title: Former High School Teacher Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison for Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Minors

body_text: PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced that Jeremy Schobel, 33, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a former teacher at Harriton High School in Lower Merion Township, PA, and the High School of Creative and Performing Arts in Philadelphia, was sentenced today by United States District Court Judge John F. Murphy to 30 years’ imprisonment and 20 years of supervised release for an elaborate child exploitation catfishing scheme that Schobel developed to entice young teenage girls, including one who was a student at his school. For more than three years, and often from classrooms at Harriton High, the defendant posed as different minor girls online, creating extensive, fake profiles to deceive his underage victims into sending him sexually explicit images and videos of themselves. Schobel was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with child exploitation offenses in June of 2023 and indicted in November 2023. In March, he pleaded guilty to receipt of child pornography and five counts of manufacture of child pornography. His conviction requires him to register as a sex offender pursuant to Megan’s Law in Pennsylvania. “As a teacher, Jeremy Schobel was tasked with developing young minds,” said U.S. Attorney Romero. “As a predator, though, he chose to deceive and sexually exploit underage girls online — often from his school classroom. Today’s sentence closes the book on Schobel’s years of catfishing and gives his victims a measure of justice. Protecting children from abuse will always be a top priority for my office and our partners at the FBI.” “Mr. Schobel abused his position of public trust to prey on those we expected him to protect,” said Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Philadelphia. “The sexual exploitation of children is among the most devious crimes we investigate and today’s sentencing serves as a reminder that the FBI and our partners will work tirelessly to protect children from abuse and exploitation.” 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 projectsafechildhood.gov . The case was investigated by the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michelle Rotella.


title: Luzerne County Man Indicted For Distribution And Possession Of Child Pornography

component: USAO - Pennsylvania, Middle

body_text: SCRANTON -- The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Garfet Todd Patton, age 60, of Dallas, Pennsylvania, was indicted on September 10, 2024, by a federal grand jury on distribution and possession of child pornography charges. According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, the indictment charges Patton with three counts of distribution of child pornography, and one count of possession of child pornography depicting minors engaging in sexual activity. The offenses took place in Luzerne County between June and September 2024. The case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Assistant U.S. Attorney Luisa Honora Berti is prosecuting the case. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood , a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. The combined maximum penalty under federal law for this offense is eighty years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. Indictments and Criminal Informations are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court. # # #


title: Jefferson City Man Sentenced to 15 Years for Drug Trafficking

component: USAO - Missouri, Western

body_text: JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A Jefferson City, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for illegally possessing more than a pound of heroin and fentanyl mixture to distribute. Tremaine Davol Bell, 43, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to 15 years in federal prison without parole. Bell was sentenced as a career criminal due to his prior felony convictions. On Jan. 18, 2024, Bell pleaded guilty to one count of possessing fentanyl with the intent to distribute. In October 2022, investigators received information that Bell was utilizing a storage unit in Jefferson City to store a large quantity of heroin. Bell was seen leaving the storage facility in the morning of Oct. 31, 2022, driving a Dodge Avenger. A Jefferson City police officer attempted to conduct a traffic stop as Bell drove away from the storage facility, but Bell immediately pulled into a gas station parking lot and fled on foot. The officer chased Bell and was able to take him into custody on Christy Drive. The officer searched Bell and found $1,210 in cash, in mostly $20 bills, in his pocket. A police dog alerted to the driver’s side door of Bell’s car. Officers searched the vehicle and found a marijuana blunt and a Glock 9mm handgun with ammunition. Officers also searched Bell’s storage unit and found approximately 556.17 grams of a substance that contained heroin, fentanyl and Tramadol, as well as three additional handguns – two of which were reported stolen – and $29,988 in cash. According to entry and exit logs, Bell accessed the facility multiple times per week and sometimes multiple times per day throughout the month of October 2022. Bell has three prior felony convictions for distributing a controlled substance and a prior felony conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron M. Maness. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Jefferson City, Mo., Police Department, the Cole County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, and the MUSTANG Drug Task Force.


