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7 February 2013
Former Skiatook Superintendent Sentenced to Term of ImprisonmentRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Danny C. Williams, Sr., announced that earlier today United States District Court Judge Claire V. Eagan sentenced Dr. Gary L. Johnson to 12 months and 1 day imprisonment for Conspiracy to Defraud the United States and to Corruptly Solicit, Accept, Give and Offer Things of Value. He was ordered to pay $207,590.01 of the $657,197.27 in restitution to the Skiatook Public Schools. Parole has been abolished in the Federal System.
Johnson, the former Skiatook Public Schools Superintendent, and Mr. Enos, an Oklahoma City businessman, had previously admitted to conspiring to defraud the United States by hiding from the Internal Revenue Service income derived from bribes in the preparation and filing of Johnson’s Federal income tax returns. Additionally, the defendants admitted they had agreed to violate Federal laws by engaging in corrupt conduct to influence Johnson through a series of bribes.
During the course of the conspiracy from 2004-2010, Johnson failed to perform his fiduciary responsibilities as a public official as they related to the procurement of supplies, equipment and services. Meanwhile, Enos profited substantially as he over billed the Skiatook School District for basic supplies, equipment and services.
Enos would submit invoices to Johnson at the Skiatook Schools for the supplies, equipment and services at prices that were as much as 400% inflated above the fair market value. Johnson would then approve payments by the Skiatook Schools for the over billed invoices. In exchange, Johnson would corruptly solicit and accept things of value, including cash, tickets to college football games, and the costs for travel, food, lodging, and entertainment from Enos.
For example, in January 2004, Enos took Johnson to the National NCAA Division I Football Championship game in New Orleans, Louisiana. Furthermore, beginning in 2007 and continuing on a recurring basis, Enos purchased with cash Johnson’s University of Oklahoma (“OU”) football tickets for a price in excess of the fair market value and then provided him with upgraded OU football tickets that provided access to a box suite. Enos also provided Johnson with multiple cash bribes during the course of the conspiracy.
In order to conceal their corrupt agreement, the defendants used code words when discussing their conspiratorial agreement. They used the code word “cabinet” to refer to corrupt cash payments of $100, and the words “large cabinet” to refer to corrupt cash payments of $1,000. Likewise, they concealed their conspiracy from the United States by failing to include the cash kickbacks paid by Enos to Johnson on Johnson’s 2008 Federal income tax return.
U.S. Attorney Williams commented, “Today’s sentence puts public officials on notice that they are not above the law, and will be held accountable when they solicit and accept bribes to influence their conduct.”
Assistant United States Attorneys Joseph Wilson and Trent Shores prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States. Special Agents with the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Education’s Office of the Inspector General investigated the criminal conduct-at- issue in coordination with State of Oklahoma authorities.
Former School Board Member Pleads Guilty to Cocaine TraffickingRead the Press Release
SHREVEPORT, La: United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that former DeSoto Parish School Board member Bartholomew Claiborne, 25, of Mansfield, pleaded guilty Thursday before U.S. District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote to distributing cocaine.
Claiborne was indicted on Sept. 4, 2012, for distributing cocaine. According to the indictment, Claiborne was recorded to have distributed cocaine on 14 separate occasions between Oct. 11, 2011 and July 12, 2012. Authorities used surveillance methods to observe Claiborne selling cocaine.
Claiborne faces up to 20 years in prison, a fine of $1 million or both with three years of supervised release on the count. Sentencing has been set for May 21, 2013 at 11:30 a.m. “As an elected official, Bartholomew Claiborne swore to uphold the law, and by his own admission, failed to do so,” Finley stated. “He also failed the children and parents of his school board district where he served as a role model. We hope this case sends a message that public officials are not above the law. We will continue to prosecute those who violate federal laws. I thank all of the agencies on a federal, state and local level who participated in the investigation.”
Claiborne was the first indictment as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) “Operation Limpiar Casa.” The FBI, the DEA, the DeSoto Parish Sheriff’s Office, the Mansfield Police Department, and the Tri-Parish Task Force which includes DeSoto, Sabine and Red River parishes, participate in the OCDETF program and conducted the operation.
The OCDETF program is a joint federal, state and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nation’s primary tool for disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations, targeting national and regional level drug trafficking organizations, and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources to disrupt or dismantle the targeted criminal organization and seize their assets.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Van Hook is prosecuting the case.
United States Attorney Stephanie Finley is available for comment and can be reached at (337) 262-6618.
Former New Jersey Corrections Officer Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison for ExtortionRead the Press Release
CAMDEN, N.J. – Jermel Brown, a former senior corrections officer with the N.J. Department of Corrections (NJDOC) was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for using his official position to smuggle contraband to a prisoner in the Garden State Youth Correctional Facility in Yardville, N.J., (Yardville Prison) in exchange for $12,000, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Brown, 35, of Camden, N.J., previously pleaded guilty before Senior U.S. District Judge Joseph H. Rodriguez to an Information charging him with conspiracy to extort a cooperating witness who was incarcerated at Yardville Prison and who was identified in court filings as “CW1.” Judge Rodriguez imposed the sentence today in Camden federal court.According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Brown agreed to use his position as a senior corrections officer to smuggle items, including mobile telephones and music players, into Yardville Prison for delivery to a prisoner – CW1 – in exchange for cash payments. Between July 2010 and July 2011, Brown and his co-conspirators, Kenneth Richards and Maurice Brown-Harden, conducted three transactions in which another cooperating witness outside the prison provided Richards and Brown-Harden with two mobile telephones and two portable music players and three cash payments of $4,000, $4,500, and $3,500 each. Brown then used his official position at the prison to deliver the mobile telephones and music players to the prisoner inside the facility.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Rodriguez sentenced Brown to three years of supervised release, 500 hours of community service and fined him $1,000. Richards and Brown-Harden previously pleaded guilty before Judge Rodriguez and both were sentenced in 2012 to 18 months’ imprisonment.U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge David Velazquez, for the investigation leading to today’s sentence. He also thanked the N.J. Department of Corrections, Special Investigation Division, for its cooperation and assistance throughout the investigation.
The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee M. Cortes Jr. of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Special Prosecutions Division.
13-069Defense counsel: Joseph M. Marrone Esq., Philadelphia, PA
Former L.A. City Building Inspector Agrees to Plead Guilty to Federal Charges of Taking Tens of Thousands of Dollars in Bribe PaymentsRead the Press Release
Ex-inspector solicited and received bribes primarily from Koreatown businesses
LOS ANGELES – A former inspector with the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety (LADBS) has been named in a federal bribery case that alleges he took more than $30,000 in bribes in relation to at least a dozen properties in and around the Koreatown District of Los Angeles.
Samuel In, 66, of Glendale, a 37-year veteran of LADBS, agreed in documents filed late yesterday to plead guilty to one count of soliciting and receiving monetary payments that In described to victims as “fees.”
According to a criminal information and a plea agreement filed yesterday afternoon in United States District Court, In admitted taking bribe payments from 2007 through the end of 2010.“Corruption by any official corrodes public confidence in governmental institutions,” said United States Attorney André Birotte Jr. “In this case, a government employee directly threatened the safety of the public by exploiting his position to line his own pockets. The victims were all the more vulnerable because they had limited abilities in English and depended on Mr. In to help them navigate through the inspection processes.”
In one example described in court documents, a victim identified as T.C., who wanted to open a retail store in Los Angeles in 2008, paid $5,000 to In. To open the store, the victim needed to convert office space in a process that required a building permit. The victim had limited English language ability and had a difficult time completing the LADBS paperwork. During one of the victim’s visits to LADBS’ offices, In assisted the victim in the Korean language, informing him that he was a senior inspector at LADBS, and advising the victim about construction plans.
The victim followed In’s advice and received a building permit from LADBS. Following the issuance of the permit, In went to the victim’s business and said he would take care of the inspections and other procedures through the final inspection of the retail store, if the victim paid In $4,000 in “fees.” In later increased the amount of his “fees” to $5,000, asked that any payments by check be made with the payee line left blank, and advised that checks made payable to LADBS would not be useful. The victim ultimately made several cash payments totaling $5,000.
As part of his plea agreement, In admitted that he solicited and accepted bribery payments totaling more than $30,000 in connection with his official duties in relation to at least 11 other Koreatown properties.
“Mr. In took advantage of Koreatown residents by taking their money under false pretenses, but also by deluding victims into a false understanding of how city business is conducted,” said Bill Lewis, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI in Los Angeles. “The defendant’s decision to plead guilty is another step forward in restoring honest government to the city of Los Angeles.”
In will be summoned to make an initial appearance in United States District Court later this month.
The FBI began an undercover investigation of LADBS inspectors in the summer of 2010, after an informant reported that LADBS inspectors took cash bribes in exchange for necessary permit approvals on residential construction projects. Two former inspectors pleaded guilty to accepting bribe payments and were sentenced to federal prison (see: http://www.justice.gov/archive/usao/cac/Pressroom/2011/141.html).
The charge of bribery carries a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.The case against In is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The FBI urges anyone with information about building inspectors or other officials accepting bribes to contact the FBI by calling its Los Angeles Field Office at (310) 477-6565, or by sending an e-mail to the dedicated anti-corruption address: [email protected].
Release No. 13-022
Former Jewelry Company Executive Sentenced in U.S.V.I. to Pay $1.1 Million in Fines and Community Service for Illegal Trade of Protected Black CoralRead the Press Release
Ashu Bhandari, the former president and CEO of GEM Manufacturing LLC, a U.S. Virgin Islands-based company, was sentenced Thursday in federal court in St. Thomas, U.S.V.I., for felony customs violations for his role in a scheme to illegally import protected black coral into the United States, the Department of Justice announced. Bhandari is the last defendant to be sentenced as the result of a far reaching investigation into the illegal trade in black coral. The scheme cost Bhandari’s company, GEM Manufacturing, millions of dollars in financial penalties and sent two of his trading partners to prison.
At today’s hearing, the court imposed a criminal fine of $918,950 and sentenced Bhandari to one month in jail, to be followed by one month of home confinement and one year of supervised release, during which Bhandari would be required to complete 300 hours of community service and be banned from any business venture involving coral or coral products. In addition to the fine, Bhandari will be required to pay $229,687 to the University of the Virgin Islands to be used for community service projects designed to research and protect black corals. The court recognized that Bhandari’s sentence was based, in part, on his cooperation with federal investigators in related illicit coral trafficking cases.
On Nov. 7, 2012, Ashu Bhandari pleaded guilty to one felony count of false classification of goods for his efforts to conceal his illegal importation of internationally protected black coral in 2009. GEM was in the business of manufacturing high-end jewelry and sculpture products that utilize black coral. During his term as CEO, Bhandari was responsible for ensuring the continued supply of raw black coral for the company. Black corals are considered important habitat for the deep sea marine environment and are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Each of the species of black coral is listed in Appendix II of CITES and is subject to strict trade regulations.
Bhandari admitted that by 2008, he learned that GEM’s Taiwanese suppliers of black coral could not obtain legitimate CITES certificates. In spite of this knowledge, Bhandari made a “business decision to go forward” with the Taiwanese suppliers. The Taiwanese suppliers would label the coral shipments as “plastic” in order to fool customs authorities in Hong Kong and the United States. Bhandari admitted that by 2009 he knew that the shipments he arranged on behalf of GEM were coming into St. Thomas falsely labeled.
“Mr. Bhandari actively participated in an illegal scheme to traffic in protected black coral, a trade that has helped deplete a world resource that serves as essential habitat for marine biodiversity,” said Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division at the Department of Justice. “As this case clearly shows, the Department of Justice will continue to aggressively prosecute those who violate U.S. law by illegally trafficking in protected species.”
“The effective stewardship of our natural resources by vigorously enforcing environmental laws is a priority of the Department of Justice,” said Ronald W. Sharpe, U.S. Attorney for the District of the Virgin Islands. “This prosecution, like many cases involving the investigation and prosecution of those who set out to exploit our precious natural resources, was complex, time consuming and required the expertise of multiple law enforcement agencies. The dedication and cooperative efforts of the various law enforcement agencies involved in the successful prosecution of this matter are to be commended.”
“This investigation is the culmination of a three year joint investigation led by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Office of Law Enforcement in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and U.S. Customs and Border Protection,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Resident Agent in Charge David Pharo. “This investigation serves as a great example of multiple agencies, working together to stem the tide of exploitation of internationally protected species originating in marine environments. This investigation demonstrates our commitment to combat illegal international wildlife trafficking and bring justice to those that exploit protected marine resources for personal gain no matter where they are located.”
“Illegal importation and exportation of commercial quantities of CITES-protected corals is one of our Division's high priorities,” said Otha Easley, Acting Special Agent in Charge for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Law Enforcement's Southeast Division. “Effective enforcement of CITES helps ensure that collection of these species is sustainable and that their survival in the wild is assured.”
“This sentence sends a clear message to black coral traffickers that we and our federal law enforcement partners are in the business of preventing illegal wildlife trade,” said Angel Melendez, Acting Special Agent in charge of HSI San Juan and U.S.V.I. “We will continue to identify and apprehend those who exploit protected species for commercial gain.”
Black coral is a precious coral that can be polished to a high sheen, worked into artistic sculptures and used in inlaid jewelry. Black coral is typically found in deep waters and many species have long life spans and are slow-growing. Using deep sea submersibles, scientists have observed that fish and invertebrates tend to accumulate around the black coral colonies. Thus, black coral communities serve important habitat functions in the mesophotic and deepwater zones. In the last few decades, pressures from overharvesting, due in part to the wider availability of scuba gear and the introduction of invasive species have threatened this group of coral. Recent seizures of illegal black coral around the world have led many to believe that black coral poaching is on the rise.
