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10 July 2024
North Tonawanda businessman sentenced for tax evasionRead the Press Release
BUFFALO, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that George Ward, 57, of North Tonawanda, NY, who was convicted of tax evasion, was sentenced to serve four years’ probation, of which the first six months will be home incarceration and the second six months will be home detention, by U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra, Jr. Ward was also ordered to pay restitution to the IRS totaling $2,635,542.66 and to the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance totaling $646,770.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas A. C. Penrose, who handled the case, stated that between 2015 and 2020, Ward owned and operated a fire protection and inspection business in Amherst, NY. During this time period, Ward failed to file personal income tax returns, which included substantial business revenues received by his business. Ward also failed to pay income, social security, and Medicare taxes withheld from the pay of his employees. This resulted in a tax loss to the IRS of $953,793. Ward also failed to file his taxes with the New York Department of Taxation and Finance, resulting in a tax loss of $165,645. In addition to failing to file tax returns, Ward also made false statements to an IRS revenue officer regarding the filing of his taxes and the status of his business, used a check cashing business for over $2,000,000 in gross receipt checks from customers rather than depositing them into his business’ bank account, and deposited cash derived from his business’ activities into a bank account held in his wife’s name.
The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Thomas Fattorusso.
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New Horizons Computer Learning Centers in Tampa and Orlando Resolve Post-9/11 GI Bill AllegationsRead the Press Release
Tampa, FL – Two New Horizons Computer Learning Center franchises and their owner agreed to pay $1,350,000 to resolve allegations that the schools overcharged the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) by failing to report tuition waivers and scholarships provided to VA-supported students and by falsely certifying compliance with Title 38’s ban on incentive compensation tied to student enrollment.
The Post-9/11 Veterans Education Assistance Act of 2008 (“GI Bill”) financially supports service members, veterans, and their eligible dependents who attend an education or training program at an educational institution. The longer a person serves in the military, the greater the benefits available under the GI Bill. If a school offers to waive tuition for a student receiving less than 100-percent assistance, that tuition waiver must be reported to the VA and the student’s portion reduced accordingly. Additionally, Title 38 prohibits participating schools from paying any commission, bonus, or other incentive payment based directly or indirectly on securing student enrollments.
The United States alleged that, between 2017 and 2021, LTJ Group V, LLC, and Innovak of Florida, Inc., which did business as New Horizons Computer Learning Centers in Tampa, Florida, and Orlando, Florida, failed to report tuition waivers for students receiving less than 100-percent assistance under the GI Bill and falsely certified compliance with Title 38 by paying commissions, bonuses, or other incentive payments to enrollment representatives.
The settlement resolves United States v. Robert J. Remington, et al., Case No. 8:24-cv-511-TPB-UAM. The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only. No determination of liability has occurred.
“The Post-9/11 GI Bill recognizes the bravery and sacrifice of our nation’s veterans by providing them the opportunity to obtain education and training necessary to furthering a post-military career,” said United States Attorney Roger Handberg. “My office will continue to work with the VA to ensure compliance with GI Bill requirements and to vigilantly protect the program’s financial viability.”
“The settlement announced today demonstrates the VA Office of Inspector General’s commitment to aggressively pursuing individuals and schools who target veterans’ education benefits,” said Special Agent in Charge David Spilker with the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General’s Southeast Field Office.
“The VA OIG will continue to work with its law enforcement partners to protect the integrity of VA’s education benefits program.”
This resolution results from a coordinated effort by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida and the Department of Veterans Affairs - Office of Inspector General. Senior Litigation Counsel Lindsay S. Griffin and Assistant United States Attorney Mamie V. Wise handled the investigation and prosecution of the case.
New Haven Man Sentenced to Prison for Stealing and Selling Catalytic ConvertersRead the Press Release
Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that MICHAEL ALMODOVAR, also known as “Eme ElColorado,” 31, of New Haven, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sarala V. Nagala in Hartford to 14 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for his participation in a stolen catalytic converter trafficking ring.
According to court documents and statements made in court, law enforcement has been investigating the theft of catalytic converters from motor vehicles across Connecticut. A catalytic converter contains precious metals, can easily be removed from its vehicle, and is difficult to trace, making it a desirable target for thieves. The average scrap price for catalytic converters currently varies between $300 and $1,500, depending on the model and type of precious metal component.
The investigation revealed that Downpipe Depot & Recycling LLC (“Downpipe Depot”), which had a warehouse on Park Avenue in East Hartford, purchased stolen catalytic converters from a network of thieves, including Almodovar, and then transported and sold the catalytic converters to recycling businesses in New York and New Jersey.
Business records seized during the investigation revealed that, between March 2022 and May 2022, Downpipe Depot paid Almodovar $34,445 for catalytic converters. In one incident, while Almodovar was in the process of stealing a catalytic converter from a car in a parking lot in Milford, he was interrupted by a witness who used his cellphone take pictures of Almodovar. Almodovar attacked the witness, smashed his car window, cut him with the saw he used to steal the converter, and then fled. The next day, Almodovar sold six converters to Downpipe Depot in exchange for $2,180.
Almodovar was arrested on November 28, 2023. On March 27, 2024, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property, and interstate transportation of stolen property.
This investigation is being led by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CI), and the East Hartford Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lauren C. Clark and A. Reed Durham.
Monmouth County Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Drug Distribution and Firearms ChargesRead the Press Release
TRENTON, N.J. – A Monmouth County, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 120 months in prison for illegally possessing methamphetamine for distribution and possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.
Dywann Pugh, 44, of Asbury Park, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty before former-U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan to one count of possession with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon. U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi imposed the sentence today in Trenton federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
On Nov. 21, 2022, law enforcement executed search warrants at Pugh’s residence and discovered over three kilograms of methamphetamine; over three kilograms of cocaine; approximately 150 grams of fentanyl; approximately $19,000 in cash; and various drug distribution paraphernalia, including a pill press and approximately seven kilograms of cutting agents used in connection with the processing of drugs. Law enforcement also recovered a Hi-Point .380 caliber pistol loaded with six rounds of ammunition.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Quraishi sentenced Pugh to five years of supervised release. Judge Sheridan previously ordered Pugh to forfeit the firearm and ammunition that law enforcement seized.
U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Cheryl Ortiz; Homeland Security Investigations Newark, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge William S. Walker, and the Neptune Township Police Department, under the direction of Chief Anthony Gualario, with the investigation leading to the sentencing.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Belgiovine of the Criminal Division in Trenton.
Missoula fentanyl distributor sentenced to more than seven years in prisonRead the Press Release
MISSOULA — A Missoula man who admitted to trafficking fentanyl pills in the community was sentenced today to seven years and four months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.
The defendant Shayden Bradley Westfall, 28, pleaded guilty in March to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen presided.
The government alleged law enforcement learned that Westfall was at a Missoula hotel with distribution quantities of drugs and executed a search warrant on Westfall’s room in December 2022. Officers located approximately 500 fentanyl pills and a quarter pound of methamphetamine. Westfall also had a .40-caliber pistol he admitted had been traded for fentanyl pills.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case. The Missoula High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Missoula Police Department conducted the investigation.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit Justice.gov/PSN.
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Melvin Hill Sentenced on Federal Drug and Firearms ChargesRead the Press Release
Rutland, Vermont – The United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced that Melvin Hill, 45, who formerly lived in Tignall, Georgia, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Rutland following his trial conviction on five drug and gun charges. Chief U.S. District Judge Geoffrey Crawford sentenced Hill to 180 months of imprisonment, to be followed by a ten-year term of supervised release. Hill has been held without bail since his arrest in March 2022.
According to court records, in January 2022, a confidential source told Burlington narcotics investigators that they could buy narcotics from Hill. In February and March, this source made two controlled purchases of fentanyl from Hill in transactions that were recorded and surveilled by police officers. Officers learned that Hill was staying at a hotel in South Burlington. They obtained a state-court warrant to search Hill’s hotel room and the car he had been driving. Officers arrested Hill on March 10 and recovered a loaded pistol and crack cocaine from his person. In his car and hotel room, officers seized hundreds of folds of fentanyl, hundreds of pills containing methamphetamine, and powder cocaine. They also found narcotics paraphernalia and approximately $13,000 in cash.
The following day, March 11, state and federal agents searched a storage unit that Hill had rented in Burlington, Vermont. Inside, authorities found additional fentanyl, a second pistol and approximately one pound of pure methamphetamine.
In March 2022, the United States Attorney’s office adopted Hill’s case for federal prosecution. The U.S. Attorney’s Office had successfully prosecuted Hill in an unrelated drug case in 2012.
In July 2022, a federal grand jury in Burlington charged Hill, in a superseding indictment, with two counts of distributing fentanyl to the confidential source; possessing with intent to distribute fentanyl, cocaine, cocaine base and large quantities of methamphetamine, and two counts of possessing firearms as a convicted felon. Hill is barred from possessing any firearms because he has several felony convictions in federal court and his native Georgia. A jury convicted Hill on all charges last summer.
This case was investigated by the Burlington Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives assisting with firearms evidence.
At sentencing, Hill was represented by Karen Shingler, Esq. The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gregory Waples and Zachary Stendig.
McLaughlin Man Sentenced for Abusive Sexual ContactRead the Press Release
ABERDEEN - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that Charles B. Kornmann, U.S. District Court, has sentenced a McLaughlin, South Dakota, man convicted of Abusive Sexual Contact. The sentencing took place on July 8, 2024.
Brady James Claymore, age 37, was sentenced to eight months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $100.
Claymore was indicted by a federal grand jury in February of 2024. He pleaded guilty on April 10, 2024.
On the morning of December 3, 2023, Claymore went into the bedroom of a 20-year-old woman. He sat down on her bed and touched her thighs and intimate parts over her clothing without her consent. The abuse ended when the woman told Claymore to get out of her room. This incident occurred in McLaughlin, South Dakota, which lies within the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation.
This matter was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office because the Major Crimes Act, a federal statute, mandates that certain violent crimes alleged to have occurred in Indian country be prosecuted in federal court as opposed to State court.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs – Office of Justice Services. Assistant U.S. Attorney Carl Thunem prosecuted the case.
Claymore was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Manhattan Man Charged with Enticing and Engaging in Unlawful Sexual Activity with Teenage Girls and Using Them to Sell Drugs for HimRead the Press Release
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York; Christie M. Curtis, the Acting Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”); and Edward A. Caban, the Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), announced the unsealing of an Indictment charging SHYMELL EPHRON, a/k/a “Shy,” with two counts of coercion and enticement of minors to engage in unlawful sexual activity and five drug-trafficking counts, including two counts of using a minor to distribute narcotics and two counts of distributing narcotics to a minor. EPHRON was arrested today and will be presented in Manhattan federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Margaret M. Garnett.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “As alleged, Shymell Ephron raped and sexually abused two teenagers he found in Times Square, plied them with drugs and alcohol, and directed them to sell his drugs on the streets of New York City. This Office is committed to keeping New York City safe from sexual predators, and thanks to the hard work of our law enforcement partners and the career prosecutors of this Office, Ephron has now been arrested and charged for his egregious conduct.”
FBI Acting Assistant Director in Charge Christie M. Curtis said: “Shymell Ephron allegedly targeted two minor female victims for repeated sexual abuse, using illicit substances to encourage cooperation. He directed them to participate in his unlawful drug trafficking operation by exploiting their innocence for nefarious purposes, as alleged. Along with our law enforcement partners, the FBI remains committed to apprehending sexual predators and eliminating sources of illegal narcotics in our city.”
NYPD Commissioner Edward A. Caban said: “The charges leveled against this alleged predator are the result of NYPD investigators and our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners working together to protect everyone in our community, especially young victims. I commend the members of the FBI’s Westchester Safe Streets Task Force and the prosecutors at the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York for their continued focus on holding accountable individuals who allegedly target children.”
As alleged in public court filings, statements at public court proceedings, and the Indictment:[1]
EPHRON and his co-conspirators have distributed narcotics, including ecstasy and crack cocaine, since at least in or about May 2024 in Times Square and other locations in New York City. EPHRON has also offered and provided narcotics, including ecstasy and cocaine, to others in an effort to have sex with them. On or about May 17, 2024, EPHRON approached two teenage girls in Times Square while he and a co-conspirator were selling drugs. EPHRON convinced the two girls to follow him to his residence in Harlem, where they stayed with EPHRON for several days.
EPHRON engaged in multiple acts of forcible rape, forcible touching, sexual abuse, and sex with a minor while the girls were staying in EPHRON’s apartment. EPHRON repeatedly provided the girls with ecstasy, marijuana, and alcohol, and EPHRON also directed the girls to sell his drugs on the streets of New York City. EPHRON provided a cellphone to the girls to monitor their whereabouts, direct them to sell narcotics, and to persuade, induce, and entice them to return to his apartment each night so he could engage in unlawful sexual conduct with them. Law enforcement agents with the FBI and NYPD eventually rescued the two girls.
