforcement personnel and the prosecution team. Today, Newburgh is a safer place but we are not relenting in our efforts to lift the shadow that gangs cast over its streets.”
According to the Indictment to which LAGOS pled guilty, statements made during the plea and sentencing proceedings, other court documents, and evidence presented during related trials:
On May 6, 2008, LAGOS, then a leader of the Newburgh Latin Kings, ordered two others to shoot a member of a rival gang, the Bloods. The subordinates followed LAGOS’s orders, but mistakenly shot and killed Jeffrey Zachary, a 15-year-old boy, who had nothing to do with the gang dispute.
On March 11, 2010, LAGOS, then still a leader of the Newburgh Latin Kings, ordered, along with others, two others to shoot a member of the Bloods. The subordinates followed LAGOS’s and the other leaders’ orders, but one of the subordinates, Jerome Scarlett, was instead mistakenly shot and killed.
On March 12, 2010, LAGOS, along with other leaders of the Newburgh Latin Kings, ordered the killing of John Maldonado, whom they suspected had killed Scarlett. LAGOS helped to obtain a gun while other members of the gang plotted the murder. Another member of the gang shot Maldonado, unsuspecting, in the back, killing him.
LAGOS carried out the murders as part of his participation in the criminal affairs of the Newburgh Latin Kings. Among the gang’s criminal objectives was selling drugs, including by controlling corners in the City of Newburgh where they regularly met with drug customers to sell crack, cocaine, heroin, and marijuana. Gang members, and leaders such as LAGOS, conspired together to protect their drug turf, and to attempt to expand the gang’s drug turf, including by using violence to kill, hurt, or intimidate the gang’s rivals or other enemies of the gang.
Mr. Bharara thanked the Hudson Valley Safe Streets Task Force for their work on the Latin Kings investigation. The Task Force is led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and combines the resources of dozens of law enforcement officers from federal, state, and local agencies and departments, including: agents and officers of the FBI; the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the City of Newburgh Police Department; the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations; the Middletown Police Department, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office; and the New York State Police.
The prosecution is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Benjamin Allee, Abigail S. Kurland and Nicholas McQuaid are in charge of the prosecution.
New London, WI Sentenced in Federal Court for Social Security FraudRead the Press Release
United States Attorney James L. Santelle, of the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on September 23, 2013, James Allen Mereness (age: 57) of New London, Wisconsin was sentenced to 10 months in a federal prison by Chief United States District Judge William C. Griesbach. Mereness had previously pled guilty to a single count of Social Security Fraud.
According to the plea agreement and other documents filed with the court, Mereness applied for social security disability payments for his child, falsely stating that the child resided with him and that he, Mereness, was responsible for the day-to-day support of the child. In fact, the child continuously resided with his mother and had little to no contact with Mereness. Mereness continued to falsely accept payments for a period of 36 months, converting the funds for his personal use including the purchase of a new vehicle. None of the funds received were ever used for the benefit or support of the child.
In addition to the above term of imprisonment, Mereness was ordered to serve three years of supervised release. As one of the conditions of that release, he was ordered to pay restitution to the Social Security Administration in the amount of $39,866.
In sentencing the defendant, Judge Griesbach noted the serious and extended nature of the theft, as well as the need to deter others in the community from fraudulently receiving taxpayer funds intended for those truly in need of assistance.
The case was investigated by special agents from the Social Security Administration. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel R. Humble.
New Jersey Lawyer Sentenced in Manhattan Federal Court in Connection with Multiple Investment Fraud SchemesRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that EVERETTE L. SCOTT, JR., a New Jersey attorney, was sentenced today in Manhattan federal court to 30 months in prison for engaging in securities and wire fraud in connection with two separate schemes. In the larger of the two schemes, SCOTT and co-defendant Tyrone L. Gilliams, Jr., solicited and misappropriated $5 million in investments in a bogus U.S. Treasury Strips investment program. In the other scheme, the defendants solicited and misappropriated a $450,000 investment in a Utah coal mine. In addition to buying luxury cars, jewelry, and other items, Gilliams spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of investor money organizing and promoting a multi-day festival in Philadelphia that headlined Sean “Diddy” Combs. SCOTT and Gilliams were found guilty following a jury trial in February 2013, and Scott was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Deborah A. Batts.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “With his sentence today, Everette Scott meets the just punishment that befalls an attorney who uses a law license as a vehicle for fraud – time in federal prison. This Office will continue to make sure the perpetrators of fraud are brought to justice and pay the price for their crimes.”
