title: Cambridge Man Sentenced to 6 Years for Penobscot County Drug Trafficking Conspiracy

body_text: BANGOR, Maine: A Cambridge man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Bangor for his role in a conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, cocaine base, methamphetamine and cocaine in Penobscot County. U.S. District Judge John A. Woodcock, Jr. sentenced Jeffrey Frost , 40, to 72 months in prison followed by four years of supervised release. Frost pleaded guilty on March 28, 2023. According to court records, between January 2021 and April 2021, Frost conspired with others to distribute the drugs in the Penobscot County area and elsewhere. As part of the conspiracy, Frost regularly obtained drugs and supplied them to a local dealer, Jason Lee Lary , to sell for him. Frost came to investigators’ attention during jail house calls by and with Lary in which it was demonstrated that Frost was supplying drugs to sell, including the drugs recovered at the time of Lary’s arrest. Those drugs included 53 grams of cocaine base, 80 grams of fentanyl mixture, 25 grams of methamphetamine, and 40 grams of cocaine. In a later interview with investigators, Frost admitted that he had met Lary in 2021 through one of Frost’s customers and began supplying him with drugs after that introduction. In September 2022, Lary was sentenced to two years in prison followed by five years of supervised release for his role in the conspiracy. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Somerset County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. ###


title: St. Louis County Man Accused of Selling Fentanyl that Killed Twins

component: Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)

body_text: ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis County, Missouri, was arrested Wednesday on an indictment that accuses him of selling the fentanyl that killed the buyer in May. Jesse Charleston, 33, of Florissant, was indicted by a grand jury in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on November 15 with three felonies: distribution of fentanyl with death resulting, distribution of fentanyl and possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl. He pleaded not guilty Wednesday. The indictment accuses Charleston of selling fentanyl on March 21 that proved fatal to the buyer. It also says Charleston sold fentanyl on March 27 in St. Charles County and possessed it that same day in St. Louis. In court Wednesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jerome McDonald said the victim who bought fentanyl from Charleston brought it home and fatally overdosed, along with his twin brother. The distribution of fentanyl with death resulting charge carries a penalty of at least 20 years in prison, with a maximum term of life. The fentanyl distribution and possession with intent to distribute charges each carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty. The Drug Enforcement Administration, the St. Charles County Police and St. Charles County Regional Drug Task Force investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jerome McDonald is prosecuting the case.


title: Florida Man Sentenced for Money Laundering

component: USAO - Massachusetts

body_text: BOSTON – A Florida man was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for laundering the proceeds of online investment fraud schemes. Tochukwu Abel Edeh, 33, a Nigerian national previously residing in Jacksonville, Fla., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns to 42 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Edeh was also ordered to pay restitution of $2,590,987 and forfeiture of $810,966. In September 2022, Edeh pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering conspiracy and one count of conspiracy to conduct an unlicensed money transmitting business. Edeh managed used car dealerships and currency transfer services in Texas, Florida, and Nigeria. This included a currency exchange company as well as a cryptocurrency firm, both of which were based in Nigeria, through which Edeh exchanged Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for profit. In or around 2015, Edeh conspired with others to launder and transmit proceeds of Ponzi-style investment fraud schemes based in Nigeria. Specifically, the schemes purported to offer trading and Bitcoin investing services when, in fact, investor funds were stolen and later victims’ investments were used to pay purported returns to earlier investors. Edeh laundered the fraud proceeds using a network of co-conspirators in the United States and using his personal and business accounts in the United States and Nigeria. Edeh, along with his co-conspirators, did not hold money transmitting licenses in their respective states of residence, nor were they registered as money transmitters as required by federal law. Edeh is the fifth person to be sentenced in relation to this money laundering scheme. In June 2023, Charles Ochi was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to orchestrating the money laundering scheme with Edeh. Three other co-conspirators have been convicted of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business and were sentenced to probation. One alleged co-conspirator, Vanessa Okocha, remains at large. Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; Harry Chavis Jr., Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston; and Michael McCarthy, Acting Director of Field Operations for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Boston Field Office made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Division of Enforcement at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kriss Basil of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit prosecuted the case.


title: Mexican National Sentenced for Entering the United States After Prior Removal

component: USAO - Maine

body_text: BANGOR, Maine: A Mexican national was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Bangor for entering the United States after a prior removal. U.S. District Judge John A. Woodcock, Jr. sentenced Manuel Bonilla Davila , 39, to 15 months imprisonment. Bonilla Davila has been incarcerated since he was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents on April 21, 2023, after he was discovered in Aroostook County, a short distance from the international boundary. Immigration records showed that Bonilla Davila had been previously removed from the U.S. in March 2011 in Brownsville, Texas and had not obtained the express consent of the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to reapply for admission. The U.S. Border Patrol investigated the case. ###


title: New Orleans Man Charged With Sexual Exploitation of Children and Transferring Obscene Matter to a Minor

component: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

body_text: NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that a four-count indictment was unsealed today charging DOMINICK ANTHONY VALOTTA (a/k/a joncimpo#8015) , age 38, a resident of New Orleans, with two counts of sexual exploitation of children, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2251(a) (Counts 1-2) and two counts of transfer of obscene matter to a minor, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1470 (Counts 3-4). A federal grand jury returned the indictment under seal on November 16, 2023. According to the indictment, at various dates in late 2022 and early 2023, VALOTTA coerced a minor female born in August 2007, who was a resident of North Carolina (Victim 1), and a minor female born in July 2008, who was a resident of Ohio (Victim 2), to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of that conduct. Further, on at least two dates in late 2022, VALOTTA transferred obscene matter to a minor female born in March 2008, who was a resident of North Carolina (Victim 3). As to each of Counts 1 and 2, VALOTTA faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of fifteen (15) years and a maximum term of imprisonment of thirty (30) years. He also faces, for each of Counts 1 and 2, a minimum of five (5) years and a maximum of a lifetime of supervised release, up to a $250,000 fine, and a mandatory $100 special assessment fee. As to each of Counts 3 and 4, VALOTTA faces a maximum term of ten years in prison, as well as up to three (3) years of supervised release, up to a $250,000 fine, and a mandatory $100 special assessment fee. He may also be required to register as a sex offender. U. S. Attorney Evans reiterated that an indictment is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. 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 Federal Bureau of Investigation in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Jordan Ginsberg, Chief of the Public Integrity Unit, is in charge of the prosecution.


title: Bangor Woman Sentenced for Stealing More than $27,000 from Native American Tribal Organization

body_text: BANGOR, Maine: A Bangor woman was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Bangor for stealing from her employer, a tribal organization. U.S. District Judge John A. Woodcock, Jr. sentenced Angelia Holt , 55, to three years of probation. She was also ordered to pay $27,979.78 in restitution. According to court records, between June 2017 and April 2021, Holt stole more than $27,000 from her employer by using a credit card issued to another employee for unauthorized personal expenses and then altering the invoices to conceal the theft. Holt was employed as an accounting clerk for the organization. The FBI investigated the case. ###


title: Pittsburgh Man Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison for Violent Robbery Spree and Firearms Violations

component: USAO - Pennsylvania, Western

body_text: PITTSBURGH, PA - A resident of Pittsburgh, PA has been sentenced in federal court to a total of 25 years of imprisonment followed by 5 years of supervised release for robbery, attempted robbery, and firearms violations, United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced today. United States District Judge Christy Criswell Wiegand imposed the sentence on Eric Jones, age 34. According to information presented to the court, Jones committed four armed robberies of several Pittsburgh-area businesses in a nine-day period in March 2022. On March 6, 2022, Jones robbed the Fox’s Pizza on Allegheny River Boulevard in Oakmont, PA. During that robbery, he shot the owner of this business several times. The victim from this robbery suffered serious injuries. On March 10, 2022, Jones robbed the Sunoco gas station and convenience store on Hulton Road in Verona, PA, again using a firearm during the robbery. On March 15, 2022, Jones attempted to rob the Family Dollar on Frankstown Avenue in Pittsburgh, PA. During this robbery, Jones fired a round from his pistol toward the rear of the store. On March 15, 2022, around 30 minutes after the attempted robbery of the Family Dollar, Jones attempted to rob the Edgewood Avenue Express on Edgewood Avenue in Edgewood, PA. During this attempted robbery, Jones shot the store owner once and attempted to shoot him again, but his gun jammed. The bullet grazed the store owner, but it did not cause serious injury. Jones is a convicted felon and was not permitted to possess a firearm or ammunition. Prior to imposing sentence, Judge Wiegand emphasized the seriousness of the defendant’s conduct, and the impact it had on the victims and their families. Assistant United States Attorney Doug Maloney prosecuted this case on behalf of the government. United States Attorney Olshan commended the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF); the Allegheny County Police Department; the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police; the Penn Hills Police Department; the Oakmont Police Department; the Edgewood Police Department, and the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office for their extensive and collaborative investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Jones.


