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30 July 2013
Violent Robber Sentenced in White Plains Federal Court to Life in Prison for Murder in NewburghOf Tomas AlmodovarRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that GEORGE SQUIRE was sentenced today in White Plains federal court to life in prison for his murder of Tomas Almodovar on March 24, 2012. SQUIRE shot and killed Almodovar while SQUIRE was robbing Almodovar in the lobby of 5 City Terrace, Newburgh, New York. On September 5, 2012, SQUIRE was indicted in this district for (1) committing a Hobbs Act Robbery, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1951; and (2) causing the death of Almodovar by discharging a firearm during a robbery, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(j). On February 27, 2013, SQUIRE pled guilty to both counts in the Indictment. United States District Judge Kenneth M. Karas presided over this case.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “This senseless murder is yet another sad example of what happens when men who use and carry guns commit crimes. Now, a wife is without a husband, and three young children have lost their father. This Office’s ongoing commitment to rooting out the scourge of gang members who commit violent crimes in areas like Newburgh will not stop.”
According to the statements made at sentencing and documents filed in the case:
SQUIRE robbed Almodovar at gunpoint and during the robbery, SQUIRE shot and killed Almodovar. Following the murder, SQUIRE bragged to a friend that SQUIRE had been waiting inside 5 City Terrace to rob customers of a marijuana business operating on the second floor of the building, and that SQUIRE approached Almodovar with a .25 caliber firearm as Almodovar was coming downstairs from the second floor apartment. SQUIRE decided to kill Almodovar because Almodovar brushed away SQUIRE’s gun, and SQUIRE described watching Almodovar stumble out of the building onto Broadway before falling down from the gunshot wound. SQUIRE was 19 years old at the time he killed 26-year old Almodovar. SQUIRE and Almodovar had never met before that night. The victim was not involved in drug trafficking activity, but was an occasional user of marijuana who made purchases for personal use.
Tomas Almodovar was married, employed and the father of three young children. On the night he was killed, Almodovar had been on a date with his wife and they had just returned from dinner and a movie. A courtroom full of Almodovar’s family members and friends attended the sentencing, including his parents and widow. Several family members submitted letters to the Court or spoke at the sentencing about Almodovar’s life-long dedication to his family.
This case is being prosecuted by the White Plains Office and the Violent Crimes Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Parvin Moyne and Andrew Bauer are in charge of the prosecution.
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University Place Tax Preparer Sentenced for Tax EvasionRead the Press Release
A long-time University Place, Washington tax accountant and tax preparer was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to two years of probation and $146,226 in restitution for tax evasion. JOSEPH J. DORIA, 70, pleaded guilty to falsifying his tax returns in 2007, 2008, and 2009. DORIA submitted fraudulent tax returns that understated his income and overstated his expenses. DORIA blamed a gambling addiction for his decision to cheat on his taxes. At sentencing U.S. District Judge Benjamin H. Settle made treatment with Gamblers Anonymous part of DORIA’s probationary sentence.
According to records filed in the case, the fraud came to light during an IRS audit of DORIA’s returns in 2011. The total tax loss over the three year period was $146,226.
Prosecutors noted that as a respected tax accountant and tax preparer for more than 35 years, DORIA knew the wrongful nature of his conduct. “Notably, he also knew that there were alternatives to falsifying these tax returns. Based on his background in tax preparation and accounting, Mr. Doria no doubt was fully aware that if he did not have the ability to pay his taxes, he could have approached the Internal Revenue Service and sought relief. Mr. Doria could have sought an offer and compromise to provide him with more time to pay his taxes and/or a reduction in his total tax liability. Despite this and other options, Mr. Doria chose the most dishonest solution to his problem: he falsified his tax returns.”
The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI) and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lawrence Lincoln.
Press contact for the U.S. Attorney’s Office is Emily Langlie at (206) 553-4110 or [email protected].
USW Political Director Sentenced and Fined for Embezzling Union FundsRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH, Pa. - A resident of Cranberry Township, Pa., has been sentenced in federal court to 24 months probation and a $2,000 fine on his conviction of union embezzlement, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
United States District Judge Mark R. Hornak imposed the sentence on Charles Rocha, 44.
According to information presented to the court, Rocha, the former Director of the Political Department of the United Steelworkers International Union (USW), engaged in misuse of a USW credit card and falsification of semi-monthly USW voucher entries during the period from January of 2008 until June of 2009.
Prior to imposing sentence, Judge Hornak stated that Mr. Rocha had a "steep, sharp and successful climb from the floor of a tire plant in Texas to the top" of the USW; that the defendant has recognized the harm that he brought on himself and his family; and that this prosecution against a senior member of one of the largest labor organizations in the world would help ensure that union dues are used only for proper purposes.
Assistant United States Attorney Leo M. Dillon prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
U.S. Attorney Hickton commended the Department of Labor, Office of Labor Management Standards for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Rocha.
Two Individuals Appear in Federal Court on Drug-Related ChargesRead the Press Release
1125 Chapline Street, Federal Building, Suite 3000 ● Wheeling, WV 26003
(304) 234-7725 ● Contact: Chris Zumpetta-Parr, Public Affairs SpecialistFollow us on Twitter @NDWVnews
MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA - United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II announced that the following individuals recently appeared in Federal Court in Martinsburg.
CHRISTOPHER MICHAEL ROOF, age 35, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced to 24 months imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release for the “Possession with Intent to Distribute Cocaine Base and Cocaine Hydrochloride” in Martinsburg, West Virginia. ROOF was remanded to the custody of the United States Marshal pending designation to a Federal institution.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stephen L. Vogrin and investigated by the Martinsburg Police Department.
DORIAN MARCELL WILSON, age 25, of Martinsburg, entered a plea of guilty to “Possession with Intent to Distribute Crack Cocaine.” WILSON, who is in custody pending sentencing, faces up to 20 years imprisonment and a $1,000,000 fine.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Brandon S. Flower and investigated by the Eastern Panhandle Drug & Violent Crime Task Force, consisting of officers from the West Virginia State Police - Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Martinsburg Police Department, and the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department.
Two Florida Residents Convicted on Bribery ChargesRead the Press Release
1125 Chapline Street, Federal Building, Suite 3000 ● Wheeling, WV 26003
(304) 234-7725 ● Contact: Chris Zumpetta-Parr, Public Affairs SpecialistFollow us on Twitter @NDWVnews
CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA - Two individuals entered pleas of guilty in United
States District Court in Clarksburg on July 30, 2013, before Magistrate Judge John S. Kaull.United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced that:
JASON NOEL SQUIRES, age 28, and NIKOLE MONIQUE WATKINS, age 24, entered pleas of guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Bribery of a Public Official and Bribery of a Public Official. Between January 1, 2012, and August 14, 2012, SQUIRES, a correctional officer at FCI Gilmer, smuggled tobacco into the prison on multiple occasions. SQUIRES provided the tobacco to inmates. In exchange, the inmates arranged to have contacts outside of the prison send money to WATKINS, who was the girlfriend of SQUIRES, via Western Union and Postal money grams. WATKINS was aware that SQUIRES was smuggling contraband to inmates. SQUIRES and WATKINS received approximately $40,000 for the tobacco that SQUIRES smuggled into the prison.
SQUIRES and WATKINS, who are free on bond pending sentencing, face up to 20 years imprisonment and a $500,000 fine.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Brandon S. Flower and investigated by the United States Department of Justice Office of Inspector General, with assistance from the Special Investigative Services Unit at FCI Gilmer.
Two Bridgeport Men Charged with Drug-related MurderRead the Press Release
Deirdre M. Daly, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that a federal grand jury sitting in New Haven has returned an eight-count indictment charging JOHNNIE JEFFERSON, also known as “Jeezy,” 23, and TRUMAINE HEARST, also known as “Man,” 19, both of Bridgeport, with murder, robbery, drug and firearms offenses related to the October 2012 death of Dawayne Cobb in Bridgeport.
On October 10, 2012, at approximately 6:20 p.m., the body of Dawayne Cobb was discovered in the driver seat of an idling vehicle in the vicinity of 220 Sunshine Circle in Bridgeport. Cobb had gunshot wounds in his shoulder and abdomen.
The indictment alleges that, on October 10, 2012, JEFFERSON and HEARST drove together to Sunshine Circle in order to meet Cobb, murdered him and stole marijuana from him. JEFFERSON and HEARST transported the stolen marijuana to a Bridgeport residence and subsequently distributed it amongst themselves and others.
The indictment charges JEFFERSON and HEARST with causing the death of Dawayne Cobb through the use of a firearm. This charge carries a mandatory lifetime term of imprisonment or death, should the government seek the death penalty in this matter.
The indictment also charges both defendants with conspiracy to use a firearm during and in relation to crimes of violence and drug trafficking crimes, use of a firearm during and in relation to crimes of violence, conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, interference with commerce by robbery, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana, possession with intent to distribute marijuana, and use of a firearm during and in relation to drug trafficking crimes.
The indictment was returned on July 23, 2013. JEFFERSON and HEARST are currently in state custody.
This matter is being investigated by Bridgeport Police Department and the FBI’s Bridgeport Safe Streets Task Force, which includes the Bridgeport, Norwalk, Trumbull and Fairfield Police Departments. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Tracy Dayton and Rahul Kale.
Acting U.S. Attorney Daly stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations, and each defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
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(203) 821-3722 [email protected]Three Brook Park Men Indicted for $2 Million Food-Stamp FraudRead the Press Release
Three Brook Park men were indicted for defrauding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly the Food Stamp Program) out $2 million from four Cleveland stores where they accepted food stamps for ineligible items such as beer and cigarettes, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.
Saed (Sam) Wahdan, 41, his brother, Maher (Mario) Wahdan, 42, and Nidal Jaber, 45, were each indicted on one count of conspiracy to commit food stamp fraud, one count of food stamp fraud and two counts of unlawful redemption of food stamps. Maher Wahdan faces an additional count of theft of public funds.
“The food stamp program has provided nutritious food to thousands of hungry families over the years,” Dettelbach said. “We will continue to work to recover money stolen from the program and eradicate waste, fraud and abuse of government programs.”
Between January 2008 and March 2012, the defendants and others conspired to commit more than $2 million in food-stamp fraud through four of their businesses: One Stop Beverage, 5105 Franklin Blvd.; Bridge Deli and Beverage, 4700 Bridge Ave.; Franklin Beverage and Deli, 4719 Franklin Blvd., and Scott Food Mart, 951 Linn Drive.
The Wahdans owned and operated all four stores but put them in the names of other people to conceal the fact that Saed Wahdan had a prior conviction for food stamp trafficking and Maher Wahdan had a prior conviction for impersonating an officer – both of which precluded their participation in the food stamp program, according to the indictment.
The defendants used their businesses to exchange customer food stamps for cash and other unauthorized items, including beer and cigarettes. They also purchased food stamp cards from customers and used them at other grocery locations to purchase inventory for their stores and for their personal use, according to the indictment.
The indictment seeks to forfeit property derived from the proceeds of the criminal conduct of the Wahdans, including the following Cleveland properties: 9604 Dennison Ave.; 3353 West 44th Street; 3374 West 130th Street; 1452 West 75th Street and 951 Linn Drive.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christos N. Georgalis, Vasile Katsaros and James Morford following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General-Investigations and Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations.
If convicted, the defendants’ sentences will be determined by the court after a review of factors unique to the case, including the defendants’ prior criminal record, if any, the defendants’ 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.
Three Arrested as Part of Operation Cross CountryRead the Press Release
Memphis, TN – Trenton Mitchell, 23; Rodney Armstrong, 22; and Charlisa Wright, 18; have been charged in a criminal complaint with child prostitution, announced U.S. Attorney Edward
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L. Stanton III.
Operation Cross Country was a nationwide law enforcement sweep led by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation targeting child sex-trafficking. According to the complaint filed in the Western
District of Tennessee, the operation involved infiltrating ads listed on backpage.com in the
Memphis metropolitan area. The operation resulted in the recovery of a 14-year-old runaway who had been missing since June 20, 2013, who was subjected to prostitution and physical abuse at the hands of the accused.
All three defendants are in custody and awaiting an initial appearance. This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Debra Ireland is representing the government.
The charges and allegations contained in this complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Texas Man Sentenced in Identity Theft CaseRead the Press Release
Gulfport, Miss. – Mikel Chad Adams, 42, of Dallas, Texas, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden to serve 120 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for producing, using, and trafficking in counterfeit credit cards, announced U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Davis and Allen W. Bryant, Resident Agent in Charge, U.S. Secret Service. Adams was also ordered to pay $16,526 in restitution to the credit card companies.