title: Judge Sentences Man To More Than 19 Years in Prison for Setting Fire to Ex-Girlfriend’s Apartment in February 2024

component: USAO - District of Columbia

body_text: WASHINGTON – Quenton Jones, 64, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today for threats he made to his ex-girlfriend and the February 2024 arson at her apartment, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). Superior Court Judge Erik Christian sentenced Jones to 234 months (19.5 years) in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Jones was found guilty on May 24, 2024, by a Superior Court jury of one count of arson, two counts of first-degree burglary, one count of felony threats, one count of felony destruction of property, and multiple counts of felony contempt. According to the government’s evidence, on December 28, 2023, Jones threatened to kill his ex-girlfriend, the victim, after he accused her of cheating on him. On February 2, 2024, he violated a Stay Away No Contact Order by calling her multiple times and leaving demeaning voicemails on her phone. Then, on February 3, 2024, at approximately 3:00 am, Jones went to the victim’s apartment and wrote on her front door, with a black marker, her personal information and a list of sex acts he said she would do in exchange for money. He returned three hours later and set a piece of paper on fire, shoving it under her front door, causing her front door to catch fire. This fire forced all the residents of the apartment building to evacuate the building. After Jones was arrested, he continued to contact the victim from jail and wrote a handwritten letter to her right before trial. In making its recommendation, the government argued that Jones showed “little remorse for his actions, which posed a significant risk to the victim’s life.” The government pointed out not only to the psychological damage Jones inflicted onto the victim but also the “security risk he poses for the entire community.” In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves and Chief Smith commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They also acknowledged the work of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, including Reshawn Johnson, Tiffany Jones, Johnny DaSilva, Sigourney Jackson, Shanika McCullough, and Nelson Rhone. U.S. Attorney Graves also commended Assistant U.S. Attorneys Molly K. Smith and Monisha Rao from the Domestic Violence Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, who prosecuted the case.


title: Former Birmingham Art Dealer Sentenced to Over Five Years in Prison for Defrauding Elderly Clients

component: USAO - Michigan, Eastern

body_text: DETROIT - Wendy Halstead Beard, 59, of Birmingham, Michigan, was sentenced today to 5 years and 3 months in prison for wire fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison. Joining in the announcement was Cheyvoryea Gibson, Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Beard was sentenced before United States District Judge Judith E. Levy in Ann Arbor. Beard’s sentence follows her guilty plea to one count of wire fraud arising from a multi-year scheme in which she received millions of dollars’ worth of fine art photography prints on consignment, sold the artwork without the knowledge of the owners, kept the profits for her own personal gain, and continually deceived the owners about the status of their photographs. Judge Levy also ordered Beard to pay restitution in the amount of more than two million dollars. According to court records, between March 2019 and October 2022, Beard engaged in an ongoing scheme to defraud dozens of her customers, many of whom were elderly. The primary purpose of the scheme was for Beard to convert to her own use multiple fine art photographs that had been provided to her on a consignment basis, in order to sell those photographs and keep the proceeds for herself (rather than turning over the proceeds to the consignors). She also took thousands of dollars in payments from other victims, for photographs which she then failed to deliver. On at least one occasion Beard victimized two individuals with one photograph—never providing the photograph to the purchaser while also failing to pay the original consigner following the sale. When questioned by her victims about the whereabouts of their artwork (or their share of the proceeds), Beard repeatedly lied to them, inventing more and more ridiculous justifications for her delay in repayment or return of consigned property. These excuses consisted of, among other things, exaggerating the severity of her own health problems, including claiming (1) to have recently been in a coma and (2) to have received a double-lung transplant. Beard also created fake “employee” identities which she used to correspond with her victims in a further effort to delay detection and conceal her theft. “My office stands ready to investigate and prosecute elder financial abuse in all its forms and will continue to hold perpetrators like Beard accountable for their actions,” said United States Attorney Ison. “Beard’s ongoing deception was of a level that we rarely see, even in fraud cases, lying to her customers repeatedly in an attempt to conceal her scheme. Today’s sentence will hopefully bring a measure of closure for the more than three-dozen victims who trusted Wendy Beard with their valuable artwork.” "Preying on vulnerable individuals in any form is utterly deplorable and will not be tolerated," said Cheyvoryea Gibson, the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Michigan. "Ms. Beard's calculated criminal acts displayed a complete disregard for the victims who placed their trust in who they believed to be a legitimate business owner. This collaborative investigation, involving the Birmingham Police Department, members of the FBI in Michigan, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan, sends an unmistakable message that those who scheme to defraud innocent victims of their fine art will face the most severe penalties under the law. This sentencing represents a crucial step towards ensuring justice for those who fell victim to her criminal behavior." The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Birmingham Police Department and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Ryan A. Particka and Adriana Dydell.