title: Former Sharon Resident Sentenced to 27 Months in Prison for Drug Trafficking

body_text: PITTSBURGH, PA - Shantell Griggs was sentenced to 27 months in prison for cocaine trafficking, United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced today. Griggs, age 45, formerly of Sharon, Pennsylvania, was sentenced by United States District Judge Cathy Bissoon. Judge Bissoon ordered Griggs to serve six years of supervised release following his prison sentence. Griggs pled guilty earlier this year to conspiring to distribute cocaine between July 2019 and November 2021 in Sharon, Mercer County. Griggs also pled guilty to possessing with intent to distribute cocaine on September 1, 2021, in Sharon. He stipulated to being responsible for the distribution of 300 grams of cocaine. Craig W. Haller prosecuted this case on behalf of the United States. The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation leading to the convictions and sentence in this case. This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department of Justice 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.


title: Director Hughes Leads U.S. Delegation at INTERPOL General Assembly

component: Interpol Washington

body_text: This week, INTERPOL Washington Director Michael A. Hughes is leading a delegation from the United States to Vienna, Austria to attend the annual INTERPOL General Assembly, the largest gathering of senior law enforcement officials in the world. This year’s General Assembly also marks the 100 th anniversary of INTERPOL and returns to the city where the organization was founded a century ago. “I am honored to represent the United States and INTERPOL Washington at this historic General Assembly,” said Director Hughes. “The 100th anniversary of INTERPOL reminds us how much we can accomplish as now 196 nations – with the addition of Palau – coming together in the fight against transnational crime and terrorism. It also provides a chance to collaborate against the new and emerging threats we face together and to forge a path forward for the next 100 years.” Director Hughes leads a delegation that includes personnel from INTERPOL Washington, U.S. Marshals Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Department of State Bureau of Counterterrorism and Bureau of Diplomatic Security, U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations, U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division, and Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center. He also serves as Delegate for the Americas on the INTERPOL Executive Committee and plays a vital role in the General Assembly, working as a bridge between the more than 18,000 U.S. law enforcement agencies and INTERPOL's global network. During the General Assembly, Director Hughes and the delegation will advance American interests, strengthen our homeland security, and work to create a safer world. The 91 st INTERPOL General Assembly, November 28 to December 1 in Vienna, provides a unique opportunity for law enforcement agencies worldwide to strengthen their partnerships, share intelligence, and develop strategies to address the evolution of crime. It reinforces INTERPOL's commitment to facilitating cooperation among its 196 member countries and promoting a safer, more secure world. The General Assembly is INTERPOL’s supreme governing body, comprising of representatives from each of the organization’s 196 member countries. It meets once a year, and each session lasts around four days to vote on key organizational matters. Decisions made during the General Assembly take the form of Resolutions and each member country present has one vote. The decision-making process is made by either a simple or two-thirds majority, depending on the subject matter. Resolutions are made public and posted on the INTERPOL website from 1960 onward. A component of the U.S. Department of Justice co-managed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, INTERPOL Washington—the U.S. National Central Bureau (USNCB)—is the designated U.S. representative to INTERPOL. It serves as the national point of contact and coordination for all INTERPOL matters, coordinating international investigative efforts among member countries and the more than 18,000 local, state, federal, tribal, and territorial law enforcement agencies.


title: Sleep disorder medical practice with clinics in California and Washington resolves allegations it overbilled government medical programs

component: USAO - Washington, Western

body_text: Seattle – The Department of Justice and Innovative Sleep Centers PLLC and Innovative Sleep Centers, Inc., have resolved allegations that the sleep centers improperly billed Medicare and Medicaid for medical services. The clinics paid $644,562 to resolve the matter. Of the settlement amount, $435,404 went to the federal government as restitution and penalties and $209,138 to Washington State for its share of restitution and penalties. The United States contends that between 2013 and 2022, Innovative Sleep Centers (ISC) submitted three categories of false claims for payment to Medicare and Medicaid. Between January 2018 and December 2020, ISC submitted false claims to Medicare for evaluation and management (E&M) services that were performed by lower-level providers, but billed under the name of ISC’s Medical Director, Dr. Mehrdad Razavi. By identifying a physician as the rendering provider on the claims, the clinic was able to bill at a higher rate. Those bills were false. Between October 2013 and July 2022, ISC submitted claims to Medicare for office visits that falsely identified Dr. Razavi as the rendering provider. In fact, the services were provided by employees who were not qualified to perform office visits, including office staff, Respiratory Therapists, and Registered Polysomnographic Technologists. By billing the claims under a physician’s NPI, ISC obtained reimbursement for non-covered services. And finally, between January 2015 and December 2020, ISC submitted false claims to Medicare and Medicaid for sleep studies that were performed by technologists who did not have required credentials. The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability. The settlement resolved a lawsuit filed under the qui tam , or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act, which permit private parties known as relators to file suit on behalf of the government for false claims and to share in any recovery. The qui tam suit is captioned United States, State of California and State of Washington ex rel. SW Sleep LLC v. Innovative Sleep Centers, PLLC et al. , No. 3:19-CV-5604 (W.D. Wash.). The matter was handled by Assistant United States Attorneys Ashley Burns and Kayla Stahman and investigated by the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS-OIG).


title: Texas Man Pleads Guilty To Sending Death Threats

component: USAO - New York, Southern

body_text: Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and James Smith, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced today that JEREMY JOSEPH pled guilty to two counts of sending interstate threats to injure or kill two former co-workers. JOSEPH was indicted on this case on February 6, 2023, and arrested in Sarnia, Canada. JOSEPH pled guilty today before U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken only two days after his trial on the charges had begun. Sentencing is scheduled for March 14, 2024, before Judge Oetken. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Jeremy Joseph terrified two former co-workers from a decade prior by repeatedly emailing them hateful, violent, and antisemitic death threats. No individual deserves to be at the receiving end of hateful threats or to be targeted because of their religion. This Office is committed to aggressively prosecuting hate crimes of all kinds and seeking justice for the victims of these offensive and harmful acts.” FBI Assistant Director in Charge James Smith said: “Jeremy Joseph tracked down personal information on people he worked with years ago and threatened them with bombs and firearms. This along with his details of how he planned to kill the victims and their families was terrifying. Now he will answer to the judicial system for his actions.” According to Indictment, statements made in public court proceedings and filings, and the evidence at trial: From in or about December 2022 through at least in or about January 2023, JOSEPH sent emails with antisemitic death threats to two former colleagues (the “Victims”) with whom JOSEPH had worked more than a decade ago. The emails detailed how JOSEPH planned to murder his Victims and included photographs of pipe bombs, ammunition, and a firearm. The emails also included personal information about the Victims and their families. JOSEPH’s threats toward the Victims were part of a larger pattern of death threats sent to various other individuals from JOSEPH’s life, as well as politicians, judges, and prosecutors. The targets of his threats spanned multiple countries and the U.S. In these communications, JOSEPH consistently used violent and threatening language that targeted Jewish people. * * * JOSEPH, 41, of Houston, Texas, pled guilty to two counts of sending interstate threats to injure or kill another person, which each carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison. The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge. Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI. The prosecution of this case is being handled by the Office’s Civil Rights Unit in the Criminal Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jamie Bagliebter and Diarra Guthrie, with the assistance of Paralegal Specialist Isabel Loftus, are in charge of the prosecution.