Adams was arrested after attempting to use a fraudulent credit card at a gas station in Pass Christian, Mississippi. A search of Adams and his car revealed several sheets of paper listing debit and credit card numbers, as well as sheets of laminate paper. Some of the laminate paper had account numbers printed on them that matched the account numbers found on the sheets of paper. Adams would affix the laminate with the credit card account numbers to blank credit cards and create the fraudulent cards to make purchases. The investigation revealed that the account numbers were actual numbers belonging to two major banks. A total of 916 account numbers from the two issuing banks were found, and approximately 638 true account holder victims were identified and notified that their account numbers had been compromised.
Prior to his guilty plea in the counterfeit credit card case, Adams failed to appear as required under the terms and conditions of his bond and was thereafter arrested on a bench warrant. He has since been indicted and pled guilty for failure to appear and is set for sentencing in that case on August 14, 2013.
This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ruth Morgan.
###If you believe you have been a victim of fraud from a person or an organization soliciting relief funds on behalf of storm victims, contact the National Center for Disaster Fraud toll free at:
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You can also fax information to:
(225) 334-4707
or e-mail it to:
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Statement by the Attorney General on Senate Vote to Confirm James Comey as FBI DirectorRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder released the following statement Monday night after the U.S. Senate voted 93-1 to confirm James Comey as the next director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation:
“Jim Comey is a dedicated public servant who brings an impeccable sense of judgment, a commitment to innovative methods and tools, and a lifetime of experience to a role that is critical to the protection of our nation and its citizens. I’ve known Jim for almost 20 years – and I have every confidence that, as he assumes leadership of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, he will continue to uphold the standards of excellence and integrity that the FBI’s outgoing Director, Bob Mueller, helped to establish. As a seasoned prosecutor, a proven leader, and a faithful servant of the American people, I am confident that Jim will be a superb FBI Director. I applaud the U.S. Senate for approving his nomination. And I look forward to working with him – and with all of the brave men and women who serve the FBI – to continue protecting the American people, ensuring our nation’s security, and promoting the rule of law while upholding our most treasured values.”
South Jersey Man Sentenced to One Year in Prison for Stealing Father’s Benefit Checks for 22 Years After His DeathRead the Press Release
CAMDEN, N.J. – A South Jersey man who hid his father’s death from authorities to continue getting his Social Security payments was sentenced today to 12 months in prison for stealing more than $200,000 in retirement savings benefits paid out to the deceased, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Michael Shelton, 66, of Pennsauken, N.J., previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Jerome B. Simandle to an information charging him with one count of theft of government funds. Judge Simandle imposed the sentence today in Camden federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court: Shelton admitted that when his father died in March of 1990, he intentionally did not notify the Social Security Administration (SSA), as he was obligated to do, so that he could continue to receive his father’s SSA retirement checks. The SSA discovered the death in June of 2012, at which time the deceased was receiving $977 in monthly retirement benefits.
After his father had died, Shelton set up a direct deposit for the checks into a PNC Bank account in his father’s name. Shelton acknowledged he accessed that account at various times and used the money to pay for personal expenses. Shelton admitted that from March 1990 to July 2012, he collected $204,606 to which he was not entitled.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Simandle sentenced Shelton to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay $204,606 in restitution to the Social Security Administration. Shelton was also ordered to pay restitution of $204,606.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the Social Security Administration – Office of the Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Edward J. Ryan, with the investigation leading to today’s sentence.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason M. Richardson of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Camden.
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Defense counsel: Thomas Young Esq., Assistant Federal Public Defender, CamdenSix Marshall County Residents Convicted for the Distribution of Oxycodone Within 1,000 Feet of A Protected LocationRead the Press Release
1125 Chapline Street, Federal Building, Suite 3000 ● Wheeling, WV 26003
(304) 234-7725 ● Contact: Chris Zumpetta-Parr, Public Affairs SpecialistFollow us on Twitter @NDWVnews
Seven Others Appear for Pleas and Sentencing
WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA - United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II announced that the following individuals recently appeared in Federal Court in Wheeling.
ANDREW J. RICHARDSON, age 27, KRISTEN A. STURM, age 24, TYLER M. YOUNG, age 20, JENNIFER A. THOMPSON, age 25, BROOKE STURM, age 18 and AMANDA K. VANSCYOC, age 31, entered pleas of guilty to “Distribution of Oxycodone within 1,000 Feet of the Moundsville Middle School. BROOKE STURM, who is in custody pending sentencing, and RICHARDSON, KRISTEN STURM, YOUNG, THOMPSON and VANSCYOC, who are free on bond, face 1 to 40 years imprisonment and a $2,000,000 fine. This case was investigated by the Marshall County Drug Task Force, which includes officers and agents from the Moundsville Police Department, the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
JEFFREY J. OLIVER, age 26, of Wheeling, was sentenced to 30 months imprisonment to be followed by five years of supervised release for “Possession of Child Pornography.” OLIVER, who is free on bond, will self-report to the designated Federal institution. This case was investigated by the West Virginia State Police -Bureau of Criminal Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
These cases were prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert H. McWilliams, Jr.
WILLIAM “CHAZ” CRISWELL, age 29,of Wheeling, was sentenced to 24 months imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release for “Felon in Possession of a Firearm.” CRISWELL, who is free on bond, will self-report to the designated Federal institution. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stephen L. Vogrin and investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives along with the Wheeling Police Department.
CHARLES J. WESTBROOKS, age 47, of Paden City, West Virginia, was sentenced to 5 years probation for “Theft of Public Funds.” This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David J. Perri and investigated by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General- Criminal Investigation Division.
HERBERT C. BREIDING, age 34, of Triadelphia, West Virginia, was sentenced to 3 years probation for “Possession of a Firearm While Under a Current Protective Order.” This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stephen L. Vogrin and investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
RONALD SNIDER, age 50, of Weirton, West Virginia, entered a plea of guilty to “Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine.” SNIDER, who is free on bond, faces up to 20 years imprisonment and a $1,000,000 fine. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert H. McWilliams, Jr. and investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Jefferson County, Ohio, Drug Task Force.
Jose Jesús TAPIA MONTES, age 36, of Washington, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to
30 months imprisonment and Elmer Pina PINTO, age 44, of Washington, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 33 months imprisonment for “Aiding and Abetting in the Transportation of an Individual in Interstate Commerce with Intent to Engage in Illegal Sexual Activity.” TAPIA MONTES and PINTO were remanded to the custody of the United States Marshal pending designation to a Federal institution. The F.B.I. was assisted by the Wheeling Police Department and the Harmony House Child Advocacy Center in the investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert H. McWilliams, Jr.Sex Offender Sentenced to Prison for Failing to RegisterRead the Press Release
A sex offender who failed to register with authorities was sentenced today to over three years in federal prison.
Dana Curry, 41, from Waterloo, Iowa, received the prison term after a March 25, 2013, guilty plea to one count of failing to register as a sex offender.
At the guilty plea, Curry admitted to failing to properly update his sex offender registration in Iowa from June 2010 through November 28, 2012. Curry was required to register because he was convicted in Arapahoe County, Colorado, of one count of Second Degree Sexual Assault.
Curry was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade. Curry was sentenced to 37 months’ imprisonment. A special assessment of $100 was imposed. He must also serve an 8-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Curry 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 Anthony Morfitt and was investigated by the United States Marshal’s Service and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.
Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is CR 13-2003.
Second Mexican National Pleads Guilty to Participating in Conspiracy to Distribute 3000 Kilograms of MarijuanaRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Jerome Dominic Concha, 20, a member and resident of Jemez Pueblo, was sentenced this afternoon to 57 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for two assault convictions. Concha also was ordered to pay $13,359.38 to the Indian Health Services in Taos and Jemez Pueblos to cover the costs of medical care for the victims of Concha’s assaults.
Concha was arrested on Feb. 15, 2012, and charged with assaulting a Taos Pueblo man on Jan. 7, 2011. Concha pleaded guilty to an assault charge on July 27, 2012, and admitted seeking the victim out, knocking him to the ground, and repeatedly striking him about the head and face. The victim had to undergo surgery to repair the extensive damage to the bone structure of the orbit of the eye and nasal bone fractures he sustained as a result of Concha’s assault.
While on release under pretrial supervision and awaiting sentencing on the Jan. 7, 2011 assault, Concha was again arrested on Jan. 10, 2013, on another assault charge. In Feb. 2013, Concha was indicted and charged with assault resulting in serious bodily injury. According to court records, on Jan. 1, 2013, Concha repeatedly struck a Jemez Pueblo man in the face and head with a hatchet in a residence on Jemez Pueblo. On April 22, 2013, Concha pleaded guilty to this second assault and admitted assaulting the victim with a hatchet. The victim sustained serious injuries, including a depressed skull fracture, a fracture to the jaw and upper palate, and the loss of multiple teeth, as a result of the assault.
These cases were investigated by the Albuquerque office of the FBI with assistance from the Taos Police Department and the Pueblo of Jemez Police Department, and were prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Niki Tapia-Brito.
Second Mexican National Pleads Guilty to Participating in Conspiracy to Distribute 3000 Kilograms of MarijuanaRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Jose Domingo Jasso-Topete, 34, a Mexican national illegally present in the United States, pleaded guilty this morning in Las Cruces federal court to conspiracy and possession of more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana with intent to distribute. The guilty plea was announced by U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales, Special Agent in Charge Dennis A. Ulrich, II, of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in El Paso, Texas Ulrich, and Chief Patrol Agent Scott A. Luck, El Paso Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol.
Jasso-Topete is one of eight Mexican nationals arrested shortly after midnight on March 24, 2012, by U.S. Border Patrol agents after agents observed five vehicles breach the International Border Fence south of Animas, N.M. The agents conducted surveillance as the vehicles drove northbound in a convoy and moved in when four of the vehicles crashed into each other. The agents eventually apprehended eight individuals and took control of the four vehicles which contained approximately 3,154 kilograms of marijuana.
The eight defendants initially were charged in four criminal complaints and subsequently indicted together and charged with conspiracy and possession of more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana with intent to distribute. Four of the defendants also were charged with re-entering the United States after prior deportation.
During today’s proceedings, Jasso-Topete entered guilty pleas to Counts 1 and 2 of the indictment charging him with conspiracy to possess marijuana with intent to distribute and possession of more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana with intent to distribute. In his plea agreement, Jasso-Topete acknowledged that on March 24, 2013, he was in a vehicle that was part of a five-vehicle convoy that smuggled approximately 3,000 kilograms of marijuana from Mexico into the United States. Jasso-Topete admitted that on the night of March 24, 2013, he and seven others crossed from Mexico into New Mexico and drove through the desert until they were apprehended by Border Patrol Agents. He further admitted that all five vehicles, which were covered with camouflage tarps and driven without headlights, were loaded with marijuana that they intended to deliver to other individuals in the United States.
At sentencing, Jasso-Topete faces a prison sentence of not less than ten years and not more than life imprisonment. He will be deported after he completes his prison sentence. Jasso-Topete has been in federal custody since his arrest and remains detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.
Co-defendant Francisco Flores-Enriquez, 26, also a Mexican national illegally present in the United States, entered a guilty plea on July 26, 2013, to Count 1 of the indictment, the conspiracy charge. He, too, faces a prison sentence of not less than ten years and not more than life imprisonment and will be deported after he completes his prison sentence.
The remaining six co-defendants have entered not guilty pleas and are detained pending trial. The charges in the indictment against the co-defendants are merely accusations and the co-defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
This case was investigated by the Deming, N.M., office of HSI and the Lordsburg, N.M., office of the U.S. Border Patrol, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Edwin Garreth Winstead, III, of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.
Rochester Business Owner Pleads Guilty to Tax Crimes; Will Pay $11.5 Million to the GovernmentRead the Press Release
ROCHESTER, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced that John P. Gizzi, 64, of Rochester, N.Y., pleaded guilty to filing false tax returns in 2008 and 2009 before U.S. District Court Judge Frank P. Geraci. Jr. The charges carry a maximum sentence of six years in prison, a $500,000 fine, or both. In addition, a corporation owned by Gizzi, Rochester Machinery Suppliers, Inc., pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting the preparation of a false tax return.
In addition to paying the $1,901,633 in criminal restitution for taxes that he owes, Gizzi will also forfeit $1,500,000 to the Government in a related proceeding brought by the United States Attorney's Office. Rochester Machinery Suppliers, Inc., Gizzi's corporation, will pay a $500,000 fine for its role in assisting Gizzi's tax crimes. Finally, and as stated in Court today, the defendant will pay $7,623,431 to settle related civil claims with the Internal Revenue Service. This brings the total to be paid by Gizzi to the Government to $11,525,064.
“To hide this amount of money in an effort to avoid paying one’s fair share in taxes is really an insult to all Americans who play by the rules,” said U.S. Attorney Hochul. “Let this case serve as a warning that no one – including the wealthy – is above the law.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney John J. Field, who is handling the case, stated that Gizzi owned and managed several entities, including Rochester Machinery Suppliers, Inc.. The defendant misused his entities to conceal income and artificially inflate expenses in several complex schemes. By misrepresenting the truth on his tax returns, Gizzi evaded paying $1,901,633 in federal income taxes.