There may be more victims of this alleged conduct. If you have information to report, contact the FBI through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324) or https://tips.fbi.gov.
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EPHRON, 35, of New York, New York, is charged with two counts of coercion and enticement of a minor, each of which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum potential sentence of life in prison; one count of narcotics conspiracy, which carries a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison; two counts of distributing narcotics using a minor, each of which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of one year in prison and a maximum potential sentence of 45 years in prison; and two counts of distributing narcotics to a minor, each of which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of one year in prison and a maximum potential sentence of 40 years in prison.
The mandatory minimum and maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by a judge.
Mr. Williams praised the work of the FBI’s Westchester Safe Streets Task Force and the NYPD. Mr. Williams also thanked the New York State Police and the Yorktown Police Department for their assistance in the investigation.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Violent and Organized Crime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ryan W. Allison and Michael R. Herman are in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
[1] As the introductory phase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Indictment and the description of the Indictment set forth herein constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.
Manderson Woman Sentenced for Misprision of a FelonyRead the Press Release
RAPID CITY - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier has sentenced a Manderson, South Dakota, woman convicted of Misprison of a Felony. The sentencing took place on July 8, 2024.
Jaimee Lewis, 43, was sentenced to one year in federal prison, followed by one year of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Lewis was indicted for Accessory After the Fact to Second Degree Murder by a federal grand jury in May of 2022. She pleaded guilty to Misprision of a Felony on May 3, 2024.
On February 5, 2022, a seventeen-year-old female was shot to death by her boyfriend in a home where Lewis had temporarily been living. Lewis arrived home after the minor had been killed, but while her remains lay in a bedroom in the residence. Lewis used bleach to conceal evidence of the shooting and did not immediately report her knowledge of the death to law enforcement or any other authorities.
This matter was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office because the Major Crimes Act, a federal statute, mandates that certain violent crimes alleged to have occurred in Indian Country be prosecuted in Federal court as opposed to State court.
This case was investigated by the FBI and the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety Criminal Investigations Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather Knox prosecuted the case.
Lewis was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Trafficking Fentanyl and Illegally Possessing Firearm in ChicagoRead the Press Release
CHICAGO — A man has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for trafficking fentanyl and illegally possessing a loaded handgun in Chicago.
ERIC BROWN possessed the drugs and gun on Oct. 19, 2021, near the intersection of North St. Louis Avenue and West Iowa Street in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood. Brown carried a satchel that contained the handgun and 400 pills of a substance that Brown knew included fentanyl. When Chicago Police officers approached the intersection, Brown attempted to hide the gun by placing it in the wheel well of a nearby car. The officers recovered the gun, arrested Brown, and discovered the pills in his possession.
Brown, 34, of Chicago, pleaded guilty last year to federal drug and firearm charges. U.S. District Judge John J. Tharp, Jr., imposed the sentence Monday during a hearing in federal court in Chicago.
The sentence was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Christopher Amon, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and Larry Snelling, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department. Valuable assistance was provided by the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
“Drugs, and especially fentanyl, are a scourge to the public health and to law enforcement across the country, and a stain on the community,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Alejandro G. Ortega argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “The defendant did not think of the people he was harming when he possessed the fentanyl with intent to distribute it; he was only thinking of the profit he would make by selling the drugs.”
Holding illegal firearm possessors accountable through federal prosecution is a centerpiece of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) – the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction strategy. In the Northern District of Illinois, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and law enforcement partners have deployed the PSN program to attack a broad range of violent crime issues facing the district, particularly firearm offenses.
Man Caught with Child Pornography After Approaching Children Sentenced to 11 Years in PrisonRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White on Wednesday sentenced a man caught with child pornography after approaching children in Kirkwood to 11 years in prison.
On April 12, 2022, Kirkwood Police Department officers were investigating allegations that Darrell Ray Sanders had approached children on the street. They identified Sanders as a person of interest and arrested him. At the police station, he admitted having child pornography on his cell phone. Investigators found images and videos containing child sexual abuse material on two cell phones belonging to Sanders.
Sanders, 29, of Jefferson County, Missouri, pleaded guilty in February in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of receiving child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography.
The Kirkwood Police Department and Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Chapman prosecuted the case.
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 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Maine Man Sentenced to Two Years in Prison for Conspiring to Straw Purchase FirearmsRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Maine man was sentenced today in federal Court in Boston for conspiring to straw purchase firearms in Maine and traffic the firearms to Massachusetts.
Traveyon Richardson, 26, of Bangor, Maine, was sentenced by Chief United States District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV to two years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. In April 2024, Richardson pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to straw purchase firearms and one count of trafficking of firearms. Richardson was indicted by a federal grand jury in July 2023 along with alleged co-conspirator Breon Stroup. The case against Stroup remains pending.
In September 2022, Stroup allegedly used Snapchat to ask Richardson to purchase two specific firearms for him in Maine, where Richardson resides. The following day, Stroup allegedly sent Richardson a Cash App money transfer and Richardson purchased the firearms online. Then, Richardson picked up the firearms from the federal firearm license dealer and drove the firearms to Massachusetts in October 2022.
Approximately two weeks later, in October 2022, Richardson and Stroup allegedly had a phone conversation where Stroup assured Richardson that he had deleted his Snapchat account. When Richardson inquired about Stroup’s iCloud account, Stroup allegedly responded that he had deleted his iCloud account also.Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and James M. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division made the announcement. Valuable assistance was provided by the Fall River Police Department and the Maine State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lucy Sun and Timothy E. Moran of the Organized Crime & Gang Unit are prosecuting the case.
The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The remaining defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Lake County Woman Charged with Conspiracy to Commit Bank FraudRead the Press Release
Tampa, FL – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the return of an indictment charging Angel Jackson (44, Astatula) with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. If convicted, Jackson faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison.
According to the indictment, Jackson and others conspired to create and execute a mortgage fraud scheme targeting financial institutions. To ensure that otherwise unqualified borrowers obtained mortgage loans from financial institutions, Jackson created fictitious and fraudulent paystubs that falsely indicated that the borrowers worked at particular companies for certain periods of time and earned income that they did not. Further, Jackson altered legitimate Social Security benefit letters to reflect exaggerated monthly disability income, and she altered bank statements to show falsely inflated account balances. Based on Jackson’s and her co-conspirators’ misrepresentations, the financial institutions approved and funded the mortgage loans.
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.
This case was investigated by the Federal Housing Finance Agency – Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – Office of Inspector General. It will be prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Chris Poor.
La Crosse Man Sentenced to 6 Years for Trafficking FentanylRead the Press Release
MADISON, WIS. – Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Timothy M. Cannon, 36, La Crosse, Wisconsin, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 6 years in federal prison for distributing 40 grams or more of fentanyl. Cannon pled guilty to this charge on March 21, 2024.
Between April and June 2023, the La Crosse Police Department used a confidential informant to conduct four controlled buys of fentanyl from Cannon. Cannon sold the informant approximately 40-50 grams of fentanyl during each buy. Law enforcement also searched the apartment where Cannon was staying and found 43.2 grams of fentanyl in his backpack.
At sentencing, Judge Conley emphasized the dangers of fentanyl in the community and Cannon’s participation in trafficking the drug. He remarked that Cannon’s actions were for greed, noting that he was harming other people for money.
The charges against Cannon were the result of an investigation conducted by the City of La Crosse Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kathryn E. Ginsberg and Louis Glinzak prosecuted this case.
Kyle Man Convicted of Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Minor and Witness TamperingRead the Press Release
RAPID CITY - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced that a jury has convicted Lloyd Emerson Elk, age 47, of Kyle, South Dakota, of four counts of Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Minor, one count of Abusive Sexual Contact, and one count of Witness Tampering following a two-day jury trial in federal district court in Rapid City. The verdict was returned on July 2, 2024.
Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Minor carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 30 years up to life in custody; Abusive Sexual Contact carries any term of years up to life in custody; and Witness Tampering carries maximum penalty of 20 years in custody. Elk was indicted by a federal grand jury in March of 2024 for the above-listed crimes.
Evidence at trial established that Elk sexually abused a young girl multiple times when she was between the ages of five and seven years old. Elk employed years of domestic violence to control the victim and her family, including physical and emotional abuse. Elk told the victim if she ever told anyone about the sexual abuse, that he would kill her, her mother, and her brother. When the victim finally disclosed the abuse in late 2023, the investigation revealed Elk had sexually abused another young girl in 1998—while employed as a police officer in Idaho—and made similar threats to her to keep her quiet.
This case was investigated by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anna Lindrooth and Megan Poppen prosecuted the case.
A presentence investigation was ordered, and a sentencing date has been set for October 2, 2024. The defendant was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Justice Department Secures Agreement with Hotel in Springfield, Illinois, to Ensure Access for People with DisabilitiesRead the Press Release
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – The Department of Justice announced today it has reached a settlement agreement under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with the Crowne Plaza Hotel, located in Springfield, Illinois, to resolve alleged violations of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Department reached the agreement with Driftwood Hospitality Management, LLC, and 3000 S. Dirksen LP, who own and operate the hotel. The agreement requires the hotel to renovate its facilities by increasing the number of accessible rooms and eliminating barriers in existing rooms.
The settlement resolves an ADA complaint alleging that after reserving an accessible room, when an individual with a disability attempted to check-in, the Crowne Plaza provided a room that lacked toilet handrails and did not have an accessible shower. According to the complaint, after the complainant explained their needs, the hotel provided a second room that lacked toilet handrails, had broken toilet seat hinges, and had an inaccessible shower. Despite the complainant requesting an accessible room, the hotel did not provide one, leaving the complainant unable to use the shower or toilet without assistance from a family member.
The complaint prompted an investigation by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of Illinois. The investigation revealed that the Crowne Plaza does not maintain the number of accessible rooms required by the ADA and that many of its existing accessible rooms may contain barriers prohibited by the ADA. The ADA requires that hotels provide access to individuals with disabilities by honoring reservations, making accommodations, and providing a certain number of accessible rooms according to the ADA Standards for Accessible Design.
“People with disabilities must be able to travel without sacrificing their independence when simply trying to find a place to sleep, shower, or use the bathroom,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua I. Grant for the Central District of Illinois. “We appreciate the hotel’s prompt action to renovate its facilities to ensure equal access for all and we encourage all hotels in the Central District of Illinois to ensure their rooms are accessible as required by the ADA.”
Under the agreement, the hotel will create eleven new accessible rooms and eliminate existing barriers in other rooms. Driftwood Hospitality will also create an ADA policy and provide ADA training for all hotels it owns, operations, and manages, including the Crowne Plaza. Without admitting to violating the ADA, the hotel also agreed to a monetary payment to the complainant to fully resolve the matter.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Grant represented the government during the investigation and settlement process. For more information about the ADA, please visit www.ada.gov, or call the Department of Justice’s toll-free information line at (800) 514-0301 or (800) 514-0383 (TDD). Information about filing a complaint, including instructions for filing a complaint online, can be found at https://www.justice.gov/crt/how-file-complaint.
Indian River County Fentanyl Trafficker Sentenced to over 13 Years in PrisonRead the Press Release
MIAMI – On July 9, Alphonso Coleman, Jr., 41, of Indian River County, Fla., was sentenced to 160 months in federal prison, to be followed by 4 years of supervised release, for distributing fentanyl and cocaine.
According to the court record, between March 14, 2023, and May 2, 2023, Coleman distributed over four ounces of fentanyl and an ounce of cocaine. On April 4, 2024, Coleman pleaded guilty to distribution of fentanyl and cocaine.
U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Deanne L. Reuter of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Miami Field Division, and Sheriff Eric Flowers of the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office (IRCSO) made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon in Fort Pierce, Fla. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael D. Porter.
According to the DEA’s National Drug Threat Assessment, synthetic drugs, such as fentanyl, are poisoning our nation. Fentanyl has proven to be a deadly poison that does not discriminate. Its victims include every gender, race, age, and economic background, and its debilitating effects are the same across all demographics. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. Even in small doses, fentanyl can be deadly. Just one fentanyl pill can kill, as noted in DEA’s One Pill Can Kill campaign. As little as two milligrams, about the size of 5 grains of salt, can be fatal. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), fentanyl and other synthetic opioids are the most common drugs involved in overdose deaths. Over 150 people die every day from overdoses related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl. The State of Florida has also seen an exponential increase in overdoses associated with fentanyl. In 2022, more than 5,622 people died from overdoses involving fentanyl and fentanyl analogs in Florida.
For more information visit: https://www.fdle.state.fl.us/MEC/Publications-and-Forms/Documents/Drugs-in-Deceased-Persons/2022-Annual-Drug-Report-FINAL-(1).aspx; https://www.cdc.gov/opioids/basics/fentanyl.html#; and
https://www.dea.gov/factsheets/fentanyl.
You may find a copy of this press release (and any updates) on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 23-CR- 14035.