On Oct. 26, 2011, in the related case of U.S. v. GEM Manufacturing LLC, Case No. 2011-19 (D. Virgin Islands), GEM was sentenced to criminal financial penalties and forfeitures exceeding $4.47 million and three and a half years of probation that included a 10-point compliance plan that incorporated an auditing, tracking and inventory control program. GEM was also banned from doing business with its former coral supplier, Peng Chia Enterprise Co. Ltd. and its management team of Ivan and Gloria Chu. Ashu Bhandari was the individual known as “Co-conspirator X” in the related case of U.S. v. Gloria and Ivan Chu, Case No. 2010-003 (D. Virgin Islands). In January 2010, federal agents arrested the Chus as part of a sting operation in Las Vegas. The Chus were subsequently indicted in 2010 for illegally providing black coral to GEM. On June 23, 2010, Ivan Chu was sentenced to serve 30 months in prison and pay a $12,500 fine. Gloria Chu was sentenced to serve 20 months in prison and pay a $12,500 fine.
The case, developed as a result of Operation “Black Gold”, was investigated by agents of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and NOAA with support from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Analysis of coral samples by the FWS’s National Forensics Laboratory in Ashland, Ore., was critical to the investigation. The case was prosecuted by Christopher Hale of the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section, Environment and Natural Resources Division and Nelson Jones of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Former Jewelry Company Executive Sentenced in U.S.V.I. to Pay $1.1 Million in Fines and Community Service for Illegal Trade of Protected Black CoralRead the Press Release
Ashu Bhandari, the former president and CEO of GEM Manufacturing LLC, a U.S. Virgin Islands-based company, was sentenced Thursday in federal court in St. Thomas, U.S.V.I., for felony customs violations for his role in a scheme to illegally import protected black coral into the United States, the Department of Justice announced. Bhandari is the last defendant to be sentenced as the result of a far reaching investigation into the illegal trade in black coral. The scheme cost Bhandari’s company, GEM Manufacturing, millions of dollars in financial penalties and sent two of his trading partners to prison.
At today’s hearing, the court imposed a criminal fine of $918,950 and sentenced Bhandari to one month in jail, to be followed by one month of home confinement and one year of supervised release, during which Bhandari would be required to complete 300 hours of community service and be banned from any business venture involving coral or coral products. In addition to the fine, Bhandari will be required to pay $229,687 to the University of the Virgin Islands to be used for community service projects designed to research and protect black corals. The court recognized that Bhandari’s sentence was based, in part, on his cooperation with federal investigators in related illicit coral trafficking cases.
On Nov. 7, 2012, Ashu Bhandari pleaded guilty to one felony count of false classification of goods for his efforts to conceal his illegal importation of internationally protected black coral in 2009. GEM was in the business of manufacturing high-end jewelry and sculpture products that utilize black coral. During his term as CEO, Bhandari was responsible for ensuring the continued supply of raw black coral for the company. Black corals are considered important habitat for the deep sea marine environment and are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Each of the species of black coral is listed in Appendix II of CITES and is subject to strict trade regulations.
Bhandari admitted that by 2008, he learned that GEM’s Taiwanese suppliers of black coral could not obtain legitimate CITES certificates. In spite of this knowledge, Bhandari made a “business decision to go forward” with the Taiwanese suppliers. The Taiwanese suppliers would label the coral shipments as “plastic” in order to fool customs authorities in Hong Kong and the United States. Bhandari admitted that by 2009 he knew that the shipments he arranged on behalf of GEM were coming into St. Thomas falsely labeled.
“Mr. Bhandari actively participated in an illegal scheme to traffic in protected black coral, a trade that has helped deplete a world resource that serves as essential habitat for marine biodiversity,” said Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division at the Department of Justice. “As this case clearly shows, the Department of Justice will continue to aggressively prosecute those who violate U.S. law by illegally trafficking in protected species.”
“The effective stewardship of our natural resources by vigorously enforcing environmental laws is a priority of the Department of Justice,” said Ronald W. Sharpe, U.S. Attorney for the District of the Virgin Islands. “This prosecution, like many cases involving the investigation and prosecution of those who set out to exploit our precious natural resources, was complex, time consuming and required the expertise of multiple law enforcement agencies. The dedication and cooperative efforts of the various law enforcement agencies involved in the successful prosecution of this matter are to be commended.”
“This investigation is the culmination of a three year joint investigation led by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Office of Law Enforcement in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and U.S. Customs and Border Protection,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Resident Agent in Charge David Pharo. “This investigation serves as a great example of multiple agencies, working together to stem the tide of exploitation of internationally protected species originating in marine environments. This investigation demonstrates our commitment to combat illegal international wildlife trafficking and bring justice to those that exploit protected marine resources for personal gain no matter where they are located.”
“Illegal importation and exportation of commercial quantities of CITES-protected corals is one of our Division's high priorities,” said Otha Easley, Acting Special Agent in Charge for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Law Enforcement's Southeast Division. “Effective enforcement of CITES helps ensure that collection of these species is sustainable and that their survival in the wild is assured.”
“This sentence sends a clear message to black coral traffickers that we and our federal law enforcement partners are in the business of preventing illegal wildlife trade,” said Angel Melendez, Acting Special Agent in charge of HSI San Juan and U.S.V.I. “We will continue to identify and apprehend those who exploit protected species for commercial gain.”
Black coral is a precious coral that can be polished to a high sheen, worked into artistic sculptures and used in inlaid jewelry. Black coral is typically found in deep waters and many species have long life spans and are slow-growing. Using deep sea submersibles, scientists have observed that fish and invertebrates tend to accumulate around the black coral colonies. Thus, black coral communities serve important habitat functions in the mesophotic and deepwater zones. In the last few decades, pressures from overharvesting, due in part to the wider availability of scuba gear and the introduction of invasive species have threatened this group of coral. Recent seizures of illegal black coral around the world have led many to believe that black coral poaching is on the rise.
On Oct. 26, 2011, in the related case of U.S. v. GEM Manufacturing LLC, Case No. 2011-19 (D. Virgin Islands), GEM was sentenced to criminal financial penalties and forfeitures exceeding $4.47 million and three and a half years of probation that included a 10-point compliance plan that incorporated an auditing, tracking and inventory control program. GEM was also banned from doing business with its former coral supplier, Peng Chia Enterprise Co. Ltd. and its management team of Ivan and Gloria Chu. Ashu Bhandari was the individual known as “Co-conspirator X” in the related case of U.S. v. Gloria and Ivan Chu, Case No. 2010-003 (D. Virgin Islands). In January 2010, federal agents arrested the Chus as part of a sting operation in Las Vegas. The Chus were subsequently indicted in 2010 for illegally providing black coral to GEM. On June 23, 2010, Ivan Chu was sentenced to serve 30 months in prison and pay a $12,500 fine. Gloria Chu was sentenced to serve 20 months in prison and pay a $12,500 fine.
The case, developed as a result of Operation “Black Gold”, was investigated by agents of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and NOAA with support from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Analysis of coral samples by the FWS’s National Forensics Laboratory in Ashland, Ore., was critical to the investigation. The case was prosecuted by Christopher Hale of the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section, Environment and Natural Resources Division and Nelson Jones of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Former Employee of Deceased Friendswood Financial Advisor Charged with Running Own Ponzi SchemeRead the Press Release
HOUSTON - Brian Anthony Bjork, 43, of Missouri City, has been charged in an one-count Information with running a Ponzi scheme that defrauded nearly a dozen investors of more than $1 million, United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced today. Bjork was formerly employed by deceased Friendswood investment advisor Joel David Salinas.
The complaint was filed just moments ago and Bjork will be ordered to report for his initial appearance sometime in the near future.
Bjork was a registered investment advisor employed at companies owned and operated by Salinas, including J. David Financial Group and Select Asset Management. Bjork also served as treasurer of a non-profit organization known as the Houston Athletics Foundation (HAF).
The criminal information alleges that during his employment at those companies, and while serving as treasurer of HAF, Bjork orchestrated an investment fraud scheme whereby he would he would solicit and obtain funds from individuals and entities under the false pretense that he would either invest those funds in Salinas’ pawn shops or use those funds to purchase corporate bonds being offered by Salinas. In truth and in fact, according to the complaint, Bjork kept those funds and used them to support his own lifestyle and to pay prior investors. In order to accomplish this fraud, Bjork established a Bank of America account under the name Brian A. Bjork dba: J David Financial Group, an account for which he was the sole signatory. Bjork then perpetrated his fraud by largely preying upon current and former family members and utilizing his position as the treasurer of HAF to fraudulently obtain funds and convert them for his own use.
Although the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has civilly charged J. David Financial, SAM, Salinas’s Estate, Bjork and others (Case No. 11-CV-2830) with Salinas’ massive bogus bond scam, the criminal investigation alleges Bjork’s culpability for this “scam within a scam” whereby Bjork allegedly defrauded a subset of the J. David Financial investors, including HAF, of nearly $1.5 million.
The investigation leading to the charges in this case was conducted by the United States Secret Service and the FBI. Assistant United States Attorney Jason Varnado is prosecuting this case.
Former Bureau of Prisons Doctor Sentenced for Sexual Abuse of Three InmatesRead the Press Release
Physician Was Charged in Atlanta and Washington, D.C.
With Sexually Abusing InmatesATLANTA - Dr. Lewis Jackson, 34, of Atlanta, was sentenced today in federal district court for sexually assaulting three inmates at the United States Penitentiary in Atlanta while employed as a physician with the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. Jackson was sentenced to 2 years, 1 month in prison by United States District Court Judge Amy Totenberg. He is awaiting sentencing in the District of Columbia where he pleaded guilty in January to sexually assaulting an inmate while working at the District of Columbia jail.
United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said, “The federal inmates who relied on Dr. Jackson for their care believed he would treat them humanely. He exploited this trust when he sexually abused three inmates at the United States Penitentiary in Atlanta and another inmate at the District of Columbia jail. His conduct cost him his license to practice medicine and ensured he will spend the next several years as an inmate himself.”This case was investigated by Special Agents of the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (OIG). Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz stated: “Dr. Jackson’s actions victimized inmates and undermined the good work of the correctional staff at USP Atlanta. The OIG will not tolerate conduct by Justice Department employees that risks the safety of inmates and correctional officers.”
According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court, from January, 2011 through July, 2012, Jackson was a physician at the United States Penitentiary (USP) in Atlanta where he provided medical care to inmates in USP's medical ward. The USP houses medium security male inmates and has a satellite camp for minimum security male inmates.
In October 2011, Jackson molested three inmates who were seeking medical treatment at the USP. When confronted by special agents with the Department of Justice’s, Office of Inspector General, Jackson originally denied engaging in the sex acts. After agents played an undercover recording made by one of the inmates, however, Jackson admitted he sexually assaulted the inmates.
Jackson recently pleaded guilty in the Superior Court of the District Columbia to three counts of sexually abusing another inmate in the District of Columbia Jail in 2008. According to that indictment, Jackson performed a series of sex acts on the inmate after he sought medical treatment from Jackson. Jackson was on bond in that case at the time of his arrest in Atlanta.
This case is being investigated by Special Agents of the Department of Justice, Office of Inspector General.
Assistant United States Attorney Kurt R. Erskine is prosecuting the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Information Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the HomePage for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.justice.gov/usao/gan.
Former Bank Employee Charged with Stealing More Than $190KRead the Press Release
McALLEN, Texas – Armando Ruben Aleman, 28, of Weslaco, has been indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly stealing more than $190,000 from former employer BBVA Compass Bank in Mission, United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced today. The indictment was retuned late yesterday.
A criminal complaint was filed Jan. 10 in federal court in McAllen. It alleged that during more than half of last year, while Aleman was employed at BBVA Compass Bank, he emptied a deceased client’s account before the executor of the client’s will could retrieve the funds. The funds allegedly totaled more than $190,000.
The charges allege Aleman forged checks in the deceased client’s name. Then, Aleman allegedly transferred the funds into an account he opened at Chase Bank using a stolen identity from another person. Aleman managed to spend and transfer to himself more than $70,000 from the fraudulently-opened Chase account before his scheme was discovered and the bank froze the account, according to allegations.
Aleman turned himself in to federal authorities on Jan. 14, and he was later released on bond with conditions that he not work for or conduct business with a financial institution or work in any capacity where he would have access to customers’ bank accounts, credit card numbers or other personal identifying information. He will appear again in federal court on the indictment in the near future.
If convicted, Aleman could face up to 30 years in prison as well as a $1 million possible fine.
This case was investigated by the Secret Service with the assistance of the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Sully is prosecuting the case.
Federal Criminal Complaint Filed Against Pair for Allegedly Transporting Undocumented ImmigrantsRead the Press Release
Defendants attempt to evade law enforcement resulted in three deaths
In San Antonio this morning, federal authorities filed a criminal complaint charging 31-year-old Javier Silva-Morales, a resident of Monterrey, Mexico, and 25–year-old Jose Abram Lopez-Lozano, a resident of Michoacàn, Mexico, with illegally transporting undocumented aliens announced United States Attorney Robert Pitman and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Acting Deputy Special Agent in Charge Monica Mapel.