According to the Indictment and the evidence presented at trial:
In 2009 and 2010, Gilliams was the owner of TL Gilliams, LLC, which purported to engage in transactions in commodities like oil and gold. SCOTT was an attorney at a small law firm in New Jersey and acted as TL Gilliams’s general counsel.
In the summer of 2010, Gilliams solicited $5 million dollars from two investors for purposes of trading in U.S. Treasury Strips, which are a derivative of U.S. Treasury Bonds. Gilliams and SCOTT arranged for the investors to make their investments by wiring them into an attorney trust account maintained by SCOTT’s law firm. Upon receiving the money, SCOTT – at Gilliams’s direction – misappropriated more than $700,000 to satisfy expenses stemming from an unrelated and failed venture to buy a coal mine in Utah. SCOTT also claimed $50,000 of the investment money for himself as purported fees. At Gilliams’s direction, SCOTT transferred most of the remainder to bank and brokerage accounts that Gilliams controlled.
At most, Gilliams purchased $250,000 worth of Treasury Strips with the more than $4 million in investment money transferred by SCOTT. Over a span of less than six months, Gilliams spent more than $1.6 million on an unrelated gold investment; more than $200,000 to purchase a commercial warehouse in Denver; at least $100,000 to buy or lease luxury cars; at least $50,000 for construction work on his home; at least $100,000 on luxury hotel and travel expenses; and more than $500,000 promoting two events – “Joy to the World,” involving an album release party with Jamie Foxx at the Vault nightclub in Philadelphia, and culminating in a red carpet, black tie gala at the Philadelphia Ritz-Carlton, headlined for a $120,000 fee by Sean “Diddy” Combs, and the “Gatta Be Jokin’ Comedy Jam,” a December 2010 comedy performance in Nassau, Bahamas.
Gilliams did not engage in any trading of Treasury Strips and, as a result, did not derive any profits. Nonetheless, during the period when he was spending investor money, Gilliams provided investors with false reports of trades and profits, and made occasional, nominal payments that he falsely claimed represented profits from Treasury Strips trading. Other than these purported profit payments, which totaled approximately $100,000, neither investor received any of his combined $5 million investment back.
In a separate scheme, Gilliams and SCOTT arranged in late 2009 for an investor to transfer $450,000 to SCOTT’s attorney trust account, to be held in escrow until used in connection with a venture to purchase the assets of a bankrupt Utah coal mine. Once the money was in SCOTT’s account, he secretly misappropriated approximately $112,000 by claiming it as purported fees, and transferred the rest to Gilliams or other individuals and entities at Gilliams’s direction. Until August 2010, Gilliams and SCOTT falsely assured the victim that his $450,000 remained safely in escrow, long after SCOTT’s escrow account had been emptied. Although the victim repeatedly demanded the return of his funds, Gilliams and SCOTT pacified him by producing forged bank documents and a false attorney attestation letter written by SCOTT purporting to show that Gilliams was in possession of the millions of dollars necessary to purchase and operate the Utah coal mine. In August 2010, after an attorney for the victim threatened SCOTT with professional discipline for his failure to return the escrowed funds, Gilliams and SCOTT paid the victim $450,000 using funds they raised for investment in Treasury Strips.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Batts sentenced SCOTT, 52, of Sewell, New Jersey, to three years of probation. He was also ordered to make restitution in the amount of $1,005,000, and pay a $300 special assessment fee.
Gilliams is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Batts on October 31, 2013, at 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Bharara praised the work of the Criminal Investigators of the United States Attorney’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which jointly 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 U.S. Attorney 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 is 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 Michael A. Levy and David B. Massey are in charge of the prosecution.