title: United States Settles Claims of Durable Medical Equipment Fraud Against Wilmington Physician

component: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

body_text: WILMINGTON, Del. – U.S. Attorney David C. Weiss announced today that Dr. Vishal Patel, a Wilmington physician, has agreed to pay $1,080,000 to resolve allegations that he violated the False Claims Act by ordering medically unnecessary durable medical equipment for patients covered by Medicare and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). Between February 2018 and April 2019, Dr. Patel referred patients for more than 1750 orthotic devices, including wrist, shoulder, knee, ankle, and back braces. The United States alleges that Dr. Patel had no medical relationship with these patients and that the referrals were based on brief reviews of the patients’ medical charts, which failed to establish any legitimate medical justification for the devices. Medicare and FEHBP paid, on average, more than $400 for each device. Patient files were provided to Dr. Patel by RediDoc, LLC, a purported telemedicine company based in Phoenix, Arizona whose owners pleaded guilty to participation in a $64 million health care fraud conspiracy in May 2022. “Fraudulent telemedicine companies such as RediDoc rely on licensed healthcare providers to make their operations appear legitimate and avoid detection,” said U.S. Attorney Weiss. “By ordering services for patients they have never examined or treated, these providers permit fraud schemes to flourish and drain vital funds from Medicare and other government healthcare programs. In conjunction with our law enforcement partners, this office will continue to use all available means to identify healthcare providers who increase costs through unnecessary orders and hold them accountable.” "For more than a year, Dr. Patel schemed to deceive and repeatedly lied to further his greed. His blatant and unscrupulous abuse of the healthcare system led to an exorbitant amount of fraud,” said Special Agent in Charge William J. DelBagno of the FBI Baltimore Field Office. "Healthcare fraud takes money away from legitimate patients and needs, affecting the reliability of our programs, which is why the FBI is committed to bringing fraud to light and perpetrators like Dr. Patel to justice.” “We expect that federal health care providers submit necessary orders for patients they are actually treating,” said Derek M. Holt, Special Agent in Charge, the Office of Personnel Management Office of the Inspector General. “We applaud our law enforcement partners and colleagues at the Department of Justice for their hard work in protecting the FEHBP and other federal health care programs from fraudulent claims.” “Health care providers are required to charge Medicare only for services and equipment that are medically necessary,” said Maureen R. Dixon, Special Agent in Charge for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “HHS-OIG, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and our law enforcement partners will continue to pursue allegations that illegitimate billings have been submitted to federal health care programs.” This matter was investigated by agents from the FBI, HHS-OIG, and the Office of Personnel Management Office of the Inspector General. Within the U.S Attorney’s Office, this matter was handled by Civil Chief Dylan J. Steinberg and Affirmative Civil Enforcement Auditor David Cheung. The government’s pursuit of this matter illustrates its emphasis on combating health care fraud. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act. Tips and complaints from all sources about potential fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement can be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services at 800‑HHS‑TIPS (800-447-8477). The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability. A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware.