According to the complaint, the driver, Silva-Morales and his accomplice, Lopez-Lozano, were attempting to transport undocumented aliens yesterday from Falfurrias, TX, to Houston when a Wilson County Sheriff’s deputy attempted to conduct a traffic stop near Poth, TX. A vehicle chase ensued. After losing sight of the vehicle, deputies subsequently discovered several individuals at the end of an open field standing on top of what appeared to be the same vehicle which was now submerged under water. A total of 12 individuals, including both defendants, were apprehended by sheriff’s deputies with assistance from Texas Department of Public Safety troopers. HSI agents later determined that the twelve were in the United States without proper documentation and placed them under arrest. A Texas Department of Public Safety dive team dispatched to the scene recovered three bodies from the bottom of the water near the vehicle.
Upon conviction, the defendants face up to life in federal prison. Both remain in federal custody at this time.
This criminal complaint resulted from an investigation by HSI, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office. Special Assistant United States Attorney Christina Playton is prosecuting this case on behalf of the Government.
A criminal complaint is merely a charge and should not be considered as evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Federal Charges Filed Against Two in Deadly Manhattan, Kan., Arson CaseRead the Press Release
KANSAS CITY, KAN. – Federal charges have been filed against two people in connection with an arson at an apartment complex in Manhattan, Kan., that killed a woman, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.
Patrick Martin Scahill, 20, Manhattan, Kan., and Virginia Amanda Griese, 19, Manhattan, Kan., have been indicted on one count of arson resulting in a death. The indictment alleges that on Feb. 6, 2013, Scahill and Griese were responsible for a fire at the Lee Crest Apartments, 820 Sunset Ave., in Manhattan. Vasanta Pallem, a 34-year-old postdoctoral researcher at Kansas State University who lived in the apartment complex, died as a result of the fire.
“The indictment alleges the defendants acted in reckless disregard for human life and that Ms. Pallem died as a direct result of their acts,” U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.
“As demonstrated in this tragedy, arson is a violent crime that can result in devastating loss,” said Marino F. Vidoli, Special Agent in Charge for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. “The ATF is committed to utilizing our unique resources and expertise to investigate these crimes.”
Grissom said the Riley County Attorney’s office requested the case be set for federal prosecution.
“The penalty for conviction in this case could be life in federal prison without parole,” Grissom said. “Working together with our state and local partners we are prepared to prosecute this case to the full extent of federal law.”
Grissom said he would not be able to respond at this point in the case to questions about the defendants’ motive for setting the fire.
“I anticipate more details of the investigation will be made public as the case proceeds,” he said.
Grissom said ATF investigated the case along with the Riley County Attorney’s Office, the Riley County Police Department, the Manhattan Fire Department, the Kansas State Fire Marshal’s Office, the Kansas Bureau of Investigations and the Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared Maag, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Barry Wilkerson and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Barry Disney are prosecuting.
In all cases, defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. The indictments merely contain allegations of criminal conduct.
Fairfax Man Indicted for Producing Child Pornography and Attempted Enticement of A MinorRead the Press Release
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Douglas Lee Payne Jr., 31, of Fairfax, Va., has been indicted by a federal grand jury on child exploitation related charges.
Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Valerie Parlave, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office; and Lt. Colonel James A. Morris, Acting Fairfax County Chief of Police made the announcement after the indictment was returned.
Payne was indicted on Feb. 6, 2013, on one count of production of child pornography, which carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years and a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison; one count of possession of child pornography, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison; one count of attempted enticement of a minor, which carries a mandatory minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life; and one count of attempted travel to engage in illicit sexual conduct, which carries a maximum of 30 years in prison, if convicted.
According to the indictment and other court documents, during the investigation of a Fairfax County probation violation in December 2011, evidence was discovered of communications between Payne and a minor victim in Indiana. These communications involved both text messages and Skype chats. In these communications Payne asked the minor victim for nude images and instructed her on how to pose. Payne had at least one child pornography image of the minor victim, which she had sent to him. Payne and the minor victim also had conversations about Payne going to Indiana to visit a cousin and that he would stop to see the minor victim and have sex with her on his way home. In addition, Payne had other child pornography images in his possession. On Dec. 28, 2011 Payne was on his way to Indiana when he was instructed to come home for a meeting with his Fairfax County probation officer.
This case was investigated by the Fairfax County Police Department and the FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation Task Force. Special Assistant United States Attorney Alicia J. Yass is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Criminal indictments are only charges and not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on https://pcl.uscourts.gov.Eleven People Arrested in Large-Scale Medicaid Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
Bribery and Money Laundering Charges Also Lodged Against One Defendant
NEWARK, N.J. – Federal and state agents this morning arrested 11 people who are charged by Complaint, along with two corporations, in connection with a large-scale scheme to defraud the Medicaid program of millions of dollars, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced today.
The Complaint also charges the owner of a home health aide business headquartered in Linden, N.J., with attempting on two occasions to hinder a state investigation by bribing a state regulator – who was working with the FBI – and with conspiring with the owner of another home health aide business in Elizabeth, N.J., to launder money.
The defendants arrested this morning are scheduled to appear this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Madeline Cox Arleo in Newark federal court.“The defendants in this case allegedly enriched themselves by gaming the Medicaid system,” U.S. Attorney Fishman said. “The actions described in this Complaint are especially egregious, because the taxpayer dollars that were stolen were intended to provide necessary health care for our most vulnerable citizens. I’m especially proud that federal and state law enforcement agencies worked together effectively to uncover this alleged fraud.”
David Velazquez, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI, Newark, said, “The FBI views health care fraud as a severe crime problem that poses a potential risk to patients and increases health care costs for all. Today's arrests are the result of a four-year investigation into a sophisticated scheme, involving multiple layers of fraud, money laundering and bribery, in order to defraud the New Jersey Medicaid program of millions of dollars. This case is indicative of how the FBI, along with its federal partners, and the State of New Jersey, will continue to work together to pursue those that steal from our health care system.”“Falsely billing Medicaid for millions of dollars as alleged in today’s Complaint is a serious crime,” IRS-Criminal Investigation Acting Special Agent in Charge Shantelle P. Kitchen, Newark Field Office, said. “Financial fraud schemes such as this are often described as a house of cards. The underlying structure can fall apart at any time and expose the individuals responsible. “IRS-Criminal Investigation is committed to unraveling complex financial transactions and money laundering schemes where individuals attempt to conceal the true source of their money.”
New Jersey Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa said: “The New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs regulates nurses, home health aides, and home health agencies in our state, and the Division's Enforcement Bureau aggressively investigates any allegations of fraud or wrongdoing by those regulated professionals and businesses. We are proud to have worked with the FBI on this investigation. Alleged billing fraud by health professionals affects the entire economy, and will not be tolerated.”
According to the Complaint filed in this case:
Irina Krutoyarsky, 58, of Springfield, N.J., was the owner and operator of HHCH Health Care Inc. (HHCH), a for-profit home health aide business located in Linden. HHCH billed Medicaid for services purportedly provided by home health aides to Medicaid-eligible patients. Medicaid is a jointly funded, federal-state health insurance program that provides certain health benefits to the disabled and individuals and families with low incomes and resources. Paul Mil, 68, of Springfield, was the owner and operator of People Choice Home Care Inc. (People Choice), another for-profit home health business located in Linden and Elizabeth, which also billed Medicaid for services purportedly provided by home health aides.
Krutoyarsky, Mil and their conspirators allegedly defrauded Medicaid of millions of dollars through a variety of schemes, including:
● billing Medicaid for treatment and services not actually rendered;
● obtaining fraudulent home health aide certifications for employees and others;
● using illegal aliens and/or non-certified individuals to provide home health aide services and billing Medicaid, claiming the services had been provided by certified home health aides.
According to the Complaint:
During the investigation, an individual working with the FBI – “Cooperating Witness Three” (CW3) – met Krutoyarsky, Mil, and others at HHCH and consensually recorded a number of conversations. For example, on Jan. 31, 2012, CW3 met with Krutoyarsky and Mil to discuss obtaining a home health aide license. During this consensually recorded conversation (audio and video), they discussed fraudulently billing Medicaid providing false information about the patients, known as a “bait and switch:”
Krutoyarsky: You know, it's just the free money . . . coming in.
CW3: That's true.Mil described how they billed Medicaid for services not actually rendered:
Mil: It’s a lot of people, a lot of people who . . . Medicaid. Government pay for the service. We can get, you know, between 10 and 18 hours [of Medicaid billing per week per patient]. Look, people can work in a week and get paid hundred bucks a week doing nothing. Why not?
Krutoyarsky: . . . But as long as these people doesn't live in the same address, so Medicaid is not gonna trace.
CW3: Oh, so otherwise they will trace. Okay.
Krutoyarsky: Because they do the tracings, you know. They gonna see who's working, who's not working, this and that. . . . So this way, they gonna have a free money. . . . Government, free money.
After meeting with Krutoyarsky and Mil, CW3 met with defendant Nekadam S. Galibova, an HHCH office employee, who assisted CW3 in obtaining a home health aide license without taking the required course or test. CW3 underwent neither the required training nor testing, but in March 2012, CW3 received a home health aide license from the New Jersey. Krutoyarsky, Mil, and others billed Medicaid under CW3’s license, knowing that CW3 provided no treatment to any patients.
Galibova was also a purported HHCH home health aide. The investigation revealed that she conspired with Krutoyarsky and others to bill Medicaid for services not rendered. Galibova and HHCH billed Medicaid for a patient (referred to as Patient M.N.) from July 27 to 31, 2009, and August 3 to 4, 2009, periods when that patient was, in fact, out of the country.
Krutoyarsky and Mil also dispatched undocumented aliens and other unlicensed individuals to patients’ homes. Defendant Sonia Mesa was observed by the FBI visiting a patient’s home, however, Medicaid was billed using the names of others, including Alla Neymet and Leonora Popesku.
Krutoyarsky also bribed a N.J. Department of Labor employee on two occasions to stop wage and hour investigations into HHCH and People Choice. This state employee, however, was cooperating with the FBI and is referred to in the Complaint as “Cooperating Witness Two” (CW2). On June 14, 2010, Krutoyarsky met CW2 about the state investigation into HHCH. Krutoyarsky did not want to provide CW2 with records related the HHCH and handed CW2 an envelope containing approximately $1,000 in cash.
Krutoyarsky and CW2 passed notes back and forth, negotiating the bribe. Eventually, Krutoyarsky agreed to pay CW2 $10,000, which she later paid. On April 14, 2011, Krutoyarsky paid another $15,000 to CW2 to subvert a state investigation into People Choice.Krutoyarsky and Mil then allegedly laundered the proceeds of the Medicaid fraud to conceal their scheme and allow it to continue. Krutoyarsky and defendant Gulmira Shayakhmetova are alleged to have conspired to structure money, by making numerous cash withdrawals in amounts under $10,000, to evade the banks requirement to file a report with the United States Treasury.
Count One charges conspiracy to commit health care fraud and carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Counts Two and Three each charge bribery, and each charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Count Four charges conspiracy to commit money laundering and carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine. Count Five charges conspiracy to unlawfully structure financial transactions and carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
In addition, HHCH and People Choice were charged in Count One of the Criminal Complaint with conspiracy to commit health care fraud.
The Criminal Complaint also alleges forfeiture and provides notice of the federal government’s intent to forfeit at least $3.45 million in proceeds from the alleged offense and numerous properties in Krutoyarsky’s name in New Jersey, Florida and New York.
U.S. Attorney Fishman praised agents of the FBI, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge David Velazquez in Newark, IRS-Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Shantelle P. Kitchen; U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services; N.J. Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa; N.J. State Comptroller Matthew Boxer; Division Director Mark Anderson, Office of the State Comptroller, Medicaid Fraud Division; N.J., Division of Consumer Affairs, under the direction of Director Eric T. Kanefsky, Board of Nursing; Hal Wirth, Commissioner, N.J. Department of Labor; U.S. Department of State-Diplomatic Security; and the Marlboro Police Department, under the direction of Chief Bruce Hall, for the investigation leading to today’s charges.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anthony Moscato and Jonathan W. Romankow of the Organized Crime/Gangs Unit, Lakshmi Srinivasan Herman of the Economic Crimes Unit and Peter W. Gaeta of the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Unit.
The charges and allegations contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.
13-067
The following individual defendants were charged:
Name
Residence
Age
Charge(s)
Springfield, NJ
58
Counts One, Two, Three, Four, and Five
Paul Mil
Springfield, NJ
68
Counts One and Four
Nekadam S. Galibova
Union, NJ
51
Count One
Lilia Berstein
Old Bridge, NJ
57
Count One
Bella Fridman
East Brunswick, NJ
66
Count One
Malvina Frolova
Old Bridge, NJ
41
Count One
Sonia Mesa
Elizabeth, NJ
Count One
Nelson Mesa
Elizabeth, NJ
68
Count One
Alla Neymet
Edison, NJ
56 or 57
Count One
Leonora Popesku
Edison, NJ
65
Count One
Gulmira Shayakhmetova
Howell, NJ
46
Count Five
Additional information: Certified Homemaker Home Health Aide employees who will be locked out of their place of employment and are looking for work should call: Home Health Assembly 732-877-1100 (Central NJ), 609-275-6100 (Southern NJ); Home Health Services Association of NJ 732-864-6111.
To help care for family members in their homes or in a community-based system that will lose their homemaker home health aide due to the closing, please contact the NJ Division of Aging Services at 1-877-222-3737. The division's direct toll-free number, 1-800-792-8820, can only be used from in-state. They may also contact their HMO directly.
For Home-maker Home Health Aide applicants who were trained by these companies and are waiting to be certified (that is, their applications are still in process), the state Board of Nursing will be contacting each individual shortly with guidance.
