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Friday 17 May 2024
Singapore Resident Sentenced to 57 Months in Prison for Soliciting Millions of Dollars in Pre-IPO Stock SchemeRead the Press Release
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that SHAMOON RAFIQ, a/k/a “Shamoon Omer Rafiq,” a/k/a “Omar Rafiq,” a/k/a “Omer Rafiq,” was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero to 57 months in prison for engaging in a scheme in which RAFIQ solicited millions of dollars of investors’ money by falsely representing that he was offering investments in shares of stock in privately held companies that had not yet conducted an initial public offering (“pre-IPO stock”), even though he did not actually have those shares to offer, by impersonating senior officials of a reputable family office investment firm and by engaging in other acts of deception. RAFIQ previously pled guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah L. Cave.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Today’s sentence demonstrates that stiff penalties await anyone who seeks to cheat and swindle American investors, and that running an investment scheme from halfway around the world will not shield fraudsters from being pursued by this Office and our law enforcement partners.”
According to the charging documents and other filings and statements made in court:
RAFIQ was born in the Netherlands and resided in Singapore. RAFIQ was convicted in 2004 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York for carrying out a wire fraud scheme in which he purported to sell pre-IPO stock in a privately held company that had not yet conducted its initial public offering when, in fact, RAFIQ did not own or have access to such stock. After serving a 41-month federal prison sentence for that crime, RAFIQ was deported from the U.S. and eventually relocated to Singapore.
In or about 2020, RAFIQ engaged in a new scheme from Singapore to defraud victims into paying him millions of dollars for alleged investment interests in various pre-IPO stocks that he did not actually own or control.
In connection with his new fraud scheme, RAFIQ fraudulently impersonated two senior officials (“Victim-1” and “Victim-2”) of a prominent family office investment firm (“FamCap”) that manages and invests assets of members of a prominent billionaire family. In July 2020, RAFIQ caused the creation of a fake FamCap website, which automatically routed users to the official FamCap website, and the creation of fake FamCap email addresses for Victim-1 and Victim-2 that closely resemble, but are slightly different from, their genuine FamCap email addresses. The fake FamCap website and email addresses for Victim-1 and Victim-2 were created without their or FamCap’s consent. The fake email addresses also included the names of Victim-1 and Victim-2 without their authorization.
In July 2020, RAFIQ began soliciting millions of dollars from investment firms in New York and elsewhere based on false claims that in exchange for their funds, he would sell them investment interests in a purported special purpose investment vehicle called “[Fam] Capital Technology Fund, LLC” that was supposedly managed by FamCap and allegedly owned pre-IPO stock in Airbnb, Inc., among other companies. For example, as part of this fraudulent scheme, RAFIQ deceived an investment firm based in New York, New York (the “New York Firm”), and one of the firm’s foreign institutional clients (the “Foreign Client”) into making agreements under which the Foreign Client wired about $9 million in mid-August 2020 into an escrow account in New York for anticipated release to a bank account in Singapore to pay RAFIQ for his purported sale of investment interests in the LLC.
In soliciting this $9 million investment, RAFIQ made a variety of false representations, including the following:
- RAFIQ falsely claimed that the LLC was managed by FamCap. In fact, the LLC never existed.
- RAFIQ falsely claimed that the LLC owned pre-IPO shares of Airbnb, Inc. In fact, the LLC did not own and could not have owned such stock because the LLC never existed.
- RAFIQ falsely claimed that Victim-1 and Victim-2 had approved of his sale of his alleged interests in the LLC. In fact, Victim-1 and Victim-2 do not know RAFIQ and have confirmed that FamCap was never involved in or approved of any such transaction.
During and to further the goals of this fraudulent scheme, RAFIQ also caused the creation and transmission of emails from the fake FamCap email addresses, fake contracts, and deal documents purporting to have been signed by Victim-1 or Victim-2 on behalf of FamCap that neither of them approved. In August 2020, during the course of email communications with the New York Firm and Foreign Client concerning RAFIQ’s alleged sale to them of his purported interests in the alleged FamCap-managed LLC that supposedly held Airbnb, Inc. shares, RAFIQ copied into the email chain the fake FamCap email addresses to create the false impression that FamCap was involved in and approved of the alleged transaction.
Also pursuant to the fraudulent scheme, RAFIQ solicited over $1 million from an investment group located in California (the “California Group”) in late 2020 by yet again purporting to be a representative of FamCap offering pre-IPO stock for sale. As a result, the California Group wired RAFIQ a total of approximately $1,002,615 in November and December 2020.
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In addition to his prison term, RAFIQ, 50, a resident of Singapore and a citizen of the Netherlands, was ordered to pay restitution and forfeiture in the amount of $1,002,615.
Mr. Williams praised the investigative work of Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the New York City Police Department, and the New York City Sheriff’s Office, and he also thanked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which conducted a separate parallel investigation, for its assistance, and the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, Interpol, Singapore Police Force, and the Attorney-General’s Chambers of Singapore for their assistance in the extradition of the defendant.
This case is being handled by this Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared Lenow is in charge of the prosecution.
Rochester man pleads guilty to civil disorder and assaulting federal officersRead the Press Release
ROCHESTER, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that JohnMichael Santiago, 24, of Rochester, NY, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci to civil disorder and assaulting a federal officer. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Moynihan, who is handling the case, stated that on September 4, 2020, following the release of information by the Rochester Police Department (RPD) regarding the death of Daniel Prude, a group of protesters damaged property and turned over tables at two restaurants in Rochester, causing numerous patrons to leave. During the evening of September 5, 2020, Santiago was part of a group of approximately 1,500 protesters that gathered at Broad Street and Exchange Boulevard, about a block north of RPD headquarters, where they blocked all lanes of traffic on nearby streets. Over the next few hours, some protesters hurled rocks, bottles, lit fireworks, and other objects at police officers in the area. Some also shined flashlights and pointed lasers at officers. Protesters were repeatedly asked to move onto the sidewalks and leave the area or be subject to arrest. Many disregarded the requests, remained in the streets, and continued to block traffic. Santiago threw an ignited firework in the direction of a line of uniformed RPD officers, which detonated in the immediate vicinity of the officers. Santiago was not arrested that night, but was later interviewed by law enforcement about the incident. Santiago admitted that he attended the protests, brought fireworks to the protests, and threw an ignited mortar-style firework at police officers.
While in custody at the Livingston County Jail, after being charged with civil disorder, Santiago assaulted two corrections officers, throwing a hard plastic cup at one, and striking the other in the face with his fist. Officers began to wrestle Santiago to secure him, during which one officer suffered contusions and a concussion, and a second suffered a back injury.
The plea is the result of an investigation by the Rochester Police Department, under the direction of Chief David Smith, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Matthew Miraglia, and the United States Marshall’s Service, under the direction of Marshal Charles Salina.
Sentencing is scheduled for September 3, 2024, at 3:30 p.m. before Judge Geraci.
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Richmond man pleads guilty to armed robberyRead the Press Release
RICHMOND, Va. – A Richmond man pleaded guilty today after discharging a firearm as he robbed a convenience store.
According to court documents, on July 3, 2023, Darryl Nathaniel Cole, 59, entered a 7-Eleven on Mechanicsville Turnpike and attempted to purchase tobacco products. When another customer entered the store, Cole briefly left and returned minutes later. Attempting the purchase again, Cole swiped his own debit card in the point-of-sale machine, but his account had insufficient funds for the transaction.
Cole then produced a handgun from his waistband and pointed the gun at the store clerk. Cole demanded and took money from the register as he continued to point the handgun at the clerk. As Cole began to leave the store, the clerk took a hammer from a drawer near the cash register and moved toward the back of the store, away from the front door. When the clerk was near a gap in the counter, Cole fired one shot from his handgun in the clerk’s direction, which struck a nearby coffeemaker. Cole then fled from the store with the stolen money.
Cole is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 26. He faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and up to life in prison. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Jason Miyares, Attorney General of Virginia; Stanley M. Meador, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Field Office; Rick Edwards, Chief of Richmond Police; and Eric D. English, Chief of Henrico County Police Division, made the announcement after Senior U.S. District Judge John A. Gibney Jr. accepted the plea.
Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Ellen Hubbard, an Assistant Attorney General with the Virginia Attorney General’s Office, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Olivia L. Norman are prosecuting the case.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:24-cr-33.
Puerto Rico Legislator and her Husband Sentenced for Theft, Bribery, and Kickback SchemeRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – A Puerto Rico legislator and her husband were sentenced today for engaging in a multi-year theft, bribery, and kickback conspiracy scheme to fraudulently inflate the salary of a legislative assistant in exchange for a portion of the assistant’s inflated salary.
María Milagros Charbonier-Laureano, also known as Tata, a member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives, was sentenced to eight years in prison. Her husband, Orlando Montes-Rivera, was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, from early 2017 until July 2020, Charbonier-Laureano, her husband, and her assistant, Frances Acevedo-Ceballos, executed a scheme to defraud the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico by engaging in a theft, bribery, and kickback scheme. Over the course of the scheme, Charbonier-Laureano inflated Acevedo-Ceballos’ salary from $800 on a bi-weekly, after-tax basis to nearly $2,900. Out of every inflated paycheck, it was agreed that Acevedo-Ceballos would keep a portion and kick back approximately $1,500 to Charbonier-Laureano and Montes-Rivera.
After learning of the investigation into illegal activities in her office and of a warrant that had been obtained for one of her phones, Charbonier-Laureano proceeded to delete certain data on the phone. In particular, Charbonier-Laureano deleted nearly all call log entries, WhatsApp messages, and iMessages associated with the phone.
The jury convicted Charbonier-Laureano and Montes-Rivera in January of one count of conspiracy; two counts of theft, bribery, and kickbacks concerning programs receiving federal funds; six counts of honest services wire fraud; and two counts of money laundering. The jury also convicted Charbonier-Laureano of obstruction of justice for destroying data on her cell phone.
Acevedo-Ceballos, who pleaded guilty to bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds, was sentenced in February to three years and one month in prison.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow for the District of Puerto Rico; and Special Agent in Charge Joseph Gonzalez of the FBI San Juan Field Office made the announcement.
The FBI investigated the case.
Trial Attorneys Jonathan E. Jacobson and Kathryn E. Fifield of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney María L. Montañez Concepción for the District of Puerto Rico prosecuted the case.
Puerto Rico Legislator and Her Husband Sentenced for Theft, Bribery, and Kickback SchemeRead the Press Release
A Puerto Rico legislator and her husband were sentenced today for engaging in a multi-year theft, bribery, and kickback conspiracy scheme to fraudulently inflate the salary of a legislative assistant in exchange for a portion of the assistant’s inflated salary.
María Milagros Charbonier-Laureano, also known as Tata, a member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives, was sentenced to eight years in prison. Her husband, Orlando Montes-Rivera, was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, from early 2017 until July 2020, Charbonier-Laureano, her husband, and her assistant, Frances Acevedo-Ceballos, executed a scheme to defraud the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico by engaging in a theft, bribery, and kickback scheme. Over the course of the scheme, Charbonier-Laureano inflated Acevedo-Ceballos’ salary from $800 on a bi-weekly, after-tax basis to nearly $2,900. Out of every inflated paycheck, it was agreed that Acevedo-Ceballos would keep a portion and kick back approximately $1,500 to Charbonier-Laureano and Montes-Rivera.
After learning of the investigation into illegal activities in her office and of a warrant that had been obtained for one of her phones, Charbonier-Laureano proceeded to delete certain data on the phone. In particular, Charbonier-Laureano deleted nearly all call log entries, WhatsApp messages, and iMessages associated with the phone.
The jury convicted Charbonier-Laureano and Montes-Rivera in January of one count of conspiracy; two counts of theft, bribery, and kickbacks concerning programs receiving federal funds; six counts of honest services wire fraud; and two counts of money laundering. The jury also convicted Charbonier-Laureano of obstruction of justice for destroying data on her cell phone.
Acevedo-Ceballos, who pleaded guilty to bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds, was sentenced in February to three years and one month in prison.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow for the District of Puerto Rico; and Special Agent in Charge Joseph Gonzalez of the FBI San Juan Field Office made the announcement.
The FBI San Juan Field Office investigated the case.
Trial Attorneys Jonathan E. Jacobson and Kathryn E. Fifield of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney María L. Montañez Concepción for the District of Puerto Rico prosecuted the case.