One of Gizzi's schemes involved concealing cash compensation that he earned from sales of scrap metal generated by his entities. The defendant obtained at least $1,920,729 in cash from his scrap metal sales, but reported none of it on his tax returns. In another scheme, Gizzi hid and then failed to report, $2,195,084 in income from rent, expense reimbursements and transportation billings generated by his entities. Finally, the defendant used his entities to claim $1,320,638 in bogus expenses that he was not entitled to claim.
U.S. Attorney Hochul noted that today’s convictions represent yet another multi-million dollar judgment impacting the Rochester area, all obtained in the past two months. On May 24, 2013, the Office announced the criminal conviction of ISTA Pharmaceuticals, a company acquired by Bausch + Laumb. The company paid the United States $33.5 million to resolve criminal and civil liability arising from its marketing, distribution and sale of its drug Xibrom.
Last week, the United States Attorney’s Office secured the conviction of Debra Bulter, former Program Administrator for the University of Rochester’s Department of Anesthesiology. Bulter admitted defrauding both the University of Rochester, and a Medical Group, of approximately $3.9 million.
The Gizzi plea is the result of an investigation by Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations, under the direction of Toni M. Weirauch, Special Agent in Charge and the Internal Revenue Service, Large Business and International Division, Financial Services Industry in Upstate New York.
Sentencing is scheduled for November 4, 2013 at 3:00 p.m. before Judge Geraci.Prior Sex Offender Pleads Guilty to Federal Child Pornography ChargeRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – John W. Vandermeer, 62, of Albuquerque, N.M., pleaded guilty this morning to receipt of a visual depiction of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Vandermeer will be sentenced to 15 years in federal prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release. Vandermeer also will be required to register as a sex offender. The guilty plea was announced by U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales, Special Agent in Charge Dennis A. Ulrich, II, of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in El Paso, Texas, and Chief Robert W. Shilling of the New Mexico State Police (NMSP).
Vandermeer was arrested on Dec. 4, 2012, on a criminal complaint alleging that he received and possessed child pornography in Bernalillo County, N.M., between Jan. 2011 and Nov. 2012. On Dec. 19, 2012, Vandermeer was indicted and charged with three counts of receipt of child pornography and two counts of possession of child pornography. The indictment alleged that Vandermeer received child pornography from Jan. 2009 through April 16, 2011 and that he possessed child pornography in Dec. 2012, in Bernalillo County.
During today’s proceedings, Vandermeer entered a guilty plea to Count 3 of the indictment charging him with receipt of child pornography. In his plea agreement, Vandermeer acknowledged that HSI and NMSP executed a search warrant at his residence on Dec. 4, 2012 and seized computers and computer-related media. The search warrant was issued based on an undercover investigation by the NMSP that began in Nov. 2012, and targeted individuals who possessed, received and distributed child pornography. The investigation revealed that an IP Address which was subscribed to Vandermeer was being used to download child pornography images and videos through a peer-to-peer file-sharing program.
Vandermeer also acknowledged voluntarily participating in a recorded interview on Dec. 4, 2012, during which he admitted downloading child pornography images and videos of prepubescent children. Vandermeer also admitted having a prior conviction for raping a child under the age of 14 years from Massachusetts. According to court filings, during the interview, Vandermeer stated that he moved from Massachusetts to Albuquerque in 1987 after he was convicted of child rape. Vandermeer also stated that he was involved in Albuquerque theater productions involving children.
Vandermeer faces the enhanced penalty of a mandatory minimum 15 year prison sentence because of his prior sex offense conviction. He remains in federal custody pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Vandermeer will forfeit his computers and computer-related media.
This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of HSI, the Online Predator Unit of the NMSP and the New Mexico Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory. It 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 a 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.
President of Frederick Mail Preparation Service Sentenced to Prison for Fraud Resulting in Losses of over $628,500Read the Press Release
Majority of Victims Were Non-Profit Clients Who Relied on the Mailings to
Raise Funds
Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake sentenced Chester William Bigelow, age 58, of Woodbine, Maryland, today to 30 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud relating to the failure to provide contracted-for services to clients of Bigelow’s company, RMS Direct, Inc., resulting in losses of over $628,500. Judge Blake also ordered Bigelow to perform 200 hours of community service and to forfeit $628,581.48, representing postage payments made to RMS by its clients, but never paid to the USPS, as well as $13,500, which he withdrew from the RMS bank account and was used by his family members to purchase a car for their personal use.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Postal Inspector in Charge Gary R. Barksdale of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service - Washington Division.
According to his plea agreement, Bigelow was the president and owned 65% of the shares of RMS Direct, Inc., a mail preparation service located in Frederick, Maryland, with over 200 clients and revenues of over $5 million per year. Under the supervision of Bigelow and RMS vice president Stephen Reid, RMS entered into contracts to prepare and submit to the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), large-volume mailings, typically made up of pamphlets, brochures, books, and other printed materials.
RMS clients were primarily non-profit corporations that relied upon the mailings sent through RMS to raise funds, and the timing of the mailings was essential to their fundraising efforts. RMS assembled the mailings, applied the postage and addresses, and organized the pieces of mail for submission to the USPS. RMS submitted the mailings to a full-time USPS Acceptance Clerk that was assigned to its office. As proof that the mailings went out, RMS then emailed its clients either of two USPS documents – a postage statement signed and certified by the USPS Acceptance Clerk or a Mailing Transaction Receipt printed from an online USPS database. Both documents included information as to the dates, times, number of pieces of mail and postage paid. Once the RMS client received a statement, it would remit payment to RMS.
Bigelow admitted that the conspiracy began in 2005, when he and Reid, who owned 35% of the shares of RMS, falsified postage statements to misrepresent to RMS clients that mailings were being sent out in a timely fashion when, in fact, the mailings were late. Beginning in 2009, Bigelow and Reid selected certain mailings or portions of mailings that would not be submitted at all to USPS for delivery. Bigelow and Reid made sure that the documentation sent to the RMS client was falsified to indicate that the full mailing had been submitted, thereby causing the client to overpay RMS for postage and services.
To accomplish the fraud, Bigelow, Reid, and RMS employees operating at their direction, generated false postage statements, forged the signature of the USPS Acceptance Clerk and created a false impression of the special USPS date stamp used on the postage statement. Bigelow attempted to recreate the special USPS date stamp by hand, but was unsuccessful. Then, in 2006, RMS employees gained unauthorized access to the USPS Acceptance Clerk’s key to the filing cabinet where the date stamp was stored. Bigelow instructed an RMS employee to make a copy of the key, which Bigelow kept in his desk drawer. From that time until 2010, Bigelow, Reid, and RMS employees operating at their direction used Bigelow’s copy of the key to gain access to the date stamp when the USPS Acceptance Clerk was not present in order to falsify postage statements. Beginning in 2010, when the computer-generated Mailing Transaction Receipt was adopted by the USPS to certify mailings, Bigelow and Reid falsified those as well, using a document that had been created, which, when printed, looked identical to the USPS Mailing Transaction Receipt. Bigelow and Reid directed RMS employees to use this document to create false Mailing Transaction Receipts, which were sent to RMS clients as proof of the timely and complete submission of their mailings.
Bigelow and Reid took other measures to conceal the fraud and prolong the victimization of RMS clients. For example, RMS clients often included pieces of mail known as “seeds,” in the mailings they provided to RMS. These “seeds” were sent to particular individuals or addresses so that the client could track the timing and appearance of the mailing. Bigelow directed RMS employees to make sure to deliver the “seeds” from the mailings that were going out late or were not otherwise submitted to the USPS, in order to conceal the fraud.
Bigelow also requested refunds for mailings or portions of mailings that RMS failed to submit to USPS for delivery. If postage was paid for a mailing, but the mailing was not submitted for delivery, RMS, as a third-party mailer, could request a refund of 90% of the postage value. Bigelow requested these refunds for unsent pieces of mail and retained the funds as RMS revenue. The refunds requested were generally in amounts less than the $500 threshold that would have triggered additional scrutiny by USPS officials.
As a result of the scheme, at least 19 victims lost a total of $628,581.48.
Stephen Reid, age 51, of Frederick, Maryland, previously pleaded guilty to the same charge and was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to forfeit and pay restitution of $628,581.48, the amount of loss resulting from the fraud.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the U.S. Postal Inspection Service for its work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Lunder, a trial attorney with the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, National Criminal Enforcement Section, who prosecuted the case.
Petersburg Resident Arrested on Drug and Firearms ChargesRead the Press Release
1125 Chapline Street, Federal Building, Suite 3000 ● Wheeling, WV 26003
(304) 234-7725 ● Contact: Chris Zumpetta-Parr, Public Affairs SpecialistFollow us on Twitter @NDWVnews
ELKINS, WEST VIRGINIA - A 35-year old Petersburg, West Virginia, resident was arrested on July 29, 2013, pursuant to an Indictment returned by a Federal Grand Jury on June 18, 2013.
According to United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, LEONARDO RAMOS RODRIGUEZ was named in a 7-count Indictment charging him and co-defendant MEGAN ROHRBAUGH, age 23, of Rio, West Virginia, with Conspiracy to Distribute Oxycodone. RODRIGUEZ is also named in four counts of distribution of heroin and/or oxycodone and two firearms charges. ROHRBAUGH is named in one additional count for the distribution of oxycodone. RODRIGUEZ appeared before Magistrate Judge John S. Kull and was remanded to the custody of the United States Marshal pending a detention hearing scheduled for August
1, 2013.RODRIGUEZ and ROHRBAUGH face up to twenty years in prison on the conspiracy and distribution charges and up to ten years in prison on the firearms charges.
This case will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stephen D. Warner and was investigated by the West Virginia State Police-Bureau of Criminal Investigation, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations (ICE/HSI), Grant County Probation Office and the Grant County Sheriff’s Department.
It should be noted that the charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations and not evidence of guilt, and that each defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Northwestern University to Pay Nearly $3 Million to the United States to Settle Cancer Research Grant Fraud ClaimsRead the Press Release
CHICAGO — Northwestern University will pay the United States $2.93 million to settle claims of cancer research grant fraud by a former researcher and physician at the university’s Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Center for Cancer in Chicago. Northwestern agreed to the settlement in a federal False Claims Act lawsuit that was unsealed today after the government investigated the claims made by a former employee and whistleblower who will receive a portion of the settlement.
Northwestern allegedly allowed one of its researchers, Dr. Charles L. Bennett, to submit false claims under research grants from the National Institutes of Health. The settlement covers improper claims that Dr. Bennett submitted for reimbursement from the federal grants for professional and consulting services, subcontracts, food, hotels, travel and other expenses that benefited Dr. Bennett, his friends, and family from Jan. 1, 2003, through Aug. 31, 2010.
The allegations were made in a civil lawsuit filed under seal in 2009 by Melissa Theis, who in 2007 and 2008 worked as a purchasing coordinator in hematology and oncology at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine, and who will receive $498,100 in settlement proceeds. The suit named as defendants Northwestern, the Lurie Cancer Center, Dr. Steven T. Rosen, and Dr. Bennett. It alleged that the defendants submitted false claims to the United States when Drs. Rosen and Bennett directed and authorized the spending of grant funds on goods and services that did not meet applicable NIH and government grant guidelines.
The allegations were investigated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The government contends that it has certain civil claims against Northwestern arising out of Northwestern’s improper submission of claims to NIH for grant expenditures for items that were for the personal benefit of Dr. Bennett, his friends and family that were incurred in connection with grants as to which he was the principal investigator.
Northwestern, which fully cooperated during the investigation, did not admit liability as part of the settlement. The agreement releases the university and all of its affiliates and employees, other than Dr. Bennett, from the claims made in the whistleblower lawsuit. The case remains pending against Dr. Bennett alone. United States, et al., ex rel. Melissa Theis v. Northwestern University, Dr. Charles L. Bennett, et al., No. 09 C 1943 (N.D. Ill.).
“Allowing researchers to use federal grant money to pay for personal travel, hotels, and meals, and to hire unqualified friends and relatives as ‘consultants’ violates the public’s trust,” said Gary S. Shapiro, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. “This settlement, combined with the willingness of insiders to report fraud, should help deter such misconduct, but when it doesn’t, federal grant recipients who allow the system to be manipulated should know that we will aggressively pursue all available legal remedies,” he added.
“The mismanagement or improper expenditure of grant funds is unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” said Lamont Pugh III, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General – Chicago Region. “The OIG will continue to diligently investigate allegations of this nature to ensure that taxpayer dollars are being properly utilized.”
Cory B. Nelson, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation said: “The FBI takes allegations of fraud seriously, especially those allegations from insiders who are often in the best position to detect wrongdoing long before it would otherwise come to the attention of law enforcement.”