title: Man Pleads Guilty to Stealing More Than $68,000 from Medicaid and SNAP

component: USAO - New Hampshire

body_text: CONCORD – A man residing in Manchester pleaded guilty in federal court to defrauding Medicaid and the Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) of more than $68,000, which were benefits he was not entitled to, U.S. Attorney Jane E. Young announces. Joel Gonzalez, a/k/a Joel Gonzalez De La Cruz, a/k/a Joel Cruz, a/k/a Joel King, 40, pleaded guilty to making False Statements. U.S. District Court Judge Samantha D. Elliot scheduled sentencing for December 18, 2024. Gonzalez is currently in New Hampshire state custody for unrelated charges. Gonzalez used a stolen identity, including name, date of birth, and Social Security Number of a U.S. citizen for approximately two decades. On June 21, 2019, Gonzalez applied for Medicaid benefits using the stolen identity. On July 26, 2019, he applied for SNAP benefits using the stolen identity. Between July 2019 and November 2023, Gonzalez filled out additional applications for Medicaid and SNAP benefits using the stolen identity. All of the applications were made under penalty of perjury. Gonzalez fraudulently received $68,580.65 in benefits he was not entitled to. Gonzalez also maintained a Facebook account under the alias “Joel King.” Under his Facebook account, he posted a photo of an “Employee of the Month” certificate identifying himself using the stolen identity and he used the stolen identity to obtain the employment. The charge of False Statements provides for a sentence of up to 5 years in prison, up to 3 years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. 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. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Inspector General and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General led the investigation. Valuable assistance was provided by the New Hampshire Department of Corrections, Manchester Police Department, and Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander S. Chen is prosecuting the case. ###


title: Colorado Man Pleads Guilty to a Firearm Offense

body_text: CONCORD – A Louisville, Colorado man pleaded guilty today in federal court in Concord to a firearm offense, U.S. Attorney Jane E. Young announces. Shelby Theriault, 30, pleaded guilty to one count of possession of an unregistered firearm. U.S. District Court Steven McAuliffe scheduled sentencing for December 18, 2024. On January 20, 2024, Theriault was arrested for unrelated theft offenses and found to be in possession of a sawed-off shotgun. Theriault subsequently admitted to stealing the shotgun from a residence in New Hampshire and sawing down the barrel thereafter. Theriault then did not register the sawed-off shotgun as required by the National Firearm Act. The charging statute provides a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, 3 years of supervised release, and a fine of $10,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Conway Police Department led the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany Scanlon is prosecuting the case. This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce 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: Inmate At USP Canaan Charged With Voluntary Manslaughter

body_text: SCRANTON – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced Bryant Wilson, age 54, an inmate at the United States Penitentiary Canaan, in Waymart, Pennsylvania, was indicted yesterday by a federal grand jury with voluntary manslaughter. According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, the indictment charges that on or about November 28, 2021, Wilson killed an inmate with a prison-made weapon “upon a sudden quarrel and heat of passion.” The indictment also alleges that Wilson unlawfully possessed a weapon, a seven-inch piece of metal sharpened to a point, commonly known as a “shank.” The charges stem from a joint investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Prisons. Assistant United States Attorney Kyle Moreno is prosecuting the case. The maximum penalty under federal law for the crimes charged in the Indictment is twenty years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. Indictments are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court. # # #


title: Federal Inmate Charged With Possessing A Weapon

body_text: SCRANTON – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Anthony Evans, age 28, a federal inmate, was indicted yesterday by a federal grand jury with possessing contraband in prison. According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, the indictment alleges that on or about July 15, 2024, while an inmate at the Federal Correction Institution Allenwood (FCI Allenwood), in Union County, Pennsylvania, Evans possessed a six-inch piece of metal sharpened to a point with a cloth handle commonly referred to as a “shank.” The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Federal Bureau of Prisons Special Investigative Service. Assistant United States Attorney Tatum Wilson is prosecuting the case. The maximum penalty under federal law for this offense is five years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. Indictments are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court. # # #


title: Six Defendants Arrested on Indictments Alleging They Used Stolen Identities to Fraudulently Obtain Lines of Credit and Jobless Benefits