Previously convicted Richmond drug trafficker sentenced for third timeRead the Press Release
RICHMOND, Va. – A Richmond man was sentenced yesterday to 15 years and eight months in prison for possession with intent to distribute cocaine and fentanyl and being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.
According to court documents, on Sept. 27, 2022, an individual acting under the direction of law enforcement made contact with Jeremy Jermaine Blue, 35. They arranged to meet for Blue to deliver a kilogram of cocaine. As Blue drove to the prearranged meeting location to deliver the cocaine, law enforcement performed a stop on the vehicle before the exchange. After a drug-detecting K-9 alerted to the scent of narcotics in the car, law enforcement located the cocaine, as well as 48 grams of fentanyl and a loaded 9mm semiautomatic handgun.
Blue was convicted in 2009 of possession with intent to distribute cocaine. One month after Blue was released from supervised probation in July 2013, he possessed heroin with intent to distribute and was convicted in 2014. As a previously convicted felon, Blue cannot legally possess a firearm or ammunition.
Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Jason Miyares, Attorney General of Virginia; and Jarod Forget, Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Washington Division, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge M. Hannah Lauck.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Angela Mastandrea and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Ellen Hubbard, an Assistant Attorney General with the Virginia Attorney General’s Office, prosecuted the case.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:23-cr-40.
Portland, Oregon man arrested after traveling to Seattle for sex with childrenRead the Press Release
Seattle – A 56-year-old Portland, Oregon, man appeared in Federal Court today, following a six-week investigation by Homeland Security Investigations and the Seattle Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Marc David McCool was arrested May 16, 2024, when he arrived at a Seattle area hotel, allegedly intending to sexually abuse fictitious 7 and 11-year-old children. When arrested McCool had various items reflective of his sexual interest in abusing children: condoms, baby oil, rope, and stuffed animals.
According to records filed in the case, McCool responded to an ad posted on social media by an undercover law enforcement agent. Over more than six weeks of “chats” via the Kik Messenger App, McCool allegedly described his sexual interest in children, his sexual abuse of other victims, and the types of “trophies” he kept from those prior criminal sexual acts. Ultimately, McCool made arrangements to travel to Seattle allegedly believing he would sexually abuse two young children. He was arrested after he traveled by train and a rideshare to the meet location.
McCool is charged with attempted enticement of a minor and travel with the intent to engage in a sexual act with a minor.
Attempted enticement of a minor is punishable by no less than 10 years to lifetime imprisonment. Traveling with the intent to engage in a sexual act with a minor is punishable by up to 30 years imprisonment.
The charges contained in the complaint are only allegations. A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigation as part of the Seattle Police Department Internet Crimes against Children Task Force (ICAC).
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Cecelia Gregson.
U.S. v McCool MJ24-297
Parmelee Man Sentenced for Assault and Prohibited Person in Possession of a FirearmRead the Press Release
PIERRE - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that Chief Judge Roberto A. Lange, U.S. District Court, has sentenced a Parmelee, South Dakota, man convicted of Assault of an Intimate Partner by Strangulation and Prohibited Person in Possession of a Firearm. The sentencing took place on May 15, 2024.
Tanner Barron, age 32, was sentenced to two years and six months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $200 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Barron was indicted by a federal grand jury in November of 2023. He pleaded guilty on February 29, 2024.
In the evening of September 30, 2022, Barron and the mother of his children had a verbal argument about their relationship. The disagreement continued into the next day and became physical when Barron threw the victim down. Barron then placed his hands on the victim’s neck and applied pressure, sufficient to leave a bruise and cause her voice to be hoarse. Officers from the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services responded to the scene, but Barron was no longer present. Officers located Barron in his vehicle at a gas station in Rosebud on October 2, 2022. A search of his person revealed a pipe used to ingest methamphetamine. A pistol was found on the front floorboard of Barron’s vehicle. As a regular user of methamphetamine, Barron was prohibited from possessing a firearm. The offenses occurred within the Rosebud 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.
Further, 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.
This case was investigated by the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorney Abby Roesler prosecuted the case.
Barron was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Owner of Construction Companies Pleads Guilty to Tax and Mail FraudRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Hopkinton man pleaded guilty this week to defrauding the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Travelers Insurance Company in relation to wages he paid to employees of his two construction companies.
Dariusz Pietron, 51, pleaded guilty on May 15, 2024 to three counts of failure to collect and pay over employment taxes to the IRS and one count of mail fraud relating to underpaid workers’ compensation insurance premiums. U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani scheduled sentencing for Aug. 28, 2024.
Between 2012 and October 2018, Pietron owned and operated TJM Construction, Inc. (TJM) and Point Construction, Inc. (Point). Pietron failed to report his employees’ wages to the IRS, failed to withhold required employment taxes and failed to pay employment taxes to the IRS. Pietron also failed to disclose to Travelers Insurance Company the actual wages he paid to employees, which resulted in him paying less in workers’ compensation insurance premiums than what he would have otherwise owed. As part of the scheme, Pietron recruited and paid two employees to establish three shell companies – companies that would make it appear as if TJM and Point’s employees were subcontractors to whom Pietron had no tax obligations. Pietron thereby failed to pay more than $1.1 million in employment taxes and defrauded Travelers of approximately $244,000.
The charge of failure to pay over taxes provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. The charge of mail fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, at least three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. Pietron has also agreed to pay restitution to the IRS and Travelers Insurance and to forfeit $244,000. 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; Harry Chavis, Jr., Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Boston Field Office; and Katherine Mulligan, Chief of Investigations for the Insurance Fraud Bureau of Massachusetts made the announcement today. Assistant United States Attorney Victor A. Wild of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit is prosecuting the case.
Oglala Man Sentenced to Fifteen Years in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
RAPID CITY - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Jonathan A. Kobes, sitting in district court in Rapid City, South Dakota, has sentenced an Oglala, South Dakota, man convicted of one count of Enticement of a Minor Using the Internet and two counts of Commercial Sex Trafficking. The sentencing took place on May 14, 2024.
Gordon Weston, age 58, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release on each count of conviction, and ordered to pay a total of $300 in special assessments to the Federal Crime Victims Fund for the three convictions. The prison sentences and periods of supervision shall be served concurrently.
Weston was indicted for the charges by a federal grand jury in September of 2021. He was found guilty following a federal jury trial in Rapid City in January of 2024.
Weston was employed as the Activities Coordinator at the Emergency Youth Shelter in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, from 2009 to 2021. During his employment he met several females at the shelter, one of which was the charged victim in the case. The victim was a vulnerable child who had been removed from her household due to neglect, violence, and drug and alcohol abuse. After the victim was released from the shelter, Weston contacted her through social media and solicited her for sexual intercourse in exchange for money. Weston engaged in two acts of Commercial Sex Trafficking on two separate occasions. Through the investigation, it was revealed that Weston had victimized at least one other female.
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. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Megan Poppen and Jeff Clapper prosecuted the case.
Weston was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Nurse Sentenced to Federal Prison for Stealing Pain Medication from Patients and Fined $20,000Read the Press Release
A Carroll County registered nurse who stole controlled substances from patients and falsified medical records at a life care center where she was employed was sentenced today to 7 months in federal prison and ordered to pay a $20,000 fine.
Cassandra Lynne Vonnahme, age 32, from Arcadia, Iowa, pled guilty to one count of acquiring a controlled substance by means of misrepresentation, fraud, deception, and subterfuge, and one count of false statements relating to health care matters on November 30, 2023.
Vonnahme admitted that between November 2020 and December 2020, she diverted controlled substances and falsified related medical records. The controlled substances Vonnahme stole and the records she falsified pertained to actual patients. Evidence at sentencing also revealed that Vonnahme burglarized 5-6 homes after losing her job as a nurse for stealing patient’s medication. Vonnahme was later convicted of impersonating a public official after another burglary in Carroll County in 2021, where she pretended to be a county assessor in order to gain entry into a stranger’s home and then stole controlled substances.
Vonnahme was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand to 7 months’ imprisonment and fined $20,000. She must also serve a 2-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system. Vonnahme was released on the bond previously set and is to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on a date yet to be set.
The case is being investigated by the Iowa Department of Inspections & Appeals, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ron Timmons.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 23-4019.
Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.
Newport Man Charged with Illegal Re-entry into United States and Failing to Register as a Sex OffenderRead the Press Release
PROVIDENCE, RI – A Guatemalan national, deported after his 2014 conviction in 2014 in Rhode Island state court on charges of second degree sexual assault, a conviction that required him to register as a sex offender, has been charged in federal court with illegally re-entering the United States after deportation and failing to register as a sex offender, announced United States Attorney Zachary Cunha.
According to charging documents, after being deported following his 2014 conviction, it is alleged that Nelson Yocute, 34, returned to the United States illegally, and had been living and working in Newport for the last nine years. It is also alleged that Yocute failed to comply with his obligation to register as a sex offender, as mandated by his 2014 state court sentence.
Mr. Yocute made an initial appearance in US district court on May 14th, 2024, and was ordered detained in federal custody. A federal criminal complaint is merely an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Denise M. Barton.
The matter was investigated by the Newport Police Department, with the assistance of Homeland Security Investigations and the United States Marshals Service.
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New Underwood Man Sentenced to Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
RAPID CITY - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier has sentenced a New Underwood, South Dakota, man convicted of Receipt of Child Pornography. The sentencing took place on May 14, 2024.
Matthew Bowman, 35, was sentenced to five years and ten months in federal prison, followed by five years supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Bowman will also be required to register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.
Bowman was indicted for Receipt of Child Pornography and Possession of Child Pornography by a federal grand jury in November of 2023. He pleaded guilty on January 24, 2024.
The charge stems from Bowman receiving child pornography between September of 2020 and July of 2022. Investigators found images depicting child sex abuse, and some of the images depicted children appearing as young as four to six years old. Bowman’s child pornography collection was reported to law enforcement through a cybertip from Google Drive and Google Photos.
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.
This case was investigated by the Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, and the Rapid City Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Anna Lindrooth prosecuted the case.
Bowman was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
New Orleans Man Sentenced for Firearms ViolationRead the Press Release
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – United States Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that XAVIER DUHON, a resident of New Orleans, was sentenced on May 14, 2024, by U.S. District Judge Greg Gerard Guidry, to 87 months imprisonment after previously pleading guilty to unlawful possession of a machine gun, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 922(o) and 924(a)(2). Judge Guidry also ordered that DUHON be placed on supervised release for 3 years following release from imprisonment and pay a mandatory $100 special assessment fee.
According to court records, on March 23, 2023, following a traffic collision, DUHON fired upon another vehicle while crossing the Crescent City Connection bridge, east bank bound. Law enforcement officers attempted to stop DUHON’s vehicle, but DUHON led officers on both a vehicle and foot, pursuit. DUHON was arrested shortly thereafter in the 900 block of Magazine Street. As officers reviewed surveillance video and retraced DUHON’s flight path, they recovered two pistols, a Glock Model 17, 9-millimeter pistol and a Glock Model 23, .40 caliber pistol, each equipped with a machinegun conversion device.
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.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the New Orleans Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Dawkins of the Violent Crime Unit.
Naschitti Man Sentenced for Kidnapping and Killing Gallup ManRead the Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – A federal judge handed down a 30-year prison sentence to a Naschitti man who pleaded guilty to conspiring to kidnap a victim who was lured to a location in Gallup under the false pretense of a meeting a female. The victim was then beaten and stabbed to death.
There is no parole in the federal system.
According to publicly available court records, on September 16, 2021, Elias Viola, 32 years old, and his then-girlfriend, Shannon Etsitty, devised a plan to lure John Doe to a location under the guise of a meetup with Etsitty. Viola sent a text message from Etsitty’s phone propositioning John Doe, who agreed to meet.
Etsitty picked John Doe up from his residence and drove Doe to a location where Viola and a third man attacked Doe in the vehicle, beating Doe with baseball bat and stabbing him with a screwdriver. The group then hid John Doe’s body under nearby brush before returning hours later to move Doe to a field near Etsitty’s mother’s house.
On September 23, 2021, after a weeklong community search, John Doe’s body was found by an unrelated civilian. The Office of the Medical Investigator determined John Doe’s manner of death was homicide caused by multiple injuries.
Investigators reviewed John Doe’s text messages and determined Etsitty was the last person with whom Doe communicated. They also determined that shortly after those communications, she and Viola were involved in single-vehicle crash near John Doe’s apartment. However, the crash site was several miles from the location John Doe’s body was found. Investigators returned to the crash site and found one of Doe’s black shoes, which matched one found near Doe’s body.