title: Sanbornton Man Pleads Guilty to Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material

component: USAO - New Hampshire

body_text: CONCORD – A Sanbornton man pleaded guilty today in federal court to possession of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), U.S. Attorney Jane E. Young announces. Timothy Ryan, 35, pleaded guilty to an information charging him with possession of child sexual abuse material. U.S. District Court Judge Steven McAuliffe scheduled sentencing for March 12, 2024. According to court records and statements made in court, the defendant was identified as a top offender in the state of New Hampshire for supplying CSAM through the peer-to-peer network BitTorrent. Investigators traced the illicit internet activity to his residence, and later obtained a federal search warrant to seize and search his electronic devices. Forensic examination of the defendant’s cell phone revealed the presence of approximately 2,600 files of apparent CSAM. The charging statute provides a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, a minimum 5 years of supervised release, a fine of $250,000 and mandatory restitution. 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. Homeland Security Investigations led the investigation. Valuable assistance was provided by the New England Cyber Fraud Task Force, the New Hampshire Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Nashua Police Department, the Grafton County Sheriff’s Department, and the Sanbornton Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kasey Weiland is prosecuting the case. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc . ###


title: Manchester Man Sentenced to More Than 10 Years in Federal Prison for Stealing Over $165,500 in a Series of Robberies

body_text: CONCORD – A Manchester man was sentenced today in federal court in Concord for Hobbs Act Robbery and Bank Robbery, U.S. Attorney Jane E. Young announces. Hector Rivera Ayala, 34, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Steven McAuliffe to 130 months in prison and 3 years of supervised release. Rivera Ayala was also ordered to pay $171,677.37 in restitution. On April 18, 2023, Rivera Ayala pleaded guilty to Hobbs Act Robbery and Bank Robbery. “The defendant’s brazen and repeated criminal conduct placed the lives of numerous people in jeopardy as he robbed gas stations and a bank,” said U.S. Attorney Jane Young. “As demonstrated by the sentence of more than a decade in federal prison, people who threaten, steal and place others in physical jeopardy will be removed from society for significant periods of time. The U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to prioritize prosecuting and incarcerating violent offenders like the defendant in order to keep our communities safe.” “Hector Rivera Ayala went on a robbery spree in Manchester, using what appeared to be a real firearm to threaten and intimidate his victims, to steal tens of thousands of dollars. Today’s significant sentence removes this dangerous individual from our community and highlights the tenacity of the FBI and our law enforcement partners to identify and apprehend criminals like him who threaten public safety,” said Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division. “This man terrorized business owners in our city, threatening them with a weapon and putting them on edge,” said Chief Allen Aldenberg of the Manchester Police Department. “I am very pleased with Mr. Ayala’s sentence. It sends a strong message that this criminal behavior will not be tolerated in Manchester.” In December 2019, Rivera Ayala robbed four gas stations and one bank in Manchester, including Rapid Refill on Second Street; Brother’s Express Gas Station on Union Street; Shell Gas Station on Eddy Road; Shell Gas Station on Hanover Street; and the Bank of New England on Elm Street. Each robbery was captured on video surveillance. For each robbery, the defendant was seen entering the gas station and bank with his face partially obscured and carrying what appeared to be a firearm. During the first robbery, at the Shell Gas Station on Eddy Road, the defendant approached the store clerk from behind and demanded money from both registers. He also ordered a customer to withdraw money from an ATM. During the second Shell Gas Station robbery, on Hanover Street, the defendant wore white face paint and used what appeared to be a double-barreled shotgun. He demanded money from the safe and registers and stole money and other items from customers who were present. One victim reported that the defendant threatened: If you call the police within 30 minutes after I leave, I will come back and blow your brains out. Investigators recovered a shawl and a BB gun from the crime scene of one gas station. The defendant’s DNA was found on the shawl. In total, the defendant stole more than $5,500 from the gas stations and more than $160,000 from the bank. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Manchester Police Department led the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Hunter prosecuted the case. ###


title: South Carolina Return Preparer Sentenced to Two Years in Prison for Filing False Tax Returns

component: Tax Division

body_text: A South Carolina man was sentenced today to 24 months in prison for preparing and filing false individual income tax returns for himself and his clients. According to court documents and statements made in court, Jeffrey Harmon of Lexington, owned and operated TFL Worldwide, a tax preparation business through which he willfully prepared and filed returns for himself and clients that claimed fraudulent deductions to which he and his clients were not entitled. To reduce his and his clients’ tax liability, Harmon consistently deducted non-deductible personal expenses, including, among other things, rent and mortgage payments for personal residences, personal vacation travel, personal fitness equipment and golf, country and hunt club membership fees. In total, Harmon caused a tax loss to the IRS of more than $300,000. In addition to the term of imprisonment, Harmon was ordered to serve one year of supervised release and to pay approximately $320,000 in restitution to the United States. Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, U.S. Attorney Adair F. Boroughs for the District of South Carolina, and Special Agent in Charge Donald Trey Eakins of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Charlotte Field Office made the announcement. IRS-CI investigated the case. Trial Attorney Wilson Stamm of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Winston Holliday and Elle Klein for the District of South Carolina prosecuted the case.


title: Leader of Drug Trafficking and Money Laundering Organization with Ties to Mexican Cartel Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison

body_text: BOSTON – A coordinator for a large-scale international fentanyl trafficking and money laundering conspiracy, operating on behalf of the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico, was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston. Fermin Castillo, 43, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge William G. Young to 25 years in prison and five years of supervised release. In May 2023, Castillo was convicted along with co-defendant Andre Heraux Martinez of conspiracy to distribute over 400 grams of fentanyl and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Martinez is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 11, 2023. “The flow of deadly fentanyl from Mexico to Massachusetts is directly tied to the devastation this drug has had on our communities. Castillo was close to the apex of a large-scale drug distribution network that was tied to the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico. This organization pumped cheap, deadly fentanyl onto the streets of dozens of Massachusetts cities and towns. This sentence of 25 years reflects the gravity of his drug dealing and money laundering,” said Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy. “DEA is committed to investigating and dismantling Drug Trafficking Organizations and individuals like Mr. Castillo who are responsible for distributing lethal drugs like fentanyl to the citizens of Massachusetts,” said Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division. “This substantial sentence not only holds Mr. Castillo accountable for his crimes but serves as a warning to those traffickers who are fueling the opioid epidemic with deadly drugs in order to profit and destroy people’s lives. DEA’s top priority is combatting the opioid epidemic by working with our local, county, state and federal partners to bring to justice anyone who distributes this poison.” “This investigation, initiated by Massachusetts State Troopers assigned to the DEA Boston Strike Force made a significant impact on the safety of our communities in the Commonwealth. The investigation interdicted dangerous drugs from being delivered and distributed to the streets of Massachusetts. The dismantling of the DTO, resulted in the conviction of dangerous, predatory drug dealers who prey on, for profit, persons struggling with addiction. I want to recognize the tireless work and also acknowledge the challenges considering this investigation began during the COVID pandemic. This joint effort is an outstanding example of what can be accomplished when law enforcement partners work together cooperatively,” said John E. Mawn Jr., Interim Colonel of the Massachusetts State Police. In July 2020, an investigation began into a drug trafficking and money laundering organization distributing large quantities of fentanyl and laundering drug proceeds. Intercepted communications identified Castillo as the leader of the organization who coordinated fentanyl shipments into Massachusetts on behalf of a Mexico-based drug trafficking organization and coordinated the laundering of hundreds of thousands of dollars in drug proceeds. Although Castillo resided in Mexico, he was in constant contact with co-conspirators in Massachusetts via encrypted messaging about fentanyl shipments to Massachusetts. Additionally, on a number of occasions, Castillo personally came to Massachusetts to oversee the delivery of fentanyl shipments and to launder drug proceeds before returning to Mexico. In total, Castillo organized the drop-off of $966,030 in fentanyl proceeds for the purposes of money laundering. Additionally, evidence presented at trial established that Castillo was accountable for conspiring to distribute nearly 20 kilograms of fentanyl. Acting U.S. Attorney Levy, DEA SAC Boyle and MSP Interim Colonel Mawn made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Leah B. Foley and Stephen W. Hassink of the Narcotics & Money Laundering Unit prosecuted the case. This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations. 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 .


title: Citrus County Man Pleads Guilty To Receiving Stolen Benefit Payments From The Department Of Veterans Affairs

component: USAO - Florida, Middle

body_text: Ocala, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Robert Howard Lawrence II (55, Citrus County) has pleaded guilty to receiving stolen government property. Lawrence faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison, and a forfeiture of at least $364,497.80. His sentencing hearing has not yet been set. Lawrence had been indicted on April 25, 2023. According to court records, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) program furnishes a monthly benefit paid to eligible survivors of deceased military service members. If the surviving spouse remarries, however, they are no longer eligible to receive DIC benefits and must report the new marriage to the VA. Lawrence was a surviving spouse of a military service member who died in 1994. Beginning on or about November 1, 1995, through approximately April 1, 2023, Lawrence received DIC benefits from the VA. He was not entitled to these benefits, however, because he had remarried twice—once in 1995 and again in 2023. During that time, Lawrence had repeatedly assured the VA that he had not remarried so that he could continue to illegally receive the benefit payments. By failing to report his subsequent marriages, Lawrence illegally received a total of $364,497.80 in stolen benefit payments. This case was investigated by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs – Office of Inspector General. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Hannah Nowalk.