component: USAO - California, Central

body_text: SANTA ANA, California – Law enforcement officials today arrested six Orange County residents charged in three indictments alleging, among other crimes, they stole identities to defraud California’s unemployment insurance (UI) system and to fraudulently apply for lines of credit from a lender, using the identity theft victims’ homes as collateral. In total, seven defendants are charged in the three indictments, which were returned by a federal grand jury. The defendants arrested today are expected to be arraigned this afternoon in United States District Court in Santa Ana. The first indictment, returned on June 12, contains 31 counts, alleges the following defendants participated in a conspiracy that fraudulently obtained debit cards through the California Employment Development Department (EDD), which administers the state’s UI system: Tien Vo, 43, of Westminster; Crystal Nguyen, 35, of Garden Grove, who is a fugitive; Thao Nguyen, 46, of Westminster; and Michelle Strange, 40, of Midway City. All four of these defendants are charged with 22 counts of bank fraud, and each has been charged with two counts of aggravated identity theft. Vo also is charged with one count of possession of unauthorized access devices. From May 2020 to January 2022, the defendants allegedly obtained UI debit cards, which fraudulently had been obtained by submitting UI applications in the names of identity theft victims. During this time, EDD also administered Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits, which Congress authorized in 2020 to provide to individuals who were unemployed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The defendants then used these debit cards to withdraw unemployment insurance benefits. In total, the defendants withdrew approximately $15,650 in UI benefits from the debit cards. The second indictment, returned on August 7, contains seven counts, alleges the following defendants schemed to defraud banks by using stolen identities – including by stealing mail – to fraudulently obtain lines of credit secured by the identity theft victims’ actual homes – and were secured without the victims’ knowledge or consent: Chien Khang Bui, 36, a.k.a. “Catfish” and “Tommy,” of Anaheim; Nangialey Nick Wardak, 54, of Santa Ana; and Mandy Lynn McGrew, 35, of Santa Ana. From February 2020 to March 2022, Bui allegedly obtained debit card numbers, bank account numbers, credit cards, home addresses, telephone numbers, and other personal identifying information belonging to identity theft victims. He then submitted online applications for home equity lines of credit (HELOC) with a mortgage-lending company by using the victims’ stolen information. Bui linked each HELOC application to a bank account that he and other conspirators controlled. The defendants allegedly lied to the mortgage company that they were the person associated with each application and that they were the owner of each of the houses used as collateral. In total, the conspiracy received approximately $502,806 in fraudulently obtained HELOCs. All three of these defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and each of them is charged with one count of aggravated identity theft. Bui also is charged with three counts of bank fraud for allegedly using stolen identities to fraudulently obtain COVID-19 jobless benefits from EDD in July and August of 2020. “These indictments allege an organized criminal campaign of identity theft targeting banks, California’s unemployment insurance program, and homeowners alike,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. “Sophisticated fraud schemes, such as the ones alleged in these indictments, cause real damage to victims, and we will be diligent in rooting them out.” “I am proud of the extensive investigation conducted by the FBI’s Orange County Asian Organized Crime Task Force,” said Akil Davis, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “Through their hard work and dedication, we were able to dismantle an organization responsible for causing significant financial harm to individuals and public funds designated to assist those in need. The FBI is committed to protecting our communities, financial institutions, and public assistance programs from criminal enterprises that exploit them for personal gain.” In a third and separate indictment, also returned on August 7 and containing three counts, Bui is charged with two counts of distribution of methamphetamine stemming from alleged incidents in December 2022 and February 2023, and one count of unlawfully possessing a firearm and ammunition. Bui is not legally permitted to possess firearms or ammunition because of his criminal history, which includes felony convictions in Orange County Superior Court for theft by false pretenses, second-degree commercial burglary, identity theft, identity theft with prior conviction, unlawful taking of a vehicle, and grand theft. An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court. If convicted of all charges, the defendants would face a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison for each bank fraud-related count, and a mandatory consecutive sentence of two years in federal prison for each aggravated identity theft count. Vo would face up to 10 years in prison for the unauthorized possession of access devices count and Bui would face a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment for the methamphetamine distribution counts and up to 15 years in federal prison for the count of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition. The FBI’s Orange County Asian Organized Crime Task Force is investigating these cases. This task force is comprised of the FBI; the Santa Ana Police Department; the Westminster Police Department; the California Department of Justice – Bureau of Gambling Control; the Orange County District Attorney's Office; the California Employment Development Department; and the United States Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General. The Orange County Sheriff's Department provided substantial assistance. Assistant United States Attorney Kevin Y. Fu of the Santa Ana Branch Office is prosecuting the Vo case. Assistant United States Attorney Melissa S. Rabbani, also of the Santa Ana Branch Office, is prosecuting the Bui cases. On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus . On September 15, 2022, the Attorney General selected the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Central and Eastern Districts of California to jointly head one of three national COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force Teams. The Department of Justice established the Strike Force to enhance existing efforts to combat and prevent COVID-19 related financial fraud. The Strike Force combines law enforcement and prosecutorial resources and focuses on large-scale, multistate pandemic relief fraud perpetrated by criminal organizations and transnational actors, as well as those who committed multiple instances of pandemic relief fraud. The Strike Force uses prosecutor-led and data analyst-driven teams to identify and bring to justice those who stole pandemic relief funds. Additional information regarding the Strike Force may be found at https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-covid-19-fraud-strike-force-teams . Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at (866) 720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form .