HHCH Health Care Complaint
El Paso Man Sentenced to Federal Prison in Child Porn CaseRead the Press Release
Defendant was in possession of 5,342 videos and 133,345 images depicting child pornography
In El Paso this morning, 46-year-old Jose Miranda, a former mechanic with the El Paso Independent School District, was sentenced to six years in federal prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release for receipt and possession of material involving the sexual exploitation of children, announced United States Attorney Robert Pitman and Homeland Security Investigations Acting Special Agent in Charge Dennis Ulrich.
In addition to the prison term, Miranda is subject to an undetermined amount of restitution payable to the victims portrayed in the videos. U.S. District Judge Frank Montalvo is expected to rule on the restitution matter in approximately 30 days.
On May 31, 2012, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Cyber Crimes Group special agents executed a search warrant at the defendant’s residence and seized several computers and related equipment. According to court records, a forensics evaluation of the seized items revealed the presence of 5,342 videos and 133,345 images of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
On October 22, 2012, Miranda pleaded guilty to one count of receipt of material involving the sexual exploitation of children and one count of possession of such material.
Assistant United States Attorney J. Brandy Gardes prosecuted this case on behalf of the Government.East Chicago Detective Indicted in Alleged Private Security Ghost-Payroll SchemRead the Press Release
HAMMOND, IND. – An East Chicago, Ind., police detective was indicted on federal fraud charges for allegedly engaging in a ghost-payroll scheme for nearly three years while he worked three different part-time security jobs in addition to his full-time law enforcement duties. The defendant, ROBERT APONTE, was charged with six counts of mail fraud and six counts of wire fraud in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Hammond.
Aponte, 42, of Chesterton, Ind., is scheduled to be arraigned at 9 a.m. on Monday in U.S. District Court in Hammond. Aponte has been an East Chicago police officer for 19 years, and during that time, he also served approximately eight years as an officer with the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) task force in Crown Point, Ind.
The charges, returned yesterday, were announced today by Gary S. Shapiro, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago is handling the prosecution in the Northern District of Indiana.
According to the indictment, between January 2009 and September 2011, Aponte defrauded his employers by receiving inflated wages from his private security side jobs by submitting time sheets that falsely overstated the hours he had worked. While working full time for the East Chicago Police Department, Aponte also held three part-time jobs as a security officer: at the East Chicago Housing Authority’s West Calumet Housing Complex; at Trillium Properties’ Lakeside Gardens and Harborside Apartments; and at Safety Training and Tracing, controlling and directing traffic at the BP refinery in Whiting, Ind.
Aponte allegedly scheduled shifts at West Calumet that overlapped with his shifts at the two Trillium properties and the BP refinery. He then caused the East Chicago Housing Authority to pay him for security patrols at West Calumet, when, instead, he was actually patrolling at either Lakeside Gardens or Harborside Apartments, or controlling refinery traffic, the charges allege. In addition, Aponte allegedly inflated the hours he worked for the housing authority and Trillium when he actually went off-duty for lengthy periods during his shifts and departed his duty station before his shifts ended.
The government is being represented by Chicago Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Otlewski, who is serving as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in Northern Indiana.
Each count of mail or wire fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.
The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Indictment
District Man Pleads Guilty to Making Arrangements to Have Sexual Contact with A ChildRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Carl Lott, 47, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty today to arranging to have sexual contact with a child, announced U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr., Valerie Parlave, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and Cathy L. Lanier, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Lott entered the guilty plea in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The Honorable Stuart G. Nash is to sentence him on April 11, 2013. Lott faces a maximum sentence of five years of imprisonment, as well as a fine of up to $50,000.
According to the government's evidence, on Nov. 8, 2012 Lott contacted a man he believed to be the father of a 12-year-old female child on a social network site. That man turned out to be an undercover MPD officer with the FBI's Child Exploitation Task Force.
Over the next two days, Lott engaged in online e-mail conversations with the undercover officer about having sexual relations with the purported child. During this period of time, Lott arranged a meeting - including time, date and location - with the undercover officer for the purpose of having sexual relations with the purported child. On Nov. 9, 2012, Lott met the undercover officer and was arrested.
This case was brought as part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative and investigated by the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes members of the FBI’s Washington Field Office and MPD. Project Safe Childhood is a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
In announcing the guilty plea, U.S. Attorney Machen, Assistant Director in Charge Parlave and Chief Lanier praised the MPD Detectives and Special Agents of the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force. They also commended Assistant U.S. Attorney Ari Redbord, who is prosecuting the case.
13-042Detroit Man Sentenced for Anti-Gay Hate CrimeRead the Press Release
Everett Dwayne Avery, 26, of Detroit, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge John Corbett O’Meara after pleading guilty to committing a hate crime by assaulting a man because the man was gay. Avery was sentenced to serve 18 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release.
The assault occurred on March, 7, 2011, while Avery and the victim were at a convenience store in Detroit. Avery used anti-gay slurs toward the victim as Avery and the victim waited in line in the convenience store. Shortly after the first slurs, while still in the store, Avery used another anti-gay slur and punched the victim in the face, fracturing the victim’s eye socket. Avery pled guilty to violating the federal Hate Crimes Protection Act on Aug. 29, 2012.
"Hate-fueled incidents like this one have no place in a civilized society," said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "The Justice Department is committed to using all the tools in our law enforcement arsenal, including the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, to prosecute acts motivated by hate."
“Congress has made it clear that it is a crime to assault people solely on the basis of their sexual orientation. Prosecutions under this law are important to ensure that all people in our community know that they have the full protection of the law,” said U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Barbara McQuade.
Special Agent in Charge Foley stated, "Hate Crimes have no place in a civilized society. We are a nation of laws and our laws embrace diversity and differences. The law does not tolerate the type of hate demonstrated in this matter and the FBI will investigate and put forth for prosecution a violation of that law."
The case was investigated by the FBI. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Pamela Thompson from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and Trial Attorney Sanjay Patel from the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Delaware Man Sentenced to 35 Years in Sex Travelling CaseRead the Press Release
PHILADELPHIA - John Angell, 41, of Smyrna, DE, was sentenced today to 35 years in prison for his conviction on 11 counts of traveling to have sex with a minor and 1 counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child under the age of 12. Between June 2001 and June 2007, Angell, while working as a driver for the father of Minor 1, would drive the victim between the father’s house in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the mother’s house in the state of New York. On several occasions during that time period, Angell sexually assaulted Minor 1 while stopped at various rest areas.
In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge William H. Yohn, Jr. ordered 15 of supervised release, and ordered Angell to pay a $2,200 special assessment and a $1,000 fine.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michelle Morgan.
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, EASTERN DISTRICTof PENNSYLVANIA
Suite 1250, 615 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
PATTY HARTMAN, Media Contact, 215-861-8525Coushatta Tribe Member Sentenced in Federal Court for Assault ChargeRead the Press Release
LAKE CHARLES, La.: United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana member Nicholas Tyler Poncho, 21, of Elton, La., was sentenced Thursday before U.S. District Court Judge Patricia Minaldi to 33 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release and a $1,000 fine for assault.
Poncho pleaded guilty October 4, 2012, to one count of assault with a dangerous weapon after a federal grand jury indicted him in May 2012 for assault with a dangerous weapon and assault resulting in serious bodily injury. According to court documents, Poncho admitted to intentionally striking his father Jan. 22, 2012, while on the Coushatta Tribal Reservation with a 1.5 liter wine bottle with the intent to do bodily harm. Poncho also admitted that the wine bottle was an instrument capable of inflicting grave bodily harm or death.
Jurisdiction in Indian Country is based upon the unique sovereign relationship between the federal government and Indian tribes. Congress has criminalized certain acts that take place in Indian Country. The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecutes all felony and misdemeanor cases, arising in Indian Country, that are within the jurisdiction of this office. The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecutes cases, arising in Indian Country, involving felonies where either the defendant or the victim is an Indian or both the defendant and the victim are Indian. The U.S. Attorney’s Office also prosecutes cases involving misdemeanors where the defendant is a non-Indian.
“Safeguarding the lives of those on reservations is of upmost concern to our office,” Finley said. “Violence on the lands of native peoples will not be tolerated and offenders will be prosecuted.”
The Coushatta Tribal Police Department and the FBI-Lake Charles Resident Agency investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel J. McCoy prosecuted the case.
Convicted Sex Offender from Montgomery County Sentenced to Twenty-Five Months in Federal Prison for Second Federal Failure to Register ConvictionRead the Press Release
Montgomery, Alabama - Kevin H. Chambliss, of Montgomery, Alabama, was sentenced to twenty-five months in federal prison for failing to register as a sex offender, United States Attorney George L. Beck, Jr., announced today.
A federal grand jury indicted Chambliss in July 2012, for one count of failing to register and update a registration as required by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act after he traveled in interstate commerce in violation of federal law. According to court documents, Chambliss was convicted of one count of unlawful sexual activity with a minor in 2003 in Florida. Due to this conviction, Chambliss is required to register as a sex offender. During Chambliss’s guilty plea hearing in October 2012, he admitted that he was registered as a sex offender in Alabama and relocated to Florida. Chambliss further admitted that, after relocating to Florida, he knowingly failed to update his sex offender registration in Alabama.
This failure to register conviction marks Chambliss’s second federal conviction for failing to register. Court records indicate that Chambliss was convicted for the federal felony of failing to register in 2009. That conviction was based upon Chambliss relocating from Florida to Alabama and failing to register in Alabama. Chambliss was sentenced to ten (10) months in federal prison and five years of supervised release. While on supervised release, in 2012, Chambliss violated the terms of his supervision and was sentenced to eight (8) months in federal prison.
United States District Judge Myron H. Thompson sentenced Chambliss to twenty-five (25) months in federal prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. This twenty-five months sentence was ordered to run consecutive to the eight months sentence discussed above. Chambliss remains in the custody of the United States Marshals Service pending placement by the Bureau of Prisons.
This case was investigated jointly by the United States Marshals Service and United States Probation Office. Assistant United States Attorney Jerusha T. Adams prosecuted the case..
PRESS CONTACT: Clark Morris
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: (334) 551-1755
Fax: (334) 223-7617Colleyville, Texas, Business Owner Convicted at Trial on Concealment of Assets and Tax Evasion ChargesRead the Press Release
FORT WORTH, Texas — A federal jury in Fort Worth, Texas, has convicted Larry Lake on one count of concealment of assets (bankruptcy fraud) and three counts of tax evasion, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas. The trial began Monday morning before U.S. District Judge John McBryde.
According to the public court record, Lake is a resident of Colleyville, Texas, and owns and operates several businesses including VIP Finance of Texas, an auto title loan business with branches throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area; Cash Auto Sales, which handles the auto club memberships for VIP Finance; and is a part owner of Grapevine Drug Mart, a pharmacy in Grapevine, Texas.
Lake faces a maximum statutory sentence of five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine for each of the four counts in which the jury found him guilty. A sentencing date was not set.
The government presented evidence at trial that the day before Lake filed for bankruptcy in November 2004, he knowingly and fraudulently transferred and concealed more than $3 million held in an E*TRADE account and a Compass Bank account. The funds were subsequently transferred by Lake through a series of bank deposits, wire transfers and cashier’s checks. In addition, Lake utilized a “shell” company to assist in concealing the assets.
Additionally, according to evidence presented at trial, Lake devised a scheme to evade the assessment of his personal income taxes by under-reporting income on his and his spouse’s joint tax returns for the tax years 2006 through 2008. The unreported income was derived from Lake’s businesses, VIP and Grapevine Drug Mart.
Further evidence presented by the government at trial showed that from August 2006 through November 2009, Lake and his spouse agreed to structure more than 1,100 currency deposits, into at least 13 different bank accounts, knowing that structuring was illegal. These accounts were spread among several financial institutions, and the total amount structured during this time period was in excess of $9.3 million. Lake and his spouse created at least two “shell” companies, which were used to open some of the 13 bank accounts used in the structuring scheme.
Lake, according to evidence presented at trial, failed to disclose the structured funds, and the existence of the accounts containing the structured funds, to his income tax return preparer. In addition, Lake failed to report income he received from Grapevine Drug Mart, having told his return preparer that he (Lake) had sold the business during the 2003 calendar year. By willfully withholding this information from his return preparer, the IRS suffered a total tax loss of $4,838,032.
The case was investigated by Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Poe and Tax Division Trial Attorney Robert A. Kemins are in charge of the prosecution.
Charges Allege $311 Million Global Hedge Fund Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
PHILADELPHIA - An indictment was filed and an information unsealed today charging two business associates in the hedge fund management industry with defrauding institutional investors and causing collective losses of more than $311 million, announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger. Helmut Kiener, 53, of Aschaffenburg, Germany, is charged by indictment with four counts of wire fraud, two counts of bank fraud, and three counts of money laundering, based on allegations that he devised and directed various investment fraud schemes in concert with his partner John C. Tausche. Tausche, 61, of Blowing Rock, North Carolina, is charged by information with one count of bank fraud and one count of money laundering, based on his alleged involvement in the scheme.
Kiener, a German national, controlled several hedge funds - including K1 Global Limited and K1 Invest - which he marketed to international investors. Tausche, a U.S. citizen, controlled several offshore hedge funds collectively called the Oceanus Funds. According to the charges, between March 2005 and December 2008, Kiener allegedly devised a scheme to defraud Bear Stearns entities by representing to Bear Stearns that, under Kiener’s management, Bear Stearns investment funds would be diversified and independently managed. However, the indictment alleges that Kiener actually funneled Bear Stearns money from K1 through the Oceanus Funds and back to K1, so as to give the false impression that the funds were growing in size and were viable investments. Kiener and Tausche, it is alleged, knowingly and intentionally fostered the false appearance that the K1 Funds were increasing in value, in order to induce Bear Stearns to continue to invest in the K1 Funds. Both defendants allegedly provided false and misleading information to Bear Stearns in response to inquiries regarding the K1 and Oceanus Funds, repeatedly and falsely representing that the funds were diversified and independently managed. The indictment alleges that, as a result of the scheme, Kiener earned sales agent fees all while Bear Stearns invested and lost approximately $82 million.