title: Fort Belknap man suspected of making a hoax threat to blow up Dodson school arraigned on charges

body_text: GREAT FALLS — A Fort Belknap man suspected of making threats to blow up the school in Dodson, near the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, was arraigned Tuesday on charges, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said today. Jacob Erwin Wilson, 40, pleaded not guilty to an indictment charging him with false information and hoaxes. If convicted of the most serious crime, Wilson faces a maximum of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. U.S. Magistrate Judge John T. Johnston presided. Wilson was detained pending further proceedings. As alleged in the indictment, on Aug. 29, near Dodson, near the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, Wilson placed a phone call to 911 and to the Dodson school and stated he was going to blow up the school. An indictment is merely an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey K. Starnes is prosecuting the case. The FBI and Fort Belknap Law Enforcement Services conducted the investigation. PACER case reference. 23-111. The progress of cases may be monitored through the U.S. District Court Calendar and the PACER system. To establish a PACER account, which provides electronic access to review documents filed in a case, please visit http://www.pacer.gov/register.html . To access the District Court’s calendar, please visit https://ecf.mtd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/PublicCalendar.pl XXX


title: Apopka Man Sentenced To 16 Years In Federal Prison For  Producing Child Sexual Abuse Materials

body_text: Orlando, Florida – United States District Judge Wendy Berger has sentenced Stephon K’Trell Anderson (29, Apopka) to 16 years in federal prison for producing a video of child sexual abuse. Anderson was also ordered to serve a 10-year term of supervised release and register as a sex offender. Anderson had pleaded guilty on September 13, 2023. According to court documents, the Apopka Police Department received a cyber tipline report that originated from Twitter when a Twitter account was identified as uploading a video of child sexual abuse material. On March 10, 2023, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Apopka Police Department tracked down the address of the Twitter user and executed a search warrant at the residence in Apopka. Anderson was encountered at the residence and turned over two cellphones to law enforcement. The FBI conducted a forensic search of the cellphones and located videos that Anderson had recorded involving a child victim. The videos were recorded by Anderson using his cellphone over a period of multiple weeks. One of the videos involved Anderson engaged in sexually explicit conduct with the child victim while the child victim slept. This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Apopka Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney John Gardella. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to 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 .


title: Federal Indictment Unsealed Charging Six Davidson County Residents with Drug Trafficking and Firearms Offenses

body_text: NASHVILLE – A joint investigation by federal and local law enforcement has resulted in the indictment of six individuals for illegally distributing substantial quantities of controlled substances in and around Nashville, Tennessee, announced United States Attorney Henry C. Leventis for the Middle District of Tennessee. The indictment, which was unsealed today, charges Julius Johnson, 40, Amber Shadonna Johnson, 42, David Marsh, 54, Antonio Jumper, 44, Archie Henry, 38, and Eldred Howard, 37, all residents of Davidson County, Tennessee, with conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute heroin, fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, oxycodone, and marijuana. Julius Johnson, Amber Shadonna Johnson, and Eldred Howard are also charged with possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug crime and possession of a firearm by a felon. As part of the investigation, in April 2023, law enforcement officers executed search warrants at multiple locations throughout Nashville, including a residence in North Nashville where substantial quantities of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine were recovered. In total, over the course of the months-long investigation, law enforcement recovered approximately 2.2 kilograms of methamphetamine, 600 grams of fentanyl, 200 grams of cocaine, and 45 grams of marijuana. Federal agents also recovered four firearms. This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks. This case is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, with meaningful assistance from the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office, the Dickson County Sheriff’s Office, the Tennessee Highway Patrol, the Murfreesboro Police Department, IRS Criminal Investigation and U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nani M. Gilkerson is prosecuting the case. An indictment is merely an allegation. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. # # # # #


title: Lynn Man Sentenced for Wire Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft

body_text: BOSTON – A Lynn man was sentenced today for submitting false federal loan applications and using a stolen identity to rent an apartment, for which he made no rent payments. Steeve Jean, 36, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper to 44 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Jean was also ordered to pay restitution of $41,666 restitution to the Small Business Association and $8,343 to the property management company. On Sept. 6, 2023, Jean pleaded guilty to wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and unauthorized use of a Social Security number. From September 2021 through June 2022, Jean rented an apartment in Lynn using the name, Social Security number and other personal identifying information of another individual. Jean failed to pay rent for the apartment resulting in a default court judgment of over $8,000 against the victim whose identity was stolen. A subsequent investigation revealed that in April 2021, Jean submitted two fraudulent federal Paycheck Protection Program loan applications, each for $20,833, claiming business losses for a business that did not exist. Jean was serving a state prison sentence during the period he claimed to be running a business. Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Benjamin A. Tolkoff and Brian Sullivan of the Criminal Division prosecuted the case.


title: Illegal Alien With Prior Felony Conviction Indicted For Possessing A Firearm

body_text: Fort Myers, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the return of an indictment charging Luis Armando Rodriguez-Padilla (27, Fort Myers) with illegal reentry by a previously convicted felon, possession of a firearm by an alien unlawfully in the United States, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. If convicted on all counts, Rodriguez-Padilla faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in federal prison. According to the indictment, on October 29, 2023, Rodriguez-Padilla possessed an Interarms revolver. Rodriguez-Padilla had previously been deported after being convicted in state court of conspiracy to break and enter. As an alien and convicted felon, Rodriguez-Padilla is prohibited from possessing a firearm under federal law. An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty. This case was investigated by the Collier County Sheriff’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Benjamin S. Winter. 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.


title: Man Sentenced for Election-Related Threats Toward Georgia Public Officials

component: Office of the Attorney General

body_text: A Texas man was sentenced today to two years in prison for posting a message online threatening several Georgia public officials following the 2020 election. “Threats of violence against those who administer our elections are dangerous for people’s personal safety, and they are dangerous for our democracy,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “This sentence should serve as warning — illegal threats against the public servants who make our democracy work will be met with the full force of the Justice Department.” According to court documents, on or about Jan. 5, 2021, Chad Christopher Stark, 55, of Leander, posted a message to Craigslist entitled, “Georgia Patriots it’s time to kill [Official A] the Chinese agent - $10,000.” The message stated the following: “Georgia Patriots it’s time for us to take back our state from these Lawless treasonous traitors. It’s time to invoke our Second Amendment right it’s time to put a bullet in the treasonous Chinese [Official A]. Then we work our way down to [Official B] the local and federal corrupt judges. It’s our duty as American Patriots to put an end to the lives of these traitors and take back our country by force we can no longer wait on the corrupt law enforcement in the corrupt courts. If we want our country back we have to exterminate these people. One good loyal Patriot deer hunter in camo and a rifle can send a very clear message to these corrupt governors.. milita up Georgia it’s time to spill blood…. we need to pay a visit to [Official C] and her family as well and put a bullet her behind the ears. Let’s be very clear to our local law enforcement who have stood down and watch BLM antifa destroy our country and kill our citizens yet you’ll step up to stop Patriot supporters you’ll enforce face mask and you’ll close American businesses??? Remember one thing local law enforcement the key word being local….. we will find you oathbreakers and we’re going to pay your family to visit your mom your dad your brothers and sisters your children your wife… we’re going to make examples of traitors to our country… death to you and all you communist friends.” “It’s simple: protecting America’s democracy means protecting the public servants and officials who ensure the electoral process is fair and free,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “Christopher Stark threatened the lives of multiple election workers in an attempt to prevent them from doing their job. Today’s sentencing demonstrates the FBI’s resolute commitment to securing American elections from any attempts to undermine their integrity.” “The conviction and sentencing of this defendant should send a clear message: the intimidation of those sworn to oversee and facilitate free and fair elections in this country is a serious offense that carries significant criminal penalties,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan for the Northern District of Georgia. “Stark threatened Georgia statewide elected officials and a volunteer county election worker. Those threats were equally harmful, and his conduct put our democracy in jeopardy.” “Sending death threats and urging others to act is not protected speech — it is a crime,” said Special Agent in Charge Keri Farley of the FBI Atlanta Field Office. “The sentencing of Stark is a warning to all that those who attempt to undermine American democracy will be held criminally accountable.” The FBI Atlanta Field Office investigated the case. Election Community Liaison Aaron Jennen and former Election Crimes Branch Director of Enforcement and Litigation Sean F. Mulryne of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Senior Litigation Counsel Brent A. Gray for the Northern District of Georgia prosecuted this case. This case is part of the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force. Announced by Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and launched by Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco in June 2021, the task force has led the department’s efforts to address threats of violence against election workers, and to ensure that all election workers — whether elected, appointed, or volunteer — are able to do their jobs free from threats and intimidation. The task force engages with the election community and state and local law enforcement to assess allegations and reports of threats against election workers, and has investigated and prosecuted these matters where appropriate, in partnership with FBI Field Offices and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices throughout the country. The task force is continuing this work and supporting the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and FBI Field Offices nationwide. Under the leadership of Deputy Attorney General Monaco, the task force is led by the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and includes several other entities within the Justice Department, including the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the Criminal Division, the Civil Rights Division, the National Security Division, and the FBI, as well as key interagency partners, such as the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. For more information regarding the Justice Department’s efforts to combat threats against election workers, read the Deputy Attorney General’s memo . To report suspected threats or violent acts, contact your local FBI office and request to speak with the Election Crimes Coordinator. Contact information for every FBI field office may be found at www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/ . You may also contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324) or file an online complaint at www.tips.fbi.gov . Complaints submitted will be reviewed by the task force and referred for investigation or response accordingly. If someone is in imminent danger or risk of harm, contact 911 or your local police immediately.