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Honduran National Pleads Guilty to Illegal Re-Entry of Removed AlienRead the Press Release
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that MARLON EFRAIN CHAVEZ AGUIRRE (“CHAVEZ AGUIRRE”), age 50, a citizen of Honduras, pleaded guilty on July 9, 2024, to illegal reentry of a deported alien, in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Sections 1326(a).
According to the court documents, CHAVEZ AGUIRRE admitted to reentering the United States illegally, after being previously deported on September 24, 2012.
GOMEZ VILLEDA faces a sentence of up to 2 years imprisonment, up to 1 year of supervised release, up to a $250,000 fine, and a $100 mandatory special assessment fee.
U.S. District Court Judge Greg G. Guidry has set the sentencing for October 15, 2024.
U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of United States Customs and Border Patrol in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Paul J. Hubbell of the General Crimes Unit is in charge of the prosecution.
High-Ranking MS-13 Gang Leader Pleads Guilty to Eight Murders, Multiple Attempted Murders, Arson and Firearms OffensesRead the Press Release
Earlier today, in federal court in Central Islip, Alexi Saenz, also known as “Blasty” and “Plaky,” the leader of the Brentwood/Central Islip chapter of the Sailors Locos Salvatruchas Westside (Sailors) clique of La Mara Salvatrucha, also known as the MS-13, a transnational criminal organization, pleaded guilty to racketeering charges in connection with his participation in eight murders, namely, the January 28, 2016 murder of Michael Johnson; the April 29, 2016 murder of Oscar Acosta; the September 5, 2016 murder of Marcus Bohannon; the September 13, 2016 murders of Kayla Cuevas and Nisa Mickens; the October 10, 2016 murder of Javier Castillo; the October 13, 2016 murder of Dewann Stacks; and the January 30, 2017 murder of Esteban Alvarado-Bonilla; as well as his participation in three attempted murders, arson, narcotics trafficking, and firearms offenses.
Today’s guilty plea proceeding was held before United States District Judge Gary R. Brown. When sentenced, Alexi Saenz faces up to 70 years in prison, and a minimum sentence of 40 years in prison, under the terms of his plea agreement.
Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Christie M. Curtis, Acting Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), and Robert E. Waring, Acting Commissioner, Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD), announced the guilty plea.“To say that Alexi Saenz’s hands are drenched in blood does not begin to describe the multiple killings and extreme mayhem he personally directed and committed in the span of one year in Suffolk County,” stated United States Attorney Peace. “While those murders and violent crimes were intended to further the sordid mission of the MS-13, the defendant has failed miserably. As a result of the exceptional work of this Office’s prosecutors and the members of the Long Island Gang Task Force, the MS-13 has been decimated in the district and we will continue working tirelessly to hold every one of these violent gang members accountable for the crimes they have committed and harm they have caused. It is my sincere hope that today’s guilty plea brings some measure of solace and closure to the families of his victims.”
“Alex Saenz’s actions were senseless and barbaric,” stated SCPD Acting Commissioner Waring said. “The murders of teenagers Kayla Cuevas and Nisa Mickens shook our communities and reverberated around the nation. My hope is that this guilty plea will give the victims’ families some closure while also demonstrating our commitment to dismantling these criminal enterprises. I commend the work of the SCPD detectives and officers, the Long Island Gang Task Force and the Eastern District of New York for their continued success in prosecuting these gang members.”
According to court filings and statements made during today’s guilty plea proceeding, Alexi Saenz was the local leader of the Brentwood/Central Islip chapter of the Sailors clique of the MS-13 – one of the more powerful, violent, and well-established cliques on the East Coast of the United States. He committed the following crimes in order to maintain and increase his membership and status within the gang, and to further the mission of the MS-13:
January 28, 2016 Murder of Michael Johnson
On January 28, 2016, Alexi Saenz and other MS-13 members and associates were at the Jocorena Deli in Brentwood, where they saw 29-year-old Michael Johnson, and claimed to recognize him as a member of the rival Bloods street gang. At that point, Johnson was marked as their “food” – a reference to their intention to kill him.
After receiving the requisite approval from the New York leader of the Sailors clique to commit this murder, Alexi Saenz contacted several other MS-13 members, informed them of the plan to kill Johnson, and instructed them to bring weapons, including a machete and a baseball bat, to a wooded area in Brentwood. Alexi Saenz then lured Johnson to that secluded meeting location under the guise of smoking marijuana. The MS-13 members and associates ambushed Johnson from behind – striking Johnson with the baseball bat, stabbing him with a knife and taking turns hacking him with the machete. They fled after hearing police sirens in the area.
Johnson was reported missing by family members. Less than one week after his murder, on February 2, 2016, members of the SCPD responded to a 911 call about a body found in the woods by a passerby and recovered Johnson’s body. An autopsy determined Johnson’s cause of death to be sharp and blunt force injuries.
April 29, 2016 Murder of Oscar Acosta
In early 2016, Alexi Saenz and his fellow Sailors clique members decided to “green light,” or approve, the murder of 19-year-old Oscar Acosta because they suspected that he was associating with the rival 18th Street gang after previously aligning himself with the MS-13. The New York Sailors clique leader assigned roles as to which members would take the lead in planning and carrying out the murder.
On April 29, 2016, MS-13 members met Acosta in a wooded area near an elementary school in Brentwood where he had been lured under the guise of smoking marijuana. They brutally beat Acosta with tree limbs, knocking him unconscious. They bound Acosta’s hands and feet, wrapped an article of clothing around his mouth to prevent him from making noise, and summoned other MS-13 members, including Alexi Saenz. The MS-13 members loaded Acosta into the trunk of Alexi Saenz’s car, and drove to a more secluded area in Brentwood near the abandoned Pilgrim State Psychiatric Hospital. At the direction of Alexi Saenz, the MS-13 members removed Acosta, who was still alive, from the trunk and carried him deeper into the woods where they took turns hacking him to death with a machete. The murder was supervised by Alexi Saenz, as his role as the local clique leader. The MS-13 members then buried Acosta’s body in a shallow grave.
Acosta’s body was discovered by law enforcement nearly five months later, on September 16, 2016, during a search for another MS-13 victim. His cause of death was homicidal violence, including sharp and blunt force injuries to his head and torso.
July 18, 2016 Attempted Murders of John Doe #1 and John Doe #2
On July 18, 2016, during a Sailors clique meeting at Alexi Saenz’s house in Central Islip, the defendant instructed the group to hunt for rival gang members who had been disrespectful to the MS-13, in order to attack and kill them.
Later that evening, other members of the MS-13, who were driving around Brentwood armed with firearms and a machete, spotted a group of men on Apple Street. Believing these men to be members of a rival gang, three MS-13 members got out of the car and attacked the group, firing rounds from two different guns, and then using a machete to hack at one of the men who had fallen to the ground. After the attack, the group drove back to Alexi Saenz’s house, where they hid the weapons.
Two individuals were injured as a result of this attack. John Doe #1 was struck with a bullet, but survived. John Doe #2 was attacked with a machete and was permanently disfigured.
August 10, 2016 Attempted Murders of Suspected Rival Gang Members
In 2016, members of the MS-13 were engaged in a series of disputes with members of the Goon Squad, a rival gang in Brentwood.
On August 10, 2016, Alexi Saenz and another MS-13 member drove through the neighborhood around Lukens Avenue in Brentwood, and spotted several men who they believed were members of the Goon Squad. They then rallied other members of the Sailors clique to come kill the rivals.
The MS-13 members divided into two vehicles and drove towards the house where the suspected Goon Squad members had been spotted. Alexi Saenz’s car kept watch for the police, while two other MS-13 members, each bearing a gun, approached the group of suspected rivals and fired numerous shots in their direction. No one was hit, although a stray bullet entered a neighbor’s house and struck the headboard of a bed in which the neighbor was sleeping.
September 5, 2016 Murder of Marcus Bohannon
On September 4, 2016, during a Sailors clique meeting at Alexi Saenz’s house in Central Islip, the defendant and other MS-13 members went out hunting for rival gang members to kill.
The MS-13 members separated into several cars and drove around Central Islip and Brentwood, until Alexi Saenz’s group spotted 27-year-old Marcus Bohannon walking along Lowell Avenue in Central Islip in the early morning hours of September 5. Suspecting that Bohannon was a member of the rival Bloods gang, two MS-13 members, carrying firearms, got out of the vehicle, approached him, and started shooting. Alexi Saenz then drove them away. Bohannon was struck nine times, including in his head, neck, and chest, and died from his wounds.
September 12, 2016 Arson
During the summer of 2016, Sailors clique members of the MS-13 were regularly having altercations with local gang members based in a neighborhood on Freeman Avenue in Brentwood.
On September 12, 2016, the MS-13 members retaliated by setting fire to a car parked in the driveway of one of the houses in that rival gang neighborhood. Alexi Saenz directed other gang members to purchase gasoline and carry out the arson, while he drove around watching for police presence. Other MS-13 gang members drove to that house, where they poured gasoline on a car parked in the driveway and set it on fire. The car exploded and set another parked car on fire.
September 13, 2016 Murders of Kayla Cuevas and Nisa Mickens
On September 13, 2016, Sailors clique members brutally murdered 15-year-old Nisa Mickens and 16-year-old Kayla Cuevas, both students at Brentwood High School.
In the months leading up to the murders, Cuevas was involved in a series of disputes with members and associates of the MS-13. Approximately one week before the murders, these disputes escalated when Cuevas and several friends were involved in an altercation with MS-13 members at Brentwood High School. After that incident, the MS-13 members vowed to seek revenge against Cuevas.
On the evening of September 13, 2016, Alexi Saenz and other members of the Sailors clique of the MS-13 were driving in separate cars around Brentwood in search of rival gang members to attack and kill. One group of MS-13 members spotted Cuevas and Mickens walking down residential Stahley Street. Recognizing Cuevas, they called Alexi Saenz and were granted permission to kill the girls. Several MS-13 members then chased down and attacked both Cuevas and Mickens, wielding baseball bats and a machete, striking each of the girls numerous times in their heads and bodies, while Alexi Saenz’s car drove around watching for police. After the murders, the group retreated to Alexi Saenz’s home in Central Islip, where they changed clothes and hid the weapons.
Mickens, whose body was discovered later that evening on Stahley Street, not far from Cuevas’s home, sustained significant sharp force trauma to her face and blunt force trauma to her head. Cuevas, whose body was discovered the following day behind a house adjacent to where Mickens’s body was found, sustained significant blunt force trauma to her head and body and multiple lacerations.
October 10, 2016 Murder of Javier Castillo
In October 2016, the MS-13 targeted 15-year-old Javier Castillo because he was believed to be a member of the 18th Street gang, one of MS-13’s principal rivals.
On October 10, 2016, several members of the Sailors clique convinced Castillo, who lived in Central Islip, to drive with them to Freeport – approximately 30 miles away – to smoke marijuana. Once there, they met Alexi Saenz and other Sailors clique members. The group then lured Castillo to an isolated marsh area in Cow Meadow Park, where they attacked him, taking turns hacking him to death with a machete.
Afterwards, the MS-13 members dug a hole and buried Castillo’s body, which was not recovered until one year later, in late October 2017. Castillo was determined to have suffered multiple sharp force injuries to his head, neck, torso and extremities.
October 13, 2016 Murder of Dewann Stacks
On the evening of October 13, 2016, Alexi Saenz and other members of the Sailors clique of MS-13 were driving around Central Islip and Brentwood in search of rival gang members to attack and kill.
That night, they spotted 34-year-old Dewann Stacks and, believing him to be a rival gang member, Alexi Saenz authorized his murder. While Alexi Saenz drove around watching for police presence, another group of MS-13 members, armed with two machetes and a baseball bat, drove over to attack Stacks. Three armed MS-13 members got out of the car, and beat and hacked Stacks to death on American Boulevard, a residential street in Brentwood. Stacks sustained severe sharp and blunt force trauma to his face and head, leaving his body nearly unrecognizable.
January 30, 2017 Murder of Esteban Alvarado-BonillaOn the morning of January 30, 2017, Alexi Saenz and other members of the Sailors clique of MS-13 spotted 29-year-old Esteban Alvarado-Bonilla inside El Campesino Deli in Central Islip. Alvarado-Bonilla was wearing a football jersey bearing the number “18,” which led the MS-13 to conclude that he was a member of a rival gang, and they plotted to kill him.
Several other MS-13 members obtained a mask and another vehicle that would be used to commit the murder. Alexi Saenz provided the clique’s 9-millimeter handgun for use in the murder.
At approximately 10:30 a.m., a masked MS-13 member entered the deli, approached Alvarado-Bonilla from behind, and shot him multiple times, killing him. One of the bullets pierced through Alvarado-Bonilla’s head and struck the chest of a female employee of the deli, who was standing directly in front of him. The deli employee survived the gunshot wound.