title: Massachusetts Businessman Pleads Guilty to Million Dollar Payroll Tax Fraud Scheme

component: USAO - Massachusetts

body_text: BOSTON – A Dorchester man pleaded guilty today to a multi-year tax fraud scheme in which he failed to pay employment taxes for his temporary employment agency. Det Tran, 62, pleaded guilty to two counts of failure to collect and pay over employment taxes. U.S. District Judge Leo T. Sorokin scheduled sentencing for Dec. 10, 2024. From at least 2018 through 2021, Tran owned and operated HTP Temp. Inc. (HTP), an agency that provided temporary workers for client businesses. During that time, Tran paid $8 million in “off the books” cash wages to HTP employees. Through his concealment of these cash wages, Tran caused his accountant to prepare false quarterly filings to the IRS for HTP’s employee wages and tax withholdings between 2018 and 2021. As a result, Tran evaded more than $2.1 million in employment taxes owed to the IRS. The charge of failure to pay over taxes provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case. Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Harry Chavis, Jr., Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin A. Saltzman of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit is prosecuting the case.


title: Oahu Man Sentenced to 70 Months in Prison for Emailing Bomb Threats

component: USAO - Hawaii

body_text: HONOLULU – United States Attorney Clare E. Connors announced that Bryan Melvin Brandenburg, 65, of Oahu, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi to 70 months in prison followed by 1 year of supervised release for sending e-mail threats to bomb buildings in Utah, California, and across the United States. Brandenburg was previously convicted at trial by a federal jury of seven counts involving sending the threatening e-mails. According to information provided to the court, in May 2022, Brandenburg, who was residing on Oahu at the time, was awaiting the outcome of a divorce proceeding in a Utah state court. On May 4, 2022, after receiving the divorce decision, Brandenburg sent an e-mail to two judicial employees and others threatening to bomb the state courthouse. Throughout the course of the day, Brandenburg sent additional e-mails threatening to bomb the Utah State Capitol, Mayor’s office in Salt Lake City, every Ivy League university, and the United States District Courthouse in San Diego, California. On May 6, 2022, Brandenburg sent additional e-mails threatening to bomb Hall Labs and the University of Utah Center for Medical Innovation, both located in Utah. As a result of Brandenburg’s threats, the Utah State Court initiated extensive security measures including increased screenings and surveillance reviews, searches by all available court deputies, and security briefings for related personnel. The University of Utah Police Department diverted nearly all police officers to the Center for Medical Innovation and evacuated multiple buildings including students taking a final examination. The Provo Police Department conducted a search at Hall Labs. Ultimately, no bombing devices were found. At trial, Brandenburg admitted that he wanted “to raise eyebrows” and have people “take my e-mails seriously,” and that he took “extreme measures” in sending the e-mails. At sentencing, Judge Kobayashi called Brandenburg’s actions “totally inappropriate,” explaining that “it doesn’t matter who you are, you don’t treat people like that” and that “in a humane society, we don’t lash out.” “Threats to cause harm, no matter if made over email or in person, will simply not be tolerated,” said U.S. Attorney Clare E. Connors. “Words have consequence, as demonstrated by this prosecution and the court’s sentence. Think before you speak, click send, or otherwise target someone in this manner – otherwise, we will hold you accountable under the law.” “Making threats to harm innocent people is incomprehensible and will not be tolerated,” said FBI Honolulu Special Agent in Charge Steven Merrill. “When this type of incident is reported, it is always treated as a threat, and therefore drains valuable resources from law enforcement and endangers the wellbeing of our communities.” The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, University of Utah Police Department, and Provo Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys W. KeAupuni Akina and Darren W.K. Ching prosecuted the case.