title: Billings felon admits illegal possession of firearm

component: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

body_text: BILLINGS – A Billings felon who was on state probation and led law enforcement on a vehicle chase before crashing admitted to illegally possessing a firearm that was found in the vehicle, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said. Christopher Samuel Fear, 38, pleaded guilty to prohibited person in possession of a firearm. Fear faces a maximum of 15 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided. The court will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Sentencing was set for March 27, 2024. Fear was released pending further proceedings. The government alleged in court documents that on Jan. 11, after 2 a.m., a Montana Highway Patrol officer attempted a traffic stop of a vehicle for traveling 85 mph in a 65-mph speed zone. The trooper activated his emergency lights, but the driver of the vehicle accelerated and fled. The vehicle eventually crashed into a fence in Billings. Officers approached the vehicle and saw that it was empty. Officers noticed a pistol on the floorboard and found Fear hiding under the front end of the vehicle. Fear claimed others were in the vehicle but refused to identify them, and there was no evidence of other occupants. Fear was on state probation at the time for a drug conviction and had an outstanding probation violation arrest warrant. Law enforcement later searched the vehicle and found 216 fentanyl pills, 20 grams of methamphetamine and baggies and a loaded .357-caliber semi-automatic pistol. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lori Harper Suek is prosecuting the case. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Eastern Montana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force conducted the investigation. This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. XXX


title: Leader Of Miami Crew Sentenced To 63 Months In Prison For Defrauding Banks And Cryptocurrency Exchange Of More Than $4 Million

body_text: Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that ESTEBAN CABRERA DA CORTE, a/k/a “Esteban Cabrera,” a/k/a “Esteban Da Corte,” a/k/a “Steban,” was sentenced to 63 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla for organizing a scheme to steal millions of dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency and trick U.S. banks into refunding the millions used to purchase that cryptocurrency by using, in part, personal identifying information stolen from other people. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Esteban Cabrera Da Corte orchestrated a scheme to steal millions of dollars by buying cryptocurrency using false and stolen identities, then deceiving U.S. banks regarding those transactions. Cabrera Da Corte now faces years in prison for this crime. This sentencing should send a clear message that we, together with our law enforcement partners, will continue to zealously prosecute cryptocurrency scammers and money launderers.” According to the Indictment, public filings, and statements made in court: From at least in or about 2020 through at least in or about March 2020, CABRERA DA CORTE and his co-conspirators engaged in a scheme to deceive U.S. banks and a leading cryptocurrency exchange platform (the “Cryptocurrency Exchange”) by purchasing more than $4 million in cryptocurrency and then falsely claiming that the cryptocurrency purchase transactions were unauthorized, deceiving the U.S. banks and the Cryptocurrency Exchange into reversing those transactions and redepositing the money into the bank accounts that the defendants controlled. The defendants then withdrew the money from the bank accounts while also keeping the cryptocurrency for themselves. To effect this scheme, CABRERA DA CORTE and his co-conspirators opened accounts with the Cryptocurrency Exchange, frequently using photos of fake U.S. passports, fake drivers’ licenses, and stolen personal identifying information. The Cryptocurrency Exchange accounts were linked to bank accounts that the defendants controlled. The defendants used money that had been deposited into the linked bank accounts, frequently through a series of cash deposits made using ATMs, to purchase cryptocurrency. That cryptocurrency was then quickly transferred to other cryptocurrency wallets outside of the Cryptocurrency Exchange that were controlled by the defendants and their co-conspirators. After the cryptocurrency was transferred, the defendants made telephone calls to the U.S. banks during which they falsely represented that the cryptocurrency purchases were unauthorized, leading the banks to reverse the transactions. The operation of this scheme by the defendants resulted in U.S. banks processing more than $4 million in fraudulent reversals and the Cryptocurrency Exchange losing more than $3.5 million worth of cryptocurrency. * * * In addition to his prison term, CABRERA DA CORTE, 27, of Miami, Florida, was ordered to pay restitution of $3,578,786.69 and forfeiture of $1,200,000. Mr. Williams praised the outstanding work of Homeland Security Investigation’s El Dorado Task Force. This case is being handled by the Office’s Money Laundering and Transnational Criminal Enterprises Unit. Assistant U. S. Attorneys Emily Deininger and Josiah Pertz are in charge of the prosecution.


title: Man Admits Armed Robbery of Jennings Convenience Store

component: USAO - Missouri, Eastern

body_text: ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis County, Missouri on Wednesday admitted the armed robbery of a convenience store in Jennings in February. Richard E. Barber, 51, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of robbery and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Barber admitted that on Feb. 11, 2023, he entered the Gas Mart at 9301 Lewis and Clark Boulevard wearing a face mask and a camouflage St. Louis Blues cap. After selecting a beer from the refrigerated section of the store, Barber took it to the register, pulled a pistol and pointed it at the clerk. Barber then demanded and took cash from the cash registers and left in a Chrysler Sebring. Early on the morning of Feb. 13, 2023, Barber wrecked the Sebring in the 800 block of North Florissant Road in Ferguson, suffering injuries that required hospitalization. A paramedic noticed a .40-caliber pistol on the car’s floorboard that resembled the one used in the robbery. Investigators later found the hat and face mask Barber wore during the robbery in his car. At the time of the robbery, Barber was on supervised release after pleading guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in 2014 to being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was sentenced to 100 months in prison in that case. Barber is scheduled to be sentenced in April. The robbery charge is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both prison and a fine. The felon in possession charge is punishable by up to 15 years in prison and the same fine. As part of the plea agreement, both sides have agreed to recommend a total of 20 years in prison. The St. Louis County Police Department and the Ferguson Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Hayes is prosecuting the case.


title: St. Louis Man Found Guilty of Carjacking, Gun Charges

body_text: ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis, Missouri, who was caught on camera carjacking a truck in 2020, was found guilty by a jury Wednesday of all of the charges he faced. Jurors in U.S. District Court in St. Louis found James Blakemore, 36, guilty of three felonies: carjacking, possessing and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Evidence and testimony at the trial this week showed that on Sept. 16, 2020, the victim was napping in his work truck at the Convention Center MetroLink Station in downtown St. Louis when someone opened his door and demanded his cash and phone at gunpoint. The robber also stole the victim’s company’s 2016 Dodge Ram. The truck was equipped with a GPS tracking device and “in-car cameras,” and both the victim’s boss and the company’s owner were able to provide police with its location. When police arrived, a man jumped out and ran away, but left a backpack behind with a pistol and both a debit card and EBT card in Blakemore’s name. Blakemore’s picture was captured by the in-car camera video recording and his DNA was found in the truck and on the gun. The victim also identified Blakemore as the carjacker. At Blakemore’s sentencing in March, he faces up to 15 years in prison on the carjacking charge, up to 10 years in prison on the felon in possession charge and seven years to life in prison on the brandishing charge, consecutive to all other counts. The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Torrie Schneider and Donald Boyce are prosecuting the case.