Northwestern agreed to pay the settlement within 14 business days. The agreement covers allegations that the university submitted false claims to NIH for costs that Dr. Bennett incurred on his grant-funded research projects involving adverse drug-events, multiple myeloma drugs, a blood disorder known as thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, and quality of care for cancer patients. Dr. Bennett allegedly billed those federal grants for family trips, meals and hotels for himself and friends, and “consulting fees” for unqualified friends and family members, including his brother and cousin. At Dr. Bennett’s request, Northwestern also allegedly improperly subcontracted with various universities for services that were paid for by the NIH grants.
The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kurt N. Lindland.
Under the federal False Claims Act, defendants may be liable for triple the amount of actual damages and civil penalties between $5,500 and $11,000 for each violation. Individual whistleblowers may be eligible to receive between 15 and 30 percent of the amount of any recovery.
Settlement Agreement
North Texas Men, Who Owned Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Companies, Plead Guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Health Care Fraud; Third Defendant Admits Conspiring to Make False Statements to A Financial InstitutionRead the Press Release
DALLAS — This morning, two businessmen, Stanley Thaw, of Frisco, Texas, and Michael Kincaid, of Plano, Texas, who owned and operated hyperbaric oxygen therapy companies located in Plano, Denton, Hurst, Houston, and San Antonio, Texas, appeared before U.S. District Judge Jorge A. Solis and pleaded guilty to their roles in a conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Kernell Thaw also appeared in court this morning and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to make false statements to a financial institution regarding properties in Dallas that she purchased from a local home builder. Today’s announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas.
According to documents filed in the case, from January 2008 through June 2011, Stanley Thaw, 71, and Kincaid, 56, conspired together, and with others, to defraud Medicare by making false and fraudulent representations and promises in connection with payments of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) services and items. HBOT is a therapy used to assist in healing diabetic sores or amputations in an outpatient setting. HBOT is administered by placing the patient in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber to receive increased levels of oxygen; each session of HBOT is commonly referred to as a “dive,” and generally lasted between ninety minutes and two hours.
The HBOT companies employed physicians to attend and supervise HBOT sessions to ensure that a patient was medically appropriate for the HBOT on that particular day and also to treat any medical emergency that may occur. Stanley Thaw and Kincaid admitted that they defrauded Medicare by billing multiple times for the physician supervision and attendance of HBOT-related services, when, in fact, the physician only supervised and attended one session/dive that day.
Stanley Thaw and his co-conspirators were advised on multiple occasions that billing for multiple dive sessions was improper and that they had overbilled Medicare. They continued to direct fraudulent claims to Medicare and other health care programs through at least June 2011.
Kernell Thaw, 50, admitted that from July 2010 through April 2011, she and a co-conspirator, knowingly made false statements to influence a local bank and its mortgage division, in connection with obtaining a residential loan on a property in north Dallas. Had the financial institution known these false statements and representations were false, it would have rejected their loan.
Each of the three defendants faces a statutory maximum penalty of five years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine or twice the pecuniary gain to the defendant or loss to the victim, and restitution. Each of the defendants is scheduled to be sentenced on November 13, 2013, by Judge Solis. The plea agreement also includes a forfeiture allegation, which would require Stanley Thaw and Kernell Thaw to forfeit all proceeds traceable to their offenses.
The case is being investigated by the FBI, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Office of Inspector General, the Office of Personnel Management - Office of Inspector General and the Texas Department of Public Safety. To learn more about health care fraud, please visit: http://www.stopmedicarefraud.gov/
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sean McKenna, Glenn Harrison and P.J. Meitl are in charge of the prosecution.
Nicholas Woman Enters Federal Guilty Plea in Connection with Meth Manufacturing ConspiracyRead the Press Release
CHARLESTON – A Nicholas County woman faces up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty today in connection with a methamphetamine manufacturing conspiracy, announced U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin. Rachel Petrey, 32, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine before U.S. District Judge John T. Cophenhaver, Jr.
From August 2010 until February 2011, Petrey manufactured methamphetamine using a technique known as the “shake and bake” method. Petrey manufactured methamphetamine at various residences in and around Nicholas County. During the scheme, Petrey also taught several associates including Felicia Bess, 23, of Summersville, how to cook methamphetamine. Petrey also provided user amounts of methamphetamine to several associates in exchange for their assistance in obtaining meth-making materials.
Bess was previously sentenced in February to three years in federal prison for manufacturing methamphetamine.
Petrey is scheduled to be sentenced on October 9, 2013.
The U.S. Forestry Service, the Central West Virginia Drug Task Force, the West Virginia State Police, the Nicholas County Sheriff’s Department and the Richwood Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney John Frail is in charge of the prosecution.
New Iberia Man Sentenced to 135 Months in Prison for Attempting to Solicit A Minor OnlineRead the Press Release
LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that Gregory Steven Guillot, 35, of New Iberia, La., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard T. Haik, to 135 months in prison for attempting to entice a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity. Guillot is also required to complete 20 years of supervised release and register as a sex offender.
According to the evidence presented at the guilty plea, Guillot made contact with a female he believed to be a 14-year-old girl using an online chat service. Guillot began chatting with the girl and attempted to make her feel comfortable, but later became more aggressive, asking questions of a sexual nature. He then sent sexually explicit images of himself and directed the girl to do the same. The undercover officer Guillot was chatting with made plans to meet him, and on October 24, 2011, authorities arrested Guillot on his way to pick up the 14-year-old girl he had arranged to meet. Guillot pleaded guilty on March 14, 2013.
This is not the first time Guillot has engaged in this type of activity. In 2006, he attempted to meet a female he thought was 15 years of age for sex and was arrested by state authorities in Hammond, La. Guillot originally faced Computer Aided Solicitation of a Minor, but the charge was downgraded to Cyber-stalking. Guillot was given probation.
“This defendant’s goal was to lure a minor through internet chat and then meet to have sex,” Finley stated. “He will now spend years in prison for attempting to bring a child into a potentially dangerous situation. Anytime anyone uses the internet to abuse or exploit children, we will aggressively investigate and prosecute them. Too many children fall prey to online predators. My office, along with our state, local and federal partners will continue to safeguard the children of this community.”
The Kenner Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Myers P. Namie prosecuted the case.
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 United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Homeland Security Investigations/Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at (866) DHS-2ICE. Investigators are available at all hours to answer hotline calls. Tips or other information can also be submitted to ICE online at www.ice.gov/exec/forms/hsi-tips/tips.asp and to the FBI at tips.fbi.gov. Tips may be submitted anonymously. The Lafayette FBI office number is (337) 233-2164.
Navajo Man from Chichilta, N.M., Sentenced to Ten Years in Federal Prison for Child Sex Abuse ConvictionRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Timothy Ignacio Duboise, 28, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Chichilta, N.M., was sentenced this afternoon to ten years in federal prison followed by six years of supervised release for his aggravated child sexual abuse conviction. Duboise will be required to register as a sex offender after he completes his prison sentence.
According to the criminal complaint filed in the case, the FBI initiated a criminal investigation into Duboise after the Navajo Division of Social Service reported an allegation of child sexual assault. Duboise was arrested on July 30, 2012, and has been in federal custody since that time.
Duboise pleaded guilty on Feb. 27, 2013, to an aggravated sexual abuse charge and admitted that, between July 15, 2011 and Aug. 15, 2011, he sexually assaulted a Navajo child by touching the child’s genitals. Duboise further admitted that the sexual assault occurred on the Navajo Indian Reservation.
This case was investigated by the Gallup office of the FBI and the Crownpoint office of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety and with the assistance of the Navajo Division of Social Services. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacob A. Wishard 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/.
Mission Man Ordered to Federal Prison for Child Pornography ConvictionRead the Press Release
McALLEN, Texas – Mission resident Jose Alaniz-Allen, 23, has been ordered to prison for nearly 19 years following his conviction of receipt of child pornography, United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced today. Alaniz-Allen pleaded guilty Jan. 31, 2013.
Today, U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez, who accepted the guilty plea, handed Alaniz-Allen a sentence of 225 months in federal prison, taking into consideration various sentencing enhancements. The court noted the offense involved the distribution of images for the receipt, or expectation of receipt, of a thing of value as well as the fact that some of the minors depicted in the pornographic images were vulnerable victims, being under the age of five. In handing down the sentence, Judge Alvarez stated that this crime causes a great harm to the community and individuals like Alaniz-Allen create a demand for this material. She further commented that she does not understand how anyone could gain satisfaction from watching an infant or a young child being sexually abused. Alaniz-Allen will serve five years of supervised release following completion of his prison term, during which time he is not to reside or work near schools or places where children commonly gather, have no direct contact with minors, restricted Internet access and various other conditions. He will also be ordered to register as a sex offender.
Alaniz-Allen came to the attention of law enforcement following an investigation which began Sept. 14, 2012, into persons using the Internet to traffic in child pornography. A Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agent was able to locate and identify Alaniz-Allen as the owner of a computer as offering to participate in the distribution of child pornography movies through a peer-to-peer network.
On Nov. 29, 2012, a search warrant was executed at his Mission residence and a computer and various external storage media devices were seized. The forensic examination revealed 23 movies of clearly young children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The images included children under the age of 12 engaged in bondage and acts of violence. Some of the images are of known victims as identified through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Alaniz-Allen admitted he downloaded child pornography from the Internet thereby receiving and possessing the child pornography found on his computer.
Alaniz-Allen will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
This case, prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kimberly Leo and Juan Villescas and investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, 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."
Minneapolis Man Sentenced to More Than 18 Years for Armed Robbery of St. Paul PharmacyRead the Press Release
MINNEAPOLIS—Earlier today in federal court in St. Paul, a 31-year-old Minneapolis man was sentenced for the April 3, 2012, armed robbery of the West 7th Pharmacy in St. Paul. United States District Judge Susan Richard Nelson ordered Michael Brooks Bynum to serve 220 months in federal prison on one count of interference with commerce by robbery pursuant to the Hobbs Act and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. Bynum was indicted along with two co-defendants on July 10, 2012, and pleaded guilty on March 11, 2013.
Following today’s sentencing, Scott D. Sweetow, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”), St. Paul Field Division, said, “Armed commercial robberies represent a serious and real threat to the public, one that ATF is fully committed to investigate with our partners, using tools, such as the Hobbs Act, to bring violent offenders to the bar of justice. The public should not have to worry that when they are getting a prescription filled or stopping at the store for a gallon of milk, that they may encounter violent, armed predators looking to steal prescription drugs at gunpoint.”In his plea agreement, Bynum admitted that on April 3, 2012, he drove Ray James Brown, age 25, and Rayshawn Earl James Brown, age 21, both of Minneapolis, to the West 7th Pharmacy in St. Paul. The men entered the establishment wearing masks. They pointed a .40-caliber, semi-automatic pistol at store employees and demanded they get down on the floor. They ordered the pharmacist to dump drugs, such as Percocet, Vicodin, and Oxycontin, into a plastic bag. Grabbing the filled bag, they then ran from the premises to their get-away car. Bynum drove the car, which was stopped by police a short time later. Both of the Browns attempted to run from police, but they were quickly apprehended. The gun brandished during the robbery was recovered nearby.
Bynum and Ray Brown also committed the armed robberies of Lloyds Pharmacy in St. Paul on February 18, 2012; the Best Aid Pharmacy in St. Louis Park on March 15, 2012; and the Pro Pharmacy in St. Paul on March 27, 2012. Rayshawn Brown took part in the Pro Pharmacy robbery. In addition, Bynum has been previously convicted on other robbery and firearms charges and was on supervised release at the time he committed the recent four robberies.
On May 20, 2013, Rayshawn Brown was sentenced to 120 months on one count of interference with commerce by robbery pursuant to the Hobbs Act and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. He pleaded guilty on September 21, 2012. On May 15, 2013, Ray Brown was sentenced to 168 months on two counts of possession of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. He pleaded guilty on September 19, 2012.
The Hobbs Act, passed by Congress in 1946, provides federal jurisdiction for cases involving violent, habitual criminals who commit armed robbery in businesses involved in interstate commerce.
This case was the result of an investigation by the St. Paul Police Department, the St. Louis Park Police Department, the Hennepin County Violent Offender Task Force, and the ATF. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Julie E. Allyn and Surya Saxena.Minneapolis Man Sentenced for Bank RobberyRead the Press Release
MINNEAPOLIS—Earlier today in federal court, a 51-year-old Minneapolis man was sentenced for robbing the TCF Bank on West Lake Street in Minneapolis. United States District Court Judge Patrick J. Schiltz sentenced Phillip Leo Nietz to 151 months on one count of bank robbery, as well as three other bank robberies Nietz admitted in his plea agreement to also having committed. Nietz was indicted on October 10, 2012, and pleaded guilty on January 11, 2013. Nietz was ordered to pay restitution to the bank he had robbed.
In his plea agreement, Nietz admitted that on August 22, 2012, he walked into the West Lake Street branch of TCF Bank and gave a teller a note demanding money. He took approximately $3,794, placed it in a black bag, and left the premises on foot.