title: West Virginia Business Defrauds, Pays the United States Postal Service

component: USAO - West Virginia, Northern

body_text: MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Frame, Inc., a construction service company operating in West Virginia and Florida, has paid restitution of $187, 286 for defrauding the federal government. Frame, Inc., operated by James Frame, Sr., 66, formerly of Charleston, West Virginia, was contracted by EMCOR Facilities Services, Inc. to manage subcontractors and the negotiation of costs for repairs and construction work at U.S. Postal Service (USPS) locations within a 150-mile radius of Charleston, West Virginia. Frame, Inc. committed wire fraud when it submitted bills for supposed services with rates above what was being charged by the subcontractors, and many times certifying that Frame, Inc. conducted the work, when in fact, a subcontractor had been used. Much of the work was done on USPS locations in Berkeley, Jefferson, Morgan, Hampshire, and Mineral Counties. As a part of the plea agreement, Frame agreed to dissolve the corporation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberley Crockett prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. This case was investigated by the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General.


title: New York Cyberstalker Is Sentenced To 15 Years In Prison

component: USAO - North Carolina, Western

body_text: CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Russell J. Martini, 47, of Bay Shore, New York, was sentenced today to 180 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for cyberstalking a female victim and related offenses, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Robert M. DeWitt, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Charlotte Division, and Chief Johnny Jennings of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department join U.S. Attorney King in making today’s announcement. According to court documents and court proceedings, in April and May of 2022, Martini sent repeated harassing and threatening communications to an individual identified in court documents as “Jane Doe.” Jane Doe knew Martini and had obtained a protection order in New York that prohibited the defendant from contacting her. In April 2022, Jane Doe moved from New York to Charlotte. Soon thereafter, Martini began a cyberstalking campaign against Jane Doe, and used texts, emails, and social media platforms to send Jane Doe and members of her family harassing messages and threats of death and bodily injury. Martini also created a public social media account in Jane Doe’s name and used a compromising photo of the victim as a profile picture. Court documents show that Martini threatened to publish sexual photos and videos of Jane Doe online and on popular social media websites if Jane Doe did not respond to his communications. According to filed court documents, in May 2022, Martini sent Jane Doe emails in which he threatened to kill her, “cave her face in,” “leave her in a pool of blood,” and kill her animals. Then, Martini traveled to Charlotte and attempted to kidnap Jane Doe. Martini waited at Jane Doe’s apartment complex and attacked her as she walked up the stairs to her apartment. Martini then attempted to drag the victim to his car, but a bystander intervened, and Martini fled. After the attack, Martini sent Jane Doe an email asking her if she was “ready for round two” and threatened to kill her. Court records show that Martini was convicted of stalking another female victim in 2018. In support of Martini’s 15-year sentence, U.S. District Judge Robert J. Conrad, Jr. cited Martini’s lengthy criminal history involving similar behavior, his inability to comply with previous terms of probation, and the need to protect the public from Martini. On September 28, 2023, Martini pleaded guilty to cyberstalking, stalking, and communicating interstate threats. In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney King thanked the FBI and CMPD for their investigation of this case. Assistant United States Attorney Kimlani Ford of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte is prosecuted the case.