Narcotics Trafficking Conspiracy
For a year and a half, from approximately April 2016 through March 2017, in order to finance the illegal operations of the Sailors clique, Alexi Saenz obtained wholesale quantities of cocaine and marijuana, which he distributed to other Sailors clique members and associates for street-level sales in Brentwood and its surrounding areas. After the sales, the profits were turned over to Alexi Saenz, for use in, among other things, purchasing firearms for use by clique members, wiring money to MS-13 leaders in El Salvador and buying additional narcotics for further distribution.
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Today’s guilty plea is the latest achievement in a series of federal prosecutions by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York targeting members of the MS-13, a violent, transnational criminal organization. The MS-13’s leadership is based in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico, but the gang has thousands of members across the United States. With numerous branches, or “cliques,” the MS-13 is the most violent criminal organization on Long Island. Since 2003, hundreds of MS-13 members, including dozens of clique leaders, have been convicted on federal felony charges in the Eastern District of New York. A majority of those MS-13 members have been convicted on federal racketeering charges for participating in murders, attempted murders and assaults. Since 2010, this Office has obtained indictments charging MS-13 members with carrying out more than 70 murders in the Eastern District of New York, resulting in the convictions of dozens of MS-13 leaders and members in connection with those murders. These prosecutions are the product of investigations led by the FBI’s Long Island Gang Task Force, which is comprised of agents and officers of the FBI, SCPD, Nassau County Police Department, Nassau County Sheriff’s Department, Suffolk County Probation Office, Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office, the New York State Police, the Hempstead Police Department, the Rockville Centre Police Department and the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.
This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
The government’s case is being handled by the Criminal Section of the Office’s Long Island Division. Assistant United States Attorneys John J. Durham, Paul G. Scotti, Justina L. Geraci and Megan E. Farrell are in charge of the prosecution, with the assistance of Paralegal Specialist Kerry Ucci and Automated Litigation Specialist Michael Compitello.
The Defendant:
ALEXI SAENZ (also known as “Blasty” and “Plaky”)
Age: 29
El Divisadero, Morazán, El Salvador; and Central Islip, New YorkE.D.N.Y. Docket No. 16-CR-403 (S-8)(GRB)
Hartford Man Admits Possessing Handgun Fitted with Glock SwitchRead the Press Release
Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that KENDALL CAMBY, also known as “KB,” 34, of Hartford, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Omar A. Williams in Hartford to unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on February 22, 2023, Hartford Police stopped a car Camby was riding in and found him in possession of a .45 caliber Glock 30 handgun with a magazine loaded with 12 rounds of ammunition, and fitted with a Glock switch auto sear device, which converted the gun to an automatic weapon. Camby also possessed approximately 650 wax paper sleeves containing fentanyl and approximately 50 bags of crack cocaine.
Camby’s criminal history includes state convictions for felony firearm, drug, robbery, and burglary offenses. It is a violation of federal law for a person previously convicted of a felony offense to possess a firearm or ammunition that has moved in interstate or foreign commerce.
Unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 15 years. Camby is detained pending sentencing, which is not scheduled.
This matter is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Hartford Task Force, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Hartford Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert S. Ruff.
This prosecution is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce gun violence and other violent crime, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. In May 2021, the Justice Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit www.justice.gov/psn.
Global Cryptocurrency Exchange BitMEX Pleads Guilty to Bank Secrecy Act OffenseRead the Press Release
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Christie M. Curtis, the Acting Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced that HDR GLOBAL TRADING LIMITED, a/k/a “Bitcoin Mercantile Exchange” or “BitMEX” (“BITMEX”), pled guilty today to violating the Bank Secrecy Act by willfully failing to establish, implement, and maintain an adequate anti-money laundering (“AML”) program. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “As BitMEX’s founders and long-time employee admitted in federal court in 2022, the company, one of the leading cryptocurrency derivatives platforms in the world from 2015 to 2020, operated in the United States without any meaningful anti-money laundering program, as required by federal law. As a result, BitMEX opened itself up as a vehicle for large-scale money laundering and sanctions evasion schemes, posing a serious threat to the integrity of the financial system. Today’s guilty plea indicates again the need for cryptocurrency companies to comply with U.S. law if they take advantage of the U.S. market.”
FBI Acting Assistant Director in Charge Christie M. Curtis said: “By only mandating lax service access credentials, BitMEX not only failed to comply with nationally required anti-money laundering procedures designed to protect the US financial markets from illicit actors and transactions, but knowingly did so to increase the business’s revenue. Today’s plea represents the FBI’s steadfast dedication to ensuring adherence to all U.S. financial laws, protecting the U.S. financial system, and holding accountable those who attempt to establish a workaround for profits.”
According to the allegations in the Information and other filings and statements made in court:
Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed founded BITMEX in or about 2014, and Gregory Dwyer became BITMEX’s first employee in 2015 and later its Head of Business Development. BITMEX, which has long serviced and solicited business from U.S. traders and also operated through U.S. offices, was required to register with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) and to establish and maintain an adequate AML program. AML programs ensure that financial institutions, such as BITMEX, are not exploited for illicit purposes and serve to protect the integrity of the U.S. financial system and national security, more broadly.
The company and its executives knew that because BITMEX operated in the United States, including by serving U.S. customers, it was required to implement an AML program that included a “know your customer” (“KYC”) component but chose to flaunt those requirements, requiring only that customers provide an email address to use BITMEX’s services. Indeed, senior executives each knew that customers residing in the United States continued to access BITMEX’s trading platform through at least in or about 2018 and that BITMEX policies nominally in place to prevent such trading were toothless or easily overridden to serve BITMEX’s bottom line goal of obtaining revenue through the U.S. market without regard to U.S. criminal laws. Corporate executives took affirmative steps purportedly designed to exempt BITMEX from the application of U.S. laws like AML and KYC requirements, despite knowing of BITMEX’s obligation to implement such programs by operating in the United States. As part of BITMEX’s willful evasion of U.S. AML laws, the company lied to a bank about the purpose and nature of a subsidiary to allow the company to pump millions of dollars through the U.S. financial system.
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HDR GLOBAL TRADING LIMITED, an entity incorporated in the Republic of Seychelles, pled guilty to one count of violating the Bank Secrecy Act, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine.
The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.
Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI’s New York Money Laundering Investigation Squad and thanked the attorneys and investigators at the CFTC whose expertise and diligence were integral to the development of this investigation.
The prosecution is being handled by the Office’s Illicit Finance and Money Laundering Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica Greenwood, Samuel Raymond, and Thane Rehn are in charge of the prosecution.
Former religious services assistant charged for smuggling contraband into federal prisonRead the Press Release
HOUSTON – A 32-year-old Beeville resident has been taken into custody for smuggling contraband into a federal prison, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.
Ashley Priscilla Garza made her initial appearance in federal court in Corpus Christi.
Garza is charged with receiving a bribe as a public official. According to the indictment, returned June 26, Garza was employed as a religious services assistant at Federal Correctional Institution Three Rivers. During her employment, she allegedly abused the access her position gave her to smuggle contraband to an inmate in 2022 and 2023 in exchange for payment.
If convicted, Garza faces up to 15 years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine.
The Department of Justice-Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joel Dunn and Michael Chu are prosecuting the case.
An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.
Former city treasurer in Alaska sentenced to prison for wire fraud, money laundering, tax evasionRead the Press Release
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – An Alaska man was sentenced yesterday to two and half years in prison for embezzling more than $1 million from the City of Houston, Alaska, and from a Wasilla-based equipment company, and then evading taxes on the embezzled profits.
According to court documents and statements made in court, from 2015 through 2018, Jess Adams, 67, was the Treasurer for the City of Houston, Alaska, where he was entrusted with bookkeeping responsibilities and had administrative access to the city’s accounting records and software. Adams used this access to direct electronic transfers from the city’s bank account to a personal account in his name, which he maintained to hide the embezzled funds. Adams created fictitious entries in the city’s accounting records to disguise these payments as legitimate business expenses.
In October 2018, the City of Houston placed Adams on administrative leave, and he resigned his position in November 2018. A year later, Adams was employed as a bookkeeper by an equipment company, where he exercised control over the company’s accounting records and software. Using this access, Adams directed electronic transfers from the company’s bank account to other personal accounts that Adams opened in his name to hide the embezzled money. To conceal his activity, Adams used fictitious entries in the company’s accounting software to make it appear as though these funds were transferred for the payment of legitimate business expenses.
Adams then laundered the money he embezzled from the equipment company by making several wire transfers from his personal bank account to other accounts, each at a value greater than $10,000.
To further conceal his embezzlement and evade his taxes, Adams – a former seasonal tax return preparer for a national tax advisory company – filed false individual income tax returns for tax years 2016 through 2021. These returns did not disclose the additional income he embezzled.
In addition to his prison sentence, U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason for the District of Alaska ordered Adams to serve three years’ supervised release and to pay over $1.5 million in restitution to the City of Huston, a private company and the IRS.
“Mr. Adams abused his positions of trust to greedily deceive and steal from victims and the U.S. government,” said U.S. Attorney S. Lane Tucker for the District of Alaska. “His actions caused serious, life-long harm for some of the victims. My office is fully committed to working with our law enforcement partners to hold accountable those who prey on innocent victims and seek justice for anyone who is impacted by their deplorable actions.”
“Stealing from both the government and from members of the community, Mr. Adams chose to cause great harm wherever he worked,” said Special Agent in Charge Adam Jobes, IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Seattle Field Office. “Because financial crimes cause real damage to real people, there are consequences for committing these crimes, as Mr. Adams is learning today. IRS-CI is committed to putting a stop to criminals who prey on the well-being of our communities.”
IRS CI Seattle Field Office investigated the case, with substantial assistance from the Alaska State Troopers.
Trial Attorney Boris Bourget of the Tax Division, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Bradley and former Assistant U.S. Attorney George Tran for the District of Alaska prosecuted the case.
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Former Teacher Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison for Exploiting Children in LaosRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Lynn man was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for sexually exploiting minors to whom he taught English in Laos.
Michael Sebastian, 56, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper to 12 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. In December 2023, Sebastian pleaded guilty to three counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places.
Sebastian taught English to impoverished children in Laos. While teaching children there, Sebastian allowed certain students to live with him in his apartment. Students who were unable to pay for their living expenses performed “chores” around the house to earn credit towards their rent payments. One of the “chores” eligible for rent credit was to give Sebastian massages, during which Sebastian would be naked. As part of these massages, Sebastian required some students to touch his genitals and masturbate him in lieu of rent payment.
Sebastian is charged with sexually abusing three minor children who lived with him between May 2018 and March 2020.
“Mr. Sebastian took advantage of young, vulnerable children in his care and forced them to perform sexual acts for his gratification. Instead of providing a safe home for learning as he had promised, these children were manipulated by the defendant to take part in disturbing behaviors,” said Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy. “The depraved conduct directed at children is startling and, as this case demonstrates, our office and our federal law enforcement partners are committed to aggressively prosecuting individuals who sexually abuse children. The message should be heard loudly and clearly: predators in Massachusetts and beyond will be found and brought to justice.”
“Michael Sebastian apparently thought, because he was halfway around the world, he could commit these heinous crimes with impunity. Today’s sentence makes it clear that was wrong,” said Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division. “This serial sex offender shamelessly exploited three Laotian boys who were destitute and dependent upon him for shelter and education for his own gratification. Protecting vulnerable kids from predators like him is a top priority for FBI Boston’s Child Exploitation – Human Trafficking Task Force.”
Acting U.S. Attorney Levy; Nicole M. Argentieri, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; and FBI SAC Cohen made the announcement. This case was investigated by the FBI’s Legal Attache office in Bangkok, along with assistance provided by the FBI’s Child Exploitation Operational Unit, the Boston FBI’s Child Exploitation Human Trafficking Task Force and the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service, Laos. Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne Paruti, Project Safe Childhood Coordinator and Chief of the Major Crimes Unit and Trial Attorneys Nadia Prinz and Eduardo Palomo of the Justice Department’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section prosecuted the case.
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 the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.
Former SBA Employee Charged with Wire and Bank Fraud in Connection with Filing False Applications for PPP and EIDL Loans and Covid-19 Rental AssistanceRead the Press Release
MIAMI – Malaina Chapman, 37, of Hialeah, Fla. has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and bank fraud. She had her initial appearance in Miami federal court today.
According to allegations in the criminal complaint, Chapman was employed as a Disaster Relief Specialist with the Small Business Administration (SBA) from Sept. 28, 2020, through her resignation on March 18, 2021. While employed by the SBA, Chapman became involved in multiple schemes to defraud the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, as well as to defraud local credit unions and local and state programs designed to assist those affected by the Covid-19 pandemic pay their rent.
“Disaster relief was intended for people in need, namely functioning businesses, corporate forms, and sole proprietorships facing uphill prospects during the pandemic, not for those who sought to pad their pockets and defraud the government by making up entities or overstating their payroll and revenues to qualify for the relief," stated U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida. “We will continue to hold anyone accountable who exploits and defrauds financial institutions and the government’s pandemic response to enrich themselves at the expense of struggling businesses, employees, and local tenants. While the COVID-19 relief programs have ended, our commitment to identifying and prosecuting those who defrauded them has not.”