Police executed search warrants for Etsitty and Viola’s cellphone and Facebook records. After reviewing messages and confirming Viola was in the area where John Doe’s missing shoe was found, police tried to find the vehicle involved in the crash. On November 16, 2021, the FBI located the car in a tow yard.
On November 30, 2021, the FBI executed a search warrant on the vehicle. The backseat was missing and the front-passenger seat, trunk, and the area beneath the backseat showed signs of blood staining. On April 1, 2022, FBI agents executed a search warrant at Viola’s home. Inside, agents located the missing backseat from the vehicle. Through forensic testing, agents determined blood on the backseat matched John Doe.
When Viola was interviewed by agents, he admitted to attacking John Doe. Viola pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit kidnapping on September 18, 2023.
Upon his release from prison, Viola will be subject to five years of supervised release.
Etsitty also pled guilty to conspiring to kidnap John Doe. Her sentencing has not yet occurred.
U.S. Attorney Alexander M.M. Uballez and Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office, made the announcement today.
The Gallup Resident Agency of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the Navajo Nation Police Department and the Navajo Department of Criminal Investigations, the Gallup Police Department and the McKinley County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Jones is prosecuting the case.
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Mt. Lebanon Resident Pleads Guilty to Sexual Exploitation of a MinorRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH, Pa. - A former resident of Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty in federal court on May 15, 2024, to charges related to the sexual exploitation of children, United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced today.
Andrew Kalyl Foxx, a/k/a James Andrew Liles, a/k/a Andrew James Liles, 42, pleaded guilty to two counts before United States District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan.
In connection with the guilty plea, the Court was advised that, on or about March 3, 2023, the defendant attempted to and did employ, use, persuade, induce, entice, and coerce a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a video of such conduct. On March 9, 2023, the defendant did knowingly possess this video file depicting child sexual exploitation.
Judge Ranjan scheduled sentencing for August 6, 2024. The law provides for a total sentence of up to 30 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000.00, or both. Under the federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Pending sentencing, the Court continued Foxx’s detention.
Assistant United States Attorney Heidi M. Grogan is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI-Pittsburgh Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, Allegheny County Police Department, and Mt. Lebanon Police Department conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Foxx.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Mississippi Man Sentenced After Pleading Guilty to Interstate Travel for the Purpose of Engaging in Illicit Sexual Conduct with Fourteen-Year-Old GirlRead the Press Release
NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that ERIC SCOTT ALFORD, age 38, a resident of Clinton, Mississippi, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Barry W. Ashe to 46 months in prison followed by 5 years of supervised release, after previously pleading guilty to interstate travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2423(b). Judge Ashe further required ALFORD to comply with sex offender registration requirements and to pay $5,100 in assessments.
According to court documents, on about July 26, 2023, ALFORD, an adult male, contacted an undercover law enforcement officer purporting to be an adult female with a fourteen-year-old daughter (FA1) on a social network and messaging application designed for individuals interested in various “kink,” “fetish,” and alternative sexual practices. ALFORD asked what “kinks” FA1 had. On multiple occasions, over the next several days, in his correspondence with FA1, ALFORD expressed a desire and intent to engage in various forms of sexual contact with FA1 and her fourteen-year-old daughter, both individually and collectively, including by providing graphic descriptions of the sexual acts. ALFORD also frequently discussed and planned face-to-face meetings with FA1 and her daughter to engage in sexual acts with each of them, including suggesting that they travel to ALFORD’s residence. Separately, ALFORD communicated via an instant messaging application directly with who he believed to be FA1’s minor daughter. During that conversation, ALFORD again described sexual acts he intended to perform on and with FA1 and the child, individually and collectively.
On August 2, 2023, ALFORD told FA1’s minor daughter that he was traveling to Hammond, Louisiana that evening to engage first in sex acts with FA1 and then to engage in sex acts with both FA1 and her daughter. That evening, ALFORD drove from Flowood, Mississippi to Hammond, Louisiana, in furtherance of his intent to engage in sexual acts with FA1 and her minor daughter.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the United States Department of Homeland Security - Homeland Security Investigations and the Louisiana Bureau of Investigations in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Jordan Ginsberg, Chief of the Public Integrity Unit, was in charge of the prosecution.
Minneapolis Man Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison for Producing Child Pornography over Social MediaRead the Press Release
ST. PAUL, Minn. – A Minneapolis man has been sentenced to 300 months in prison followed by 15 years of supervised release for coercing minors to produce child pornography over social media, announced U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger.
According to court documents, in 2019, Nelson Thomas Harner, 41, admitted to connecting with multiple minors on Instagram and Facebook and coercing them to engage in sexual activity for the purposes of producing child pornography. Harner also possessed numerous images and videos depicting child sexual abuse material.
On July 11, 2023, Harner pleaded guilty to one count of coercion and enticement. He was sentenced on May 15, 2024, in U.S. District Court by Judge Eric C. Tostrud.
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the U.S. Marshals Service and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
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. Attorney’s Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Esther Soria Mignanelli prosecuted the case.
Michigan Man Charged in 29-Count Indictment for Allegedly Defrauding Northampton Company of Nearly $1 MillionRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Michigan man has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Springfield, Mass. in connection with an alleged scheme to defraud a Northampton construction company of nearly $1 million.
Jonathan McCormack, 39, of Lapeer, Mich., was indicted on 17 counts of wire fraud and 12 counts of engaging in monetary transactions in criminally derived property of a value greater than $10,000. He will appear in federal court in Springfield at a later date.
According to the indictment, McCormack was employed as a project supervisor for BluRoc, LLC., a construction company based in Northampton, Mass. McCormack also owned and operated JDM Site Services, LLC (JDM), a Michigan-based company that heavy rented equipment to BluRoc.
It is alleged that between January 2019 through January 2021, McCormack devised a scheme to defraud BluRoc by various means, including submitting materially false JDM invoices for purported equipment usage and by diverting BluRoc labor, equipment and materials for his own personal use and benefit.
To further this scheme, McCormack allegedly entered fraudulent employee time and JDM equipment usage data in BluRoc’s tracking system that overstated both the number of hours the employees, including himself, were working on BluRoc projects as well as the number of hours JDM equipment was actually used. McCormack also allegedly emailed false JDM invoices to BluRoc personnel for inflated amounts that substantially overstated the number of hours the equipment was actually used. It is further alleged that McCormack deposited payments received for these false invoices into a JDM bank account and used the proceeds for his own personal use and benefit – including to purchase and renovate a luxury hunting lodge; make improvements to his personal residence; purchase recreational vehicles including snowmobiles; and repay a loan to his uncle.
Lastly, McCormack allegedly directed BluRoc workers to conduct work at the luxury hunting lodge he purchased, including clearing an area between the lodge and an adjacent property owned by his uncle; laying timber mats that McCormack had stolen from a BluRoc worksite; and haying and seeding the area with material that he had also stolen from a BluRoc worksite. McCormack then allegedly electronically approved the workers’ time and equipment usage in BluRoc’s tracking system – so that BluRoc, rather than McCormack, paid for their work.
In addition to the charges, the indictment seeks forfeiture of $920,716, the hunting lodge and six Polaris recreational vehicles.
The charge of wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of engaging in monetary transactions in criminally derived property of a value greater than $10,000 provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of $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; Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; and Harry Chavis, Jr., Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Neil Desroches and Steven H. Breslow of the Springfield Branch Office are prosecuting the case.
The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Meth Dealer Sentenced in Federal CourtRead the Press Release
MOBILE, AL – A Theodore, Alabama, man was sentenced to 90 months in prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
According to court documents, Jason Duane Reynolds, 44, was involved with several others in a large-scale conspiracy in which significant amounts of methamphetamine were distributed in Mississippi and Alabama. Reynolds was stopped in a vehicle by Mobile County Sheriff’s deputies in April of 2022 and methamphetamine was found in his vehicle. Information obtained during an ensuing investigation established that Reynolds was connected with conspirators on whom local and federal investigators had already identified as methamphetamine targets. Reynolds was held accountable for approximately 224 grams of methamphetamine actual that was distributed during the conspiracy, while other conspirators were involved with multiple kilograms of the substance.
United States District Court Judge Kristi K. Dubose imposed the 90-month sentence, and ordered that Reynolds serve 5 years of supervised release upon completion of his imprisonment. Drug abuse testing and treatment was ordered as a special condition of Reynolds’ supervision. The judge did not impose a fine, but ordered that Reynolds pay $100 in special mandatory assessments.
U.S. Attorney Sean P. Costello of the Southern District of Alabama made the announcement.
The Mobile County Sheriff’s Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Mobile Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gloria A. Bedwell prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.
The investigation was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs and transnational criminal organization 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.
McKees Rocks Felon Pleads Guilty to Drug Trafficking and Firearms CrimesRead the Press Release
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – A resident of McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty in federal court to federal drug and firearms charges, United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced today.
Reginald Bernard Blunt, 32, pleaded guilty before Senior United States District Judge Nora Barry Fischer to possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of a mixture containing methamphetamine and fentanyl, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
In connection with the guilty plea, the Court was advised that an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Pennsylvania State Police between August 2022 and June 2023 into a drug trafficking organization operating in McKees Rocks revealed that Blunt was a member of the organization and lived at a residence where firearms and controlled substances were being stored. On June 14, 2023, law enforcement executed a federal search warrant upon that residence and recovered from Blunt’s bedroom a backpack containing two prescription pill bottles bearing Blunt’s name, a loaded handgun containing 17 rounds of ammunition, and a “Glock switch” that, when attached to the handgun, would render the firearm fully automatic. Law enforcement also recovered from the residence approximately 60 grams of a fentanyl and methamphetamine mixture, 20 grams of fentanyl, and approximately 1,000 rounds of ammunition, in addition to seizing $4,300.
The firearm recovered by law enforcement was determined to be the same one that Blunt—who has previous felony drug trafficking and firearms convictions—had used just before law enforcement responded to a call at Blunt’s residence nearly one month earlier, where it was reported that two individuals were fighting and that one of the individuals possessed a gun. Traffic camera footage of this May 16, 2023, incident obtained by investigators in preparation for the federal search warrant revealed Blunt repeatedly pointing a firearm at an adult male who was accompanied by a child, with the adult carrying the child while ducking behind a vehicle to avoid Blunt as he pointed the firearm. The footage further recorded Blunt permitting the adult to place the child in the vehicle before Blunt brought the individual back to his residence, where, on the porch, the two males began exchanging punches. Federal law prohibits possession of a firearm or ammunition by a convicted felon.
Judge Fischer scheduled sentencing for August 15, 2024. The maximum penalty for the drug trafficking crime is at least five years and up to 40 years in prison, a fine of up to $5 million, or both. The maximum penalty for possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime is a term of imprisonment of at least five years and up to life, which must be served consecutively to the sentence imposed on the drug trafficking crime, a fine of up to $250,000, or both. The maximum penalty for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon is up to 15 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both. Under the federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history of the defendant.
Pending sentencing, Judge Fischer ordered Blunt remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Assistant United States Attorney Brendan J. McKenna is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Pennsylvania State Police conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Blunt.
Man Sentenced to 24 Years in Prison for Shooting Two Men, Killing One and Severely Wounding the OtherRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – DeJuan Bell, 47, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to a total of 24 years in prison for the December 2021 murder of Davon Childs and the shooting of another individual. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Bell pleaded guilty on March 1, 2024. On May 17, 2024, Superior Court Judge Marisa J. Demeo sentenced Bell to 24 years in prison, with five years of supervised release for second degree murder while armed to run concurrently with the sentence of 12 years in prison for aggravated assault while armed and five years of supervised release for that charge.
According to the government’s evidence, with which Bell agreed, on the evening of December 10, 2021, at approximately 10:00 p.m., in the second floor hallway of an apartment building located in the 2300 block of 4th Street NE, Bell intentionally fired a 9mm semi-automatic handgun at least seven times in the direction of two unarmed people, striking both and killing one of them.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves and Chief Smith commended the work of those investigating the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Lauren Douglas and former Paralegal Debra Forte. Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Erin DeRiso and Sarah Santiago, who investigated and prosecuted the case.
Man Sentenced to 13 Years in Prison for Shooting Teenager in the FaceRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Delmar Whitley, also known as Damar Whitley, 47, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced to a total period of 13 years in prison for shooting a 17-year-old teen in the face and back, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
The Honorable Marisa J. Demeo of D.C. Superior Court sentenced Whitley on May 17, 2024, to 13 years for assault with intent to kill while armed and five years for possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. Whitley entered his guilty plea on March 15, 2024.