Nietz also admitted to robbing the three other banks in the same manner: a U.S. Bank in Roseville on August 14, 2012, where he stole $1,047; a Wells Fargo in St. Paul on August 28, 2012, where he stole $7,389; and a U.S. Bank in St. Paul on September 13, 2012, where he stole $1,045.This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Calhoun-Lopez.
Minden Woman Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison/Treatment for Fourth DWIRead the Press Release
SHREVEPORT, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that Kathleen Larsen Coker, 51, of Minden, La., was sentenced Monday before U.S. District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote to two years in prison and three years of supervised release with conditions of treatment for driving while intoxicated. She was also ordered to pay a $5,000 fine.
According to evidence presented at the guilty plea, Coker drove a truck into a security bollard outside the East Gate of Barksdale Air Force Base at 5:10 a.m. on Nov. 18, 2012. Her blood alcohol level registered at .168 when measured at 7:27 a.m. The legal blood alcohol concentration limit on Barskdale Air Force Base is .08. The defendant had three prior convictions for driving while intoxicated in the last 10 years. The first conviction was on Nov. 16, 2005 in Minden City Court; the second conviction was on March 27, 2007 in 26th Judicial District Court in Webster Parish; and the third conviction was April 7, 2010 in 2nd Judicial District Court in Claiborne Parish. Coker pleaded guilty on March 11, 2013.
“This defendant will spend two years in prison because she made the mistake of drinking and driving,” Finley stated. “She put the lives of everyone who traveled the roads in danger and damaged Barksdale Air Force Base property, which was a cost to taxpayers. Hopefully this case serves as a deterrent to anyone thinking of drinking and getting behind the wheel.”
The Department of the Air Force Police investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Allison D. Bushnell prosecuted the case.
Maurice Man Pleads Guilty to Counterfeiting $100 BillsRead the Press Release
LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that Brandon Lee Landry, 31, of Maurice, La., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Richard T. Haik to counterfeiting $100 bills.
According to evidence presented at the guilty plea, Landry admitted that between August 2012 and September 2012 he counterfeited $100 bills. When officers arrested Landry on September 17, 2012, they found a number of uncut sheets of printed counterfeit $100 bills, an all-in-one printer, scanner, copier and numerous high-quality individual counterfeit $100 bills in his vehicle. The serial numbers on six of the counterfeit bills found in Landry’s vehicle were matched to counterfeit bills used illegally to pay for goods and services throughout the Acadiana area. Landry is responsible for printing more than 59 counterfeit $100 bills and admitted that he used the all-in-one printer, scanner, copier to make counterfeit money at a residence located in or near New Iberia, La. He also admitted that he passed the counterfeit bills to a number of area stores in an attempt to purchase merchandise.
Landry faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and five years of supervised release for counterfeiting. A sentencing date has not been set.
The U.S. Secret Service conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph T. Mickel is prosecuting the case.Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces Agreement with Liechtenstein Bank to Pay $23.8 Million to Resolve Criminal Tax InvestigationRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Kathryn Keneally, the Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division of the Department of Justice, and Richard Weber, the Chief of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (“IRS-CI”), announced today that Liechtensteinische Landesbank AG, a bank based in Vaduz, Liechtenstein (“LLB-Vaduz”), has agreed to pay more than $23.8 million to the United States and entered into a non-prosecution agreement (“NPA”) with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. The NPA provides that LLB-Vaduz will not be criminally prosecuted for opening and maintaining undeclared bank accounts for U.S. taxpayers from 2001 through 2011, when LLB-Vaduz assisted a significant number of U.S. taxpayers in evading their U.S. tax obligations, filing false federal tax returns with the IRS, and otherwise hiding accounts held at LLB-Vaduz from the IRS. The NPA requires LLB-Vaduz to forfeit $16,316,000, representing the total gross revenues that it earned in maintaining these undeclared accounts, and to pay $7,525,542 in restitution to the IRS, representing the approximate unpaid taxes arising from the tax evasion by LLB-Vaduz’s clients. The NPA applies only to LLB-Vaduz and not to any of its subsidiaries or any individuals. LLB-Vaduz has decided to close its wholly-owned Swiss subsidiary, Liechtensteinische Landesbank (Switzerland) Ltd. and has also decided to sell another wholly-owned subsidiary, Jura Trust AG.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “With this agreement, one of Liechtenstein’s most important banks has put an era behind it. Today’s agreement with Liechtensteinische Landesbank AG reflects the unprecedented nature of the bank’s cooperation, and serves as another reminder for U.S. tax cheats who mistakenly believe that their offshore bank will never turn over their account files to U.S. authorities. To them we say, you can hide, but not forever.”
Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Keneally said: “This non-prosecution agreement addresses the past wrongful conduct of LLB-Vaduz in allowing U.S. taxpayers to evade their legal obligations through the use of undisclosed Liechtenstein bank accounts, while also acknowledging the extraordinary efforts of the bank in bringing about significant changes in Liechtenstein law. As a result of new Liechtenstein legislation, U.S. taxpayers who thought that they had obtained the benefit of Liechtenstein’s tax secrecy laws have learned that their bank files were turned over on the request of the Department of Justice.”
IRS-CI Chief Richard Weber said: “In 2008, Liechtensteinische Landesbank AG began requiring all U.S. taxpayers with accounts at LLB-Vaduz to declare their income. In addition, Liechtenstein’s Parliament amended their national law on tax matters to make easier the identification to the United States of non-compliant taxpayers. Today’s action sends a strong message to those Americans who hide their true income from the IRS. It's time to come clean and pay your fair share of taxes like law-abiding citizens do every day.”
The NPA recognizes that, in 2008, before the IRS and the U.S. Attorney’s Office began the investigation, LLB-Vaduz voluntarily implemented a series of remedial measures to stop assisting undeclared U.S. taxpayers in evading federal income taxes. The NPA further recognizes LLB-Vaduz’s extraordinary cooperation in the form of its support and assistance in 2012 to obtain a change in law by the Liechtenstein Parliament that permitted the Department of Justice to request and obtain the bank files of non-compliant U.S. taxpayers from Liechtenstein without having to identify the taxpayers by name (the “2012 Law”).
Pursuant to such a request by the Department of Justice, Liechtenstein transferred to the Department of Justice more than 200 files of U.S. taxpayers who held undeclared accounts at LLB-Vaduz, directly or through sham corporations, foundations, or trusts (“structures”). In addition, pursuant to the 2012 Law, the Department of Justice has submitted a second request to the Liechtenstein government for records relating to various Liechtenstein firms that provided trust administration and other fiduciary services that enabled U.S. taxpayers to hold undeclared accounts through structures at banks in Liechtenstein, Switzerland, and elsewhere.
As part of the NPA, LLB-Vaduz admitted various facts concerning its wrongful conduct and the remedial measures that it took to cease that conduct. Specifically, LLB-Vaduz admitted that it knew certain U.S. taxpayers were maintaining undeclared accounts at LLB-Vaduz in order to evade their U.S. tax obligations, in violation of U.S. law. In addition, LLB-Vaduz admitted that it knew of the high probability that other U.S. taxpayers who held undeclared accounts did so for the same unlawful purpose because significant numbers of U.S. taxpayers employed structures to hold their accounts, instructed LLB-Vaduz to use code names or numbers to refer to them on account statements and other bank documents, instructed LLB-Vaduz not to mail such documents to them in the United States, and instructed LLB-Vaduz not to disclose their identity to the IRS, among other things. At the end of 2006, LLB-Vaduz held more than $340 million of undeclared assets on behalf of U.S. taxpayers in more than 900 accounts.
As part of the NPA, LLB-Vaduz has agreed to forfeit $16,316,000 to the United States, representing LLB-Vaduz’s total gross revenues from services that it provided to undeclared U.S. taxpayers from 2001 through 2011. In connection with this forfeiture, LLB-Vaduz has agreed not to contest a civil forfeiture action filed by the United States. That action was filed on July 30, 2013 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and assigned to U.S. District Judge Katherine P. Failla.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office entered into the NPA based on factors including:
- LLB-Vaduz’s voluntary implementation of various remedial measures beginning in June 2008, before the investigation of its conduct began;
- LLB-Vaduz’s voluntary cooperation with this Office and the government of Liechtenstein after becoming aware of this Office’s investigation;
- LLB-Vaduz’s willingness to continue to cooperate with this Office and the IRS to the extent permitted by applicable law;
- LLB-Vaduz’s substantial support for the 2012 Law, which has already permitted the production to the Department of Justice of more than 200 account files of U.S. taxpayers who held undeclared accounts at LLB-Vaduz;
- LLB-Vaduz’s representation, based on an investigation by external counsel, that the misconduct under investigation did not, and does not, extend beyond that described in the Statement of Facts;
The NPA requires LLB-Vaduz to continue to cooperate with the United States for at least three years from the date of the agreement. The NPA applies only to LLB-Vaduz and does not apply to any of its subsidiaries, including its Swiss subsidiary, or to any individuals. In the event that LLB-Vaduz violates the NPA, the U.S. Attorney’s Office may prosecute LLB-Vaduz.
Mr. Bharara thanked the IRS for its outstanding work in the investigation of this matter and the Tax Division of the Department of Justice for its assistance in the investigation. Mr. Bharara also thanked the Liechtenstein Tax Authority and the Liechtenstein Public Prosecutor’s Office for their assistance in this matter.
This investigation is being overseen by the Office’s Complex Frauds Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys David B. Massey, Daniel W. Levy, and Jason H. Cowley are in charge of the matter.
LLB NPA
LLB Forfeiture ComplaintManhattan U.S. Attorney and FBI Assistant Director-In-Charge Announce Insider Trading Charges Against Former Equity Research AnalystRead the Press Release
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and George Venizelos, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), today announced conspiracy charges against SANDEEP AGGARWAL, a former equity research analyst for a financial services firm located in San Francisco, California (“the Firm”), for his alleged involvement in an insider trading scheme. As alleged, AGGARWAL provided material, nonpublic information (“Inside Information”) concerning a strategic partnership in internet search and advertising between Microsoft Corporation (“Microsoft”) and Yahoo! Inc. (“Yahoo”) (the “Partnership”) to at least two different hedge funds. AGGARWAL was arrested yesterday in San Jose, California, and will be presented today in federal district court in the Northern District of California.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “As alleged, Sandeep Aggarwal leveraged his contacts in the technology industry to obtain an illegal edge in the form of inside information about a highly anticipated development, and then lied about his criminal conduct. With his arrest today, we continue our work to investigate and prosecute privileged professionals who think the laws requiring honesty and fair play do not apply to them.”
FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge George Venizelos said: “Like many others before him, Sandeep Aggarwal allegedly broke the law and provided material non-public information on a Microsoft-Yahoo deal. When questioned by his employer about the source of the information, he lied. Yesterday’s arrest is the latest step in the FBI’s long-running investigation into insider trading in the hedge fund industry.”
In a separate action, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced civil charges against AGGARWAL.
According to the Complaint unsealed today in Manhattan federal court:
On the evening of July 9, 2009, AGGARWAL learned from a friend who was an employee of Microsoft that discussions about the Partnership had recommenced and that a transaction was likely within the next few weeks. The next day, AGGARWAL provided information about the Partnership to at least two different hedge funds, including to Richard Lee, then a portfolio manager at SAC Capital Advisors LP. On July 10, 2009, AGGARWAL told Lee, in substance, that he had heard from a source – whom AGGARWAL described as “a senior guy at Microsoft” – that (a) senior Yahoo executives had been meeting with senior Microsoft executives at Microsoft’s offices; (b) senior Microsoft executives were making requests for information that suggested to the sources that a deal was likely to be completed soon; (c) the success of Microsoft’s Bing search engine had caused Yahoo to move closer to Microsoft’s offer; and (d) it was likely that the deal could be announced within the next two weeks. Thereafter, Lee’s hedge fund purchased several hundred thousand shares of Yahoo stock, and Lee purchased 25,000 shares of Yahoo stock in his personal account.
The complaint further alleges that, when the Firm’s management questioned AGGARWAL on July 10, 2009 about the information he was providing to hedge funds concerning the Partnership, AGGARWAL falsely denied having any Inside Information and claimed that his source was a person who had been retired from Microsoft for two years.
AGGARWAL, 40, of Gurgon, India, is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The conspiracy to commit securities fraud count carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of the greater of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. The conspiracy to commit wire fraud count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of the greater of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense.
Richard Lee pled guilty on July 23, 2013 to a criminal Information charging him with one count of conspiracy and one count of securities fraud in connection with insider trading between April 2009 through 2010, while he was employed by SAC Capital Advisors LP.
Mr. Bharara praised the investigative work of the FBI. He also thanked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He also noted that the investigation is continuing.
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.