The information filed against Tausche alleges a similar scheme against Barclays Bank, involving the K1 Funds and the Oceanus Funds. The information alleges that this scheme caused losses to Barclays Bank of $137 million.
It is further alleged that starting in 2007, Barclays Bank, Bear Stearns, and BNP Paribas (“BNPP”) invested with Kiener in two offshore funds named Consistent Return Ltd. and Mezzanine Financing Ltd. Kiener represented that both Consistent Return Ltd. and Mezzanine Financing Ltd. were legitimate investment funds, and the indictment alleges that the three institutional investors together invested more than $100 million in these funds. However, the indictment alleges that Kiener actually directed a third party to create these offshore funds, and that Kiener then used the funds for his own purposes including, but not limited to, the purchase of: oceanfront real estate in Delray Beach, Florida valued at over $21 million; a Bombardier executive jet; a Bell helicopter; luxury cars such as a Bentley, a Mercedes and a Maybach; two luxury watercraft; and over $8 million in upgrades to his real estate.
If convicted of all charges, Kiener faces a maximum possible statutory sentence of 200 years in prison, restitution, and a maximum possible fine of $7.936 million; Tausche faces a maximum possible statutory sentence of 40 years in prison, restitution, and a maximum possible fine of $1.974 million.
The case was investigated by the Foreign Corruption Investigation Group, Homeland Security Investigations - Miami Field Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations, and the German police force Kriminalpolizeiinspektion Unterfranken, with assistance from Barclays Bank, BNP Paribas, and Bear Stearns/J.P. Morgan Chase Bank. The Office of International Affairs in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division also provided valuable assistance in this matter. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jennifer Arbittier Williams and Suzanne Ercole.
View: Indictment | Information
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, EASTERN DISTRICTof PENNSYLVANIA
Suite 1250, 615 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
PATTY HARTMAN, Media Contact, 215-861-8525Carl Junction Man Pleads Guilty to Child Porn, Faces 25 Years in PrisonRead the Press Release
Project Safe Childhood
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Carl Junction, Mo., man pleaded guilty in federal court today to receiving child pornography over the Internet.
James Lee Hagerman, 50, of Carl Junction, waived his right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to a federal information that charges him with two counts of receiving child pornography.
An officer with the Southwest Missouri Cybercrimes Task Force was conducting an online investigation into the sharing of child pornography on April 24, 2012, when he identified Hagerman’s computer as sharing over 100 files of child pornography through a peer-to-peer file-sharing program. The officer downloaded three of the files and determined that they contained depictions of children as young as two to four years of age engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Hagerman’s apartment and seized his computer. Hagerman told officers that he had approximately 1,000 child pornography videos stored on his computer.
Under the terms of today’s binding plea agreement, Hagerman will be sentenced to 25 years in federal prison without parole. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher. It was investigated by the FBI and the Southwest Missouri Cybercrimes Task Force.
Project Safe Childhood
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."Cambridge Man Sentenced to Prison for Attempting to Steal 529 Plan College Savings FundsRead the Press Release
BOSTON - A Cambridge man was sentenced today for stealing the identification information of five parents in an attempt to raid the college savings accounts they had created for their children.
Mohammed Gisan, 26, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge George A. O’Toole to six months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release. In May 2012, Gisan pleaded guilty to five counts of identity theft.From October to May 2011, Gisan worked as a temporary employee at Upromise Investments, Inc., a division of Sallie Mae, in Newton. While at Upromise, Gisan had access to the company’s records, and he used that access to obtain and remove personal information about customers who had established college savings accounts, known as 529 plans, for their children. Immediately after Gisan’s assignment at Upromise was terminated, he used the personal information he had obtained to configure five of these accounts for internet access. Gisan intended to then transfer these funds to an online bank account that he would have controlled, but he was prevented from completing his plan due to security and loss prevention measures taken by Upromise and the actions of a vigilant customer.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz, Steven D. Ricciardi, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service, and Commissioner Robert C. Hass of the Cambridge Police Department made the announcement today. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Harman Burkart of Ortiz’s Cybercrime Unit.
Buffalo Woman Sentenced for Obstruction of JusticeRead the Press Release
BUFFALO, N.Y.--U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Evelyn Roberson, 61, of Buffalo, N.Y., who was convicted of obstruction of justice, was sentenced to 10 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kathleen A. Lynch and Maura K. O'Donnell, who handled the case, stated that the defendant knowingly concealed tangible objects, including a check, a money order, cash and credit, debit and bank cards, with the intent to obstruct and impede a criminal investigation. In connection with an ongoing criminal investigation of the defendant’s son, law enforcement agents learned that Roberson obtained evidentiary items from her son’s house and from his associates. Agents secured a search warrant for the defendant’s residence, seeking those items. When agents attempted to execute the search warrant, the defendant concealed the items in her clothing and also removed items from the house by hiding them on her person.
"As most of the public already knows, it is not just the original crime that can lead to prosecution – it is also the cover-up," said U.S. Attorney Hochul "As we continue to work with the public and law enforcement to rid our communities of crime, let those who knowingly assist criminals now also be on notice that they are not immune from prosecution.”
The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge, Christopher M. Piehota, and the United States Secret Service, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Tracy Gast.
Boyertown Man Charged with Armed Bank RobberyRead the Press Release
Marcus Akiem Ricketts, 35, of Boyertown, Pennsylvania was charged today by indictment with armed bank robbery and using and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence, announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger. These charges stem from the July 2, 2012, armed robbery of the Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company (“M&T Bank”), formerly located at 760 North Pottstown Pike, in Exton, Pennsylvania of approximately $27,906.
If convicted, Ricketts faces a 7-year mandatory minimum term of imprisonment, five years of supervised release, a $500,000 fine, and a $200 special assessment.This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the Uwchlan Township Police Department, the Upper Uwchlan Township Police Department, the West Whiteland Township Police Department, the Chester County Sheriff’s Department, the Chester County Detectives, and the Chester County District Attorney’s Office, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jeffery W. Whitt.
Click here to view the indictment
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, EASTERN DISTRICTof PENNSYLVANIA
Suite 1250, 615 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
PATTY HARTMAN, Media Contact, 215-861-8525Boulder Man Arrested for Money Laundering Charges in Relation to Distribution of A Controlled SubstanceRead the Press Release
DENVER – Taylor Smith Hills, age 25, of Boulder, Colorado, was arrested last week for drug related money laundering charges, the United States Attorney’s Office, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), IRS-Criminal Investigation, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Boulder County Drug Task Force announced. Hills was indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver on January 29, 2013, for money laundering in relation to distribution of a controlled substance, illegal use of the mail, false statement in a loan application and failure to pay taxes. His initial appearance took place the following day in Denver, where he was advised of his rights.
According to the indictment, from March 31, 2011 through May 1, 2012, Hills allegedly engaged in financial transactions, which transactions involved the proceeds of specified unlawful activity, that is, the distribution of controlled substances. The indictment further states that the defendant allegedly conducted financial transactions while knowing that the property involved in each transaction represented the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity.
Furthermore, Hills did knowingly and willfully make a false statement or report for the purpose of influencing the action of JP Morgan Chase, a federally insured financial institution, in connection with a vehicle loan application. Lastly, beginning on or about April 15, 2012, and continuing through on or about January 29, 2013, Hills knowingly and willfully failed to file an income tax return and pay income tax due and owing to the United States for the calendar year 2011.
Upon conviction of the violations alleged in the indictment Hills shall forfeit to the United States, any and all of the defendants’ right, title and interest in all property, real or personal, involved in such offenses, or all property traceable to such property, including but not limited to the following: 2008 Ducati motorcycle, and U.S. currency located in a Roth IRA.
“Thanks to the joint efforts of local, state and federal law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies, a defendant involved in money laundering proceeds from the distribution of a controlled substance has been arrested for his misdeeds,” said U.S. Attorney John Walsh.
“Drug trafficking organizations have to launder large sums of their illicit proceeds, often through financial institutions and other investment vehicles,” said Kumar Kibble, special agent in charge of HSI Denver.
“This investigation is another example of HSI working with our law enforcement partners to disrupt and dismantle these organizations by removing the assets they need to continue dealing in illicit drugs.”
“This is a great example of law enforcement agencies working together. IRS Criminal Investigation’s goal in drug cases is to help put drug dealers in jail and financially disrupt their efforts by seizing the drug proceeds,” said Stephen Boyd, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Denver Field Office.“Individuals who use the U.S. Mail to facilitate the transportation of illegal drugs and related proceeds are violating federal law. These are priority investigations for our agency,” said Adam Behnen, Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Denver Division.
“The cases that have resulted from this investigation are based on a joint investigation involving the United States Attorney’s Office, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, IRS-Criminal Investigation, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Boulder County Drug Task Force. The investigation demonstrates the effectiveness of federal agencies working in cooperation with local law enforcement. The District Attorney’s Office of the 20th Judicial District and the Boulder County Drug Task Force would like to thank all the federal agencies and agents involved in making this investigation possible,” said Ken Kupfner, Chief Trial Deputy, 20th Judicial District.
Taylor Hills was charged with seventeen counts of money laundering, twelve counts of illegal use of the mail, one count of a false statement in loan application, and one count of failing to file a tax return. If convicted of money laundering, he faces not more than 20 years in federal prison, and a fine of up to $500,000 per count. If convicted of illegal use of the mail, he faces not more than 4 years in federal prison, and a fine of up to $250,000 per count. If convicted of false statement in loan application, he faces not more than 30 years in federal prison, and a fine of up to $1,000,000 per count. If convicted of failing to file a tax return, he faces not more than 1 year in federal prison, and a fine of up to $25,000 per count.
This case was investigated by agents with Homeland Security Investigations, IRS-Criminal Investigation, U.S Postal Inspection Service, officers from the Boulder County Drug Task Force and the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michele Korver.
The charges contained in the indictment are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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Blaine Man Sentenced for the Armed Robbery of A Carver County Convenience StoreRead the Press Release
MINNEAPOLIS—Yesterday in federal court, a 28-year-old Blaine man was sentenced for committing the December 3, 2011, armed robbery of a convenience store in Mayer, Minnesota. United States District Court Judge Patrick J. Schiltz sentenced Demetrius Charles Edward Derden to 170 months in federal prison on one count of interference with commerce by robbery, pursuant to the Hobbs Act. Derden was indicted on January 10, 2012, and pleaded guilty on August 24, 2012.
On December 3, 2011, Derden stole $2,259 from the Mayer Oil Company while brandishing a weapon. Derden demanded money from the store’s backroom safe. When the clerk told him he did not know the combination to the safe, Derden placed the barrel of the gun against the clerk’s neck and threatened him. A struggle ensued, and the clerk suffered injuries. Derden fled the store, but authorities arrested him a few hours later at his residence. They found some of the stolen money inside a stuffed animal. They also learned that the weapon used was a BB gun.
The Hobbs Act, passed by Congress in 1946, allows federal prosecutors to prosecute violent habitual criminals who commit armed robbery in places of business that involve interstate commerce. Federal prosecution of these cases is sometimes beneficial since the penalties are often tougher than under state law. Furthermore, because the federal system has no parole, those who receive federal sentences serve virtually the entire prison term imposed.
This case was the result of an investigation by the Carver County Sheriff’s Office, and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie E. Allyn.Big Spring, Texas, Man Sentenced to 87 Months in Federal Prison on Cocaine ConvictionRead the Press Release
Law Enforcement Seized Cocaine and More Than $78,000 in Drug Trafficking Proceeds During Execution of Search Warrant
LUBBOCK, Texas — Gabriel Aguilar, 35, of Big Spring, Texas, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings to 87 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in October 2012 to an Information charging one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas. Judge Cummings remanded Aguilar, who had been on bond, to the custody of the U.S. Marshal.
According to documents filed in the case, officers with the Big Spring Police Department executed a search warrant at Aguilar’s residence on December 13, 2011. During the search, Aguilar advised officers that there was approximately 15-19 ounces of cocaine in the house, along with $60,000 in his closet. He stated that he had been selling cocaine for the past year to supplement his salary, but that he was down to his last “bird” or kilogram of cocaine.
In the residence, officers located approximately 2.49 pounds of cocaine in kitchen cabinets and Aguilar’s bedroom closet. A part of that amount was contained in 82 pre-measured, plastic bags that each contained seven grams of cocaine. In addition, officers located drug paraphernalia, such as plastic bags and digital scales, a 9mm semi-automatic pistol and $78,319 in cash that was concealed in clothing in Aguilar’s closet.
The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Big Spring Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin T. Cunningham was in charge of the prosecution.
Benson December Coriolant Sentenced to 40 Years for Sex Trafficking A Child into the New Orleans AreaRead the Press Release
BENSON DECEMBER CORIOLANT, 30, of Orlando, Florida, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Lance M. Africk to 40 years in prison after he was previously convicted by a federal jury of sex trafficking of a child, conspiring with others to sex traffic a child, coercing and enticing an individual to engage in prostitution, and coercing and enticing a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity, announced United States Attorney Dana J. Boente. This is the first human sex trafficking conviction in the Eastern District of Louisiana.