“Today’s charges highlight our unwavering commitment to protecting the integrity of SBA programs,” said SBA OIG’s Eastern Region Special Agent in Charge Amaleka McCall-Braithwaite. “Exploiting relief efforts for personal gain undermines public trust and deprives legitimate businesses of essential assistance. I want to thank the U.S. Attorney’s office and our law enforcement partners for their support and dedication to ensuring that those who engage in fraudulent schemes are held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
On Feb. 10, 2021, Chapman, while employed by the SBA, submitted, via interstate wire communication, a loan application in the name of Upscale Credit Lounge to Lender 3. In support of her application, Chapman submitted a purported tax year 2020 Schedule C form that reported gross revenues of $103,674 and a tentative profit of $81,860. Lender 3 relied upon the representations in Chapman’s application and on Feb. 11, 2021, approved a loan in the amount of $17,052.50. Further investigation revealed that the Schedule C, attached to Chapman’s application was false and fraudulent.
On Feb. 19, 2021, Chapman, again while still employed by the SBA, submitted, via interstate wire communication, a PPP loan application with Lender 3 on behalf of DA TRAP. In her application, Chapman claimed that she had four employees and an average monthly payroll of $14,191. In support of her application, Chapman submitted four IRS Employers Quarterly Tax Return forms (Form 941), which purportedly documented the wages paid by DA TRAP. Lender 3 relied upon the representations in the application and on Feb. 26, 2021, approved a loan in the amount of $35,477.50. Further investigation revealed that the multiple IRS Forms 941 attached to Chapman’s application were false and fraudulent.
Chapman also conspired with others to submit false and fraudulent PPP loan applications on their behalf. Six defendants were charged in Case No. 24-CR-20079 and in that case defendant Raisha Kelly was the alleged ringleader of the conspiracy and prepared and caused the preparation of numerous false and fraudulent loan applications to be submitted to SBA-approved PPP lenders. Chapman aided and abetted this conspiracy by creating false and fraudulent IRS documents and sending them to Kelly, who in turn used them to submit false and fraudulent applications for PPP loans.
In addition to defrauding the PPP program, Chapman is also charged with taking advantage of the State of Florida and the City of Miami’s Covid-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Programs. Specifically, on Oct. 13, 2021, Chapman began the process of applying for benefits under the State of Florida’s Emergency Rental Assistance program. Chapman was purportedly a tenant at a residence in Miami. Chapman submitted required information and documents through an online portal set up to distribute benefits under the program. On Jan. 20, 2022, Chapman submitted a written document titled “3-day notice to pay rent or quit.” These documents were dated Dec. 7, 2021, and purportedly signed by Individual 2, the defendant’s mother. Individual 2 died on May 25, 2020. The State of Florida accepted the representations in Chapman’s application and approved payments totaling $15,000. These payments were made into bank accounts controlled by Chapman.
U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida; Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Ulrich, U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (USPS OIG); Special Agent in Charge Amaleka McCall-Brathwaite, U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General (SBA OIG), Investigations Division’s Eastern Region; and Special Agent in Charge Mathew Broadhurst of the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG), Southeast Region, made the announcement.
USPS OIG, SBA OIG and DOL-OIG handled the investigation. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Bernstein.
The charges contained in the criminal complaint are merely accusations and all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.
On September 15, 2022, the Attorney General selected the Southern District of Florida’s U.S. Attorney’s Office to head one of three national COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force Teams. The Department of Justice established the Strike Force to enhance existing efforts to combat and prevent COVID-19 related financial fraud. The Strike Force combines law enforcement and prosecutorial resources and focuses on large-scale, multistate pandemic relief fraud perpetrated by criminal organizations and transnational actors, as well as those who committed multiple instances of pandemic relief fraud. The Strike Force uses prosecutor-led and data analyst-driven teams to identify and bring to justice those who stole pandemic relief funds. Additional information regarding the Strike Force may be found at https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-covid-19-fraud-strike-force-teams.
Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 24-mj-03358.
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Former Illinois State Senator, Gubernatorial Candidate Sam McCann Sentenced to 42 Months in Prison for Fraudulent Use of Campaign Funds, Money Laundering, and Tax EvasionRead the Press Release
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Former Illinois State Senator William Samuel McCann Jr, 54, was sentenced on July 9, 2024, to 42 months of imprisonment, to be followed by two years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $683,816.61 in restitution for fraudulent use of campaign funds, money laundering and tax evasion.
At the sentencing hearing and during the bench trial in February 2024, the government presented evidence that McCann engaged in a broad, five-year scheme to defraud by converting more than $600,000 in campaign funds to his personal use. In sentencing McCann, U.S. District Judge Colleen Lawless stated that McCann betrayed the public trust and continued his fraud even after being questioned by his campaign employee and confronted by federal law enforcement officers. In addition, Judge Lawless found it aggravating that McCann attempted to commit a fraud on the court by falsely representing that he was physically and mentally incapable of proceeding to trial.
McCann, of Plainview, Illinois, served as a state senator for the 49th District of Illinois from 2011 to 2013, and for the redrawn 50th District from 2013 to January 2019. McCann formed the Conservative Party of Illinois and, in 2018, launched an unsuccessful bid for Illinois Governor. McCann previously lived in Carlinville, Illinois, and owned and operated two construction-related businesses.
McCann organized multiple political committees that were registered with the Illinois State Board of Elections: Sam McCann for Senate; Sam McCann for Senate Committee; McCann for Illinois; and Conservative Party of Illinois. From April 2011 to November 2018, McCann and his political committees received more than $5 million in campaign donations.
The evidence presented during the bench trial and sentencing hearing established that McCann used campaign funds to purchase personal vehicles, pay personal debts, make mortgage payments, and pay himself, including the following:
- McCann used more than $60,000 in campaign funds to partially fund the purchases of a 2017 Ford Expedition in April 2017 and a 2018 Ford F-250 truck in July 2018, which he titled in his own name and used for his personal travel. McCann then used campaign funds for loan payments on the F-250 and for fuel and insurance expenses for both vehicles, while at the same time using campaign funds to reimburse mileage expense claims which he did not incur.
- In April 2018, McCann used $18,000 in campaign funds to purchase a 2018 recreational travel trailer, and in May 2018, he used $25,000 in campaign funds to buy a 2006 recreational motor home, both of which McCann titled in his personal name.
McCann established an online account with a recreational vehicle rental business in Ohio and listed the vehicles for rent identifying Sam McCann as the owner. McCann then established a second account with the same rental business and identified himself as William McCann, a potential renter, with a different residential address and email than those he listed as the owner. From approximately May 2018 to June 2018, McCann, while representing himself as the renter, William, rented both the travel trailer and motor home from Sam, the owner, through the RV rental business. McCann caused a total of approximately $62,666 in campaign funds be used to pay the rental cost of the vehicles. The rental business retained approximately $9,838 for commission and paid McCann, as the owner, approximately $52,827 by direct deposit to McCann’s personal checking account. McCann reimbursed the campaign accounts $18,000, resulting in more than $77,000 in campaign funds used to buy and rent from himself.
- On or about October 4, 2016, McCann used a $20,000 cashier’s check funded by a campaign account and issued to him to pay off a personal loan, including legal fees, that had originally been issued to him as an equipment loan in 2011 and was in collection by the bank due to non-payment.
- From May 2015 to August 2020, McCann used campaign funds to pay approximately $64,750 on two separate personal mortgage loans that were secured by his former residence in Carlinville and an adjoining property used as an office for his construction business.
- In November 2018, after an unsuccessful campaign for Governor of Illinois, when he was no longer a candidate for office and did not financially support any other candidate, and continuing to June 2020, McCann caused the Conservative Party of Illinois to issue approximately $187,000 in payments to himself personally and an additional $52,282 in payments for payroll taxes. Using a payroll service, McCann was able to conceal himself as the payee for the expenditures from the campaign account.
- McCann also converted more than $100,000 in campaign funds for payment of personal expenses including Green Dot credit card payments related to a family vacation in Colorado and other personal expenses; charges from Apple iTunes, Amazon, a skeet and trap club, Cabela’s, Scheels, Best Buy, and a gun store; and cash withdrawals.
- In relation to his joint return for calendar year 2018, McCann failed to report income from his 2018 rental payments to himself for the RV trailer and motor home. In addition, in March 2018, McCann used a $10,000 check issued by a campaign account to make a down payment to a Shipman, Illinois, business for a motor home. When the purchase was not completed, the business issued a $10,000 refund check payable to William McCann, which he deposited to his personal checking account and failed to report as income received.
During the third day of his bench trial, McCann pleaded guilty to all nine counts of the indictment, which charged him with seven counts of wire fraud, one count of money laundering, and one count of tax evasion related to his alleged misuse of campaign money for personal expenses. Prior to the commencement of the trial, the court revoked McCann’s pretrial release and ordered that he be detained.
The statutory penalty for each count of wire fraud (seven counts) and one count of money laundering is up to 20 years in prison. For tax evasion, the statutory penalty is up to five years in prison.
Following the sentencing, U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Harris stated: “As Judge Lawless explained in imposing sentence, McCann brazenly betrayed the public trust by engaging in a five-year scheme to defraud and converting more than $600,000 in campaign funds to his personal use. Today’s sentence appropriately holds McCann accountable for his criminal conduct. I thank the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations Division for their tireless and professional work in this matter. This Office will continue to hold public officials accountable for violating the public trust by exploiting it for their own personal gain.”
“This sentence is a reminder that no one is immune to obeying the law,” said IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Thomas F. Murdock. “Mr. McCann took a number of steps to conceal his fraud from his donors, the Illinois public, and law enforcement. Now through the combined efforts of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the FBI and IRS CI, he will be held accountable for his deception.”
“Investigating public corruption is a top priority for the FBI because the crime tears at the fabric of our democracy’s security,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Jermaine Deans. “Elected officials are entrusted and expected to protect the interests of the people with integrity — a moral value Sam McCann did not uphold. The FBI, together with our law enforcement partners, will continue to investigate public officials who abuse public trust and use their office to commit illegal acts.”
The case investigation was conducted by the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Bass represented the government in the prosecution.
Former Corrections Officer Convicted of Making False Statements to a Federal AgentRead the Press Release
LAKE CHARLES, La. – United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown announced that Samantha Harp, 37, of Rapides Parish, a former Corrections Officer at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Oakdale, Louisiana, has been convicted by a federal jury in Lake Charles. The jury reached the guilty verdict against Harp after a two-day trial convicting her of one count of making false statements to a federal agent. United States District Judge James D. Cain, Jr. presided over the trial.
Testimony at trial revealed that while employed as a Corrections Officer at the FCI in Oakdale, evidence was uncovered that Harp had supplied certain inmates with contraband in the prison in March of 2020. A review of Harp’s cell phone records showed that calls and text messages were exchanged with an inmate’s family member from outside the prison. In addition, incoming messages from Cash App, a mobile application for sending and receiving money, were found on Harp’s phone. Cash App records showed that the inmate’s family member paid Harp for the introduction of contraband approximately two days before the introduction.
When agents with the Department of Justice, Office of Inspector General, approached Harp about the incidents, Harp denied bringing any contraband into the prison or ever calling and texting, or receiving a call or text message, from an inmate’s family member or friend using her cell phone. She continued to deny having a Cash App application account or ever receiving funds through that account and in fact denied knowing what it was. When in truth and in fact, Harp did exchange text messages and phone calls with an inmate’s family member, and received, via Cash App, funds from an inmate’s family member for the introduction of contraband.
Harp faces a sentence of up to 5 years in prison, 3 years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentencing has been set for November 21, 2024.
The case was investigated by the Department of Justice, Office of Inspector General, and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys John W. Nickel and Danny Siefker.
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Former CEO of Publicly Traded Company Convicted of Securities Fraud for Misleading Investors About COVID-19 Rapid TestRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – A federal jury today convicted the former chief executive officer of SCWorx Corp. (SCWorx), a publicly traded health care company, on two counts of securities fraud for his participation in a scheme to mislead investors about SCWorx’s procurement of COVID-19 rapid test kits in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial:
Marc Schessel, 64, of New Paltz, New York, caused SCWorx to make four false and misleading public statements, claiming that the company had a binding contract to acquire millions of needed COVID test kits during the very beginning of the pandemic from an Australian supplier. In reality, Schessel knew that the Australian supplier did not have FDA approval for the COVID test kits and that his company did not have nearly enough money to pay for them. Nevertheless, Schessel made four false and misleading statements during a five-day period: an April 13, 2020, press release, an April 15, 2020, investor conference call, an April 16, 2020, 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and an April 17, 2020, press release. Schessel made these false statements even though investors had started to raise questions about the accuracy of the statements and the legitimacy of SCWorx’s supposed contract to acquire the COVID test kits. Ultimately, Schessel and SCWorx did not obtain a single COVID test kit as part of the supposed transaction he had announced during the week.