The case is being handled by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys John J. O’Donnell and Arlo Devlin-Brown are in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
U.S. v. Sandeep Aggarwal Complaint
Man Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Distribute Methamphetamine and Possessing A FirearmRead the Press Release
MINNEAPOLIS—Yesterday in federal court in St. Paul, a 25-year-old man pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute methamphetamine. Jose Alfredo Varela-Meraz, no known address, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute 500 or more grams of methamphetamine and one count of using, carrying, and possessing a firearm during and in relation to a drug-trafficking crime. Varela-Meraz, who was indicted on March 19, 2013, entered his plea before United States District Judge Susan Richard Nelson.
In his plea agreement, Varela-Meraz admitted that from the fall of 2009 through April 20, 2011, he conspired with others to distribute methamphetamine. He also admitted that during the period of the conspiracy, he obtained quantities of methamphetamine from various sources in Minnesota, Arizona, and elsewhere. He then distributed it to mid-level dealers. On March 25, 2010, police arrested Varela-Meraz in Minneapolis. At that time, they also seized 1,131.3 grams of methamphetamine and a loaded nine-millimeter handgun.
For his crimes, Varela-Meraz faces a potential maximum penalty of life in federal prison for each offense. Judge Nelson will determine his sentence at a future hearing, yet to be scheduled.This case is the result of an investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, the Minnesota State Patrol, and the police departments of Maplewood, Minneapolis, and Roseville. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas M. Hollenhorst.
To learn more about the harmful effects of methamphetamine, visit http://www.justice.gov/dea/pr/multimedia-library/publications/drug_of_abuse.pdf#page=48.Leaders of Veterans Affairs Travel Fraud Scheme Sentenced to PrisonRead the Press Release
Two former employees of Seattle’s Veterans Affairs Hospital were sentenced to prison terms today in U.S. District Court in Seattle in connection with their scheme to take kickbacks on fraudulently inflated travel vouchers, announced U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan. The men, veterans themselves, recruited other military veterans to participate in the fraud. Some of those recruited were vulnerable due to service related mental health disorders. NICK HALL, 47, of Seattle was sentenced to 42 months in prison and three years of supervised release. KEISHJUAN DANIELS, 33, of Kent, Washington was sentenced to 37 months in prison and three years of supervised release. At sentencing U.S. District Judge James L. Robart ordered both to share in restitution in the amount of $181,114. Judge Robart said, “There’s nothing like the bright sunshine of public disclosure to reduce fraud. I’m delighted to see there has been a decrease in fraudulent claims following this prosecution.”
“Not only did these defendants recruit vulnerable veterans into criminal activity, they stole resources critically needed to help our men and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan,” said U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan. “Following the arrests in this case the average monthly cost of larger travel vouchers was cut almost in half here, and sent a deterrent message everywhere: Don’t cheat our wounded warriors.”
Medical benefits are a critical aid for veterans. Not all communities have a VA medical facility. Thus to ensure more veterans get the services they need, the VA will reimburse certain travel costs.
According to records filed in the case, beginning in the second half of 2010, HALL and DANIELS recruited other veterans to lie about where they lived so that they could fraudulently inflate their travel costs for coming to the VA for medical appointments. They provided their co-schemers with phony addresses in towns such as Pullman, Port Townsend, Richland or Port Angeles, Washington so that the amount of mileage each vet claimed was far in excess of what they actually traveled. The two men, who worked in the travel voucher office, provided the falsified vouchers and sometimes provided vouchers for appointments that never occurred. HALL and DANIELS would take a kickback of half the cash the veteran obtained through fraud. Over the course of the 18 month scheme the fraud totaled $180,000.
After the arrest of HALL and DANIELS, the Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (VAOIG) analyzed all larger vouchers submitted for payment (more than $500 per veteran). Before the arrest, such vouchers totaled more than $103,000 a month in payments. After the arrests and publicity about the prosecutions, the average total of such vouchers dropped to about $54,000 per month – a drop of 48%.
Michael E. Seitler, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General, Northwest Field Office, stated that “the actions of the defendants in this case served to undermine the public trust and divert precious financial resources from the VA’s critical mission. In this case two corrupt government employees, and eight veterans who conspired with them, exploited a system designed to help facilitate veterans’ access to medical care. This system provides financial travel reimbursements to veterans so that they can more easily come to VA medical centers and get the medical attention they deserve. The defendants abused this system in order to enrich themselves, ultimately at the expense of others. The VA Office of Inspector General will continue to aggressively pursue investigations of this type and hold those responsible accountable for their actions.”
Nationwide over the last 18 months the Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General has conducted 225 investigations and arrested 125 people for fraud in the travel benefits program. Currently the VA-OIG has more than 125 open investigations of fraud in the travel benefits program.
The VA, Office of Inspector General, has established a hotline for anyone to anonymously report fraud, waste, and abuse at 1-800-488-8244 or [email protected]
The case was investigated by the Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General with assistance from the Veterans Affairs Police and VA Medical Center Management. The cases were prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kate Vaughan and Thomas Woods.Largo Felon Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Possessing A FirearmRead the Press Release
Tampa, Florida - U.S. District Judge William J. Castagna sentenced Kwamane Coleman (23, Largo) yesterday to 15 years in federal prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Coleman pleaded guilty on February 27, 2013.
According to court documents, Coleman was arrested for trespassing in Largo, and was found to be in possession of a firearm and crack cocaine. As a previously convicted felon, Coleman is prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition under federal law.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. It was be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer L. Peresie.
It is another case prosecuted as a part of the Department of Justice's "Project Safe Neighborhoods" program - a nationwide, gun-violence reduction strategy. Acting United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III, along with Julie Leon, Special Agent in Charge, ATF, is coordinating the Project Safe Neighborhoods effort here in the Middle District of Florida in cooperation with federal, state, and local law enforcement officials.
Laguna Pueblo Man Pleads Guilty to Two Federal Assault ChargesRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Dennis George Cheresposy, 49, a member and resident of the Pueblo of Laguna, pleaded guilty this morning to two assault charges announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales, DuWayne W. Honahni, Sr., Special Agent in Charge of District IV of BIA’s Office of Justice Services, and Chief Michelle F. Ray of the Pueblo of Laguna Police Department.
Cheresposy was arrested on Jan. 18, 2013, on a two-count indictment charging him with (1) assault with a dangerous weapon and (2) assault resulting in serious bodily injury. According to the indictment, Cheresposy used his fists and boots to assault another man on Oct. 20, 2011, causing the victim to suffer serious injuries.
During this morning’s proceedings, Cheresposy pled guilty to Count 2 of the indictment, charging him with assault resulting in serious bodily injury, and a felony information charging him with assaulting a man with his hands and feet on May 3, 2012.
In entering his guilty plea to Count 2 of the indictment, Cheresposy admitted that on Oct. 20, 2011, he kicked and punched a Laguna Pueblo man, who suffered multiple rib fractures as a result of the assault. Cheresposy also admitted that the assault occurred on a ranch run by the Pueblo of Laguna Cattle Association which is located in the Pueblo of Laguna.
In pleading guilty to the felony information, Cheresposy admitted that on May 3, 2012, he kicked and punched another Laguna Pueblo man who suffered a fractured eye orbit and bulging disc as a result of the assault. Cheresposy further admitted that this second assault occurred in a location within the Pueblo of Laguna.
Cheresposy has been in federal custody since his arrest in Jan. 2013 and remains detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Cheresposy will be sentenced to 30 months in federal prison followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.
These cases were investigated by the Laguna Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services and the Pueblo of Laguna Police Department and are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elaine Y. Ramirez.
Jesup Man Sentenced to 110 Years in Prison for Producing and Distributing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
BRUNSWICK, GA: STEPHEN A. KEATING, 53, of Jesup, Georgia, was sentenced yesterday by Chief United States District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood to 110 years in prison for his sexual exploitation of minors through the production and distribution of numerous images of child pornography. Evidence presented at the guilty plea and sentencing hearings showed that between 2009 and 2011, KEATING repeatedly sexually molested three children under the age of 12 to create pictures and videos of that conduct, then distributed images of the abuse. In addition to those three children, further investigation following KEATING’s guilty plea revealed that KEATING sexually molested 12 minor victims whose abuse was not captured on film.
United States Attorney Edward J. Tarver said, “This Defendant’s lengthy sentence represents the lifetime of pain and anguish he has brought upon his victims. Depraved acts such as these will bring together every facet of law enforcement to garner the severest punishment allowed by law. Protecting this country’s children is the highest priority for the Department of Justice and this United States Attorney’s Office.”
“The hideous abuse Stephen Keating inflicted on more than a dozen children can never be erased, but hopefully his victims can find some comfort in the fact that he will never again be a free man,” said Brock D. Nicholson, special agent in charge of HSI Atlanta. “This investigation is a perfect example of the revolution in international law enforcement cooperation in cases involving child exploitation and victim identification. After Danish police first discovered the photos, and less than 24 hours after we identified Keating as the perpetrator, HSI and a host of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies were searching his residence, putting him in handcuffs and rescuing his victims.” Each count of child exploitation to which KEATING pleaded guilty carried a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, followed by at least 5 years of supervised release. The count of distribution of child pornography carried a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years in prison and a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, followed by at least 5 years of supervised release. KEATING was also ordered to register as a sex offender.
The charges against KEATING arose out of an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a unified and comprehensive strategy to combat child exploitation. Initiated by the Department of Justice in May, 2006, Project Safe Childhood combines law enforcement efforts, community action, and public awareness to reduce the incidence of sexual exploitation of children. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer G. Solari prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States. For additional information, please contact First Assistant United States Attorney James D. Durham at (912) 341-7842.Jacksonville Cocaine Distribution Organization Dismantled "BLEW NI’RU"Read the Press Release
RALEIGH - United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced the recent completion of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) prosecution targeting Cocaine Trafficking in Jacksonville, North Carolina and the surrounding areas. The results of this investigation, code named Operation BLEW NI’RU, was a total of 26 convictions and the sentencing of 23 defendants to date. This drug trafficking organization operated in the Jacksonville area since the mid 1990’s and was responsible for distributing large amounts of cocaine powder and crack.
Mr. Walker statedThese defendants created havoc on the law abiding residences in the area by their distribution of large amounts of cocaine. My office stands ready to prosecute organizations like this to the full extent of the law to hold those who put profit ahead of public safety accountable.”
Sentences in these cases range from 24 months to 262 months imprisonment. See the attached with a list of individual defendants and their sentences. Operation BLEW NI’RU spanned 4 years and 5 North Carolina counties.
“This investigation, comprised of Federal, State and local law enforcement partners, required a significant investment of investigative manpower and resources resulted in a considerable impact to the level of drug activity in our community.” stated Deputy Chief Tim Malfitano, Deputy Director of Public Safety.
The Jacksonville Police Department’s Special Operation Division led a multi-agency, collaborative effort to target drug activity in the community. Other agencies involved in this investigation included the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Carteret County Sheriff’s Office and the Craven County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Rudy E. Renfer prosecuted the cases for the government.
(Download BLEW NI’RU Conviction List)
Hickman Couple Sentenced for Failing to Pay Federal TaxesRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Deborah R. Gilg and Sybil Smith, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation announced that Michael and Laurie Russell, of Hickman, Nebraska, were sentenced in Lincoln, Nebraska, by United States District Judge John M. Gerrard, for failing to pay employment taxes in 2006. Michael Russell was sentenced to 16 months in prison, followed by a 3 year term of supervised release. Laurie Russell was sentenced to 6 months in prison, followed by 6 months of house arrest as a condition of 3 years of supervised release. The Russells were also ordered to pay restitution, jointly, to the Internal Revenue Service, in the amount of $311,486.21.
The Russells jointly owned and operated a window installation business, North Country Windows. In 2006 they were withholding income and FICA taxes from employee paychecks, but paid none of it to the IRS. Despite failing to make any payments to the IRS, the Russells lived a comfortable lifestyle. The Russells had the financial ability to pay the taxes, and their failure to do so was willful.
“Business owners have a responsibility to withhold income taxes for employees and remit those taxes to the Internal Revenue Service,” said Sybil Smith, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation. “We are committed to pursuing those who violate the employment tax laws.”
This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division.Heroin Dealer Sentenced to Ten Years in PrisonRead the Press Release
EUGENE, Ore. – John Christopher Norton, 40, of Eugene, Oregon, was sentenced on July 29, 2013, to 120 months in federal prison after previously pleading guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin.
Norton has a prior criminal history, including convictions for bank robbery and delivery of a controlled substance. In September 2011, he sold heroin within one week after being released from prison. Over the next two months, he used his stepson, Cory Beatt, to help him conduct multiple heroin deals in Lane County. In November 2011, a search warrant led to the discovery of heroin at Norton’s residence. The investigation determined that he possessed a total of 352 grams of heroin.