According to the government’s evidence, with which Whitley agreed, on the morning of August 31, 2022, Whitley returned home to his apartment building in the 4700 block of Alabama Avenue SE. While walking through the common area of the building, Whitley exchanged words with the first victim, a 17-year-old who was visiting the building before he and his classmates were to go to school. After that exchange, Whitley went inside his apartment briefly, came back out armed with a firearm, and shot the teenaged victim in the face. Whitley then chased that victim outside and shot him a second time, hitting him in the back.
Video footage showed that Whitley also pointed the gun at another teen who had been with the victim and was also trying to get away. Whitley fled the scene immediately after the shooting. Police arrested him on September 22, 2022, and Whitley has been detained since that date.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves and Chief Smith commended the work of those investigating the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah Prins and Michael Roberts, who investigated and prosecuted the case.
Man Sentenced for $1.9M Baby Formula SchemeRead the Press Release
A New York man was sentenced today to two years and nine months in prison and ordered to pay approximately $738,000 in restitution and forfeit approximately $1 million for his role in a scheme to fraudulently obtain specialty baby formula.
According to court documents, Vladislav Kotlyar, 45, of Staten Island, submitted and caused the submission of forged prescriptions and medical records for specialty baby formula that was paid for by health insurers. Kotlyar obtained prescriptions and medical records for infants who were prescribed baby formula and forged those records with respect to the type and amount of formula prescribed to obtain high volumes of expensive specialty baby formula. After receiving the specialty baby formula, Kotlyar fabricated issues with the shipments, including by impersonating the infants’ fathers, to falsely claim that shipments were damaged or contained the incorrect formula to acquire additional formula at no additional cost. Kotlyar then sold the fraudulently obtained formula. A portion of Kotlyar’s scheme occurred during a national shortage of infant formula.
Kotlyar previously pleaded guilty in March 2023 to mail fraud.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York; Assistant Director Michael Nordwall of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division; and Assistant Director in Charge James Smith of the FBI New York Field Office made the announcement.
The FBI New York Field Office investigated the case.
Trial Attorney Patrick J. Campbell of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Claire S. Kedeshian for the Eastern District of New York assisted with forfeiture.
The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s efforts to combat health care fraud through the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program. Since March 2007, this program, currently comprised of nine strike forces operating in 27 federal districts, has charged more than 5,400 defendants who collectively have billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $27 billion. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.
Madison County Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison for Distribution and Possession of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Thomas Collins, age 36, of Chittenango, New York, was sentenced yesterday to serve 10-years in federal prison for distributing and possessing numerous images and videos of child pornography announced United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman, Matthew Scarpino, Special Agent in Charge of United States Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Buffalo Field Office, and New York State Police (NYSP) Superintendent Steven G. James.
As part of his prior guilty plea, Collins admitted that on several occasions in April of 2023, he distributed images and videos of child pornography to two undercover law enforcement officers via the same social networking application. Collins also admitted that on the day of his arrest, May 18, 2023, he possessed numerous images and videos of child pornography on several of his electronic devices.
United States District Judge David N. Hurd also sentenced Collins to serve a 10-year term of supervised release following his release from prison, at which time Collins will be required to register as a sex offender.
The case was investigated by United States Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the New York State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and the New York State Police Troop D Computer Crime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Adrian LaRochelle prosecuted the case as a part of Project Safe Childhood.
Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is led by United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS). Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.
Lynchburg Man Arrested on Federal Firearms ChargeRead the Press Release
LYNCHBURG, Va. – A Lynchburg, Virginia man, implicated in a series of incidents involving the illegal possession of a firearm, was arrested on a federal criminal complaint charging him with a federal gun crime.
Brandon Cole Webber, 27, was taken into federal custody this week and charged with one count of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
According to court documents, on May 5, 2022, law enforcement officers were flagged down by a citizen on Fifth Street in Lynchburg after the citizen reported seeing a man fall out of a moving vehicle then shoot a firearm in the direction of the same departing vehicle. The citizen told police the man who shot at the vehicle- ultimately identified as Webber- then ran toward the Family Dollar on Federal Street in downtown Lynchburg.
Two other individuals driving past the incident witnessed Webber fall out of the vehicle. Webber asked the witnesses for a ride and attempted to enter their vehicle as law enforcement arrived on scene. Police officers searched the vehicle and found a loaded 9 mm handgun, a white bag containing suspected methamphetamine, and a wallet belonging to an unidentified individual in the back seat where Webber had been sitting.
In addition to the May 2022 incident, court documents filed today documents Webber’s involved in several other incidents.
On November 29, 2023, members of the Lynchburg Fire Department responded to an overdose at the Lynchburg Grand Hotel. First responders observed a man- later identified as Weber- lying face down on the bathroom floor of room 627. Firefighters observed needles and a glass pipe in the room. When Lynchburg Police arrived, Webber fled the scene, running from officers before being apprehended outside of the hotel. Later in the evening, officers searched room 627and recovered a bag containing suspected methamphetamine and a loaded Glock 38 handgun.
On November 30, 2023, Webber was charged with violating various state firearm statues. However, after receiving treatment for his overdose at a local hospital, law enforcement was unable to locate Webber.
Law enforcement believes Webber fled Lynchburg with the help of Subject-1, a former City of Lynchburg Community Corrections and Pretrial Services Agency Officer. Webber and Subject-1 began a romantic relationship in August 2023 and Subject-1 had been allegedly providing Webber with non-public sensitive information. For example, on five separate occasions in December 2023, Subject-1’s credentials were used to view a search warrant executed at the Lynchburg Grand Hotel on November 29, 2023 in relation to Webber’s overdose incident.
United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh of the Western District of Virginia and Stanley M. Meador, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Division made the announcement.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the City of Lynchburg Police Department are investigating the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Vito Iaia is prosecuting the case.
A criminal complaint is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Local woman sent to prison for decades-long use of stolen identityRead the Press Release
LAREDO, Texas – A 53-year-old woman has been sentenced for passport fraud and aggravated identity theft, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.
Elizabeth Ann Berbel pleaded guilty Aug. 28, 2023.
Berbel is also known as Ana Elizabeth Gomez-Garcia, Ana Elizabeth Gomez Garcia, Ana Elizabeth Gomez, Anna Elizabeth Gomez Garcia, Anna Elizabeth Gomez, Elizabeth Berbel, Elizabeth Ann Gomez, Tina Gomez-Manns and Anna Gomez.
U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison has now ordered Berbel to serve six and 24 months for the passport fraud and aggravated identity theft convictions, respectively. They will run consecutively for a total 30-month-term of imprisonment. Berbel was also ordered to pay $3,083.43 in restitution. During the hearing, the court heard testimony from the victim who described the trauma she has experienced as a result of Berbel’s conduct as well as the negative impact the use of her identity has had on her life and career.
On March 22, 2019, Berbel applied for a passport in Laredo. Part of the application required her to include the names of her parents, her place of birth and her Social Security number. At the time of the plea, Berbel admitted she included information that actually belonged to another person.
Berbel had been using the victim’s Social Security number and other information as early as 2001.
The investigation further revealed that in August 2005, law enforcement had stopped at Berbel at the Laredo Port of Entry. At that time, she was carrying multiple forms of identification including a Social Security card with the victim’s number. At the time, Berbel admitted she was not the person on the identification documents and that she was in fact Ana Elizabeth Gomez Garcia, a citizen and national of Mexico. She also acknowledged having other identification documents hidden in her car. Berbel claimed she waited a week or two before returning to the United States by using these other documents.
Authorities were also able to locate and identify several of Berbel’s biological family members. The investigation confirmed her true identity and not the one she had been assuming by using the victim’s information.
She will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The Department of State conducted the investigation with assistance from the Social Security Administration and the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Bajew prosecuted the case.
Lead Couple Sentenced to Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
RAPID CITY - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that a Lead, South Dakota husband and wife convicted of Conspiracy to Defraud the United States have been sentenced to prison. The couple must also pay $211,564.17 in restitution.
On May 15, 2024, U.S. Circuit Judge Jonathan A. Kobes sentenced Tami Lee Stokes, 52, to 15 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
On May 16, 2024, U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier sentenced Jason Lee Stokes, 48, to 18 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
The Stokes were indicted by a federal grand jury in October of 2023 for Theft of Government Funds, Conspiracy to Defraud the United States, and False Statement. They both pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Defraud the United States on March 8, 2024. The conviction stems from the Stokes’ scheme to fraudulently obtain benefits from the Social Security Administration (“SSA”).
In December of 2012, Jason Stokes submitted an application for Social Security Title II Disability Insurance Benefits, claiming he was unable to work because of illness. He qualified for benefits. Thereafter, Jason and his wife, Tami Stokes, repeatedly reported false and fraudulent information to the SSA about the nature and extent of Jason’s alleged disability.
From 2013 to 2023, Jason and Tami filed written reports and attended doctors’ appointments claiming Jason needed a wheelchair, could not physically function without constant assistance, and was unable to work. At doctors’ appointments, Jason acted as though he was suffering the symptoms falsely reported in the Stokes’ written reports. The Stokes also sought and obtained benefits on behalf of a minor dependent child. In reality, Jason was healthy and continued to work as a self-employed construction contractor, putting his LLC in his wife’s name to hide his employability.
Throughout the time period of the fraud, the Stokes obtained $166,458.00 in Title II benefits for Jason’s falsified disability, and $43,042.00 in Title II benefits on behalf of their minor child, resulting in a total payout of approximately $209,500.00. During this time period, the Stokes purchased three snowmobiles, two vehicles, a trailer, and a motorcycle. They obtained numerous hunting licenses, took month-long international vacations, and enjoyed various outdoor activities including helicoptering and boating.
Ultimately, their ten years of fraud was uncovered in 2022 when a doctor at a required consultative exam noted Jason’s muscle tone and other bodily functions did not match his purported levels of impairment. Investigators surveilled the Stokes engaging in their daily routine and observed them shopping, traveling to Mexico to go scuba-diving, going to restaurants, and driving. These activities completely contradicted the Stokes’ representation to the SSA that Jason couldn’t leave the home and needed assistance in essentially every aspect of his life.
When sentencing Tami Stokes on May 15, 2024, to fifteen months in federal prison, U.S. Circuit Judge Jonathan A. Kobes stated that Tami took “full advantage of the fraud on the United States” and lived “the high life on the taxpayers’ dime.” At Jason Stokes’ sentencing on May 16, 2024, U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier told Jason, “Most of the people in South Dakota are honest, hardworking people. The scheme you were involved in here was not that at all.” Judge Schreier outlined the “outright lies” that the Stokes fed the SSA, including that Jason could not shave or brush his teeth, meanwhile the Stokes used “government money to purchase [various vehicles] and other items.” Judge Schreier sentenced Jason to eighteen months in federal prison, citing Jason’s conduct as more egregious than Tami’s because of the fact he actually pretended to be totally disabled.
This case was investigated by the Office of the Inspector General – Social Security Administration. Assistant U.S. Attorney Anna Lindrooth prosecuted the case.
The Stokes were remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Laredo resident sent to prison for impersonating licensed nurseRead the Press Release
LAREDO, Texas - A 36-year-old woman has been sentenced for her conviction of false statements in a health care matter, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.
Nora Nely Avila pleaded guilty Jan. 3, 2021.
U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison has now ordered Avila to serve 18 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release.
At the hearing, the court heard evidence that Avila incorrectly took out stitches from a patient’s wound, leading to an infection. In addition to the prison sentence, Judge Ellison entered a money judgement against Avila for $52,241.66.
Avila admitted that from January 2017 through December 2019, she impersonated a nurse and performed unlicensed work at multiple hospitals and home health companies in the Laredo area.
From 2017 until 2019, Avila stole the identity of a licensed nurse and repeatedly and fraudulently presented the license and credentials of this licensed nurse at federally-funded Medicare and Medicaid providers throughout Laredo.
At other home health agencies, Avila falsified patient records and failed to show up to work which left patients without needed care. Avila also obtained employment as nurse trainer in the federal-funded Job Corps program and was assigned to train future nurses.
Previously released on bond, Avila was permitted to remain on bond and to surrender at a later date.
FBI, Department of Health and Human Services – Office of the Inspector General (OIG), Department of Labor – OIG, Homeland Security Investigations and the Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn Olson prosecuted the case.