title: Davenport, Iowa, Man Sentenced to Ten Years for Attempted Enticement of a Minor and Travel with Intent to Engage in Illicit Sexual Activity

component: Department of Justice

body_text: PEORIA, Ill. – Auston McLain, 38, of Davenport, Iowa, was sentenced today to ten years’ imprisonment, to be followed by ten years of supervised release, following his June 2023 conviction by a federal jury for attempted enticement of a minor and travelling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual activity. Over two days of trial before Chief U.S. District Judge Sarah Darrow, the United States presented evidence establishing that from November 10, 2020, through November 14, 2020 McLain communicated with an individual he believed to be a minor about engaging in sexual activity, sent pornographic pictures to that person, asked for pictures in return, and then traveled from Iowa to Illinois with the intent to meet with the child and engage in sexual activity. At the sentencing hearing, Chief Judge Darrow found that McLain obstructed justice during the trial when he falsely testified about a variety of material issues. McLain faced statutory penalties of ten years to life imprisonment, a possible fine of $250,000, and up to a five-year to life term of supervised release for attempted enticement. He faced up to thirty years’ imprisonment, a possible $250,000 fine, and a five-year to life term of supervised release for travelling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual activity. McLain also must register as a sex offender. McLain was initially released on bond and has been in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since March 2023. The prosecution was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Springfield Field Office, with the assistance of the Rock Island Police Department, the Macomb Police Department, the East Moline Police Department, and the Illinois State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tanner Jacobs and Matthew Weir represented the United States. The case against McLain was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative by the Department of Justice to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. 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.projectsafechildhood.gov .


title: North Carolina Man Sentenced to 21 Years For Transporting Cocaine through Louisiana

body_text: SHREVEPORT, LA. - Howard Davis , 45, of Raleigh, North Carolina, was sentenced November 29, for possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine announced United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown by United States District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote to 262 months (21 years, 8 months) in prison followed by 5 years of supervised release. Davis was found guilty by a federal jury on June 14, 2023. Testimony at trial showed that on August 2, 2022, Davis was stopped by a Louisiana State Trooper on Interstate 20 near Minden, Louisiana, for a traffic violation. During the traffic stop, the trooper became suspicious of the story that Davis gave him as to why he was traveling through the area. The trooper was able to receive information from law enforcement indicating that the vehicle Davis was driving had been seen in North Carolina during the early morning hours the day before the traffic stop and was seen later that same evening in Dallas, Texas. The information Davis provided to the trooper led him to believe that he was not being truthful. A Louisiana State Trooper K-9 was called in and conducted an open-air sniff of Davis’s vehicle and alerted to the presence of narcotics. While conducting a search of the vehicle, troopers found inside the trunk a tote bag containing approximately 4.5 kilograms of suspected cocaine wrapped in black electrical tape. The cocaine had an estimated street value of over $110,000. The narcotics were seized and sent to the DEA Laboratory for testing, and it was confirmed to be cocaine. The case was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Louisiana State Police and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Cassidy and Alexander C. Van Hook, Special Counsel to the U.S. Attorney.


title: Former New York City Police Officer Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess With Intent to Distribute Cocaine

component: USAO - New York, Eastern

body_text: Earlier today, Amaury Abreu, a former police officer with the New York City Police Department (NYPD), pleaded guilty at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn to one count of conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine. Between approximately January 2016 and October 2020, Abreu assisted a multinational drug trafficking organization (DTO) with distributors in the New York-metropolitan area and the Dominican Republic. When sentenced, Abreu faces up to 20 years in prison. Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, announced the guilty plea. “Rather than protect and serve, Officer Abreu helped drug traffickers distribute large amounts of cocaine in the Eastern District of New York by giving them confidential law enforcement information. That was a disgraceful breach of public trust,” stated United States Attorney Peace. “Today’s plea should send the message that police officers who betray the shield and violate the law will be held to account. No one is above the law.” United States Attorney Peace thanked the New York City Police Department, Internal Affairs Bureau, Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office for their assistance in the investigation. According to the indictment and other court filings, the DTO imported multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine into the United States through a variety of means, including by sending drug couriers on flights to the United States, concealing narcotics in mail and tractor trucks that enter the United States from Mexico, and concealing narcotics in produce shipments that are imported into the United States. Since 2016, law enforcement agents seized more than 350 kilograms of cocaine belonging to the DTO. During the charged time period, Abreu abused his position as a police officer to protect his co-conspirators by providing information to the DTO about law enforcement procedures, performing warrant checks on members of the DTO using the NYPD arrest database and, on at least one occasion, receiving cocaine from the DTO. The investigation was led by the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration, New York City Police Department, Internal Affairs Bureau and the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office. The government’s case is being prosecuted by the Office’s International Narcotics and Money Laundering Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Erin Reid and Andrew Wang are in charge of the prosecution. The Defendant : AMAURY ABREU Age: 37 Residence: Hauppauge, New York E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 23-CR-433 (RRM) (RML)


title: Rare, Wrongfully Obtained Manuscript To Be Returned to Peru

component: USAO - Pennsylvania, Eastern

body_text: PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero and FBI Philadelphia Special Agent in Charge Wayne A. Jacobs announced today that the Rosenbach Museum & Library (“the Rosenbach”) voluntarily transferred to the custody of the FBI a sixteenth-century manuscript for return to the Archivo General de la Nación del Perú, the Peruvian national archives. This rare six-page document, dated June 28, 1599, is a contract for the formation of the first theatrical company in the Americas in Lima, Peru and had been in the Rosenbach’s collection for almost a century. In 2017, at the request of the Republic of Peru and in coordination with the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the United States Department of State, the FBI Art Crime Team and the United States Attorney’s Office began an investigation as to whether these manuscript pages in the Rosenbach collection had been wrongfully removed from a sixteenth-century bound volume in the Peruvian national archives. The Rosenbach cooperated fully in this investigation and concluded that the manuscript, which had been purchased in the 1920s by its founder, Dr. A.S.W. Rosenbach, had been removed from the bound volume in the archives at some time prior to Dr. Rosenbach’s purchase. “Thanks to the dedicated work and coordination of our Office and our FBI partners, this manuscript will be returned to its rightful place in the Peruvian national archives,” said U.S. Attorney Romero. “It’s always incredibly gratifying when the FBI’s Art Crime Team is able to recover precious cultural property,” said Wayne Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “We look forward to the day when this rare document is fully repatriated to the government of Peru and its archives. This case exemplifies the Bureau’s continued commitment to preserving the pieces of cultural heritage that help bring history to life.” The United States Attorney’s Office and the FBI acknowledge the cooperation and assistance of the Rosenbach in this matter and are making arrangements for the repatriation of the manuscript pages to the Republic of Peru.


title: United States Attorney and ATF Discuss Emerging Threat of Machinegun Conversion Devices

component: USAO - Oklahoma, Western

body_text: U.S. Attorney Launches New Initiative “Project Switch Off” to Combat Threat OKLAHOMA CITY – Today, United States Attorney Robert J. Troester and ATF Special Agent in Charge Jeff Boshek provided a briefing on illegal firearm conversion devices, commonly known as “switches” or “auto sears” which convert semi-automatic handguns into fully automatic weapons (i.e., machineguns) in a matter of seconds. According to the ATF, the number of devices recovered by law enforcement increased more than 500% nationwide between 2017 and 2021. In Oklahoma, the number of switches recovered by ATF increased more than 300% in just two years, between 2022 and 2023. The rapid fire of firearms converted to machineguns presents a significant danger in our community to both the public and law enforcement. Possession of these devices violates federal law as illegal possession of a machinegun and carries a penalty up to ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine. To directly address and combat this emerging threat, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has launched a new initiative “Project Switch Off” to target prosecutions related to these conversion devices and take illegal machineguns off the streets. This initiative is a local implementation of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods. The Project Switch Off initiative specifically includes (1) specialized training of law enforcement on the illegality of these devices under federal law and how to identify the many different types of conversion devices that exist, (2) public education of danger and illegality of these devices, and (3) the federal prosecution priority for those who illegally possess or sell these devices and the significant penalties they face. “The proliferation of machinegun conversion devices presents a clear and immediate danger to Oklahomans,” said U.S. Attorney Robert Troester. “Project Switch Off serves as a warning. My office will relentlessly pursue those who endanger the public and law enforcement by the illegal possession or use of conversion devices. We are glad to partner with ATF and local law enforcement in this effort.” “These devices, in the wrong hands, can have catastrophic consequences. Through our partnerships with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Oklahoma, and state and local law enforcement agencies, we will continue to dial in and aggressively charge the manufacturers and distributors of these illegal machineguns,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey C. Boshek II. “Keeping these illegal firearms off the streets of Oklahoma and the citizens free from the fear of their usage is one of our highest priorities.” For more information about conversion devices, please see fact sheet below. ATF Fact Sheet