According to evidence introduced at trial, in late 2008, CORIOLANT met R.V., a 14-year-old female. Shortly thereafter, he began a sexual relationship with her. After convincing the minor that their relationship was one of boyfriend/girlfriend, CORIOLANT recruited R.V. to begin working for him as a prostitute in the Orlando area. CORIOLANT posted advertisements on multiple city-specific internet classified ad websites offering prostitution services of the minor. Over the course of the next year, CORIOLANT forced R.V. to engage in dozens of sexual acts in exchange for money throughout the state of Florida. CORIOLANT forced R.V. to turn over the money she earned from prostitution either to him or one of his associates. CORIOLANT also provided R.V. with alcohol and illicit drugs, such as Ecstasy, as a way of numbing her senses and controlling her behavior.
In March 2010, CORIOLANT drove R.V., who was then 15-years-old, to Kenner, Louisiana, to work as a prostitute. CORIOLANT used the New Orleans version of the online classified advertisement website to solicit individuals interested in paying for sex with the minor. CORIOLANT required R.V. to put the money she made from prostitution, thousands of dollars, into a bank account for his benefit. He further forced her to account for all of her expenses, including personal expenses, such as food, in a journal, daily letters, and text messages to him. CORIOLANT also instructed R.V. in what to charge for sex, how to provide him with the profits, how to attract business, how to avoid being apprehended by law enforcement, and how to perform certain sexual acts.
On April 24, 2010, R.V. was discovered by law enforcement authorities and ultimately sent back to Orlando with relatives. Once back in Orlando, CORIOLANT instructed R.V. to continue engaging in prostitution, but to have sex only with regular, familiar clients because of concerns with law enforcement finding her.In May 2010, CORIOLANT sent the minor back to New Orleans a second time to work as a prostitute. CORIOLANT again advertised sex with the minor on the online classified advertisement website. R.V. was arrested several days later.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
This case was further brought as part of the Innocence Lost National Initiative, which was aimed at addressing the growing problem of domestic sex trafficking of children in the United States. In the nine years since its inception, the initiative has resulted in the development of 47 dedicated task forces and working groups throughout the U.S. involving federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies working in tandem with U.S. Attorney’s Offices.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, New Orleans Division. The Tampa Division of the FBI and the Kenner, Louisiana police department also provided critical investigative assistance. The prosecution of this case was handled by Assistant United States Attorneys Jordan Ginsberg, Juliana Etland, and Sean Toomey.
Babatunde Abiola Sentenced for Identity TheftRead the Press Release
BABATUNDE ABIOLA, age 26, a citizen of Nigeria, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Martin L.C. Feldman to approximately seven months imprisonment for identity theft, announced U. S. Attorney Dana J. Boente. In addition to the term of imprisonment, Judge Feldman imposed three years of supervised release following the term of imprisonment, during which time the defendant will be under federal supervision and risks an additional term of imprisonment should he violate any terms of his supervised release
According to court documents, ABIOLA applied for an American Eagle Outfitters credit card via the internet using another person’s name and social security number. This credit card was used to purchase approximately $124 worth of merchandise.
The case was investigated by Special Agents of the U.S. Secret Service and Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Homeland Security Investigations. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U. S. Attorney Loan “Mimi” Nguyen and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Weir.
Army Member Stationed at MacDill Pleads Guilty to Production of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
Tampa, FL - United States Attorney Robert E. O'Neill announces that Thomas Meyer (42, Riverview) pleaded guilty today to production of child pornography. Meyer faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years, up to a maximum of 30 years in federal prison.
According to court documents, Meyer is a member of the United States Army and is stationed at MacDill Air Force base. Between October 2011 and January 2012, Meyer used Yahoo! Messenger to have sexually explicit online chats with a female minor in Pennsylvania, and another individual he thought was a 13-year-old female, but who was actually an undercover detective in Kentucky. Per Meyer's request, the minor female from Pennsylvania sent three pornographic photographs to Meyer's Yahoo! account. Meyer sent the undercover detective images of child and adult pornography, as well as an explicit video of himself. He attempted to persuade the undercover detective to send him sexually explicit pictures of herself.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the MacDill Air Force Base Office of Special Investigations (OSI), the Largo Police Department, the Kenton County (Kentucky) Police Department, the Pennsylvania State Police, and the United States Postal Inspection Service. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer L. Peresie.
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."
Another Guilty Plea in Aryan Knights InvestigationRead the Press Release
Defendant Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Distribute Meth
BOISE – Joseph Anthony Goulart, 42, of Caldwell, Idaho, pleaded guilty today in United States District Court to conspiring to distribute methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced.
According to information presented in court today, Goulart admitted that he entered into a conspiracy with other individuals to distribute methamphetamine. In September 2012, law enforcement agents served a search warrant on Goulart’s residence, where agents found approximately one and one-half pounds of methamphetamine.
A federal grand jury indicted Goulart on October 10, 2012. The indictment and thirteen others were the result of a long-term investigation by the Treasure Valley Metro Violent Crimes Task Force. The investigation focused on illegal drug distribution by the “Aryan Knights,” a gang active in prison and on the streets throughout Idaho. Through the investigation, law enforcement agents identified Aryan Knights gang members who were trafficking methamphetamine, as well as associates of the gang who were the source of that methamphetamine.
The charge is punishable by a minimum term of ten years up to life in prison, a maximum fine of $10 million, and a minimum term of five years of supervised release.
Sentencing is set for April 30, 2013, before the Hon. John C. Coughenour, U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Washington, at the federal courthouse in Boise.
The cases were the result of a joint investigation of the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), which included the cooperative law enforcement efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, U.S. Marshals Service, and the Treasure Valley Metro Violent Crime Task Force, a task force comprised of federal, state and local agencies, including the Boise Police Department, Ada County Sheriff’s Office, Caldwell Police Department, Nampa Police Department, Meridian Police Department, and Canyon County Sheriff’s Office.
The Aryan Knights cases are being prosecuted by the Special Assistant U.S. Attorney hired by the Treasure Valley Partnership and the State of Idaho to address gang crimes. The Treasure Valley Partnership is comprised of a group of elected officials in southwest Idaho dedicated to regional coordination, cooperation, and collaboration on creating coherent regional growth. For more information, visit treasurevalleypartners.org.
Albanian National Admits Robbing Two TD Banks in Passaic and Bergen CountiesRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – An Albanian national who was living in Clifton, N.J., admitted in federal court today to robbing two TD Bank branches while armed with a gun in late 2011, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Shpend Mazari, 30, also known as “Arlind Hyseni”and “Luie Belushi,” pleaded guilty to an Information charging him with two counts of bank robbery at two TD Bank branches. One occurred on Nov. 2, 2011, in Clifton in Passaic County, N.J. and the other on Dec. 30, 2011, in Wallington in Bergen County, N.J.
Mazari pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Esther Salas. At his plea hearing, he admitted Arlind Hyseni is his real name. He was previously arrested on Feb. 28, 2012, in New York City.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court: On Nov. 2, 2011, Mazari entered a TD Bank in Clifton armed with a handgun and disguised with a baseball cap and a flesh-colored mask covering the lower part of his face. He ordered two bank employees to go to the vault and turn over cash, which they placed into a dark nylon bag.
Mazari left the bank with $286,000 in cash, which included several “bait” bills and a dye pack. Mazari dropped the money a short distance from the scene after the dye pack concealed within the bills exploded.
On Dec. 30, 2011, Mazari entered a TD Bank in Wallington shortly after it opened. He vaulted over the teller counter wearing a ski mask and armed with a handgun. He again ordered bank employees to go to the vault and hand over cash, this time making off with $182,000.
The charges to which Mazari pleaded guilty carry a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, or twice the total loss or gain, whichever is greatest. Sentencing is scheduled for May 20, 2013.
Mazari was wanted by Interpol in a 2004 homicide in Albania. He was since convicted in absentia and sentenced to 25 years. It is the U.S. Attorney’s position that he must serve his time in the U.S. first.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge David Velazquez in Newark, and Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, under the direction of Andrew M. McLees, for the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mala Ahuja Harker of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Economic Crimes Unit in Newark.13-068
Defense counsel: David Holman Esq., Assistant Federal Public DefenderMazari, Shpend Information
Additional Defendant Sentenced in Operation No QuarterRead the Press Release
NEW BERN - United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced that in federal court today United States District Judge Louise W. Flanagan sentenced an additional defendant in a large drug trafficking conspiracy. JEREMY RICHARDSON, 28, of Greenville, North Carolina, received 150 months imprisonment followed by five years supervised release. RICHARDSON received an enhanced sentence due to his status as a career offender.
A Federal Grand Jury returned a Criminal Indictment on May 8, 2012, charging RICHARDSON with six violations of federal narcotics laws. RICHARDSON entered a guilty plea on September 11, 2012, to conspiring to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute 28 grams or more of crack cocaine and a quantity of powder cocaine.
According to evidence presented in Court, controlled buys were arranged in which crack cocaine was purchased from RICHARDSON during a two-year investgation. On several occasions during the investigation officers seized crack and powder cocaine from RICHARDSON. The investigation revealed that RICHARDSON had been selling drugs since 2001 and was responsible for the distribution of over 800 grams of crack cocaine and 10 kilograms of powder cocaine.
OCDETF Operation “No Quarter” was designed to attack the infrastructure of the Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations (DTO), including those of the Los Zetas, La Familia, Gulf and Sinaloa drug cartels, operating not only in the Eastern District of North Carolina, but throughout North Carolina, the United States and Mexico. These DTO’s are responsible for the importation of large quantities of cocaine, marijuana, heroin, and methamphetamine into the United States, as well as the related remittance of illegal drug proceeds back into Mexico.
The investigation spanned 10 years and 5 North Carolina counties. As part of the investigation, over 100 individuals have been charged by indictment or criminal information in the Eastern District of North Carolina and state courts. In addition, $1.5 million in U.S. Currency, 127 kilograms of cocaine with a street value of $3.8 million dollars, 41 pounds of crystal methamphetamine with a street value of $650,000, 160 lbs of marijuana with a street value of $170,000, 32 grams of heroin, 35 firearms and 35 real properties valued at $1.5 million were seized by law enforcement authorities.
Investigation of this case was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) - Raleigh and Greensboro Resident Offices, the New York Field Division and numerous other DEA offices in the United States and Mexico; the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives – Raleigh and Wilmington offices; the United States Marshals Service; the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) – Raleigh and Tampa, Florida offices; the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation; the North Carolina National Guard; the North Carolina State Highway Patrol; the Greenville Police Department; the Pitt County Sheriff’s Office; the Pamlico County Sheriff’s Office; the Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office; the Craven County Sheriff’s Office; the Carteret County Sheriff’s Office; the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office; the New Bern Police Department, the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office; the Person County Sheriff’s Office; the Farmville Police Department; the Goldsboro Police Department; the Rocky Mount Police Department; the Burlington Police Department, the Alamance County Sheriff’s Office, and the Wilson Police Department.
The federal prosecutions were handled by Special Assistant United States Attorneys Glenn Perry and Augustus Willis, IV. Mr. Perry is a prosecutor with the Pitt County District Attorney’s Office. Mr. Willis is a prosecutor with the Craven, Carteret and Pamlico Counties District Attorney’s Office. District Attorneys Clark Everett and Scott Thomas have assigned Mr. Perry and Mr. Willis to the United States Attorney’s Office to prosecute federal Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force criminal matters. Their assignments to the United States Attorney’s Office have been made possible by grants funded by the Governor’s Crime Commission.
6 February 2013
Wood County Woman Guilty of Methamphetamine ViolationsRead the Press Release
Department of Justice
Office of Public AffairsTYLER, Texas – A 42-year-old Mineola, Texas woman has pleaded guilty to federal drug trafficking violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales today.
Jennifer Northcutt pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine on Feb. 5, 2013, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith K. Guthrie.
According to information presented in court, on Aug. 21, 2010, Northcutt was found in possessio9n of methamphetamine which she intended to distribute to others. She admitted to possessing approximately 17 grams of methamphetamine and to being in possession of a firearm while distributing methamphetamine.
A federal indictment was returned on Nov. 7, 2012, charging Northcutt and two co-defendants with federal drug crimes.
Northcutt faces up to 40 years in federal prison at sentencing. A sentencing date has not been set.
This case is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Mineola Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Baldwin. ####Whittemore Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Meth ConspiracyRead the Press Release
A man who conspired to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine was sentenced February 5, 2013, to ten years in federal prison.
Matthew Ryan McCauley, 33, from Whittemore, Iowa, received the prison term after a September 17, 2012, guilty plea to conspiracy to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine. In October 2008 McCauley was convicted of possession of a controlled substance, 1st offense (cocaine) and in April 2003, McCauley was convicted of possession of a precursor with intent to manufacture methamphetamine, both in Iowa.
At the guilty plea, McCauley admitted his involvement from about December 2010 through about May 2012 with at least 50 grams of actual (pure) methamphetamine and at least 100 grams of pseudoephedrine for the manufacture of methamphetamine. On May 2, 2012, McCauley traded approximately .25 grams of methamphetamine in exchange for 20 pseudoephedrine pills in a controlled transaction with an undercover law enforcement officer. McCauley planned to use the pseudoephedrine to manufacture methamphetamine.
McCauley was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Judge Mark W. Bennett. McCauley was sentenced to 120 months’ imprisonment. A special assessment of $100 was imposed. He must also serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
McCauley is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shawn S. Wehde and investigated by Kossuth County Sheriff’s Office, Clay County Sheriff’s Office, Iowa Department of Narcotics Enforcement, and the Iowa Great Lakes Drug Task Force.
Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is 12-3023.