Impersonation Scam Using US Attorney’s Office InformationRead the Press Release
United States Attorney Susan Lehr announced that the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Nebraska has become aware of an Impersonation Scam using Ms. Lehr’s name, image, and title to attempt to defraud victims via email. On May 15, 2024, the U.S. Attorney’s Office received several calls from concerned citizens regarding emails they received purporting to be from United States Attorney Lehr. U.S. Attorney’s Office personnel quickly determined this was a scam and directed callers to report the scam to the FBI Tip Line www.ic3.gov and FTC Fraud Line https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/. None of the callers suffered a financial loss related to the scam.
If you receive an email demanding payment to the US Attorney’s Office, do not open any attachments, or respond providing any personal information. Please submit a report to the FBI at www.ic3.gov and https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/.
According to Ms. Lehr, “the only time the U.S. Attorney’s Office is involved in the collection of money is for restitution purposes in a criminal case after a judicial finding.”
“Scammers are experts at manipulation; they carry out various phone or email scams with unsuspecting victims. In this case they posed as a United States government official. We are grateful to the citizens who brought this our attention and that no one suffered any loss in this scheme. I would encourage the public to continue to exercise their due diligence when solicited for funds by emails or phone to report any suspicious activity to law enforcement.”
You can find additional information related to some common scams below.
How To Avoid a Government Impersonation Scam. Scammers pretend to be from government agencies like the FTC, Social Security Administration, and IRS — or say they’re calling about your Medicare benefits. They contact you and say that, if you don’t pay or give them your personal information, something bad will happen. Or maybe you’ll miss out on some government benefit. But it’s a scam. Learn the signs and avoid the scam.
Here are some other examples of government impersonation scams:
Scammers impersonate “the national consumer protection agency.” They might say they’re from the non-existent National Sweepstakes Bureau or another made-up agency. If you’re in doubt, check out the list of real federal agencies at usa.gov.
Scammers impersonate your local sheriff’s office or a court official. They might say there’s a warrant out for your arrest and that you’ll go to jail if you don’t pay immediately. Or that they’re from the local court and you need to pay a penalty for missing jury duty. This is most likely a scam. But if you’re worried, look up the real number for the government agency or office the caller mentioned. Then contact them directly to get the real story.
Scammers impersonate representatives of immigration authorities. They might say they’re calling from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) or another agency, there’s a problem with an immigration application or petition, and you have to pay them to solve that issue. This is a scam. If you’re concerned, contact USCIS directly. Also read Avoid Immigration Scams and Get Real Help.
Source: https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-avoid-government-impersonation-scam
Home Builder Pleads Guilty to Tax ConspiracyRead the Press Release
A former Massachusetts home builder pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiring to defraud the United States and creating false documents to help one of his clients obtain a mortgage.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Kent Pecoy owned and operated Kent Pecoy & Sons, Construction Inc., a West Springfield-based commercial and luxury home construction company.
From 2009 through 2016, Pecoy conspired with others to conceal income from the IRS by dealing in cash. Specifically, Pecoy received $1,116,900 in cash payments from Kevin Kennedy, who was sentenced to prison last month for tax crimes, for the purchase and construction of custom-built homes in East Longmeadow and on Cape Cod. Pecoy did not deposit most of the cash into the businesses’ bank accounts, but rather distributed the cash directly to vendors and subcontractors. For example, Pecoy used approximately $135,700 of that cash to pay subcontractors under the table for work performed at the Cape Cod home. Pecoy also created and maintained separate ledgers documenting Kennedy’s cash payments, created and maintained false contracts and cover sheets and created false entries in the company’s accounting system to conceal the cash payments.
For the payments Pecoy did deposit, he deposited the cash in amounts less than $10,000 to avoid the filing of currency transaction reports.
For the East Longmeadow home, in January 2010, Kennedy and Pecoy created two contracts, one with the agreed-upon purchase price and one with a deflated purchase price. The latter contract listed a purchase price that was $160,000 lower than the contract price, which was the amount Kennedy had paid to Pecoy in cash as a down payment for the home. Kennedy then submitted the deflated home purchase contract to the bank to induce it to provide him a mortgage for part of the East Longmeadow home.
In total, Pecoy caused a loss to the IRS of more than $250,000.
Pecoy also obstructed the IRS after it opened an investigation. The IRS served a grand jury subpoena on Pecoy, to which he responded. However, when IRS special agents executed a search warrant at Pecoy’s construction business, they found dozens of documents responsive to the subpoena that Pecoy had not turned over to the government even though he was legally required to have done so.
Pecoy is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 20. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for conspiring to defraud the United States and 30 years in prison for making a false statement to a bank. 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 for the District of Massachusetts made the announcement.
IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.
Assistant Chief Eric B. Powers of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Desroches for the District of Massachusetts are prosecuting the case.
Guatemalan extradited to the Eastern District of Texas to face international drug trafficking chargesRead the Press Release
SHERMAN – A Guatemalan man has been extradited to the United States to face international drug trafficking charges in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Damien M. Diggs.
According to information presented in court, the Los Pochos drug trafficking organization (DTO), based in Guatemala and Mexico, supplies multi-ton quantities of cocaine to multiple high-level Guatemala- and Mexico-based heads of cocaine trafficking cells. The Los Pochos DTO supplies vast quantities of cocaine to Sinaloa Cartel leaders who have an existing transportation infrastructure to receive, consolidate, and transport the cocaine to markets in the United States.
Juan Jose Morales Cifuentes, 33, also known as Pancho, a leader of the Los Pochos DTO since 2019, is a Guatemala-based cocaine distributor and transportation coordinator associated with the Sinaloa Cartel and the son-in-law of deceased significant foreign narcotics trafficker Erik Salvador Suñiga Rodriguez. Morales Cifuentes is notorious for using violence to resolve conflicts and has engaged in executions of former associates in furtherance of the Los Pochos DTO’s narcotics trafficking activities. Mexican traffickers pay taxes to Morales Cifuentes to store their narcotics in the Guatemalan border towns of Tecun Uman and San Marcos. The organization purchases approximately 4,000 kilograms of cocaine monthly, totaling approximately 48,000 kilograms yearly, and is responsible for supplying multiple high-level Guatemalan and Mexican drug traffickers, including Mexico-based cartel leaders. Morales Cifuentes was extradited from Guatemala to the United States on May 16, 2024.
On June 15, 2023, a grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas charged Morales Cifuentes with multiple crimes, including conspiracy to manufacture and distribute cocaine, intending, knowing, and having reasonable cause to believe it would be unlawfully imported to the United States.
This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
This case is being investigated by the North Texas Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (“OCDETF”) Strike Force Group Two; the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Dallas Division; the DEA’s Guatemala City Country Office and the DEA’s San Jose (Costa Rica) Country Office; the FBI’s Dallas Field Office; the Homeland Security Investigation’s Dallas and Guatemala Field Offices; the U.S. Marshals Service’s Dallas Field Office; and Customs and Border Patrol’s San Diego Field Office.
The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance in securing the defendant’s arrest and extradition to the United States. This individual is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Wes Wynne.
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Guatemalan citizens extradited to the United States to face drug trafficking charges in the Eastern District of TexasRead the Press Release
SHERMAN – Four Guatemalan citizens have been extradited to the United States to face international drug trafficking charges in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Damien M. Diggs.
Jorge Luis Rodriguez, 63; Pedro Pablo Yaser Barrios-Cruz, 49; Melvin Hilario Estrada-Flores, 35; and Magner Lopez-Mejia, 45, were extradited from Guatemala to the United States on May 16, 2024.
According to the information presented in court, the defendants are alleged to have been involved in a Guatemalan-based drug trafficking organization that uses U.S. planes to transport cocaine from Venezuela to Guatemala and then to Mexico for ultimate distribution in the United States. The defendants’ network distributed multi-ton quantities of cocaine monthly. On Nov. 9, 2020, the defendants crashed a plane with more than 1000 kilograms of cocaine in Guatemala resulting in a shoot-out with Guatemalan police after the crash.
On June 10, 2021, a grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas charged the defendants with multiple crimes, including conspiracy to manufacture and distribute cocaine, intending, knowing, and having reasonable cause to believe it would be unlawfully imported to the United States and conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute by person on board an aircraft.
This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
This case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations’ Dallas, HSI Laredo, and HSI Guatemala Field Offices; Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security; Federal Aviation Administration; and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Marine Operations.
The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance in securing the defendant’s arrest and extradition to the United States. These individuals are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Rapp.
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Former assistant scoutmaster pleads guilty to receiving child sexual abuse materialRead the Press Release
NORFOLK, Va. – A former Assistant Scoutmaster with the Boy Scouts of America from Virginia Beach pleaded guilty today to receiving images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
According to court documents, in June 2023, Virginia Beach Police (VBPD) investigating individuals sharing child sexual abuse material using file-sharing technology identified Andrew Harris Reshefsky, 42, as a distributor and recipient of the abuse material
On Aug. 17, 2023, VPBD officers executed a search warrant at the residence and seized multiple electronic devices in Reshefsky’s possession. Reshefsky’s phone contained images of sexual exploitation of children received in WhatsApp messages in 2021 and 2022. Forensic analysis of Reshefsky’s other electronic devices yielded numerous additional videos and imagery involving child sexual abuse material (CSAM) spanning years.
Reshefsky is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 18. He faces a mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum of twenty years in prison. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Derek W. Gordon, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C.; and Paul Neudigate, Chief of Virginia Beach Police, made the announcement after Senior U.S. District Judge John A. Gibney Jr. accepted the plea.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Clayton D. LaForge and Joseph L. Kosky are prosecuting the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:23-cr-146.
Anyone who believes they or someone they know may have been victimized by Reshefsky is encouraged to contact the HSI tip line at 1-877-4-HSI-TIP or through the CyberTipline on the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's website.
Former San Diego Sheriff’s Deputy Charged with Civil Rights Violation for Fatally Shooting Unarmed ManRead the Press Release
A federal grand jury in San Diego returned a two-count indictment charging former San Diego Sheriff’s Deputy Aaron Russell for fatally shooting Nicholas Bils on May 1, 2020. Russell is charged with depriving Bils of his right to be free from officers using excessive force and with discharging a firearm in relation to a crime of violence.
The indictment alleges that Russell, while acting as a San Diego Sheriff’s Deputy, shot Bils after Bils had escaped from a California Parks vehicle and was running away from law enforcement officers who were chasing him. Without warning Bils or his fellow officers, Russell fired five shots at Bils, who was unarmed, as he ran away. One or more of the shots hit Bils in the back and caused his death. None of the other officers on scene fired a shot or drew a weapon.
If convicted, Russell faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath for the Southern District of California and Special Agent in Charge Stacey Moy of the FBI San Diego Field Office made the announcement.
Assistant U.S. Attorney C. Seth Askins for the Southern District of California, Special Litigation Counsel Michael J. Songer and Trial Attorney Lia Rettammel of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section are prosecuting the case.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Former Montgomery County Restaurant Owner Charged with PPP and RRF Loan FraudRead the Press Release
PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced that Giuseppina “Josephine” Leone, 61, of North Wales, PA, was charged by indictment with three counts of wire fraud for making false representations in documents relating to the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) and Restaurant Revitalization Fund (“RRF”) program, which provided emergency financial assistance to business owners suffering the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The indictment alleges that Leone and her husband were owners of Ristorante San Marco (“RSM”), an Italian restaurant located in Ambler, PA. Leone and her husband executed an Agreement for Sale of Real Property dated October 20, 2019, listing themselves as the “Sellers” of the RSM property and a third party as the “Buyer” for a purchase price of $1,575,000. Subsequently, on or about March 18, 2020, Leone posted on the restaurant’s Facebook page informing the public that RSM would be temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. RSM remained closed and never reopened.
The indictment further alleges that despite the restaurant not being in operation in April 2020, Leone submitted a fraudulent application for a PPP loan in the amount of $138,000. This application misrepresented that RSM, which had been closed for approximately a month, had 17 employees, and would use the loan for payroll and other operating expenses. The fraudulent application was approved, and the loan funds were deposited into RSM’s bank account later that month. The loan was subsequently forgiven based on further misrepresentations by Leone.
In January 2021, while the restaurant was still not in operation, Leone submitted another fraudulent application for a PPP loan, this time seeking $120,000. The application made similar misrepresentations and was approved, resulting in the requested funds being deposited into RSM’s bank account in February 2021. Again, the PPP loan was forgiven due to misrepresentations by Leone.