title: New York Man Sentenced to Life in Prison for Double Homicide

body_text: PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced that Jason Rivera, 38, of Brooklyn, New York was sentenced to life in prison today for his role in the kidnapping, extortion, and murder of two Philadelphia drug dealers after a jury found Rivera guilty on all counts following a trial in October 2022. In the summer of 2014, defendant Jason Rivera and two associates, John Dao and Trung Lu, were recruited by members of the “Born To Kill” street gang to forcibly collect money from three marijuana dealers who had failed to pay a substantial drug debt. The victims in this case, brothers Vu and Viet Huynh, and their friend Tan Voong, were drug dealers from the Philadelphia area who sold large quantities of marijuana. Their friend, Tam Le, introduced the Huynh brothers to a gangster from New York, Lam Trieu. Le and Trieu were members of a street gang called Born to Kill ("BTK"). Lam Trieu, in turn, arranged for his supplier in California, known by his nickname "Fat Man," to supply large quantities of marijuana to the Huynh brothers. Allegedly, the Huynh brothers owed Trieu and “Fat Man” more than $30,000, and Voong owed “Fat Man” more than $300,000. Though “Fat Man” and Trieu were their suppliers, the victims did not pay them all the money they were owed. "Fat Man" pressed Lam Trieu to collect the money which he was owed. When Tam Le either could not or would not collect the money, Lam Trieu recruited three drug trafficking associates, John Dao, Trung Lu, and Jason Rivera to get the money from the Huynh brothers and Voong. Dao, Lu, and Rivera understood that they would use force and threats of force to collect the debt owed for the sale of marijuana. In exchange, Lam Trieu promised to pay Dao, Lu, and Rivera a percentage of the money recovered. A few days before the murders, Dao, Lu, and Rivera traveled to Philadelphia where they met with Tam Le and Minh Nguyen. Dao, Lu, and Rivera then unsuccessfully attempted to locate the victims to force them to pay their drug debts. Finally, on August 26, 2014, Tam Le, a member of BTK, lured the victims to his home in southwest Philadelphia, where Rivera, Dao, and Lu assaulted the victims and restrained them with duct tape and zip ties. Rivera searched Voong’s car and confiscated $40,000 in U.S. currency. At this point, Dao, Lu, and Rivera believed that their work was completed. LU gave some of the money to Tam Le. Dao and Lu intended to steal the victims' luxury vehicles which were parked outside and return to New York. However, Tam Le wanted to murder the victims fearing that the victims would return to his home to seek revenge if they remained alive. When Tam Le and Minh Nguyen started putting buckets of roofing cement into a van, Dao and Lu understood that Tam Le intended to kill the victims. Dao, Lu, and Rivera believed that Tam Le was a BTK "brother" of Lam Trieu, which made him the on-scene commander. Dao, Lu, and Rivera went along with Tam Le's plan. They then transported the three victims to the Schuylkill River, weighed down their bodies, stabbed them, and dumped all three into the river. Vu Huynh and Viet Huynh died in the river, but Tan Voong miraculously managed to crawl out of the river and flag down a passing motorist on Kelly Drive for assistance. Upon their return to New York, Rivera, Dao, and Trieu were each paid several thousand dollars each using the money they took from the victims. In addition to this case, five defendants were federally indicted for this crime. John Dao, Lam Trieu, and Minh Nguyen pleaded guilty for their respective roles in these offenses and have all been sentenced by the Court. "Fat Man" pleaded guilty to a drug trafficking offense in the Southern District of New York. Tam Le was convicted of murder and related offenses after a trial in Philadelphia County and sentenced to death. Another defendant, Hai Nguyen, pleaded guilty to making statements to the FBI concerning his efforts to assist Tam Le flee after the murders. Trung Lu is a fugitive who apparently resides in Vietnam. The FBI is offering of $50,000 for information leading to the arrest of Trung Lu. “After the initial investigation and arrests were made in this case which resulted in state charges for two individuals involved with these murders and attempted murder, the trail on the other individuals who helped them went nearly cold,” said U.S. Attorney Romero. “But thanks to the persistent efforts and dogged determination of the FBI and other law enforcement partners, our Office was able to charge these remaining individuals, get them off the streets, and bring them to justice for their crimes.” “Stopping crimes as shockingly violent as this one is a top priority of our Office,” said U.S. Attorney Romero. “Thanks to the partnership of the FBI and Philadelphia Police Department, we were able to bring Rivera to justice for his crimes.” “The brutality of the crimes committed by Rivera and his co-conspirators is stunning,” said Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “I’d like to commend FBI Philadelphia’s Organized Crime Task Force for their years of hard work to help bring these men to justice. However, our work is not done. So long as Trung Lu, also charged in connection with these crimes, remains at large, we will not stop in our efforts to hold him accountable.” The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the Philadelphia Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert J. Livermore.


title: Previously Convicted Bank Robber Pleads Guilty to Committing Three New Bank Robberies

component: USAO - Maryland

body_text: Baltimore , Maryland – Kevin Maurice Lawson, age 55, of Baltimore Maryland, pleaded guilty today to committing three armed bank robberies, all while he was in a residential re-entry program serving the remainder of his federal sentence for a 2004 conviction for bank robbery. The guilty plea was announced by Erek L. Barron, United States Attorney for the District of Maryland; Acting Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), Baltimore Field Office; and Commissioner Richard Worley of the Baltimore Police Department (“BPD”). According to his guilty plea, Lawson committed three armed bank robberies in Baltimore between June 6 and July 18, 2022, utilizing a black air gun in each robbery. In the first robbery on June 6, 2022, Lawson robbed a bank in the 100 block of East Baltimore Street in Baltimore. As he did in each of the robberies, Lawson entered the bank wearing a surgical mask and gloves. He approached a bank employee seated at a desk on the banking floor, displayed what appeared to be a dark semiautomatic handgun in his waistband, and ordered the employee to the teller line. Lawson held the employee against the teller glass and demanded money from the victim teller, who passed cash to Lawson. Lawson placed the money in a brown paper bag contained within a white plastic bag, and fled the bank on foot. As detailed in his plea agreement, on June 27, 2022, Lawson robbed a bank in the 5400 block of Harford Road in Baltimore. Lawson approached two bank employees seated at desks on the banking floor, displayed the handgun in his waistband, and ordered the employees to the teller line. Lawson ordered the first bank employee to demand cash from the victim teller who then passed cash to the first employee. Lawson placed the money in a brown paper bag contained within a white plastic bag and ordered the first bank employee to unlock a side door leading to Hamilton Avenue. Lawson fled on foot eastbound on Hamilton Avenue. In the third instance, on July 18, 2022, Lawson robbed a bank in the 3200 block of West North Avenue in Baltimore. Lawson rushed a security guard, and repeatedly struck her on her head and other parts of her body with his weapon as he ordered bank employees to provide him with cash. Throughout the course of the assault of the security guard, Lawson attempted to disarm her. Bank employees behind the teller line, fearing for the safety of the security guard and their own safety, passed cash through the teller line barrier glass and called to Lawson. Lawson disengaged from the guard and went to the counter to get the money. The guard recovered from the ground and fired rounds from her duty weapon at Lawson before the weapon jammed and Lawson fled the scene in a gray Kia. BPD patrol units located the vehicle and attempted to initiate a stop, but Lawson got away. Officers briefly lost view of the vehicle before locating it crashed into the exterior wall of a vacant rowhome. A search of the Kia recovered clothing and gloves identical to that worn in the bank robberies, as well as documents linked to Lawson including a Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate identification card. Lawson was arrested on July 22, 2022. Further investigation revealed that in 2003, Lawson had robbed the banks on West North Avenue and Harford Road. Lawson faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in federal prison for bank robbery. U.S. District Judge Brendan A. Hurson has scheduled sentencing for March 5, 2024, at 10:30 a.m. U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI and BPD for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron also thanked Assistant United States Attorney Michael Aubin, who is prosecuting the case. For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach . # # #


title: Nevada Man Indicted For Making Threats To United States Senators

component: USAO - Nevada

body_text: LAS VEGAS – A federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment on November 21, 2023, charging a Las Vegas man with threatening a United States Senator from Nevada and threatening family members of two United States Senators. John Anthony Miller (43) is charged with one-count of threatening a federal official and two-counts of influencing, impeding, or retaliating against a federal official by threatening a family member. United States Magistrate Judge Elayna J. Youchah ordered that Miller remain in custody pending trial. A jury trial has been scheduled for January 23, 2024, before United States District Judge Jennifer A. Dorsey. According to allegations contained in court documents, on October 17, 2023, Miller left numerous threatening voicemails at the office of a United States Senator. Miller threatened to assault and murder the United States Senator with intent to impede, intimidate, and interfere with the United States Senator while engaged in the performance of official duties, or with intent to retaliate against the United States Senator on account of the performance of official duties. Furthermore, the following week, on October 24 and October 25, Miller threatened to assault and murder a member of the immediate family of two United States Senators, with intent to impede, intimidate, and interfere with United States Senators while engaged in the performance of official duties, and with intent to retaliate against the United States Senators on account of the performance of official duties. If convicted, the maximum statutory penalty is 10 years in prison. Miller was arrested on October 26, 2023, and first appeared on an amended criminal complaint on October 27, 2023. United States Attorney Jason M. Frierson for the District of Nevada and Special Agent in Charge Spencer L. Evans for the FBI Las Vegas Division made the announcement. This case was investigated by the FBI Las Vegas Division with valuable assistance provided by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the U.S. Capitol Police. Assistant United States Attorney Jacob Operskalski is prosecuting the case. To report suspected threats or violent acts, contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324) or file an online complaint at www.tips.fbi.gov . If someone is in imminent danger or risk of harm, contact 911 or your local police immediately. An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. ###


title: Women Indicted in Multi-Million Dollar Fraud Scheme

component: USAO - Colorado

body_text: DENVER—The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announces that Chrisheena Shante McGee a/k/a Christina Marius, age 47, and Sandra Pierce Bacon, age 71, have been indicted by a federal grand jury on 12 counts of Wire Fraud and Aiding and Abetting Wire Fraud. According to the indictment, between May 2019 and March 2021, in Colorado and elsewhere, defendants McGee, Bacon, and others participated in a scheme to defraud and to obtain money and property from victims. Defendant McGee falsely represented to entities seeking loans that she had access to sources of money to fund loans of up to $150 million. She falsely represented that she would obtain the loan money if victims would pay an advance fee—often about 10% of the total loan amount—into an escrow account managed by Bacon. Defendants McGee and Bacon falsely represented to victims that Bacon would hold in escrow advance fees paid to secure the loans until the loans were funded. As a result of these false representations, at least 10 victims entered into escrow agreements agreeing to pay approximately $14,801,002.75 in advance fees. After McGee and Bacon falsely represented they would hold advance fees in escrow, they used them for other purposes, including to purchase properties and to repay earlier victims of the advance-fee scheme in Ponzi-like fashion. This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Fansler. The charges contained in the indictment are allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Case Number: 23-cr-00472-DDD


title: Boulder Women Plead Guilty to Conspiracy to Import a Controlled Substance

body_text: DENVER – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announces that Grace Kohler, age 23, and Elizabeth Brown, age 24, both of Boulder, pleaded guilty today to a felony charge of Conspiracy to Import a Controlled Substance to the United States from Mexico. According to the plea agreement, on August 12, 2021, Grace Kohler, Elizabeth Brown, and another woman traveled to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, for a vacation. While there, the women went to a pharmacy. Kohler and Brown exchanged text messages and calls with a mutual friend in Boulder, Colorado, whose initials are J.B., to see what specific drugs he wanted them to get for him from the pharmacy. After considering the drugs the pharmacy advertised, J.B. asked the women to get him oxycodone. Kohler paid the pharmacy $300 for 30 pills of supposed oxycodone, using her credit card. J.B. later sent Kohler $300 as reimbursement via Venmo. Brown translated from English to Spanish while the women communicated with the employee at the pharmacy. The women believed the pills they purchased contained oxycodone because that is what the pharmacy and the employee represented the pills to be. Before returning to the United States from Mexico, Kohler and Brown put the controlled substances they purchased—including the supposed oxycodone for J.B.—in other containers, such as a multivitamin container and a container for cold and flu medicine. On August 17, 2021, the women flew back into the United States on United Airlines and landed in Denver, Colorado. The women did not declare the controlled substances they purchased in Mexico and imported into the United States with U.S. Customs. The women drove from Denver International Airport to J.B.’s place of employment in Boulder, Colorado. In a parking lot, Brown handed J.B. the 30 tablets the women had obtained for him at the pharmacy in Mexico. J.B. put the pills in his shirt pocket and the women left. On August 18, 2021, Boulder Police responded to J.B.’s residence because his roommate had found J.B. deceased in his bedroom. Within J.B.’s bedroom, police found a sandwich bag containing 29 pills. The pills had “M” and “30” stamped on them and looked like poorly pressed counterfeit oxycodone pills. Later laboratory analysis revealed the pills in the bag contained fentanyl and not oxycodone. On August 20, the Boulder County Coroner’s Office conducted an autopsy and determined J.B. died of fentanyl intoxication. “This tragic death is only one example of the lethal epidemic of fentanyl overdoses,” said U.S. Attorney Cole Finegan. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to raise public awareness and deter distribution of this deadly poison.” “The only safe and reliable place to get legitimate prescription medications is from a trusted and licensed pharmacist within the United States,” said DEA Acting Special Agent in Charge David Olesky of the Rocky Mountain Field Division. “The cartels are driving addiction across our country through the trafficking of fentanyl. This is precisely why DEA launched its One Pill Can Kill Campaign in 2021. Today, 70 percent of the pills seized by DEA contain a potentially deadly dose of fentanyl. We can’t say it enough – don’t purchase pills on social media or take a pill provided by a ‘friend’.” “The influx of illegal drugs, and drugs containing fentanyl, in the United States has increased over the years and, unfortunately, we have seen incidents of overdoses and tragically we have also had deaths occur,” said Commander Nick Goldberger of the Boulder County Drug Task Force. “You should only obtain prescribed medication from a legitimate pharmacy, and under a doctor’s care, to reduce your risk of taking something that may contain fentanyl.” “Fentanyl has taken and destroyed many lives in this country and sadly our community is not immune. I’m proud of the strong policework our officers did in this case to find the suppliers of these drugs,” Boulder Police Deputy Chief of Operations Steve Redfearn said. “We truly value the great relationships we have with our federal, state, and local partners in combatting this deadly epidemic.” Brown is scheduled to be sentenced on March 1, 2024. Kohler is scheduled to be sentence on March 7, 2024. A United States District Judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. The Drug Enforcement Administration, the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, and the Boulder County Drug Task Force are investigating the case. Assistant United States Attorneys Peter McNeilly and Alexander Duncan are prosecuting the case. Case Number: 23-cr-00439-NYW


title: Nueces County resident heads to prison for possessing multiple child pornography images and videos

component: USAO - Texas, Southern

body_text: CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A 34-year-old Corpus Christi resident has been sentenced for possession of child pornography, announces U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani. Omar Diego Lyra pleaded guilty July 27. U.S. District Judge David Morales has now sentenced Lyra to 228 months in prison. At the hearing, the court heard Lyra engaged in distribution of images and videos with others. In handing down the prison term, the court noted the seriousness of the offense and that Lyra provided images and videos to others. Lyra was further ordered to pay $27,000 in restitution to the victims and will serve 20 years on supervised release following completion of his prison term. During that time, he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet. Lyra will also be ordered to register as a sex offender. The investigation began June 2022 when authorities discovered images of child pornography on an online platform associated with an email address belonging to Lyra. Law enforcement then executed a search warrant of Lyra’s residence and found images and videos depicting sexual exploitation of minors present on electronic devices in his possession. Lyra has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future. Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation with assistance of the Victoria and Corpus Christi Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Overman prosecuted the case, which was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative the Department of Justice (DOJ) launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section leads PSC, which marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and identifies and rescues victims. For more information about PSC, please visit DOJ’s PSC page . For more information about internet safety education, please visit the resources link on that page.