West Des Moines Man Pleads Guilty to Tax EvasionRead the Press Release
DES MOINES, IA – Charles R. Barbour, of West Des Moines, Iowa, pleaded guilty to one count of income tax evasion in a proceeding before United States Magistrate Judge Celeste F. Bremer, announced United States Attorney Nicholas A. Klinefeldt. Sentencing has been scheduled for May 9, 2013, at the United States Courthouse in Des Moines before United States District Court Judge John A. Jarvey.
As part of his written plea agreement filed February 6, 2013, Barbour agreed to plead guilty to a U.S. Attorney’s Information charging him with one count of income tax evasion. In the plea agreement, Barbour agreed that he did not report all income he earned making dentures for a private dental practice. Barbour agreed that he willfully understated his income for tax year 2006 in the amount of $80,927.00; for tax year 2007 in the amount of $50,940.00; for tax year 2008 in the amount of $52,895.00 and for tax year 2009 in the amount of $11,300.00. Babour also admitted to claiming false business expenses on his returns during tax years 2007, 2008 and 2009.
Barbour faces a maximum penalty of up to 5 years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, or both a fine and imprisonment. Additionally, under the plea agreement, Barbour agrees to cooperate with the Internal Revenue Service to pay all back taxes, penalties and interest due. Barbour was released on bond, under the supervision of the United States Probation Office, pending imposition of sentence.
This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, and was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.
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Virginia Man Pleads Guilty to Charges in Shooting of Security Guard at Family Research Council- Defendant Targeted Organization in Planned Attack-Read the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Floyd Lee Corkins, II, 28, pled guilty today to three felony charges, including a terrorism offense, in the August 2012 shooting of a security guard at the Family Research Council in downtown Washington, announced U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr., Valerie Parlave, Assistant Director of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and Cathy L. Lanier, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Corkins, of Herndon, Va., pled guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to charges of committing an act of terrorism while armed, assault with intent to kill while armed, and interstate transportation of a firearm and ammunition. The Honorable Richard W. Roberts scheduled sentencing for April 29, 2013. The terrorism offense carries a statutory maximum of 30 years in prison. The assault charge carries a statutory maximum of 30 years of incarceration, and the weapons-related charge carries up to 10 years in prison.
Corkins has been in custody since his arrest after the Aug. 15, 2012 shooting.
This marks the first time that a defendant has been charged with and convicted of committing an act of terrorism under a provision of the District of Columbia’s Anti-Terrorism Act of 2002 that covers criminal actions committed with the intent to “intimidate or coerce a significant portion of the civilian population of the District of Columbia or the United States.”
According to the government’s evidence, on Aug. 15, 2012, at about 10:45 a.m., Corkins entered the office of the Family Research Council, at 801 G Street NW, and encountered an unarmed security guard. Corkins retrieved a firearm from his backpack and pointed it at the security guard. The security guard charged Corkins and a struggle ensued, during which Corkins fired three shots, striking the guard in the arm. Despite the gunshot wound and Corkins’s subsequent discharges of the gun, the security guard heroically succeeded in disarming the defendant and forcing him to the ground and onto his belly.
According to a statement of offense, signed by the defendant as well as the government, Corkins targeted the Family Research Council because of its views, including its advocacy against recognition of gay marriage. He entered the building with the intention of shooting and killing as many employees of the organization as he could.
“Were it not for the heroic guard who tackled Floyd Corkins, he could have succeeded in perpetrating a mass killing spree in the nation’s capital,” said U.S. Attorney Machen. “This case highlights the dangers of access to high-capacity magazines that allow killers to inflict carnage on a mass scale in the blink of an eye. Today’s guilty plea makes clear that using violence to terrorize political opponents will not be tolerated.”
“Individuals such as Mr. Corkins, who commit violent acts in pursuit of political aims, are a danger to our society and to the freedoms we enjoy as citizens,” said Assistant Director in Charge Parlave. “In today’s plea, Mr. Corkins admitted to committing an act of terrorism in the District of Columbia. Together with our partner law enforcement agencies and with the assistance of the community, the FBI will pursue all those who seek to intimidate or harm U.S. citizens.”
“This was a horrible act,” said Police Chief Lanier. “Fortunately, a quick-thinking employee was able to disarm and subdue the shooting suspect. His dedication to duty and willingness to put himself in harm’s way prevented others from being seriously injured or killed. He is an inspiration to many and a hero to all that were affected.”
According to the statement of offense, Corkins purchased a semiautomatic pistol from a store in Virginia on Aug. 9, 2012, and picked up the weapon the following day. On the afternoon of Aug. 13, he rehearsed his planned trip to the Family Research Council. On the night before the shooting, Corkins returned to the gun store and engaged in shooting practice.
On the morning of Aug. 15, Corkins rode Metrorail from Virginia and into the District of Columbia, got off at the Gallery Place stop, and went to the Family Research Council. To gain access into the building, he falsely told the security guard that he was there for an interview as a prospective intern. Upon gaining entry, Corkins approached the receptionist desk, which the security guard was manning, intending to shoot and kill him. However, the security guard fought back and, as the two men scuffled, Corkins fired his gun three times, striking the guard once in his left arm in the process. After the security guard subdued Corkins, Corkins stated, “It’s not about you,” but about the organization’s policies. He also was heard making remarks such as, “I don’t like these people, and I don’t like what they stand for.”
In a search after the shooting, MPD officers discovered two fully loaded magazine clips in one of Corkins’s front pants pockets, as well as a Metro card and a handwritten list containing the names of the Family Research Council and three other organizations that openly identify themselves as having socially conservative agendas. A search of Corkins’s backpack turned up, among other items, a box of 50 rounds of 9 mm ammunition. They also found 15 individually wrapped sandwiches that Corkins had purchased the previous day from Chick-fil-A.
Corkins later made statements to the FBI in which he said that he was a political activist and considered the Family Research Council to be a lobbying group. He also stated that he intended to kill as many people as possible and smother the Chick-fil-A sandwiches into their faces. Among other things, he said, “Chick-fil-A came out against gay marriage so I was going to use that as a statement.”
Corkins also revealed the steps he took in planning the attack, saying that he had been thinking about perpetrating similar violence for years but never carried out an attack. Had he not been stopped at the Family Research Council, he stated, he planned to go to the second organization on the list he was carrying and wage a similar shooting there.
The security guard, who also was the building’s manager, underwent emergency surgery in which metal plates were inserted into his left arm so that shattered bones could heal. Numerous bullet fragments remain in his arms, and he was unable to work for months.
In announcing the guilty plea, U.S. Attorney Machen, Assistant Director in Charge Parlave and Chief Lanier expressed their appreciation to all those who investigated the case from the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the MPD. They also commended the efforts of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ann H. Petalas and T. Patrick Martin of the National Security Section of the United States Attorney’s Office, who prosecuted the case.
13-039Violent Gang and Gun Crime Reduction ProgramRead the Press Release
Deadline for submission of a grant proposal to the U.S. Attorney is February 18, 2013
United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) is seeking applications for funding of grants under the Violent Gang and Gun Crime Reduction Program, also known as Project Safe Neighborhoods. This program furthers the Department of Justice’s mission and violent crime reduction strategy by providing support to state, local and tribal efforts to reduce gun and gang-related violent crime. Contingent on the availability of funds, grant awards totaling $300,000 are possible in the Western
District of Louisiana to fund new and current comprehensive gun crime reduction strategies and gang violence reduction strategies. The deadline to submit the proposal to the U.S. Attorney’s Office is noon on February 18, 2013.Various types of single or multi-grantee grant applications are welcome, including those that address the following:
- Gang violence and gun violence reduction, deterrence, prevention, community outreach, and education;
- Enforcement, adjudication, and supervision programs;
- Prisoner reentry programs; or
- Other innovative related projects.
The 2013 Competitive Grant Announcement can be found at http://www.bja.gov/Funding/13PSNsol.pdf. Those who are interested should contact Robert W. Gillespie Jr., Assistant U. S. Attorney and PSN and Anti-Gang Coordinator for the Western District of Louisiana, at (318) 676-3600 for additional information.
The deadline to submit applications to the U.S. Attorney is noon on February 18, 2013.
Applicants can contact the www.Grants.gov Customer Support Hotline for technical assistance with submitting an application at (800) 518-4726, (606) 545-5035, or by e-mail to [email protected].
For more information regarding the Project Safe Neighborhoods Program, visit the Western District of Louisiana U.S. Attorney’s Office website at: http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/law/programs/projectsafe.html, as well as www.psn.gov and http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/grant/psn.html.
Violent Drug Dealer Sentenced to 15 Years ImprisonmentRead the Press Release
PHOENIX– On Feb. 4, 2013, Robert Francis Dayaye, Jr. (a.k.a. “Fat Rob”), 33, of Whiteriver, Ariz., was sentenced by U.S. District Judges Neil V. Wake and G. Murray Snow to a combined term of imprisonment of 15 years. Dayaye pleaded guilty on Oct. 5, 2102, to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and attempted carjacking in two separate cases
Before his arrest, Dayaye was the leader of the Diamond Creek Boyz (“DC Boyz”) gang on the Ft. Apache Indian Reservation. On Dec. 6, 2011, Dayaye was found in a vehicle with a handgun and over 100 grams of actual methamphetamine. A federal search warrant was executed on a storage locker Dayaye was utilizing in Feb. 2012, and approximately 100 firearms were seized, most of which were military style weapons and four of which were illegal.
On June 11, 2011, Dayaye ordered four others to steal a car from a female acquaintance. The four men attempted to steal the car by force, which resulted in the hospitalization of the victim.
The investigation in this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives and the Drug Enforcement Administration, as part of the Northern Arizona Violent Gang and Safe Streets Task Force. The prosecution was handled by Dimitra H. Sampson and Keith E. Vercauteren, Assistant U.S. Attorneys, District of Arizona, Phoenix.
CASE NUMBER: CR-12-8017-PCT-NVW and CR 12-8098-005-PCT-GMS
RELEASE NUMBER: 2013-014_DayayeFor more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
Union County, N.J., Man Indicted for Distributing Child Sexual Abuse Images over the InternetRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – A Union County, N.J., man was indicted today by a federal grand jury for possessing and distributing over the Internet images depicting child sex abuse, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Carl Tullis Sr., 48, of Plainfield, N.J., was previously arrested in June 2011. He was indicted today on two counts of distribution of child pornography and one count of possession.
According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court:
On June 2, 2011, special agents of the FBI executed a search warrant at Tullis’ residence. They seized digital evidence that contained more than 1,600 images and 1,400 videos depicting child sexual abuse, including material that involved prepubescent minors and material that portrays sadistic or masochistic conduct. The digital evidence seized included files previously downloaded from Tullis by law enforcement agents working in an undercover capacity on a publicly available peer-to-peer network.
On the distribution counts, Tullis faces a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison, a maximum potential penalty of 20 years and a $250,000 fine. On the possession count, he faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI Newark Division’s Child Exploitation Task Force, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge David Velazquez in Newark, with the investigation leading to today’s indictment.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Osmar J. Benvenuto and Courtney M. Oliva of the U.S. Attorney’s Office General Crimes Unit in Newark.
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Defense counsel: Carol Gillen Esq., Newark, NJTullis Indictment
US Attorney Durkan Reports to the Community on Law Enforcement PrioritiesRead the Press Release
U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan today issued her 2012 Annual Report on the activities and priorities of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.
“Every person in our office is honored to serve the people of this region. We work hard to advance the safety of our nation, the security of our communities and the rights of victims of crime,” said U.S. Attorney Durkan. "In 2012, we made significant progress in many of our priority areas: terrorism, violent crime, cybercrime and protecting vulnerable communities from both financial crime and physical exploitation.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office also focused on stripping criminals of their profits, returning monies to taxpayers and victims. In 2012, the office recovered more than $40 million to compensate the victims of crime and to support the federal treasury and law enforcement activities. The office has discharged its mission in a manner that is fiscally responsible and adds value to the federal treasury. In 2012, the office saw significant collections of restitution for the victims of convicted predator Weldon Marc Gilbert, and we forfeited to the U.S. Treasury the proceeds of crime, including more than $5 million from an illegal internet gambling business.
The diverse Western District of Washington presents many challenges. Western Washington has urban areas and vast open lands, National Parks and National Forests. It is home to the largest military base west of the Rockies (Joint Base Lewis-McChord). The district shares a water and land border with Canada and has two of the ten busiest sea ports in the United States.
“Part of our work is to reach out to all communities and residents as we work to build a safe and secure America. I want to express my thanks to all who help keep Western Washington a safe and welcoming place to live, work and raise our children. My colleagues and I look forward to continuing to meet these challenges in 2013,” said U.S. Attorney Durkan.
You can read the full report by following this link.
U.S. Attorney Brendan Johnson Completes Term as Chairman of National CommitteeRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Brendan V. Johnson has completed his term as Chairman of the Department of Justice’s Native American Issues Subcommittee (NAIS), but will continue to advise the Attorney General in his role as a member of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee of U.S. Attorneys (AGAC). Johnson has served as chairman of the NAIS since 2009, shortly after his confirmation as U.S. Attorney for the District of South Dakota.
Attorney General Holder thanked U.S. Attorney Johnson for serving as chair of the NAIS for the past three years, 2009-2012. “Brendan Johnson’s dedication and commitment to improving public safety in Indian Country will continue to positively impact tribal communities for years to come. His leadership has brought the U.S. Attorney community together to address a myriad of important issues in Indian Country, and his guidance has been an invaluable asset to this department. I look forward to my ongoing work with U.S. Attorney Johnson as a member of the AGAC.”