Finally, Leone defrauded another COVID-19 relief program. While RSM was still not in operation in May 2021, Leone submitted a fraudulent application for a grant under the RRF program, requesting $699,196 for restaurant operations. This RRF application mispresented that RSM , which had not been operating since March 2020, was in operation and that the money would be used to pay employee wages. As a result of this deception, the request was approved, and the funds were deposited into RSM’s bank account later in May 2021. One month later, in June 2021, Leone closed on the sale of RSM. Nonetheless, over a year later, Leone misrepresented to the federal government that the RRF funds had been used for eligible purposes, even though RSM was never reopened by Leone.
If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in prison for each count and a total fine of $750,000. The defendant will also be required to forfeit all proceeds received as a result of the alleged fraud, including, but not limited to, the sum of $957,196.
The case was investigated by the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Homeland Security Investigations, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Angella Middleton.
An indictment, information, or criminal complaint is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Former Luxury Homebuilder Pleads Guilty to Fraud ConspiracyRead the Press Release
BOSTON – The former owner of a now-defunct luxury home building business in West Springfield pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiring to defraud the United States and creating false documents to help one of his clients obtain a mortgage.
Kent Pecoy, 66, of San Marco, Fla., previously of Wilbraham, pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to defraud the United States and one count of making a false statement to a federally insured financial institution. U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni scheduled sentencing for Aug. 20, 2024.
Kent Pecoy was previously indicted in December 2019 along with his son, Jason Pecoy, and Kevin M. Kennedy, the former owner of a golf management company, for allegedly conspiring to defraud the United States by concealing cash payments for the construction of Kennedy’s two homes in East Longmeadow and West Dennis. The defendants were later charged in a superseding indictment in January 2020. On April 24, 2024, Kennedy was sentenced to 13 months in prison after being convicted by a federal jury for conspiracy to defraud the United States and making a false statement to a federally insured financial institution. Jason Pecoy had pleaded not guilty and is pending trial.
Kent Pecoy owned and operated Kent Pecoy & Sons, Construction Inc. (KPSC) – a West Springfield-based commercial and luxury home construction company – as well as Sturbridge Development, LLC (Sturbridge) and Legacy General Contractors, LLC (Legacy). KPSCI constructed two homes for Kennedy in East Longmeadow and West Dennis – for which Kennedy paid Kent Pecoy in cash.
From 2009 through 2016, Pecoy conspired with others to conceal income from the IRS by dealing in cash. Specifically, Pecoy received $1,116,900 in cash payments from Kennedy for the purchase and construction of custom-built homes in East Longmeadow and on Cape Cod. Kent Pecoy failed to deposit most of the cash into business bank accounts, and instead distributed the cash directly to vendors and subcontractors. For the payments Kent Pecoy did deposit, he deposited the cash in amounts less than $10,000 to avoid the filing of currency transaction reports.
Kent Pecoy also created and maintained separate ledgers documenting Kennedy’s cash payments, created and maintained false contracts and cover sheets and created false entries in KPSC’s accounting system to conceal the cash payments.
Additionally, in January 2010, Kent Pecoy and Kennedy made false statements to Charles Schwab Bank on a loan to Kennedy and his wife for the construction of a residence in East Longmeadow in an attempt to conceal $160,000 cash down payment. These false statements included understating the sale price of the residence lot, the price of the construction and the deposit and earnest money paid by Kennedy.
The charge of making a false statement to a federally insured financial institution provides for a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of $1 million. Sentences are imposed based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. The conspiracy charges provide for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $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 Harry Chavis, Jr., Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Boston Field Office made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven H. Breslow and Neil L. Desroches of the Springfield Branch Office are prosecuting the case along with Trial Attorney Eric B. Powers of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.
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.
Former IRS Revenue Officer and His Brother Among Six Defendants Sentenced to Prison in Multi-Million-Dollar Covid-19 Fraud SchemeRead the Press Release
OAKLAND – Six defendants, including a former IRS revenue officer and his brother, have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from 12 to 30 months following their convictions on charges that they fraudulently obtained millions of dollars in COVID-19 pandemic relief funds through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), announced United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey; IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael Mosley of the Oakland Field Office; Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) Special Agent in Charge Weston King of the Western Region; and Office of Inspector General for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Special Agent in Charge Jon Ellwanger of the Western Region. The sentences were handed down by the Hon. Araceli Martínez-Olguín, United States District Judge.
Five defendants—Frank Mosley, 58, of Oakland; his brother Reginald Mosley, 60, of Sacramento; Marcus Wilborn, 50, of Elk Grove, California; Aaron Boren, 56, of Roseville, California; and Scott Conway, 52, of Rocklin, California—pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349. The Mosley brothers, both of whom were sentenced to 30 months in prison, also pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and advising in the filing of false tax returns, in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7201(2). Wilborn was sentenced to 18 months in prison and Boren and Conway were each sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison for their roles in the scheme. The sixth defendant—Kenya Ellis, 55, of Los Angeles—pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1344, and was sentenced to 12 months in prison. All six defendants were originally charged in May 2023.
According to the defendants’ plea agreements and the parties’ sentencing memoranda, Frank Mosley was a tax enforcement officer for the City of Oakland and a former IRS revenue officer who conspired with others between July 2020 and September 2021 to submit fraudulent PPP loan applications and to spend his portion of the more than $3 million in loan funds he and his co-conspirators fraudulently obtained on personal investments and expenses.
“At the height of a global pandemic wreaking havoc on American businesses and families, these defendants fraudulently obtained millions of dollars in aid money intended to help those who desperately needed it and used that money to enrich themselves,” said United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey. “That one of these defendants was a former IRS revenue officer makes their crime that much more concerning. These sentences should help rebuild some of the public trust eroded by the defendants’ greed.”
“Frank and Reginald Mosley, along with their co-conspirators, ran an abhorrent scheme that fraudulently obtained over $3 million of funds designed to help struggling businesses in the wake of a global pandemic. Even worse, Frank Mosley, a former IRS revenue agent, exploited his expertise to help cover up the scheme,” said IRS-CI Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael Mosley. “No one is above the law. Fostering confidence in our financial system and public institutions is at the core of IRS Criminal Investigation’s mission.”
“The Mosley brothers orchestrated a scheme that defrauded the federal government of over $3 million in pandemic relief funds intended to help distressed businesses for their own personal gain,” said Jon Ellwanger, Special Agent in Charge, Western Region, Office of Inspector General for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. “They and their co-conspirators have now been brought to justice for their actions. We are proud to have worked with our federal law enforcement partners and the U.S. Attorney’s Office to achieve this result.”
“This sentencing sends a clear message that those who defraud SBA’s programs will be held accountable,” said SBA OIG’s Western Region Special Agent in Charge Weston King. “Our office will remain steadfast in pursuing those who exploit such vital resources for personal gain, ensuring accountability, and justice for the American taxpayer. I want to thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners for their unwavering commitment to pursuing justice in this case.”
According to their plea agreements, the Mosley brothers, Wilborn, Boren, and Conway each admitted their involvement in a scheme to obtain millions of dollars in PPP loans by submitting fraudulent documents on behalf of companies the defendants falsely certified had dozens of employees and hundreds of thousands of dollars in monthly payroll expenses. In fact, these were shell companies with no legitimate employees and no payroll expenses. The defendants also admitted they did not use the PPP loan funds they fraudulently obtained on legitimate business expenses; rather, they admitted using those funds for personal expenses and investments, to pay their personal credit card bills, and to transfer money to family members.
According to their plea agreements, Frank and Reginald Mosley submitted a fraudulent loan application on behalf of Forward Thinking Investors, Inc., an entity they controlled, in August 2020. They received more than $1 million in PPP funds, and Reginald Mosley thereafter recruited acquaintances (including Wilborn, Boren, and Conway) who owned companies that existed before February 2020 to submit additional fraudulent loan applications. Frank and Reginald Mosley helped prepare fraudulent loan applications for Wilborn, Boren, and Conway, who kicked back some of the PPP funds they received to the Mosley brothers. In fact, Frank and Reginald Mosley admitted they drafted a contract under which they would receive at least 15 percent of any fraudulently obtained PPP funds in exchange for their assistance in preparing and submitting fraudulent applications for Wilborn, Boren, and Conway. Finally, Frank and Reginald Mosley admitted filing fraudulent payroll tax returns with the IRS to cover up their scheme.
In her plea agreement, Ellis admitted she aided and advised the Mosley brothers and others in connection with their fraudulent PPP loan applications. She also admitted that, in 2020 and 2021, she fraudulently obtained almost $300,000 in PPP loans and other pandemic-relief aid in connection with an entity she falsely claimed to own and about which she made other material false statements, including regarding its number of employees and monthly payroll expenses. In fact, Ellis was unaffiliated with the entity, whose true owner had no awareness of, or involvement in, the preparation and submission of Ellis’ loan applications.
The PPP was administered by the SBA as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, a federal law enacted in March 2020 to provide billions of dollars in emergency financial assistance to millions of Americans suffering from the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The PPP provided forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other qualified business expenses.
In addition to sentencing all six defendants to prison, Judge Martínez-Olguín ordered each of them to serve three years of supervised release to begin after their prison terms are completed. Judge Martínez-Olguín also ordered each defendant to pay restitution in an amount to be set at a later date.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Abraham Fine is prosecuting these cases with assistance from Kay Konopaske. The prosecutions are the result of an investigation by IRS-CI, SBA OIG, and the Office of Inspector General for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Former Construction Contractor Sentenced for Crimes Involving Fort Drum ContractsRead the Press Release
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Sean O’Sullivan, age 61, of Sackets Harbor, New York, was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Utica to 2 years of Probation and ordered to pay $345,271.34 in restitution to the United States after previously pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in relation to government contracts and conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States by offering and giving gratuities to a former Fort Drum contracting officer.
The announcement was made by United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman; Brian J. Solecki, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Department of Defense Office of Inspector General Defense Criminal Investigative Service; Joel Kirch, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division, Northeast Field Office; Joseph Dattoria, Special Agent in Charge of the General Services Administration, Office of the Inspector General (GSA-OIG), Northeast Region Investigations Office; Christopher A. Scharf, Special Agent in Charge, Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, Northeastern Region (DOT-OIG); and Amaleka McCall-Brathwaite, Special Agent-in-Charge, Eastern Regional Office, Small Business Administration, Office of Inspector General.
The wire fraud conspiracy related to government contracts O’Sullivan fraudulently obtained with his former business partner, David Rose, of Newport News, Virginia, which had been “set aside” solely for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (“SDVOSBs”). To be designated as an SDVOSB, a construction company must meet certain criteria, including that a military veteran with a disability rating incurred as a result of military service must own the majority of the business and personally manage and control its daily business operations. In pleading guilty previously, O’Sullivan admitted that he conspired with David Rose to defraud the United States by bidding for and obtaining contracts set aside for SDVOSBs, to which they knew they were not entitled. Specifically, O’Sullivan and Rose incorporated and became co-owners of a construction company named Sierra Delta Contracting, LLC. O’Sullivan controlled and managed Sierra Delta and bid on and obtained contracts primarily at Fort Drum in Watertown, New York. Although Rose is a service-disabled military veteran, O’Sullivan is not. However, O’Sullivan certified to federal agencies that Sierra Delta was an SDVOSB by representing, falsely, that Rose personally managed and controlled Sierra Delta’s day-to-day business operations. In reality, O’Sullivan, not Rose, controlled and managed Sierra Delta in Jefferson Country, New York, where it sought and received construction contracts, while Rose continued to live and work at a separate full-time job in Virginia. Rose, who had no construction experience, offered little to no input on the management of Sierra Delta.
Between May 2014 and July 2017, Sierra Delta bid on and received multiple construction contracts from the Army at Fort Drum, New York, and one construction contract from the U.S. Department of Transportation. All of the contracts were 100% set aside for SDVOSBs. Each time Sierra Delta received one of these set aside contracts to which it was not entitled, O’Sullivan hired SOS Inc. – his own construction company – as the primary subcontractor on the fraudulently obtained contracts, enabling O’Sullivan to retain the majority of the resulting profits. Sierra Delta received more than $3.3 million in gross revenue from these fraudulently obtained contracts, and O’Sullivan has admitted that he personally received $345,271.34 in profits from the scheme.