“Sentencing is about accountability and hope,” said U.S. District Court Chief Judge Ann Aiken, who presided over sentencing. “The damage to the community from people dealing drugs, particularly the quantities involved in this case, needs to be underscored.” The judge characterized as “unacceptable” Norton’s involvement of a family member in his criminal enterprise and reprimanded him for a text message he sent to Beatt after their arrest. In the text message, Norton urged Beatt not to cooperate with law enforcement.
Over twenty of Norton’s supporters showed up in court, spoke out on his behalf, and submitted letters to the court telling of Norton’s sixteen-month sobriety from drugs and alcohol, commitment to mentoring troubled youth and excellent employment record. Judge Aiken credited Norton with extraordinary rehabilitation and sentenced him to 120 months in prison, less than the 151 months recommended by the government.
Norton’s stepson, Cory Beatt, pleaded guilty and was sentenced today. Judge Aiken credited Beatt with the time he had already served in prison and sentenced him to no additional prison time. However, as part of his sentence, Beatt must serve up to 120 days in the Lane County Residential Reentry Center and attend Federal Reentry Court.
This investigation was conducted by the Eugene Police Department, the Lane County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney William “Bud” Fitzgerald.
Henderson, Kentucky Man Guilty in Multiple Bank RobberiesRead the Press Release
OWENSBORO, Ky. – A Henderson, Kentucky man pleaded guilty last week, in United States District Court, before Magistrate Judge Dave Whalin, to robbing six financial institutions and to money laundering, announced David J. Hale, United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky.
According to the plea agreement, James Allen Morris, age 54, admitted to using force, violence, and intimidation when he robbed six financial institutions, whose deposits were then insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the National Credit Union Administration , located in Henderson County, Kentucky, between July 23, 2010 and January 17, 2013.
Specifically, Morris admitted on Friday, July 26, 2013, to robbing the following financial institutions: on January 17, 2013, Green River Credit Union, located at 902 Second Street, Henderson, Kentucky of $32,414; on August 22, 2012, Independence Bank, located at 2610 Zion road, Henderson, Kentucky of $10,400; on August 22, 2012, Bank of Henderson, 2003 Stapp Drive, Henderson, Kentucky of $11,559; on July 11, 2012, Green River Credit Union, 902 Second Street, Henderson, Kentucky of $1,596; on May 24, 2011, U.S. Bank, 501 Barrett Boulevard, Henderson, Kentucky of $6,000; and on July 23, 2010, Integra Bank, 9720 U.S. HWY 41 N., Poole, Kentucky of $2,770.
Further, Morris admitted to one count of money laundering for knowingly depositing the proceeds of bank robbery at three separate branches of the same bank located in Henderson, Kentucky. The separate deposits were designed to conceal the fact that the deposits were bank robbery proceeds taken from the Green River Credit Union.
Further, Morris agreed in court to an order of restitution to be determined at sentencing. The amount owed to victims includes the total loss to the banks listed in the plea agreement including an undetermined amount to Old National Bank, and $4485 to Green River Credit Union at 902 St. Henderson, Kentucky as $29,524 was recovered.
At sentencing Morris faces a combined maximum term of 140 years in prison, a maximum fine of $1,750,000., restitution, and a three year term of supervised release.
Sentencing is scheduled for September 21, 2013 at 10:30am in Owensboro, before Chief Judge Josepha H. McKinley Jr.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Judd and is being investigated by the Henderson Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Haverhill Man Pleads Guilty to Bankruptcy Fraud for Concealing Property in Puerto RicoRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Haverhill man was convicted today in U.S. District Court in Worcester of bankruptcy fraud for concealing assets from his bankruptcy creditors; specifically, property he owned in Puerto Rico.
Peter A. Schutter, 57, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Timothy S. Hillman to bankruptcy fraud involving the concealment of assets.
In 1994, Schutter’s mother deeded a parcel of property in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico to Schutter and his wife. The Schutters filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition in Worcester in April 2009, but failed to list the Puerto Rico property as an asset. In May 2009, at a meeting of creditors, Schutter was specifically asked by his bankruptcy trustee whether he had owned any real estate in the prior four years and Schutter answered, under oath, “no, sir.” Schutter later disclosed the property to the trustee, but only after the trustee requested records from Schutter that would have led inevitably to the discovery of that property. The trustee later sold it for $115,000 for the benefit of creditors.
Judge Hillman scheduled sentencing for Dec. 18, 2013. The statutory maximum penalty for the bankruptcy fraud charge is five years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Vincent Lisi, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today. The case was referred for investigation by the U.S. Trustee’s Office in Worcester. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark J. Balthazard of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit.
Georgia Man Pleads Guilty to Possessing 216 Stolen Social Security Administration ChecksRead the Press Release
LAFAYETTE, La. –United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that Terry Ulysses Morris, 50, of Lithonia, Ga., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Richard T. Haik, to possessing stolen U.S. mail.
According to evidence presented at the guilty plea, authorities pulled over Morris’ vehicle during a traffic stop on January 18, 2012, as he was driving eastbound on Interstate 10 through Calcasieu Parish. A strong odor of marijuana prompted authorities to ask Morris if they could search the vehicle. Authorities found two sacks containing 216 U.S. Treasury checks that had not been cashed. The checks were from Social Security Administration accounts with Georgia addresses. The face value for the checks totaled $144,920. Morris admitted that he traveled to Houston, Texas, to find someone to cash or buy the checks. He could not find buyers because the checks were so old that most of the intended recipients had requested that replacement checks be issued. Morris was driving back to Georgia when he was stopped in Calcasieu Parish.
Morris faces up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release for possessing stolen mail. A sentencing date was not set.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Calcasieu Anti-drug Task Force conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph T. Mickel is prosecuting the case.
Former Thurmond, Iowa, Resident Sentenced on Fraud ChargesRead the Press Release
COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA - On July 30, 2013, 55 year-old Robert W. Duncan, formally a resident of Thurmond, Iowa, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge John Jarvey to four years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas A. Klinefeldt. Duncan entered a guilty plea on March 12, 2013, to defrauding the Social Security Administration, filing a false income tax return and making a false statement to a financial institution. Duncan, former owner and auctioneer for Bob Duncan and Associates, was also ordered to pay restitution to the Social Security Administration in the amount of $218,755.10, and to the Internal Revenue Service in the amount of $42,254.00.
During the plea proceeding, Duncan admitted that he had defrauded the Social Security Administration by receiving benefits he was not entitled to between 1993 and 2011. Duncan also admitted to the court that he had caused to be filed a false 1040 tax form for tax year 2008 by under reporting his income, and that he had provided false financial documents to Treynor State Bank to obtain a $225,000 loan in 2005.
The investigation was conducted by the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, Southwest Iowa Narcotics Task Force, Mills County Sheriff’s Office, Internal Revenue Service- Criminal Investigations, Social Security Administration-Office of the Inspector General, Drug Enforcement Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.
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Former St. Louis Executive of Chicago Area Company Pleads Guilty to $3.9 Million Invoicing Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
CHICAGO – A former vice president of a company that was based in west suburban Downers Grove pleaded guilty today to engaging in a fraudulent invoicing scheme in which he obtained more than 100 company checks totaling more than $3.9 million and stole the money for himself. The defendant, STEVEN M. BRAZILE, admitted the fraud at his arraignment after being charged earlier this month in U.S. District Court.
Brazile, 52, of St. Louis, was a vice president in the unnamed company’s St. Louis office where he managed the information technology functions in that office. He pleaded guilty to one count of interstate transportation of fraudulently obtained securities. He was released on his own recognizance pending sentencing, which U.S. District Judge Elaine Bucklo set for Nov. 13.
Brazile faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, although his plea agreement with the government anticipates an advisory federal sentencing guidelines range of 57 to 71 months in prison. Brazile also agreed to restitution and forfeiture orders in the amount of $3,902,880, including approximately $126,000 seized from Brazile’s bank accounts, an antique1959 Ford F100 pickup truck seized from Brazile, and $79,545 in proceeds from the sale of a 1965 Ford Tudor classic automobile.
Brazile, who had authority to approve company payments to vendors up to $100,000, admitted that between December 2006 and December 2009 he approved false invoices purporting to be from vendors for goods and services that were never provided to the corporation. He caused the company to issue approximately 104 checks totaling slightly more than $3.9 million. Brazile took those checks and stole the proceeds by depositing them into a bank account he controlled. He then deposited the fraud proceeds into other accounts, including $250,000 placed into a brokerage account which he agreed to forfeit.
The guilty plea was announced by Gary S. Shapiro, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Cory B. Nelson, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah E. Streicker.
The case falls under the umbrella of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, which includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement, who working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes. For more information on the task force, visit: StopFraud.gov.
Plea Agreement
Former Social Security Employee Sentenced to Prison for Receipt of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
A former employee of the Social Security Office of Disability Adjudication and Review was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to five years in prison for receipt of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan. THOMAS JOSEPH BARRETT, 50, of Lynnwood, Washington pleaded guilty earlier this year following his arrest at work in January 2013. The investigation revealed that BARRETT had accessed child pornography on both his work computer and at his home. U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour imposed a ten year term of supervised release to follow his prison term.
According to records filed in the case, SSA obtained evidence of inappropriate internet use by BARRETT during work hours in November 2012 and immediately initiated an investigation. The Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General (SSA-OIG) investigated BARRETT’s computer use, reviewing his internet history and examining his computer’s hard drive. The analysis produced evidence that BARRETT had viewed child pornography using the computer. In addition, some of the website analysis revealed that BARRETT had accessed news stories about the penalties for possessing and distributing child pornography. According to SSA, SSA’s network and data were never compromised.
Search warrants served at BARRETT’s home and work revealed he had accessed more than 3,500 images of child pornography.
The case was investigated by the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, Homeland Security Investigation and the Washington State Patrol.
The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Seth Wilkinson and Assistant United States Attorney Marci Ellsworth. Mr. Wilkinson is an attorney with the Social Security Administration specially designated to prosecute criminal cases in federal court.
Former Senior Executive of French Power Company<br /> Charged in Connection with Foreign Bribery SchemeRead the Press Release
A former senior executive of a French power and transportation company has been charged in a second superseding indictment for his alleged participation in a scheme to pay bribes to foreign government officials.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Deirdre M. Daly of the District of Connecticut and Assistant Director in Charge Valerie Parlave of the FBI’s Washington Field Office made the announcement.
Lawrence Hoskins, 62, a former senior vice president for the Asia region for the French company, was charged in the District of Connecticut with conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and to launder money, as well as substantive FCPA and money laundering violations. William Pomponi, a former executive of the Connecticut-based subsidiary of the power and transportation company who was previously charged in a superseding indictment on April 30, 2013, was charged with Hoskins in the second superseding indictment.
Frederic Pierucci, a current company executive who was previously charged in this case, pleaded guilty yesterday to one count of conspiring to violate the FCPA and one count of violating the FCPA. Charges against Pierucci were initially unsealed on April 16, 2013, along with a guilty plea by David Rothschild, a former vice president of regional sales at the Connecticut-based subsidiary, in connection with the bribery scheme. Rothschild pleaded guilty on Nov. 2, 2012.
According to the charges, the defendants, together with others, allegedly paid bribes to officials in Indonesia – including a member of the Indonesian Parliament and high-ranking members of Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), the state-owned and state-controlled electricity company in Indonesia – in exchange for assistance in securing a $118 million contract, known as the Tarahan project, for the company and its consortium partner to provide power-related services for the citizens of Indonesia. To conceal the bribes, the defendants retained two consultants purportedly to provide legitimate consulting services on behalf of the power company and its subsidiaries in connection with the Tarahan project. The indictment, however, alleges that the primary purpose for hiring the consultants was to use the consultants to pay bribes to Indonesian officials.
The first consultant retained by the defendants allegedly received hundreds of thousands of dollars in his Maryland bank account to be used to bribe the member of Parliament. The consultant then allegedly transferred the bribe money to a bank account in Indonesia for the benefit of the official. According to court documents, emails between Hoskins, Pomponi, Pierucci, Rothschild and their co-conspirators discuss in detail the use of the first consultant to funnel bribes to the member of Parliament and the influence that the member of Parliament could exert over the Tarahan project.
Court documents allege that in the fall of 2003, Hoskins, Pomponi, Pierucci and others determined that the first consultant was not effectively bribing key officials at PLN. One email between employees of the power company’s subsidiary in Indonesia described PLN officials’ “concern that if we have won the job, whether their rewards will still be satisfactory or this agent only give them pocket money and disappear.” In another email, an employee at the power company’s subsidiary in Indonesia sent an email to Hoskins asserting that the consultant “has no grip on the PLN Tender team at all” and “is more or less similar to [a] cashier which I feel we pay too much.” As a result, the co-conspirators allegedly retained a second consultant to more effectively bribe PLN officials. The charges allege that the power company deviated from its usual practice of paying consultants on a pro-rata basis in order to make a much larger up-front payment to the second consultant so that the consultant could “get the right influence.” An employee at the power company’s subsidiary in Indonesia sent an email to Hoskins, Pomponi, Pierucci and others asking them to finalize the consultancy agreement with the front-loaded payments but stated that in the meantime the employee would give his word to a high-level official at PLN, according to the charges. The defendants and their co-conspirators were successful in securing the Tarahan project and subsequently made payments to the consultants for the alleged purpose of bribing the Indonesian officials.