As NAIS chair, Johnson was instrumental in bringing South Dakota Indian country issues to the forefront. In July 2011, Attorney General Holder, Associate Attorney General Thomas J. Perrelli, and approximately 30 United States Attorneys from across the country visited South Dakota to meet with tribal leaders in Rapid City and Pine Ridge. The Department of Justice has worked closely with tribal communities to empower tribal courts, increase law enforcement cooperation, and improve public safety in Indian Country. In South Dakota, this new spirit of cooperation has produced a significant increase in prosecutions as well as the development of new programs designed to empower tribal court systems.
Johnson’s service will continue on the AGAC. The AGAC is a select committee of United States Attorneys that was created in 1973 to serve as the voice of the U.S. Attorneys and to advise the Attorney General on policy, management, and operational issues impacting the offices of the U.S. Attorneys.
Attorney General Holder also announced the appointment of U.S. Attorney for the District of North Dakota Timothy Q. Purdon to replace Johnson as chair of NAIS, and U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma Sanford C. Coats to serve as vice chair.
“I’m honored that I had the opportunity to serve as NAIS chair for the past three years, and sincerely appreciate Attorney General Holder’s confidence in me,” said Johnson. “I’m proud of our accomplishments, and am confident these efforts will continue under the able guidance of U.S. Attorney Purdon.”
Two More Defendants Sentenced to Prison for Identity TheftRead the Press Release
Defendants Relied on Local Restaurant & Retail Establishment Employees to Steal Credit Card Account Information from Unsuspecting Customers
ATLANTA – Two leading defendants in a large-scale credit card theft ring involving the use of “skimming” devices at restaurants and retail stores were sentenced to federal prison today by United States District Court Judge Richard W. Story. Norman Uriah Simmonds, 33, of Lilburn, Georgia, was sentenced to serve 8 years, 6months, followed by 3 years of supervised release, and he was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $107,324. Steven Michael Jackson, 28, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced to serve 5 years, 1month, followed by 3 years of supervised release, and he was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $33,254.
“These two defendants were part of an organized scheme involving at least 11 people, some of whom worked at local restaurants and stores, who tried to make a living by selling and using stolen credit cards,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates. “This case demonstrates that consumers need to be aware of the risks of using credit cards, and that they need to check their accounts regularly for unexplained purchases or activity.”
“This is a good example of solid investigative work and teamwork on everyone’s part. As Postal Inspectors, we are proud to have prevented so many people from becoming further victimized by these individuals, who could have caused considerable financial damage and personal inconvenience to consumers.” said Keith Morris, Postal Inspector in Charge of the Atlanta Division.
“These defendant’s criminal actions reflect how advancements in digital technology can also sometimes have a negative effect on our communities. The Secret Service, with its law enforcement partners, will continue to actively investigate those that commit cybercrimes to prey on unsuspecting victims,” said Reginald G. Moore, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Secret Service, Atlanta Field Office.According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court: From approximately June 2009 to November 2010, the defendants obtained and possessed electronic devices referred to as “skimmers,” which are capable of copying and storing debit and credit card account information. The defendants, some of whom were employed by restaurant and retail establishments, used the skimmers to copy and store debit and credit card account numbers from unsuspecting customers. The restaurants and retail establishments included Shogun Japanese Steakhouse in Columbus, Georgia; a Krystal Restaurant in Columbus, Georgia; a McDonald’s Restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia; and Polished Nail Salon in Lawrenceville, Georgia. All of the impacted restaurants and retail establishments cooperated in the investigation.
After retrieving the debit and credit card account numbers from the skimmers and processing the data, the defendants transferred the stolen account numbers to the magnetic stripes of blank white plastic cards or gift cards using device-making equipment referred to as “encoders,” which altered the cards’ magnetic stripes to include the stolen debit and credit card account numbers. The defendants subsequently used the altered cards to purchase things of value, including United States postal stamps from Automated Postal Centers throughout Georgia.
In addition to defendants Simmonds and Jackson, the indictment also charged nine other individuals, all of whom have pled guilty:
- Sean Carlos Deloatch, 27, of Columbus, Georgia;
- Bryan Charles Jones, 33, of Atlanta, Georgia;
- Vanessa Echeverry, 20, of Lawrenceville, Georgia;
- Antonio Escobal, 35, of Columbus, Georgia;
- Lakeysha Renee Hill, 27, of Columbus, Georgia;
- Jerome Christopher Ledgister, 27, of Stockbridge, Georgia;
- Dwayne Matthew Neely, 29, of Columbus, Georgia;
- Tamicka Lashaun Trice, 28, of Atanta, Georgia; and
- Carmen Marie Walker, 25, of Atlanta, Georgia.
Defendants Deloatch, Echeverry and Trice are scheduled to be sentenced before United States District Court Judge Richard W. Story on Wednesday, February 13, 2013, at 2 p.m. The remaining defendants have previously been sentenced.
This case was investigated by Postal Inspectors of the United States Postal Inspection Service and Special Agents of the United States Secret Service.
Assistant United States Attorney Steven D. Grimberg is prosecuting the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney's Public Information Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the HomePage for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.justice.gov/usao/gan.
Two Men Charged with Illegally Re-Entering the U.S.Read the Press Release
Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, today announced that criminal charges were filed against two men accused in separate incidents of illegally re-entering the United States following deportation or removal.
An indictment alleges that on Jan. 5, 2013, Hector Sanchez-Soto, 47, formerly of Cleveland, was illegally present in the United States after previously being deported subsequent to a conviction for the commission of illegal re-entry following deportation or removal.
Another indictment alleges that on Jan. 7, 2013, Concepcion Quevedo-Rodriguez, age 44, of Guatemala, was illegally present in the United States after previously being deported subsequent to a conviction for the commission of illegal re-entry following deportation or removal.
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.The Sanchez-Soto case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Lauren Bell after investigation by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The Queved0-Rodriguez case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Alissa M. Sterling following an investigation by United States Border Patrol, Sandusky, Ohio.
If convicted, the defendant’s sentence will be determined by the Court after review of factors unique to the case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense, and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Toledo Man Charged with Theft of Mail by A Postal EmployeeRead the Press Release
Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, today announced that an information was filed against Deldre L. Jordan, age 40, of Toledo, Ohio. The charge relates to theft of mail by a postal employee beginning on or about January 2012 and continuing to March 23, 2012.
If convicted, defendant’s sentence will be determined by the Court after review of factors unique to each case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.
The investigating agency in this case is the Office of Inspector General, United States Postal Service. The case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Angelita Cruz Bridges.
An information is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. The burden of proof is always on the government to prove a defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Title of the news release goes hereRead the Press Release
Orlando, Florida - U.S. Attorney Robert E. O'Neill announces that a federal jury found Christopher Castillo (28, Melbourne) guilty yesterday of threatening to kill the President of the United States. Castillo faces a maximum penalty of 5 years in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 26, 2013, before United States District Judge John Antoon, II. Castillo was indicted on December 12, 2012, after a criminal complaint was issued on November 13, 2012.
According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, Castillo made a threat against the President on a social networking site. In November 2012, Castillo posted the following on Facebook, "that's the last straw, if he gets re-elected I'm going to hunt him down and kill him watch the life disappear from his eyes." After someone informed Castillo that threatening the President was a federal offense, Castillo posted, "I wouldn't call it a threat but more of a promise, let them come after me...Be more than happy to take a few of them with me."
A witness reported the threat to the United States Secret Service, and law enforcement officers subsequently interviewed Castillo at his home. During the interview, Castillo admitted making the statements. He also stated that he meant it because of his "severe anger" toward the President because of the President's views on healthcare. When asked what he would do if the President were standing in front of him, Castillo made an explicit statement about slapping and beating the President. Castillo also told agents that he would call the President a terrorist. During the trial, Castillo testified that he was just angry and did not really mean that he would kill the President.
This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shawn P. Napier.
Third Adams Produce Company Official Charged with FraudRead the Press Release
February 6 , 2013BIRMINGHAM – Federal prosecutors have charged a third Adams Produce Company official in connection with fraud at the bankrupt Birmingham distributor of fresh fruits and vegetables, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard D. Schwein Jr.
The U.S. Attorney's Office today charged DAVID ANDREW KIRKLAND, the company's director of purchasing, with conspiracy to defraud the federal government of several hundred thousand dollars through a scheme to create false invoices and purchases orders. In a plea agreement also filed today in U.S. District Court, Kirkland agrees to plead guilty to the conspiracy charge.
"This defendant was an officer of Adams Produce Company who joined other employees in a fraud meant to cover the company's deteriorating financial condition," Vance said. "The fraud included cheating the government on contracts involving military bases and schools. The investigation of wrongdoing by former Adams officers and employees continues, and any who have committed crimes will be held accountable," she said.
Kirkland, 44, formerly of Birmingham and now living in Texas, is charged in the same purchasing fraud scheme as Christopher Alan Pfahl, a purchasing program specialist for Adams Produce. Kirkland was Pfahl's supervisor. Pfahl, 41, of Birmingham, was charged in December and pleaded guilty in January to conspiracy to defraud the government of $481,000 on produce contracts.
On Jan. 29, the U.S. Attorney's Office charged Adams Produce Chief Executive Officer Scott David Grinstead, 45, of Birmingham, with fraud against the company, failure to report a felony against the government and failure to file federal income tax returns. The felony that Grinstead is charged with being aware of and not reporting is the purchasing scheme.
According to the charges and plea agreements in the three cases, Pfahl, Kirkland and other employees of Adams Produce engaged in a scheme to create false records that reflected a higher purchasing cost for fruits and vegetables from a national distributor than Adams Produce actually paid. The inflated costs were then presented to the U.S. Government, which had agreed to pay a certain amount over Adams' cost for produce.
The federal government, through the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, was one of Adams' customers. The supply center contracted with Adams Produce to provide fresh fruits and vegetables to military bases, public school systems, junior colleges and universities. Adams Produce entered into contracts with the government worth millions of dollars, according to court records.
Grinstead is charged with knowing of the fraud against the government and allowing it to continue and end slowly, so as to avoid raising red flags with the government, rather than stopping the fraud and reporting it to authorities. Grinstead also is charged with wire fraud for wiring hundreds of thousands of dollars from an Adams Produce account to American Express to pay for clothing, jewelry, personal travel for himself and his family, lawn care at this home, and items for a house on Lake Martin.
Grinstead faces two counts of failure to file a federal income tax return, one for 2009 and one for 2010. According to the charges, Grinstead had gross income of about $748,801 in 2009 and about $1,878,700 in 2010 and willfully failed to file tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service for either year.
Grinstead has agreed to plead guilty to the charges against him. As part of his plea agreement with the government, he must pay $450,000 in restitution to the bankruptcy estate of Adams Produce for the benefit of the company's employees who were not fully paid when Adams closed abruptly and filed for bankruptcy last year.
The FBI and the Internal Revenue Service investigated the cases, which Assistant U.S. Attorney George A. Martin Jr. is prosecuting.
Tax Protestor Sentenced in Federal CourtRead the Press Release
EUGENE, Ore. – Randall Blair Johnson, 54, of Sisters, Oregon, was sentenced yesterday to 41 months in federal prison and was ordered to pay $260,536 in restitution to the IRS and a $50,000 fine after a jury found him guilty of three counts of income tax evasion, three counts of willful failure to file tax returns and one count of witness tampering.
“People who flout the tax laws increase the burden on law-abiding citizens,” stated U.S. Attorney Amanda Marshall. “In this case, the defendant mouthed protest rhetoric, but his real motivation was greed. His sentence shows what happens when someone tries to defy the tax code.”
According to the indictment, Johnson was a realtor and half owner of TR Hunter Real Estate, a real estate company in Florence, Oregon. Johnson’s primary sources of income were from sales of real estate, commissions and, in 2005, the sale of TR Hunter Real Estate. The indictment alleged that Johnson had a history of timely filing income tax returns but filed no returns for 2002 through 2005, despite being required by law to do so.
The evidence at the trial last June proved that Johnson filed federal income tax returns for nearly thirty years. Then, in 2002, he fired his C.P.A., stopped filing returns, stopped paying income tax, and started sending frivolous tax protestor materials to the IRS and Oregon Department of Revenue.
Johnson’s income more than quadrupled from 2002 to 2005 but he paid no income tax, claiming to revenue officials that the tax laws did not apply to him. An IRS revenue agent testified that Johnson had over $260,000 in taxes due and owing for that four-year period. Despite not filing his own income tax returns, Johnson paid property taxes, filed corporate tax returns for TR Hunter Real Estate, and had delinquent income tax returns prepared for his wife.
Chief United States District Judge Ann Aiken increased Johnson’s sentence based on his attempt to influence grand jury testimony. In April of 2009, Johnson provided his brother-in-law and former business partner a letter instructing him to provide false answers to the prosecutor’s questions in the grand jury. Johnson’s attempt to corruptly influence grand jury testimony was the basis of his conviction for witness tampering.
Judge Aiken further increased Johnson’s sentence after finding that he used sophisticated means to conceal income and assets from the IRS. In addition to filing tax protestor materials with the IRS, Johnson sold real estate outside of escrow, transferred property into the names of family members and endorsed third party checks instead of cashing them or depositing them into his bank account. When he sold his interest in TR Hunter Real Estate to his partner in 2005, he insisted the sale not go through escrow, knowing that escrow would report the sale to the IRS.
Judge Aiken ordered Johnson to report to the U.S. Marshals on April 6, 2013 to begin serving his prison sentence.
This investigation was conducted by agents of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys William “Bud” Fitzgerald and Scott Bradford.