Even as O’Sullivan and Rose were continuing their conspiracy to obtain government contracts by fraud, two different government agencies challenged Sierra Delta’s SDVOSB status and questioned whether Rose actually managed the construction company on a day-to-day basis. In response, Rose falsely claimed that he “control[led] the long term and day to day operations of Sierra Delta Contracting LLC,” that he maintained Sierra Delta’s “main office” in Virginia, that he worked on Sierra Delta business 25 hours a week and that O’Sullivan dedicated substantially less time to Sierra Delta. Rose also falsely claimed that he was “responsible for all decisions regarding which projects will be bid on by [Sierra Delta]” and that he (Rose) was solely “responsible for all proposals, including pricing.” Rose and O’Sullivan both knew these statements were false.
Rose, O’Sullivan, and their businesses previously agreed to pay a total of $758,526.68 to the United States to resolve their civil liability for the submission of false claims to the federal government seeking payment on the fraudulently obtained contracts. O’Sullivan, Sierra Delta Contracting LLC, and SOS Inc. agreed to pay $690,542.68; and Rose agreed to pay $67,984. Rose also previously pled guilty for his role in the conspiracy and admitted that he received $33,992 in profits. Following his felony conviction for this offense, Rose was fined $2,000. As part of O’Sullivan’s sentence, United States District Judge David N. Hurd ordered O’Sullivan to pay $345,271.34 in restitution to the United States, which O’Sullivan has already paid through the related civil settlement.
O’Sullivan’s sentence yesterday also related to his prior guilty plea for conspiring to commit an offense against the United States by offering and giving gratuities to Cindy McAleese (nee Garnsey), a former civilian contracting officer at Fort Drum, from November 2009 through February 2018. With respect to that offense, O’Sullivan admitted that he promised and provided things of value to McAleese, including sports tickets, meals, sexual encounters, and time and attention, for and because of official action taken by McAleese on O’Sullivan’s behalf, such as providing O’Sullivan’s company with government contracts, approving payment on those contracts, and reviewing the work performed by Sierra Delta. O’Sullivan also admitted that he and McAleese took steps to keep their relationship a secret from other officials at Fort Drum and from O’Sullivan’s colleagues. McAleese has pled guilty for her role in the gratuities conspiracy but has not been sentenced, and she is no longer employed by the U.S. Army.
The investigation and resolution of these cases were the result of a coordinated effort among the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York, the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General Defense Criminal Investigative Service; U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division; General Services Administration, Office of the Inspector General; U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Inspector General; and Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, Northeast Region. The criminal cases are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael Perry. The civil case was handled by Assistant United States Attorney Christopher R. Moran.
Former CEO and Office Manager Sentenced and Ordered to Repay More than One Million in RestitutionRead the Press Release
TULSA, Okla. – This week, the court sentenced Dawna Rochelle Sanders and Tracy Glenn Whyburn. Sanders and Whyburn are former employees of Premier Community Services (PCS).
“For several years, Sanders and Whyburn took advantage of their employer whose mission is to help people with special needs,” said U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson. “This sentencing sends a clear message that those who defraud others for their own personal gain will be brought to justice.”
“Together Mr. Whyburn and Ms. Sanders embezzled more than $1.1 million from their employer and attempted to hide the money through various transactions,” said Christopher J. Altemus Jr., special agent in charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation’s Dallas Field Office. “The financial expertise of CI Special Agents identified their illicit activity and, working with other agencies, brought them to justice.”
According to court documents, PCS provides community-based residential support services to people with developmental and intellectual disabilities. From 2009 through 2016, Sanders conspired with her colleague, Whyburn to defraud PCS and
the Bank of Oklahoma.As the CEO, Sanders was entrusted with managing the daily business affairs for PCS. As the office manager, Whyburn reported directly to Sanders. Part of the duo’s elaborate scheme included “ghost employees.” Sanders would direct funds to Whyburn through the ghost employees. Whyburn would cash the check and split the proceeds with Sanders.
The duo’s scheme cost PCS more than $1.1 million.
- U.S. District Judge Sara E. Hill sentenced Sanders, 55, for Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud. Judge Hill ordered Sanders to 33 months imprisonment, five years of supervised release, and to pay more than $999k in restitution.
- U.S. District Judge John D. Russell sentenced Whyburn, 64, for Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud; and Willfully Making and Subscribing a False Income Tax Return. Judge Russell ordered Whyburn to 24 months imprisonment, 5 years of supervised release, and to pay more than $603k in restitution.
Sanders and Whyburn were permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.
The IRS Criminal Investigations assisted in the investigation of both cases. Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Buscemi prosecuted the case.
Former Arizona Licensed Insurance Agent Sentenced to Prison for Defrauding Elderly ClientsRead the Press Release
TUCSON, Ariz. – Victoria Totten, 72, of Green Valley, was sentenced on Tuesday by United States District Judge Jennifer G. Zipps to 21 months in prison. Totten pleaded guilty to Mail Fraud on November 8, 2023.
For years, Totten defrauded many of her elderly clients while working as a licensed insurance agent. Totten fraudulently over-collected insurance premium payments by falsely representing the terms of the insurance policies to her clients. Totten falsely claimed that payments should be made in advance to lock in a lower rate. After receiving the funds, instead of transmitting the victims’ premium payments directly to the insurance companies, Totten misused large portions of the victims’ money for her own personal gain and to pay insurance premiums for other clients. To disguise her scheme, Totten used her P.O. box on insurance paperwork so correspondence from insurance companies went to Totten instead of the victims. As part of Totten’s sentence, the court ordered her to pay $114,781 in restitution.
The United States Secret Service conducted the investigation in this case. The United States Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, Tucson, handled the prosecution.
CASE NUMBER: CR-23-00282-JGZ
RELEASE NUMBER: 2024-066_Totten# # #
For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on X @USAO_AZ for the latest news.Former Accounting Manager of Pasadena Storage Business Sentenced to Prison for Insider TradingRead the Press Release
LOS ANGELES – A former employee at a publicly traded Pasadena-based company was sentenced today to nine months in federal prison for buying more than 66,000 company shares based on non-public information that the company was about to be acquired at a higher per-share price, and then selling the shares after news of the acquisition became public, resulting in nearly $500,000 in ill-gotten gains, the Justice Department announced today.
Marco Antonio Perez, 60, a.k.a. “Marc Perez,” of Glendora, was sentenced by United States District Judge Fernando L. Aenlle-Rocha, who also ordered Perez to serve six months’ home detention following his release from prison. In reaching the sentence he imposed, Judge Aenlle-Rocha highlighted Perez’s role as an accounting manager for the company and his exploitation of that position of trust for personal gain.
As accounting manager at General Finance Corp., a Pasadena-based storage and modular space company, Perez reported to the company’s chief financial officer. He also performed assignments for the company’s chairman, including printing out the chairman’s emails. As a result, Perez had access to material information belonging to General Finance, including offers to buy the company, before the information was released to the investing public.
According to court documents, Perez knowingly violated insider trading law and company policy, and abused his position as a trusted corporate insider. After learning that his employer’s company was about to be acquired by a larger company at a premium, and before such information was made known to the trading public, Perez purchased stock for his own personal gain and also tipped off others close to him so they could similarly profit.
In violation of his fiduciary duties to General Finance and its shareholders, and in violation of the company’s policy against insider trading, in March and April of 2021, Perez purchased a total of 66,585 shares of General Finance stock which he was later able to sell for a total of $1,262,815. Perez purchased the General Finance stock after reading confidential emails sent to the company’s chairman in February and March 2021, that concerned the pending sale of General Finance for a price in the range of $19-$20 per share. Perez paid prices between $10 and $12 for the 66,585 shares he bought.
General Finance was ultimately sold to United Rentals Inc., a Stamford, Connecticut-based company that was the largest equipment rental business in the world. On April 15, 2021, United Rentals issued a press release announcing that it was acquiring General Finance for $19 per share. Prior to this announcement, General Finance’s share price closed that day at $12.17. The day after United Rentals’ announcement, the price of General Finance shares surged from $12.17 – the closing price before the announcement -- to $19 per share.
Within two weeks after the announcement, Perez sold all 66,585 shares he had purchased on inside information, netting a profit of approximately $488,533.
Perez also admitted to tipping off two other people about the impending sale of General Finance, which also violated General Finance’s policy against insider trading. Both individuals acted on Perez’s inside information and made profits of $127,140 and $34,867, respectively.
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has a pending civil case against Perez stemming from his illegal activity in this case in which judgment was entered against Perez on October 11, 2023, requiring him to disgorge ill-gotten gains, pay prejudgment interest, and pay a civil penalty, to be determined by the judge in that civil case. SEC v. Marco A. Perez, CV 23-8079-JLS.
The FBI investigated this matter.
Assistant United States Attorneys Ranee A. Katzenstein of the Criminal Appeals Section and Steven M. Arkow of the Major Frauds Section prosecuted this case.
Federal Jury Finds Nigerian Man Guilty of Money Laundering and Aiding and Abetting Wire Fraud and Mail FraudRead the Press Release
BISMARCK – United States Attorney Mac Schneider announced that on May 16, 2024, after a four-day trial, a federal jury found Nigerian citizen Christopher Agbaje guilty on charges of 1) Money Laundering; 2) Aiding and Abetting Wire Fraud; and 3) Aiding and Abetting Mail Fraud. The jury found Agbaje not guilty on charges of 1) Wire Fraud; and 2) Mail Fraud. United States District Court Judge Daniel M. Traynor presided over Agbaje’s jury trial in Bismarck, North Dakota, after Agbaje was extradited to North Dakota from the United Kingdom.
As demonstrated at trial, between November and December 2020, the defendant participated with others in a sophisticated scheme to defraud a North Dakota law firm out of $198,336.68. As part of this scheme, individuals falsely purported to be a business owner in a legal dispute with a Bismarck, North Dakota, company and entered into a fictious attorney-client relationship with this law firm. Through email communications, these individuals made false statements and promises, upon which the law firm relied to their detriment. Thereafter, the law firm received a parcel containing a fraudulent Citibank check payable to the law firm in the amount of $198,850.00 and deposited this check in the law firm’s bank account. Subsequently, at the purported business owner’s request, the law firm sent a $198,336.68 wire transfer to Agbaje’s business partner. A short time later, Agbaje directed his business partner to fraudulently initiate a $180,000.00 international wire transfer with the intent to conceal the location, ownership, and control of the law firm’s money.
“Our determined career prosecutors and their law enforcement partners will cross oceans to bring international fraudsters to justice when they target North Dakota,” Schneider said. “I commend our trial team for the hard work and skill that went into this result. Combatting fraud — whether it’s homegrown or from overseas — will continue to be a high priority for the United States Attorney’s Office.”
"The FBI will aggressively investigate individuals, like Christopher Agbaje, who engage in fraudulent schemes at the expense of the American public," said Special Agent in Charge Alvin M. Winston Sr. of FBI Minneapolis. "The guilty verdict today underscores the FBI, the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, and the North Dakota U.S. Attorney's Office's dedication to collaborating with global partners in tackling fraud on an international scale to protect the American people."
The District Court will schedule Agbaje’s sentencing hearing for a date and time to be determined.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jonathan J. O’Konek and Nick Baker. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided substantial assistance with securing the arrest and extradition of Agbaje.
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FBI Arrest District of Columbia Man Following Indictment on Charges of Distribution of Child PornographyRead the Press Release
WASHINGTON – Gustav Donald Seestedt, 37, of Northwest Washington D.C., was taken into custody on Thursday, May 16, 2024, following an indictment charging him with distribution of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, FBI Special Agent in Charge David J. Scott of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division, and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
The government alleges that on May 7, 2024, Seestedt exchanged messages with an undercover law enforcement officer (UC) assigned to the FBI’s Washington Field Office (WFO) through an encrypted messaging application. During the chat, Seestedt expressed a sexual interest in children and sent the UC four videos depicting children engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including one video depicting the anal rape of a toddler who was crying and resisting her assailant.
Distribution of child pornography carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years’ imprisonment and a statutory maximum of 20 years’ imprisonment. The statutory sentences for federal offenses are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes. Any sentence will be determined by the Court based on the advisory Sentencing Guideline and other statutory factors.
The case is being investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office and MPD’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Shinskie of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Evansville Snapchat Fentanyl Dealer Responsible for at least Three Overdoses and Teen’s Death Sentenced to Twenty Years in Federal PrisonRead the Press Release
EVANSVILLE- Jeremial Lee Leach, 20, of Evansville, Indiana has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to one count of Distribution of Fentanyl Resulting in Death, one count of distribution of fentanyl, and one count of distribution of fentanyl resulting in serious bodily injury.
According to court documents, Leach is responsible for dealing fentanyl resulting in at least three overdoses, one of which resulted in the death of a 19-year-old. Leach advertised fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills over Snapchat to hundreds of recipients using the alias “Mel.”