In the wake of these public announcements, SCWorx’s share price surged, rising by over 400 percent, from approximately $2.25 to an intraday high of $14.88. After SCWorx announced that it was terminating these COVID-19 rapid test kit agreements without having acquired any tests, SCWorx’s share price quickly dropped below its pre-April 13, 2020, announcement price.
U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger“This defendant took advantage of the global COVID pandemic by illegally pumping up the value of SCWorx’s stock by over 400 percent with multiple fraudulent public statements that he had binding contracts to obtain and resell COVID-19 test kits, when in reality the test kits did not have FDA authorization. When the truth came out, the value of the SCWorx stock crashed, causing investors to suffer substantial losses. Duping investors out of millions of dollars in the middle of a serious health emergency to salvage a failing business is especially egregious. Working with our partners, we will continue to investigate and bring to justice anyone who tried to profit from this crisis.”
“If we think back to those very early days of the pandemic, the confusion and frustration about testing, the spread of the virus and social distancing had everyone frantically searching for answers,” FBI – Newark Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy said. “Schessel witnessed that chaos and chose to capitalize on it - promising a vital resource with rapid COVID tests that never existed. The passage of time dulls memories of traumatic events, but FBI Newark and our partners are methodically investigating and bringing to justice the fraudsters who mistakenly believe they'll escape unscathed.”
The jury convicted Schessel of two counts of securities fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 17, 2024, and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on count one and a maximum penalty of 25 years on count two.
U.S. Attorney Sellinger; Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; and Assistant Director Michael D. Nordwall of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division made the announcement.
The FBI’s Newark Division investigated the case. The Justice Department appreciates the assistance of FINRA’s Criminal Prosecution Assistance Group.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys George Brandley and Angelica Sinopole of the District of New Jersey Health Care Fraud Unit and Principal Assistant Deputy Chief Lucy Jennings and Trial Attorneys Kate McCarthy and Spencer Ryan of the Justice Department’s Fraud Section and are prosecuting the case.
The Fraud Section uses the Victim Notification System (VNS) to provide victims with case information and updates related to this case. Victims with questions may contact the Fraud Section’s Victim Assistance Unit by calling the Victim Assistance phone line at 1-888-549-3945 or by emailing [email protected]. To learn more about victims’ rights, please visit: https://www.justice.gov/criminal-vns/victim-rights-derechos-de-las-v-ctimas.
Former CEO of Publicly Traded Company Convicted of Securities Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
A federal jury in New Jersey convicted the former CEO of SCWorx Corp. (SCWorx), a publicly traded health care company, today for his role in a scheme to mislead investors about SCWorx’s procurement of COVID-19 rapid test kits in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Marc Schessel, 64, of New Paltz, New York, caused SCWorx to issue multiple public statements claiming that SCWorx was buying and reselling at least 48 million COVID-19 test kits, despite knowing that such statements were false and misleading. Specifically, Schessel made, or caused to be issued, four false and misleading statements during a five-day period in April 2020: an April 13 press release; an April 15 investor conference call; an April 16 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; and an April 17 press release. All four announcements claimed that SCWorx would be receiving millions of COVID-19 rapid test kits within two weeks, but Schessel and SCWorx never acquired a single COVID-19 test kit as part of the announced transaction.
In the wake of these public announcements, SCWorx’s share price surged, rising by over 400%, from approximately $2.25 to an intraday high of $14.88. After SCWorx announced that it was terminating these COVID-19 rapid test kit agreements without having acquired any tests, SCWorx’s share price quickly dropped below its pre-April 13, 2020, announcement price.
The jury convicted Schessel of two counts of securities fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 17 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on count one and a maximum penalty of 25 years on count two. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger for the District of New Jersey; and Assistant Director Michael D. Nordwall of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division made the announcement.
The FBI Newark Field Office investigated the case. The Justice Department appreciates the assistance of FINRA’s Criminal Prosecution Assistance Group.
Principal Assistant Deputy Chief Lucy Jennings and Trial Attorneys Kate McCarthy and Spencer Ryan of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys George Brandley and Angelica Sinopole for the District of New Jersey are prosecuting the case.
The Fraud Section uses the Victim Notification System to provide victims with case information and updates related to this case. Victims with questions may contact the Fraud Section’s Victim Assistance Unit by calling the Victim Assistance phone line at 1-888-549-3945 or by emailing [email protected]. To learn more about victims’ rights, please visit www.justice.gov/criminal-vns/victim-rights-derechos-de-las-v-ctimas.
Former Boston Police Officer Sentenced for Overtime Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A former Boston Police officer was sentenced today in connection with an investigation of overtime fraud at the Boston Police Department’s evidence warehouse.
Craig Smalls, 58, of Roxbury, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs to two years’ probation. Smalls was also ordered to pay a $16,000 fine as well as $16,252 in restitution. In July 2021, Smalls pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit theft concerning programs receiving federal funds and one count of embezzlement from an agency receiving federal funds.
From at least January 2015 through September 2016, Smalls submitted false and fraudulent overtime slips for overtime hours that he did not work for two overtime shifts at the evidence warehouse. The first, called “purge” overtime, was a 4 – 8 p.m. weekday shift intended to dispose of old, unneeded evidence. The second shift, called “kiosk” overtime, involved driving to each police district in Boston one Saturday a month to collect old prescription drugs to be burned.
For the “purge” shift, Smalls claimed to have worked from 4 – 8 p.m., but he routinely left at 6 p.m., or earlier. For the “kiosk” shift, Smalls submitted overtime slips claiming to have worked eight-and-one-half hours, when in fact he and, allegedly, other members of the unit only worked three-to-four hours of those shifts.
Between January 2015 and September 2016, Smalls personally collected approximately $16,252 for overtime hours he did not work.
To date, 15 Boston Police officers have been charged in connection with committing overtime fraud at the Boston Police Department’s evidence warehouse. Smalls is the third officer to be sentenced.
Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Russell W. Cunningham, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, Washington Field Office; and Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Grady of the Criminal Division prosecuted the case.
Former Alaska City Treasurer Sentenced for Wire Fraud, Money Laundering and Tax EvasionRead the Press Release
An Alaska man was sentenced yesterday to 30 months in prison for embezzling more than $1 million from the City of Houston, Alaska, and from a Wasilla-based equipment company, and then evading taxes on the embezzled profits.
According to court documents and statements made in court, from 2015 through 2018, Jess Adams was the Treasurer for the City of Houston, where he was entrusted with bookkeeping responsibilities and had administrative access to the city’s accounting records and software. Adams used this access to direct electronic transfers from the city’s bank account to a personal account in his name, which he maintained to hide the embezzled funds. Adams created fictitious entries in the city’s accounting records to disguise these payments as legitimate business expenses.
In October 2018, the City of Houston placed Adams on administrative leave, and he resigned his position in November 2018. A year later, Adams was employed as a bookkeeper by an equipment company, where he exercised control over the company’s accounting records and software. Using this access, Adams directed electronic transfers from the company’s bank account to other personal accounts that Adams opened in his name to hide the embezzled money. To conceal his activity, Adams used fictitious entries in the company’s accounting software to make it appear as though these funds were transferred for the payment of legitimate business expenses.
Adams then laundered the money he embezzled from the equipment company by making several wire transfers from his personal bank account to other accounts, each at a value greater than $10,000.
To further conceal his embezzlement and evade his taxes, Adams – a former seasonal tax return preparer for a national tax advisory company – filed false individual income tax returns for tax years 2016 through 2021. These returns did not disclose the additional income he embezzled.
In addition to his prison sentence, Adams was ordered to serve three years of supervised release and pay over $1.5 million in restitution to the United States, as well as additional restitution to the City of Houston and to the equipment company.
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney S. Lane Tucker for the District of Alaska made the announcement.
IRS Criminal Investigation investigated the case, with substantial assistance from the Alaska State Troopers.
Trial Attorney Boris Bourget of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Bradley for the District of Alaska prosecuted the case.
First of six-member drug trafficking ring bringing hundreds of pounds of narcotics to western Washington sentenced to 8.5 years in prisonRead the Press Release
Seattle –The first of six defendants tied to a significant drug trafficking ring that used recreational vehicles to transport massive quantities of methamphetamine, fentanyl pills, cocaine and heroin was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 102 months in prison, announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Ernesto Casillas, 48, has been in custody since his arrest on September 9, 2022. Casillas was arrested at a Kent, Washington hotel with more than three kilograms of heroin, more than five kilograms of fentanyl pills and more than six kilograms of cocaine. There were two firearms in the room as well as more than $145,000 in cash. At today’s sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Lauren King said, “Despite two sentences that were drug related you not only continued distributing drugs, but you did it on a massive scale. You did all of this for money without regard for the consequences.”
“Mr. Casillas was a member of one of three inter-related drug trafficking rings taken off the street in the fall of 2022,” said U.S. Attorney Gorman. “Even when one of the RV’s connected to the group was pulled off the highway and seized by law enforcement, the traffickers didn’t stop. Mr. Casillas not only traveled for the group with drugs, he mailed the drugs to other communities across the country.”
According to records filed in the case, Casillas was seen shipping packages of drug via FedEx to various addresses in Western Washington and elsewhere. In July and August 2022, he shipped five kilograms of cocaine to a Kent, Washington address, more than two kilograms of cocaine to a Columbus, Ohio, and approximately 20 pounds of methamphetamine to a Federal Way, Washington address.
On September 9, 2022, Casillas was arrested along with
- Agustin Gutierrez Valencia, 33, of Kent, Washington
- Daniel Vazquez Arroyo, 33, of Kent, Washington
- Rosalio Reynoso Arellano, 52, of Los Angeles
- Benigno Hernandez aka Ivan Santos Arellano, 33, of Kent, Washington
- Jesus Toledo Pardo, 27, of SeaTac, Washington
On April 3, 2024, Casillas pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and one count of being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm.
In asking for a 102-month prison sentence, prosecutors wrote to the court. “There is no question that this is a serious criminal offense given the staggering amount of drugs being transported by this DTO. Between two seizures over the course of four days, agents were able to seize approximately 749 pounds of methamphetamine, 25 kilograms of fentanyl laced pills, over seventeen kilograms of cocaine, over seven kilograms of heroin, and five kilograms of fentanyl powder. Mr. Casillas and his co-conspirators were in charge of pumping massive amounts of dangerous and deadly substances into the community.”
Prosecutors noted the harm fentanyl and methamphetamine are doing in the community. During 2024, in King County alone, there have already been 556 overdose deaths as of July 3, 2024, with 420 of those deaths involving fentanyl and 310 of them involving methamphetamine.
The investigation was led by the FBI field offices in Seattle and Los Angeles, with assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Seattle Police Department, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), and Homeland Security Investigations, both the LA and Seattle offices.
This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Casey Conzatti.
The case is U.S. v. Casillas CR22-151LK.
Final Defendant and Fugitive in Smash and Grab of Firearms Sentenced to 24 Months’ ImprisonmentRead the Press Release
Salt Lake City, Utah – Axel Castillo Hernandez, 20, of West Valley City, Utah, was sentenced yesterday to 24 months’ imprisonment after he admitted to participating in the burglary of two federal firearms licensees where he and his co-conspirator rammed a vehicle through the front doors of Xtreme Pawn and 1st Cash Pawn in 2022 and stole firearms.
In addition to Hernandez’s term of imprisonment, U.S. District Court Judge Tena Campbell ordered he serve a term of three years’ supervised release and pay a fine of $250,000. The sentencing comes nearly a year after Hernandez’s co-defendant, Angel Jovanny Gonzalez-Luna, 21, plead guilty and was sentenced in August 2023.
According to court documents and statements made at Hernandez’s change of plea hearing in March 2024, Hernandez and his co-defendant, Luna, smashed stolen vehicles through the front of Xtreme Pawn and 1st Cash Pawn in August 2022 and September 2022. As a result, the owners’ vehicles and business owners’ property suffered extensive damage. During the burglaries, Hernandez and Luna stole approximately 30 firearms. According to ATF, one of the stolen firearms was recovered in December 2022 and later forensically linked to a homicide. There is no evidence showing that Hernandez was responsible for, or in any way participated in that homicide; rather, it shows Hernandez and Luna sold or otherwise disposed of the stolen firearms without regard for how they would be used. In October 2023, Hernandez, who was a fugitive for over a year, was arrested, but not without first fleeing from law enforcement by vehicle and on foot.
United States Attorney Trina A. Higgins made the announcement.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).
An Assistant United States Attorney from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah prosecuted the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce gun violence and other violent crime, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit Justice.gov/PSN.
Fifteen Defendants Indicted on Drug Trafficking and Firearms ChargesRead the Press Release
A federal grand jury returned an indictment yesterday charging 15 Memphis, Tennessee, residents for their involvement in an organized drug trafficking scheme.