The conspiracy to commit violations of the FCPA count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of the greater of $250,000 or twice the value gained or lost. The substantive FCPA counts each carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of the greater of $100,000 or twice the value gained or lost. The conspiracy to commit money laundering count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of the greater of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction. The substantive money laundering counts each carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of the greater of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction.An indictment is merely an accusation, and defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
This case is being investigated by FBI agents who are part of the Washington Field Office’s dedicated FCPA squad, with assistance from the Meriden, Conn., Resident Agency of the FBI. Significant assistance was provided by the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs, and the Department has also worked closely with its law enforcement counterparts in Indonesia at the Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi (Corruption Eradication Commission) and deeply appreciates KPK’s assistance in this matter.
The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Daniel S. Kahn of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney David E. Novick of the District of Connecticut.
Additional information about the Justice Department’s FCPA enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa.
Related Materials:
Second Superseding Indictment
Former School Counselor Pleads Guilty to Sexually Exploiting Children by Producing Sexually Explicit ImagesRead the Press Release
Defendant Admits He Exchanged Child Pornography with a Private Internet Group for More Than Ten Years
BOISE – Mark Alan Saltzer, 45, of Boise, Idaho, pleaded guilty today in United States District Court to sexual exploitation of children by producing sexually explicit images of minors, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. Saltzer was arrested on August 17, 2012, at his home after federal investigators served a search warrant. Two minor boys were at the residence at the time of Saltzer’s arrest. As a part of his plea agreement, Saltzer admitted repeatedly sexually molesting one of the youths at his home, starting in the summer of 2012. Saltzer has been in custody since August 17.
The investigation began in October 2010, when the United States Postal Inspection Service, in conjunction with Toronto Police Services in Canada, initiated an investigation into a private Internet group established by members to communicate with one another about their shared sexual interest in young boys, and to exchange child pornography. Members of the group regularly traded child pornography files with other group members.
The group existed under various names for approximately 15 years. According to court documents, Saltzer had been a member of the group for more than a decade. Participants in the group resided in Idaho, New York, Virginia, Florida, Texas, Indiana, California, Pennsylvania, Canada, Lebanon, and Mexico, among other places.
According to the plea agreement, Saltzer admitted meeting boys between the ages of 10 and 17 in Internet chat rooms and engaging them in webcam sessions during which he encouraged them to masturbate. He used Skype and recorded webcam footage of the teenage boys performing sexual acts. Saltzer admitted using special software that allowed him to import a video of a child about 14 years old masturbating, and show that video to the boy with whom he was chatting, so it appeared that he was chatting with another teenager, instead of an adult.
According to the plea agreement, Saltzer admitted that between 2006 and 2012, he produced sexually explicit videos of numerous boys between the ages of 11 and 17.
The charge of sexual exploitation of children by producing sexually explicit images of minors is punishable by from 15 to 30 years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, and a minimum term of five years up to lifetime supervised release. The government is seeking forfeiture of the computer equipment used in the offense. There is no possibility of parole in federal cases.
Sentencing is set is set for October 15, 2013, before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill at the federal courthouse in Boise.
“Those who victimize children by producing and distributing images of children being sexually abused will be identified, investigated and prosecuted,” said Olson. “Today’s guilty plea sends the strong message that local, state, federal and international law enforcement agencies will work together in an efficient and coordinated manner to bring these predators to justice.”
The case was investigated by United States Postal Inspection Service inspectors from Boise, Seattle and Washington, D.C., and the Indiana State Police. Officers from the Boise Police Department, Meridian Police Department and Idaho State Police assisted locally. The Ada County Prosecuting Attorney originally brought charges against Saltzer, which will be dismissed because of today’s guilty plea.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.
For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”
Former Parker Man Pleads Guilty to over $1.7 Million Fraudulent Ponzi SchemeRead the Press Release
DENVER – Shawon McClung, age 27, formerly of Parker, Colorado, pled guilty today before U.S. District Court Judge R. Brooke Jackson to one count of wire fraud, U.S. Attorney John Walsh and FBI Denver Division Special Agent in Charge Thomas Ravenelle announced. McClung is free on bond. Judge Jackson is scheduled to sentence McClung on November 6, 2013 at 8:30 a.m. McClung waived his right to indictment, and was therefore charged by Information on June 12, 2013.
According to court documents, including the stipulated facts contained in the plea agreement, in 2009, McClung began Flint-McClung Capital, LLC (“FMC”) in Indiana. In November 2010, McClung moved FMC from Indiana to Denver, Colorado. In early 2009, McClung entered into financing discussions with a software programmer for the development of proprietary software to make automated trades on the foreign currency (“FOREX”) market. The goal was to develop a software program that would perform numerous automated trades during a short time based on an algorithm designed to predict and exploit differences in foreign exchange rates. On December 15, 2010, an agreement was reached by McClung and the software programmer to provide funding for the software program. However, McClung only provided approximately $213,000 of the promised $614,790, and the software program was never developed and was never available for FMC’s use.
Despite the fact that the software program had not been developed, from approximately March 2009 to approximately April 2011, McClung solicited investor money by falsely representing that FMC owned and used a proprietary “massively parallel automated trading system” to trade currencies on the FOREX market. McClung falsely told investors that this proprietary software was already being used at FMC and had a history of success. Both verbally and in writing, McClung falsely represented to investors, potential investors and others that investors in the investment programs he was offering “historically” received returns of 15% to 100% approximately every 14 to 30 days. In reality, as McClung well knew, the software program did not exist and had no history of success.
Both verbally and in written “Investment Contracts” and “Joint Venture Agreements,” McClung falsely represented to investors, potential investors and others that FMC guaranteed from loss the principal of the investment placed with FMC. McClung also falsely represented to investors, potential investors and others that FMC would use their entire investment to trade in currencies using FMC’s proprietary system, which McClung knew did not exist. In fact, McClung did not place any of the investors’ money in trades.
McClung did make some promised payouts to early investors using money he received from other investors. Some of those early investors told other potential investors about their successful “investments” with FMC, which reassured others about investing their money with McClung and FMC.
After McClung and FMC failed to make promised payments to investors via email and other forms of communication, McClung made a number of false excuses to investors and others regarding why the payments had not been made. He also made a number of false promises about future payments. In March 2011, McClung sent to several investors via email a document entitled “Cancellation of Contract and Account Settlement” in which he falsely represented that FMC would return an amount of money specified in the document if the investor signed and released McClung and others of any liability. After receiving signed “Cancellation of Contract and Account Settlement” from many investors, McClung failed to make the promised payouts and failed to return the investors’ principal.
At sentencing, the government intends to prove 17 victims sustained an aggregate loss of $1,756,750.
“When a promised high rate of return on your investment seems too good to be true, it usually is,” said U.S. Attorney John Walsh. “Ponzi schemes take people’s hard earned investment funds with no intention of investing them or returning them. The Ponzi schemer benefits, while the investor suffers. These economic crimes are among our most important cases, and will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
“To ensure our financial markets operate fairly, the FBI is committed to aggressively pursuing those who commit investment fraud,” said FBI Denver Division Special Agent in Charge Thomas P. Ravenelle. “We are confident the results of this investigation will deter others who may engage in these types of fraudulent schemes.”
McClung faces up to 20 years in federal prison, a fine of not more than the greater of $250,000 or twice the gain or loss from the offense, or both; not more than 3 years of supervised release; a $100 special assessment fee; plus $1,756,750 restitution.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
McClung is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Pegeen Rhyne.
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Former Owner of Los Angeles Medical Equipment Supply Company Sentenced for Conspiring to Defraud MedicareRead the Press Release
The owner and operator of a durable medical equipment (DME) supply company was sentenced today to serve 24 months in prison for conspiring to submit nearly $1 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney André Birotte Jr. of the Central District of California; Special Agent in Charge Glenn R. Ferry of the Los Angeles Region of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG); and Assistant Director in Charge Bill L. Lewis of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office made the announcement.
Tigran Aklyan, 37, of Van Nuys, Calif., was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald in the Central District of California. In addition to his prison term, Aklyan was sentenced to serve three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $653,461 in restitution.
In April 2013, Aklyan pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud. In his plea agreement, Aklyan admitted that he was the owner and president of Las Tunas, a DME supply company located in San Gabriel, Calif. Aklyan admitted that from in or around October 2007 through in or around May 2009 he conspired with others to commit health care fraud by providing medically unnecessary power wheelchairs (PWCs) and other DME to Medicare beneficiaries and submitting false and fraudulent claims to Medicare. Aklyan admitted that he paid the owners and operators of fraudulent medical clinics to provide him with prescriptions and supporting medical documentation for the PWCs and DME that he billed to Medicare. Aklyan knew that the prescriptions and medical documents that the clinics produced were fraudulent, yet he certified to Medicare with the submission of each claim that the DME was medically necessary. Aklyan also admitted that he knew that it was illegal for him to pay for prescriptions, but he did so anyway.
From on or about Dec. 17, 2007, through on or about Feb. 20, 2009, Aklyan, through Las Tunas, submitted approximately $910,377 in fraudulent claims to Medicare for PWCs and related services, and Medicare paid Las Tunas approximately $653,461 on those claims.
The case was investigated by the FBI and the Los Angeles Region of HHS-OIG and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Benton Curtis and Trial Attorneys David M. Maria and Blanca Quintero of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged more than 1,500 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $5 billion. In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.
The Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations are part of the Health Care Fraud Prevention & Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), a joint initiative announced in May 2009 between the Department of Justice and HHS to focus their efforts to prevent and deter fraud and enforce current anti-fraud laws around the country.
To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), go to: www.stopmedicarefraud.gov.
Former Mortgage Broker and Bank Officer Sentenced to One Year in Prison for Conspiring to Defraud Bank in Connection with $1.48 Million LoanRead the Press Release
TRENTON, N.J. – A former mortgage broker and bank officer was sentenced today to 12 months in prison for his role in conspiring to commit bank fraud in order to secure a $1.48 million residential real estate loan, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
James Cockinos, 58, of Englewood Cliffs, N.J., previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Cockinos defrauded Washington Mutual Bank (later acquired by JPMorgan Chase) in New York, for the purpose of securing a $1.48 million residential loan. Judge Wolfson imposed the sentence today in Trenton federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court: Cockinos was the owner/president of Federated Mortgage Company of America (FMCA). He was also a member of the Board of Directors at Mariner’s Bank. Cockinos, through FMCA, served as the mortgage broker on a residential loan with Washington Mutual Bank, F.A., in an application dated April 19, 2007. The borrower, identified as Individual Two in the complaint, applied for the loan at the request of a spouse identified as Individual One in the complaint. There was no co-borrower on the loan.
The loan was for the purpose of purchasing for $1.9 million a property located in Englewood Cliffs. Cockinos was responsible for obtaining certain information from Individual Two for purposes of completing the loan application. At the time that Individual Two signed the loan application, Individual Two did not review the contents of the application, which included information regarding the purpose of the property and Individual Two’s employment, income, and assets.
The application contained false statements concerning Individuals Two’s employment, income and assets. Cockinos also indicated in the application that he obtained the information from Individual Two through a face-to-face interview, when in fact, no such interview took place.
The application indicated that Individual Two had $400,000 in a joint checking account at Mariner’s Bank in New Jersey, when, in fact, Cockinos and Individual One caused $350,000 to be temporarily deposited into the joint account for the purpose of misrepresenting that amount as Individual Two’s assets. Cockinos also directed a Mariner’s Bank employee to falsely verify that there was $350,000 in the joint account for the prior two months, when in fact, there were significantly less funds in the account over the prior two months.
Washington Mutual ultimately approved a loan of $1.48 million and wired the loan amount to Individual Two’s closing attorney on June 17, 2007. On Sept. 25, 2008, JPMorgan Chase acquired the banking operations of Washington Mutual Bank. Between Nov. 2, 2010 and Jan. 10, 2011, Individual Two defaulted on the loan. JP Morgan initiated foreclosure proceedings. The Englewood Cliffs property was sold on March 16, 2012, leaving JPMorgan Chase with a loss of more than $500,000 on the defaulted loan.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Wolfson sentenced Cockinos to two years of supervised release, fined him $5,000 and ordered him to pay $513,882 in restitution.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford in Newark; special agents of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation., Office of Inspector General, New York Region, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge A. Derek Evans; and criminal investigators from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark, with the investigation leading to today’s sentence.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Zahid N. Quraishi of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Special Prosecutions Division in Newark.
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Defense counsel: Edward J. Plaza Esq., Red Bank, N.J.