On June 25, 2022, at approximately 12:11 a.m., officers with the Evansville Police Department (EPD) responded to a residence on Wedeking Avenue in reference to the overdose of a woman. The woman was revived with naloxone. Later the same day, at approximately 10:55 a.m., EPD officers responded to the same residence for the overdose of another woman, just nineteen years old, who subsequently died. The coroner located a counterfeit oxycodone pill containing fentanyl on the deceased woman’s person. The cause of both overdoses was determined to be fentanyl intoxication.
Investigators searched the deceased victim’s phone and found conversations between her and Jeremial “Mel” Leach in which they discussed a transaction for the purchase of pills they identified as “blues.” Leach gave her his address on Shanklin Avenue and confirmed the price for the sale of the pills.
On August 20, 2022, at approximately 4:15 p.m., EPD officers were dispatched to a restaurant located on Hirschland Road concerning an overdose. Upon arrival, the officers located a woman sitting on the ground in the parking lot of the restaurant, not alert and beginning to lose consciousness. An officer administered naloxone and, a short time later, the woman began to regain consciousness. The woman advised first responders and medical personnel that she had taken a 30 mg tablet of oxycodone. The women’s companion identified Leach as the supplier of the pill and the location of the purchase as a residence on Shanklin Avenue.
On October 11, 2022, investigators with the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Drug Task Force observed Leach conduct two apparent drug deals at his residence. The buyers left separately in a Kia Optima and a gold Hyundai Tucson. Shortly thereafter, law enforcement stopped both vehicles after observing traffic violations.
During the stop of the vehicles, investigators located three blue pills marked “M30” inside the Kia and six blue pills marked “M30” inside the Tucson. One of the boys in the buyer’s car later stated that his dealer’s name was “Mel.”
Later that day, officers executed a search warrant at Leach’s residence on Shanklin Avenue. Leach exited the front door of the home and was taken into custody by detectives. Some of the items located and seized during the search included 33 blue pills marked “30,” a digital scale, two 9mm pistols, and approximately $1,843 in cash.
The pills seized during the two traffic stops and from Leach’s residence were submitted for laboratory analysis and tested positive for the presence of fentanyl.
“This young woman should be alive today. Mr. Leach pushed deadly poison over social media, ending a teenager’s life far too early, and risking many more,” said Zachary A. Myers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. “Fentanyl traffickers commit their crimes with utter disregard for the lives of our friends and neighbors or the harm they cause to families in our community. I commend the outstanding work of the DEA, the Evansville Police Department, the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Drug Task Force, and our federal prosecutors to secure some measure of justice for the victims of this fentanyl dealer. The sentence imposed here should serve as a warning: these poisons kill—and selling them will earn you decades in federal prison.”
“The sentence imposed on Mr. Leach is righteous and justified. Mr. Leach utilized social media platforms to advertise the sale of fentanyl and continued distributing the poisonous fentanyl even though it had already caused fatal and near fatal overdoses. The DEA would like to extend their deepest condolences to the Duncan family and all families who have lost a loved one to a fentanyl poising,” said DEA Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Mike Gannon. “DEA remains committed to working hand in hand with our state, local and federal partners in order to keep our communities safe. DEA commends the outstanding work by the Evansville Police Department, The Evansville-Vanderburgh County Drug Task Force and the United States Attorney’s Office.”
DEA, Evansville Police Department, and the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Drug Task Force investigated this case. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Richard L. Young.
U.S. Attorney Myers thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Kristian Mukoski and Todd S. Shellenbarger, who prosecuted this case.
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, as little as two milligrams of fentanyl can be fatal, depending on a person’s body size, tolerance, and past usage. One kilogram of fentanyl has the potential to kill 500,000 people. Laboratory testing indicates 7 out of every 10 pills seized by DEA contain a lethal dose of fentanyl.
One Pill Can Kill: Avoid pills bought on the street because One Pill Can Kill. Fentanyl is a highly potent opioid that drug dealers dilute with cutting agents to make counterfeit prescription pills that appear to be Oxycodone, Percocet, Xanax, and other drugs. Fentanyl is used because it’s cheap. Small variations in the quantity or quality of fentanyl in a fake prescription pill can accidentally create a lethal dosage. Fentanyl has now become the leading cause of drug poisoning deaths in the United States. Fake prescription pills laced with fentanyl are usually shaped and colored to look like pills sold at pharmacies, like Percocet and Xanax. For example, fake prescription pills known as “M30s” imitate Oxycodone obtained from a pharmacy, but when sold on the street the pills routinely contain fentanyl. These particular pills are usually round tablets and often light blue in color, though they may be in different shapes and a rainbow of colors. They often have “M” and “30” imprinted on opposite sides of the pill. Do not take these or any other pills bought on the street – they are routinely fake and poisonous, and you won’t know until it’s too late.
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East Aurora man arrested, charged with attempted enticement of a minorRead the Press Release
BUFFALO, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that Brian O’Brien, 41, of East Aurora, NY, was arrested in San Diego, CA, and charged by criminal complaint with attempted enticement of a minor and possession of child pornography. The charges carry a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Caitlin M. Higgins, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint, the FBI began investigating O’Brien in June 2023 after he was connected to the uploading of child pornography on Snapchat. A search warrant was executed at his residence in July 2023, during which investigators seized numerous electronic items. A cursory search of an external hard drive confirmed the presence of child pornography on the hard drive, with some images/videos appearing to have been saved roughly 10 years prior. A search of O’Brien’s phone recovered conversations between the defendant and other men, during which they discussed exchanging child pornography and the sexual abuse of children. In addition, during another conversation, O’Brien reaches out to an individual identified as “JJ,” asking to be connected to minor boys.
The complaint is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Matthew Miraglia.
The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
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Drug Trafficker Who Used College-Age Drivers to Import Methamphetamine Sentenced to 12 YearsRead the Press Release
NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – May 17, 2024
SAN DIEGO – Fernando Castro Bazan, a Los Angeles-based drug trafficker, was sentenced in federal court today to 12 years in prison for his leadership role in a drug trafficking organization that employed drivers as young as 18 years old to import large quantities of methamphetamine into the United States from Mexico in the gas tanks of rental cars.
Castro Bazan, also known as “Benji” or “Benji Banks,” started using drivers to transport drugs for a Tijuana-based drug trafficking organization in the spring of 2021. Using his status as a club promoter and amateur musician, Castro Bazan hired numerous college-aged drivers, luring them with the prospect of easy money and “all-expenses-paid trips to Mexico.”
A number of the young drivers Castro Bazan employed were arrested at the border and convicted of drug trafficking or related offenses. They now have federal felony convictions on their records.
At today’s hearing, U.S. District Judge Jinsook Ohta noted that Castro Bazan had a “catastrophic and terrible impact on the lives of young people—teenagers—who had the misfortune to come across his path.”
“Not only did this defendant import staggering amounts of a deadly drug into our community, he took advantage of vulnerable young people who failed to appreciate the tremendous risk involved,” said U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath. “He turned college-age kids into traffickers and will serve a significant sentence for it.”
Castro Bazan is also facing drug charges in the Eastern District of California for his role in a distribution conspiracy that used couriers to deliver narcotics direct to buyers in Northern California.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert J. Miller and Shivanjali A. Sewak.
DEFENDANT Case Number 22cr971-001-JO
Fernando Castro Bazan Age: 32 Los Angeles, CA
SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Conspiracy to Import Methamphetamine – Title 21, U.S.C., Sections 952, 960 and 963
Maximum penalty: Life in prison and $10 million fine
Minimum penalty: Ten years in prison
Importation of Methamphetamine – Title 21, U.S.C., Sections 952 and 960
Maximum penalty: Life in prison and $10 million fine
Minimum penalty: Ten years in prison
INVESTIGATING AGENCY
Homeland Security Investigations
Driving School Owner Charged with Conspiracy to Defraud RMVRead the Press Release
BOSTON – A Brockton man was arrested today on charges that he bribed a road test examiner to issue driver’s licenses to individuals who did not pass or even take road tests at the Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) in Brockton.
Carlos Cardoso, 70, was indicted by a federal grand jury sitting in Boston on five counts of honest services mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit honest services mail fraud. He will appear in federal court in Boston at 2 p.m. this afternoon.
According to the indictment, Cardoso, the owner of a driving school, paid cash bribes totaling $20,000 - $30,000 to a road test examiner at the Brockton RMV service center to misrepresent to the RMV that certain driver’s license applicants had passed their road test when, in fact, they had not. It is alleged that some of the applicants did not even show up to take the test. As a result of the fraud, the RMV mailed driver’s licenses to unqualified applicants.
The charge of honest services mail fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of conspiracy to commit honest services mail fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $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; Michael J. Krol, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England; and Christopher A. Scharf, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, Northeast Region made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christine Wichers and Adam Deitch of the Public Corruption & Special Prosecutions Unit are prosecuting the case.
The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Deven Moffitt of Bennington Convicted of Federal Gun and Drug ChargesRead the Press Release
Burlington, Vermont – The United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced that yesterday, Deven Moffitt, 33, of Bennington, Vermont was convicted in U.S. District Court in Burlington of three drug and gun charges after a four-day jury trial. U.S. District Judge Christina Reiss ordered that Moffitt remain in jail pending sentencing, which has been scheduled for November 15, 2024. Moffitt has been held without bail since his arrest in June 2022.
According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Moffitt was arrested by the Vermont State Police in Bennington on June 1, 2022. From a search of the bags Moffitt was carrying that day, law enforcement recovered over 3,500 individual bags containing fentanyl, additional bags of cocaine and cocaine base, as well as two firearms: a .22 High Standard Manufacturing Corporation revolver and a 9mm Hi-Point semi-automatic pistol. Both guns were loaded, and the 9mm pistol had a bullet in its chamber, with its safety off. Moffitt also possessed over $16,000 in cash upon his arrest.
The jury found that Moffitt possessed fentanyl and cocaine with the intent to distribute. The jury also convicted Moffitt of knowingly possessing the firearms in furtherance of his drug trafficking, and of possessing those firearms while being a convicted felon.
Based on the jury’s verdict, Moffitt faces a mandatory prison sentence of at least five years, with a potential maximum sentence of life. The actual sentence will be determined with reference to Federal Sentencing Guidelines and the statutory sentencing factors.
U.S. Attorney Nikolas P. Kerest commended the collaborative investigative work of Vermont State Police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Vermont Drug Task Force, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. “This case is another example of the connection between drug trafficking and illegal possession of firearms. Because of the dangers of guns and drugs, in the interest of public safety, this office, along with our investigative partners, will continue to prioritize prosecution of these federal crimes.”
U.S. Attorney Kerest also thanked the U.S. Marshals Service for assistance during trial.
At trial, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew C. Gilman and Julia “Jules” Torti represented the government. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael P. Drescher worked on this matter for the government during the pre-trial phase. Moffitt was represented by Kevin Henry, Esq. of Primmer Piper Eggleston & Cramer PC.
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.
Defendant Charged with Distributing Fentanyl and Methamphetamine that Resulted in Overdose Death of San Diego ResidentRead the Press Release
NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – May 17, 2024
SAN DIEGO – James Jason Hendershaw of San Diego was charged in an indictment unsealed this week with distributing the fentanyl and methamphetamine that resulted in the death of a 20-year-old San Diego resident.
The Oceanside Police Department and Oceanside Fire Department responded to a 911 call a few minutes after 6 a.m. on January 10, 2019. When they arrived, they found the victim, identified in court records as R.J., unresponsive and lying on a sidewalk at the corner of Farel Street and Via Sonora in Oceanside. He was pronounced dead a few hours later.
Hendershaw allegedly distributed the fatal mix of fentanyl and methamphetamine the night before.
“Prosecuting drug dealers who supply deadly fentanyl and methamphetamine is not just about accountability; it’s about preventing death by interrupting the supply chain,” said U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath. “By identifying and charging the distributors, we send a clear message to the dealers of these toxins: You will be held accountable for the lives your product destroys.”
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ryan Sausedo and Adam Gordon.
DEFENDANT Case Number 23-CR-2645-RBM
James Jason Hendershaw Age: 36 Vista, CA
SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Distribution of Fentanyl and Methamphetamine Resulting in Death – Title 18, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C)
Maximum penalty: Life in prison
Mandatory minimum: Twenty years in prison
INVESTIGATING AGENCIES
Oceanside Police Department
State of California Department of Health Care Services
*The charges and allegations contained in an indictment or complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.