According to court documents, between November 2023 and June 2024, the defendants allegedly worked together, and with others, to distribute fentanyl, methamphetamine, and marijuana throughout the Memphis area. During the investigation, agents recovered two stolen vehicles and seized 29 firearms, five machinegun conversion devices (known as “switches”), over $4,000 in cash, approximately 938 grams of methamphetamine, approximately 541 grams of fentanyl, approximately 200 grams of psilocybin mushrooms, and 26.43 pounds of marijuana.
The indictment charges the following 15 defendants:
Defendant
Age
Charges
Brian Lackland
34
Conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, over 500 grams of methamphetamine, and marijuana; possession of firearms during and in relation to drug trafficking crimes; and being a felon in possession of firearms
Paul Nelson
31
Conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and over 500 grams of methamphetamine; and being a felon in possession of firearms
Ebony Cobb
41
Conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and over 500 grams of methamphetamine
Jerrod Cox
31
Conspiracy to distribute fentanyl
Darius Moore
38
Conspiracy to distribute fentanyl
Edgar Smith
38
Conspiracy to distribute fentanyl
Mervin Anderson
38
Conspiracy to distribute fentanyl
Courtney Davis
28
Conspiracy to distribute fentanyl
Timothy Achols
36
Conspiracy to distribute fentanyl
Jehu Cruz
23
Conspiracy to distribute fentanyl; and possession of firearms during and in relation to drug trafficking crimes
Mohamed Samba
24
Conspiracy to distribute marijuana; and possession of firearms during and in relation to drug trafficking crimes
Prentiss Broadway
33
Possession with intent to distribute fentanyl
Braxton Beck
32
Federal firearms offenses and being a felon in possession of firearms
Darion Allen
28
Federal firearms offenses and being a felon in possession of firearms
Delifarroe Goins
29
Federal firearms offenses and being a felon in possession of firearms
If convicted, the defendants charged with conspiracy to distribute marijuana face a maximum penalty of five years in prison and defendants charged with distributing methamphetamine face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. The defendants charged with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl face a mandatory minimum of five years or 10 years in prison, depending on the amount distributed, and a maximum penalty of life in prison. The defendants charged with possession of firearms during and in relation to drug trafficking crimes face a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and a maximum penalty of life in prison.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and U.S. Attorney Kevin G. Ritz for the Western District of Tennessee made the announcement.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); FBI; U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS); Multi-Agency Gang Unit; Memphis Police Department; Bartlett Police Department; and Shelby County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.
Trial Attorneys Amanda Kotula and Aaron Henricks of the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Neal Oldham for the Western District of Tennessee are prosecuting the case.
This case is brought as part of the Criminal Division’s Memphis Violent Crime Initiative, conducted in partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee and local, state, and federal law enforcement. The joint effort addresses violent crime by employing, where appropriate, federal laws to prosecute gang members and associates in Memphis. As part of the initiative, the Criminal Division has dedicated attorneys and other resources to prosecuting violent offenders and assisting intervention, prevention, and reentry efforts to address the root causes of violent crime.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Fifteen Defendants Indicted on Drug Trafficking and Firearms ChargesRead the Press Release
MEMPHIS, TN - A federal grand jury returned an indictment yesterday charging 15 Memphis, Tennessee, residents for their involvement in an organized drug trafficking scheme.
According to court documents, between November 2023 and June 2024, the defendants allegedly worked together, and with others, to distribute fentanyl, methamphetamine, and marijuana throughout the Memphis area. During the investigation, agents recovered two stolen vehicles and seized 29 firearms, five machinegun conversion devices (known as “switches”), over $4,000 in cash, approximately 938 grams of methamphetamine, approximately 541 grams of fentanyl, approximately 200 grams of psilocybin mushrooms, and 26.43 pounds of marijuana.
The indictment charges the following 15 defendants:
Defendant
Age
Charges
Brian Lackland
34
Conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, over 500 grams of methamphetamine, and marijuana; possession of firearms during and in relation to drug trafficking crimes; and being a felon in possession of firearms
Paul Nelson
31
Conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and over 500 grams of methamphetamine; and being a felon in possession of firearms
Ebony Cobb
41
Conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and over 500 grams of methamphetamine
Jerrod Cox
31
Conspiracy to distribute fentanyl
Darius Moore
38
Conspiracy to distribute fentanyl
Edgar Smith
38
Conspiracy to distribute fentanyl
Mervin Anderson
38
Conspiracy to distribute fentanyl
Courtney Davis
28
Conspiracy to distribute fentanyl
Timothy Achols
36
Conspiracy to distribute fentanyl
Jehu Cruz
23
Conspiracy to distribute fentanyl; and possession of firearms during and in relation to drug trafficking crimes
Mohamed Samba
24
Conspiracy to distribute marijuana; and possession of firearms during and in relation to drug trafficking crimes
Prentiss Broadway
33
Possession with intent to distribute fentanyl
Braxton Beck
32
Federal firearms offenses and being a felon in possession of firearms
Darion Allen
28
Federal firearms offenses and being a felon in possession of firearms
Delifarroe Goins
29
Federal firearms offenses and being a felon in possession of firearms
If convicted, the defendants charged with conspiracy to distribute marijuana face a maximum penalty of five years in prison and defendants charged with distributing methamphetamine face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. The defendants charged with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl face a mandatory minimum of five years or 10 years in prison, depending on the amount distributed, and a maximum penalty of life in prison. The defendants charged with possession of firearms during and in relation to drug trafficking crimes face a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and a maximum penalty of life in prison.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and U.S. Attorney Kevin G. Ritz for the Western District of Tennessee made the announcement.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); FBI; U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS); Multi-Agency Gang Unit; Memphis Police Department; Bartlett Police Department; and Shelby County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.
Trial Attorneys Amanda Kotula and Aaron Henricks of the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Neal Oldham for the Western District of Tennessee are prosecuting the case.
This case is brought as part of the Criminal Division’s Memphis Violent Crime Initiative, conducted in partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee and local, state, and federal law enforcement. The joint effort addresses violent crime by employing, where appropriate, federal laws to prosecute gang members and associates in Memphis. As part of the initiative, the Criminal Division has dedicated attorneys and other resources to prosecuting violent offenders and assisting intervention, prevention, and reentry efforts to address the root causes of violent crime.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Updated July 10, 2024
Topic
VIOLENT CRIME
Components
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
Criminal Division
Criminal - Violent Crime and Racketeering Section
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
USAO - Tennessee, Western
Press Release Number: 24-864
Egyptian Fugitive Extradited from Spain Admits Role in Defrauding Rideshare CompanyRead the Press Release
NEWARK, N.J. – An Egyptian citizen extradited to the United States on wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges today admitted defrauding a peer-to-peer rideshare company out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in fraudulent referral fees, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today.
Hatem Ghouneim, 35, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler in Newark federal court to an indictment charging him with three counts of wire fraud.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
From January through December 2019, Ghouneim engaged in a scheme to defraud a technology company that operates a rideshare service. By creating fraudulent accounts and using stolen identities, Ghouneim induced the victim company to pay him referral fees for each new fraudulently created account. Through the scheme, Ghouneim defrauded the company of hundreds of thousands of dollars in referral fees.
The wire fraud charges each carry a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 13, 2024.
U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy in Newark, with the investigation leading to the guilty plea. He also thanked the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs and the FBI Attaché’s Office in Spain for their assistance, as well as the government of Spain for their substantial assistance arresting and extraditing Ghouneim to the United States.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shontae D. Gray of the Economic Crimes Unit in Newark.
ghouneim.indictment.pdfDeltona Woman Pleads Guilty to Stealing over $66,000 in Social Security FundsRead the Press Release
Orlando, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that April L. Brockman (42, Deltona) has pleaded guilty to theft of government property. Brockman faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. Brockman must also pay restitution to the Social Security Administration and forfeit the proceeds of her criminal conduct. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
According to court documents, “B.B.” received Social Security benefits, which were direct deposited into her checking account. Brockman, B.B.’s granddaughter, had access to the account via a power of attorney. B.B. died on June 19, 2021, at age 95. No one reported her death to the Social Security Administration, which continued to deposit monthly benefits into her account. Brockman accessed and spent all these post-death benefit payments for B.B. via a variety of online expenditures, Cash App payments to herself, and debit purchases. In total, Brockman knowingly converted to her own use and/or the use of another $66,016 in Social Security benefits to which she was not entitled.
This case was investigated by the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General. It is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Del Mastro.
Defendant Originally Charged as "John Doe" Sentenced to Three Years in Prison for Fraud and Identity TheftRead the Press Release
BOSTON – Jose Then, originally charged under the pseudonym “John Doe,” was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for mail fraud, false statement in an application for a passport, misuse of a social security number and aggravated identity theft.
Jose Then, 52, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns to three years in prison and ordered to pay $6,228 in restitution. Upon completion of his sentence, Then will be subject to deportation proceedings. In April 2024, Then pleaded guilty mail fraud, false statement in an application for a passport, misuse of a Social Security number and aggravated identity theft.
Then has been using the victim’s name, date of birth, and Social Security for decades. Then used the victim’s stolen personal identifying information to acquire a U.S. passport, a Massachusetts driver’s license, and thousands of dollars in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits. Then was also found in possession of a driver’s license with his image but the personal identifying information of another individual, as well as a Social Security number and birth certificate in the name of the third party.
Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Jonathan Mellone, Special Agent in Charge of Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General; Mathew O’Brien, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, Boston Field Office; and Michael J. Krol, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by Homeland Security Investigations in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Puerto Rico Department of Public Safety; U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office of Inspector General; U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Massachusetts State Police Fraud Identification Unit; and the Weymouth and Quincy Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Sullivan of the Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.
The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigation’s Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force (DBFTF), a specialized investigative group comprising personnel from various state, local, and federal agencies with expertise in detecting, deterring, and disrupting organizations and individuals involved in various types of document, identity, and benefit fraud schemes.
On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus and https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus/combatingfraud.
Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline via the NCDF Web Complaint Form.
D.C. Man Sentenced to Prison for Defrauding Corporations of over $900,000Read the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Raekwon Malik Harrod, 25, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to a prison term for fraudulently using the UPS accounts of two American companies to create shipping labels, which he and another conspirator sold online. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and FBI Special Agent in Charge David J. Scott of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division.
Harrod pleaded guilty on January 5 to conspiracy to commit mail fraud. U.S. District Court Judge Ana C. Reyes ordered that Harrod serve six months and one day in prison and an additional twelve months on home detention. Harrod must serve a total of three years of supervised release and pay $920,000 in restitution.
In his plea agreement, Harrod admitted that no later than 2020, Carl Granada Wilson, Jr., a California co-conspirator, gained access to one company’s UPS account and provided Harrod with the account’s log-in credentials. Harrod provided the credentials to a Maryland co-conspirator. Initially, Harrod and the Maryland co-conspirator, who both re-sold shoes online, used the account to create UPS shipping labels to mail the shoes that they sold, which reduced their shipping costs to zero. Wilson intended that they use the account in this manner. However, in late 2020, Harrod and the Maryland co-conspirator decided to use the account to sell UPS shipping labels to third parties. They advertised the service online and each created thousands of UPS labels using the compromised account. Harrod acknowledged that the fraudulent use of the company’s account caused the company to lose more than $900,000.
In late July 2021, Harrod and the Maryland co-conspirator lost access to the account, prompting them to tell Wilson that they had been selling labels using the account. Wilson requested that they pay him $120,000, which Harrod and the Maryland co-conspirator understood would be used to compensate the person who gave Wilson access to the account. However, in reality, Wilson planned to keep all of the money for himself. Thus, in August 2021, Harrod and the Maryland co-conspirator withdrew nearly $70,000 in cash and flew with the money to Los Angeles, where they gave the proceeds to Wilson. When they were in California, they withdrew another $50,000 in cash and provided it to Wilson who pocketed all of the money.
Eventually, Wilson secured access to a second American company’s UPS account, which he provided to Harrod and the Maryland co-conspirator. The two men then resumed selling UPS shipping labels online, this time with direct involvement and knowledge of Wilson.
On June 13, 2024, Wilson pled guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud. His sentencing is scheduled for October 31, 2024, before Judge Reyes.
This case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kondi Kleinman with the assistance of paralegal specialist Sonalika Chaturvedi. Former paralegal specialist Michon Tart and former Financial Analyst Bryan Snitselaar also assisted with the investigation.
23cr0445
Court Enjoins Louisiana Company and its Owners from Distributing Adulterated FoodRead the Press Release
On July 2, a federal court enjoined a Louisiana company from manufacturing and distributing adulterated food products in violation of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA).
In a civil complaint filed on June 10, the United States alleged that Freshy Foods, LLC, Team Fresh & Go, LLC and its owners, Floyd D. James and Ida M. James, violated the FDCA at their food processing facility in Elmwood, Louisiana by manufacturing and distributing adulterated food products. The defendants manufactured and distributed ready-to-eat food products, including sandwiches and fruit cups. The complaint alleged that environmental tests in 2023 detected Listeria monocytogenes (L. mono), the pathogen that can cause listeriosis, in the defendants’ facility. The complaint also alleged that a 2023 U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspection identified insanitary conditions at the facility. According to the complaint, the defendants voluntarily withdrew their registration to process FDA-regulated food in August 2023.
“Food manufacturers must ensure the safety of their food products,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Justice Department works closely with the FDA to pursue appropriate legal actions against food manufacturers who fail to adhere to laws designed to protect public health.”
“The FDA will continue to stress that it’s the responsibility of food manufacturers to ensure they are producing food under safe and sanitary conditions,” said Deputy Commissioner Jim Jones for Human Foods at the FDA. “When a company consistently fails to demonstrate that they are capable of upholding their legal responsibilities, the FDA will seek to hold them accountable.”
The defendants filed an answer denying the government’s allegations, but also agreed to settle the suit by entering into a consent decree. The order entered by the court permanently enjoins the defendants from violating the FDCA. The consent decree also requires, subject to limited exceptions, that the defendants notify FDA and comply with specific remedial measures prior to resuming the manufacture of any FDA-regulated food products.
Trial Attorneys Colin W. Trundle and Kathryn A. Schmidt of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra Lee Sears for the Eastern District of Louisiana handled the case, with assistance from Assistant Chief Counsel Sarah Rosenberg of FDA’s Office of the Chief Counsel.
Additional information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch.
The claims resolved by the consent decree announced today are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
Couple Pleads Guilty to $2 Million Bank Loan and COVID-19 Relief Fraud SchemesRead the Press Release
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Antoine Johnson, 48, and Kimberly Maddox, 43, formerly of Huntersville, N.C., currently residing in Georgia, pleaded guilty today to federal charges for fraudulently obtaining approximately $2 million in bank loans and COVID-19 pandemic relief funds, announced Dena J. King U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
Robert M. DeWitt, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Charlotte Division, joins U.S. Attorney King in making today’s announcement.
According to plea documents and today’s court hearing, the defendants owned and operated Pick Up and Go Moving International, Inc. and affiliated businesses (collectively, PUGMI). Johnson was the president of PUGMI and Maddox the vice president. Court documents show that, between 2018 and 2023, the defendants fraudulently obtained multiple lines of credit, bank loans, Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program loans on behalf of their businesses totaling approximately $2 million. To secure the loans, the defendants lied on more than 30 loan applications about PUGMI’s income, gross revenues, expenses, and number of employees, and submitted fabricated supporting documents that included fraudulent tax returns and fictitious financial statements.
Johnson and Maddox pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud and making a false statement to a financial institution. The statutory maximum sentence the defendants face is 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. Following the plea hearing, the defendants were released on bond. A sentencing date has not been set.
The FBI investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Caryn Finley of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte is in charge of the prosecution.
Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866‑720‑5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
Convicted Felon Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison for Illegal Gun PossessionRead the Press Release
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A federal judge sentenced a convicted felon for illegal possession of a firearm, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent in Charge Marcus Watson.
Chief U.S. District Court Judge R. David Proctor sentenced Peter Lewis Gupton, 41, of Birmingham, to 84 months in prison. In March, Gupton pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm.
According to the plea agreement, on February 23, 2023, Birmingham police officers went to the scene of reported gunshots in Woodlawn. Gupton fled the scene on foot. One of the officers found Gupton hiding behind a dumpster and detained him. Gupton led officers to a loaded SCCY 9mm pistol he had hidden behind a bush at the Christ Health Center. The pistol had been reported stolen. Officers also found a 9mm shell casing near the area of the shooting.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit Justice.gov/PSN.
The ATF investigated the case along with the Birmingham Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel S. McBrayer prosecuted the case.
Convicted Felon Pleads Guilty to Drug and Firearms OffensesRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A repeat convicted felon pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to criminal charges relating to possessing a firearm, multiple rounds of ammunition and fentanyl intended for distribution while on federal supervised release.
Francisco Gabriel Diaz, 32, of Boston, pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense. U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns scheduled sentencing for Oct. 10, 2024. Diaz was charged by criminal complaint in December 2021.
On June 24, 2021, a search of the residence where Diaz was staying resulted in the recovery of a black Taurus G2S 9mm firearm, a 9mm magazine containing seven live 9mm rounds, a 9mm magazine containing one live 9mm round, over 40 grams of fentanyl, several plastic bags containing crack cocaine, a box of sandwich bags and a digital scale. Diaz was on federal supervised release at the time of the search.
The charge of possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl provides for a sentence of at least five years and up to 40 years in prison, at least four years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $5 million. The charge of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug offense provides for a sentence of at least five years and up to life in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Stephen Belleau, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Boston Field Division made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives and the Boston Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin A. Saltzman of the Criminal Division is prosecuting the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce gun violence and other violent crime, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit Justice.gov/PSN.
Convicted Felon Pleads Guilty to Possessing A Firearm and Ammunition Connected to St. Petersburg ShootingRead the Press Release
Tampa, FL - United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Daniel Gonzalez (23, St. Petersburg) has pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon. Gonzalez faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
According to court proceedings, on January 1, 2023, a 16-year-old person was shot in a parking garage in St. Petersburg. After the shooting, officers from the St. Petersburg Police Department observed a vehicle fleeing from the parking garage and followed it for a short period of time until the pursuit was terminated due to weather conditions. Soon after, a Springfield Armory Hellcat 9mm pistol was found in the road where officers observed the vehicle fleeing. The firearm was swabbed for DNA and Gonzalez’s DNA was present on two different parts of the firearm. Ballistic testing confirmed that three of the cartridge cases found at the scene of the shooting were a match to the firearm with Gonzalez’s DNA on it. Gonzalez is a convicted felon and, therefore, is prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition under federal law.
This case was investigated by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the St. Petersburg Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Samantha Newman.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
Contractor Admits Guilt in $1.5 Million Bid-Rigging SchemeRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – A Shiprock man pleaded guilty in federal court to orchestrating a bid-rigging and money laundering scheme that defrauded a federally-funded Native American educational institution of approximately $1.5 million over a three-year period.
According to publicly available court documents, William Badoni, 61, admitted to conspiring with his co-defendant, Elroy Harry, an employee of Kinteel Residential Campus, Inc. (KRCI) from April 2018 to June 2019 to obtain non-public information about construction projects and the bidding process. This information was used to give Badoni’s company an unfair advantage in winning KRCI contracts. Badoni also arranged for the submission of falsified bids from other companies to circumvent KRCI's contracting policies.
The contracts and related change orders resulted in revenue of approximately $1.5 million paid to Badoni’s company by KRCI between 2016 and 2019.
In exchange for this assistance, Badoni paid Harry approximately $50,000. These payments were made in cash and by check, using funds derived largely from the fraudulently obtained contracts.
Additionally, Badoni admitted to conducting financial transactions to conceal the proceeds of the illegal scheme. This involved depositing portions of contract payments into bank accounts while taking other portions in cash to avoid creating records of payments made with fraudulently obtained funds.
Harry pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit federal program fraud and remains on conditions of release pending sentencing, which is currently scheduled for August 7, 2024.
The Court ordered that Badoni remain on conditions of release pending sentencing, which has not been scheduled.
At sentencing, Badoni faces up to twenty years in prison and a fine up to $500,000 or twice the pecuniary gain resulting from the fraud. Upon his release from prison, Badoni will be subject to up to three years of supervised release.
U.S. Attorney Alexander M.M. Uballez, Jamie DePaepe, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of the Interior (DOI) Office of Inspector General, and Andy Tsui, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation Denver Field Office, made the announcement today.
The U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of Inspector General and IRS Criminal Investigation investigated this case. Assistant United States Attorneys Taylor F. Hartstein and Mark Probasco are prosecuting the case.
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Connecticut Fisherman Pleads Guilty to Tax EvasionRead the Press Release
A Connecticut man pleaded guilty today to evading taxes on income he earned as a commercial fisherman.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Brian Kobus, of Durham, Connecticut, worked as a commercial fisherman and deckhand for fishing companies in Massachusetts. After each fishing trip, the companies paid him by check. Despite receiving over $1.4 million in fishing income between 2011 through 2013, and 2017 through 2021, Kobus did not file federal income tax returns or pay the taxes that he owed. To conceal the source and disposition of his income from the IRS, Kobus regularly cashed his paychecks from the fishing companies and used the cash to fund his lifestyle. In total, he caused a tax loss to the IRS of approximately $377,839.90.
Korbus is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 16 and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy made the announcement.
IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.
Trial Attorney Matthew L. Cofer of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Victor Wild for the District of Massachusetts are prosecuting the case.
Columbia County man sentenced to federal prison for producing child pornographyRead the Press Release
AUGUSTA, GA: A Columbia County man has been sentenced to nearly 30 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to producing images of child sexual exploitation.
Hector Salazar Torres, 30, of Grovetown, Ga., was sentenced to 325 months in prison after pleading guilty to Production of Child Pornography, said Jill E. Steinberg, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. U.S. District Court Judge J. Randal Hall also ordered Torres to pay $9,600 in restitution and assessments, to register as a sex offender, and to serve 20 years of supervised release upon completion of his prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
“We applaud the diligence of our law enforcement partners in identifying Hector Torres and holding him accountable,” said U.S. Attorney Steinberg. “The most vulnerable citizens in our community are safer when predators are behind bars.”
As described in court documents and testimony, Grovetown police officers were investigating the reported sexual assault of a child when they seized Torres’ cell phone. The FBI reviewed the contents of the phone and identified dozens of images and videos of child sexual abuse, including a video of a toddler. By matching an image in the video to a scar on Torres’ hand, investigators determined Torres produced the video with his phone.
Torres also faces state prosecution on child molestation charges involving victims unrelated to the federal case.
“The sexual abuse and exploitation of children is an absolutely horrific offense,” said Matthew Ploskunak, Senior Supervisory Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta’s Augusta office. “Torres’s sentence will give him plenty of time to think about his unacceptable behavior, but more importantly while in prison, he won’t be able to harm any more children.”
The case was investigated by the FBI and the Grovetown Police Department, and prosecuted for the United States by Assistant U.S. Attorney and Project Safe Childhood Coordinator Jason W. Blanchard.
Anyone with information on suspected child sexual exploitation can contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 800-843-5678, or https://report.cybertip.org/.
Colorado Resident Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Assault with A Tomahawk HatchetRead the Press Release
LAS VEGAS – A Colorado man was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for using a Tomahawk hatchet to attack and cause serious injury to a person at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area in 2018.
According to court documents, on September 7, 2018, Christopher Dewey Booker, 48, repeatedly struck and bludgeoned a person using a Tomahawk hatchet. The victim sustained at least 22 injuries including fractures, lacerations, partial detachment of his left hand, and partial facial paralysis. These injuries resulted in protracted loss and impairment of the victim’s jaw and permanent impairment of the victim’s left hand.
In May 2023, a federal grand jury indicted Booker; and in April 2024, Booker pleaded guilty to one count of assault resulting in serious bodily injury. In addition to imprisonment, United States District Judge James C. Mahan sentenced Booker to three years of supervised release.
United States Attorney Jason M. Frierson for the District of Nevada made the announcement.
The case was investigated by the National Park Service. Assistant United States Attorney Mina Chang prosecuted the case.
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Clay County Man Indicted on Firearm ChargeRead the Press Release
Jacksonville, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the return of an indictment charging Anthony Rodriguez, Jr. (32, Orange Park) with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. If convicted, Rodriguez faces up to 15 years in federal prison. The indictment also notifies Rodriguez that the United States intends to forfeit a Glock pistol and ammunition traceable to the firearm offense.
According to the indictment, on May 11, 2024, Rodriguez possessed a Glock pistol. At the time of the incident, Rodriguez had seven previous felony convictions to include two convictions involving a firearm and ammunition. As a previously convicted felon, he is prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition under federal law.
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.
This case was investigated by the Clay County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives – Jacksonville Office. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kevin C. Frein.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
Citizen of India Indicted for Falsely Claiming United States Citizenship in Passport ApplicationRead the Press Release
HARRISBURG– The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Jaydeepsinh Jayas, age 42, a citizen of India, was indicted by a federal grand jury for making a false statement in a passport application, applying for, and attempting to procure evidence of United States citizenship, and making a false claim to United States citizenship.
According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, on or about November 10, 2023, Jayas applied for a passport in Chambersburg, Franklin County, Pennsylvania. In the passport application, Jayas attested that he was a United States citizen. As proof, Jayas submitted a delayed Pennsylvania birth certificate that he received from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania upon the submission of a falsified affidavit in which it was claimed that he was delivered in Bradford County, Pennsylvania by a midwife. Jayas, however, was born in and is a citizen of India.
The case was investigated by the United States Department of State – Diplomatic Security Service, Philadelphia Resident Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney K. Wesley (Wes) Mishoe is prosecuting the case.
The maximum penalty under federal law for the indicted offenses is 23 years imprisonment, a term of supervised release after imprisonment, a fine, and special assessment. A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
Indictments are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.
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