title: Two Accused of $80,000 in Pandemic Loan Fraud

component: USAO - Missouri, Eastern

body_text: ST. LOUIS – One current and one former employee of the Department of Veterans Affairs have been indicted and accused of fraudulently obtaining pandemic loans. Kahroun Armstrong, also known as Kahroun Leflore, 48, of Black Jack, Missouri, was indicted September 4 on two counts bank fraud, two counts of wire fraud and one count of making a false statement. Dortatius L. Hill, 41, of St. Louis, was indicted separately on the same day on the same charges. Armstong and Hill appeared in U.S. District Court in St. Louis Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to the charges. Armstrong is no longer employed by the VA. Hill's indictment accuses him of applying for two Paycheck Protection Program loans for a company called “Dortatius Hill,” once on April 2, 2021, and again on April 9, 2021. Hill falsely claimed the company had gross income of $120,000. He received one $20,833 loan on April 16, 2021, and another on May 5, 2021. Hill later fraudulently sought loan forgiveness. The PPP loans were supposed to be used to save jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The indictment accuses Armstrong of fraudulently seeking a PPP loan on behalf of Arm & Arm In Home Health Care Services LLC on March 29, 2021, and another on behalf of Arm & Arm Motors LLC the same day. Armstrong falsely claimed the health care company was founded in 2018 and had $145,655 in gross income and Arm & Arm Motors had gross income of $155,000, the indictment says. He falsely claimed that both loans would be used for payroll costs, rent, utilities and other expenses, it says. He received a loan for each business of $20,832, and later successfully sought forgiveness of the loans. 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. Bank fraud is punishable by up to 30 years in prison, a $1 million fine, or both prison and a fine. Wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Making a false statement is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Roy is prosecuting the case.


title: Dartmouth Woman Pleads Guilty to Embezzling From Multiple Employers

body_text: BOSTON – A Dartmouth woman pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from two different employers. Jasmyne Botelho, 41, pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud. U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper scheduled sentencing for Dec. 18, 2024. Botelho was indicted by a federal grand jury in May 2024. Between September 2017 and April 2020, Botelho stole at least $280,000 from her employer. Specifically, Botelho directed payments purportedly intended for the company’s vendors to bank accounts she controlled and used company funds to make payments on personal credit cards and an auto loan. To hide her scheme, Botelho falsified her employer’s books and records to make it appear as though the payments had in fact been sent to legitimate vendors rather than to Botelho. Between May 2022 and December 2023, Botelho improperly inflated her payroll from another employer by more than $160,000. She concealed her scheme by manipulating her employer’s payroll and accounting software to hide her inflated payroll as well as phony “reimbursements” she paid herself. The charge of wire fraud provides a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case. Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen A. Kearney of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit is prosecuting the case.


title: Florida Woman Pleads Guilty to Laundering Millions of Dollars As Part Of Romance Scams

component: Civil Division

body_text: A Florida woman pleaded guilty today to conspiring to launder millions of dollars from American fraud victims to a co-conspirator abroad. According to court documents, Cristine Petitfrere, 30, of Miramar, used bank accounts to receive proceeds from romance scams. After receiving money from victims of the scams, Petitfrere kept a portion as a fee and funneled the remainder to her co-conspirator overseas. Petitfrere laundered over $2.7 million and earned hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees. Romance scams involve fraudsters creating fake online personas to gain the trust and affection of victims, ultimately leading to financial exploitation. These schemes not only cause significant financial losses, but also deeply impact the lives of victims, many of whom are elderly. Americans lost $1.14 billion to romance scams in 2023, according to Federal Trade Commission data. “Romance scams cause not only significant losses but also profound emotional harm to countless individuals,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “This prosecution underscores the department’s efforts to dismantle the criminal networks that engage in these sophisticated financial schemes to exploit vulnerable Americans.” Petitfrere is scheduled to be sentenced in the Southern District of Florida on Dec. 11. She faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. The FBI Miami Field Office investigated the case. Trial Attorneys Matthew Robinson and Lauren M. Elfner of the Civil Division's Consumer Protection Branch are prosecuting the case. If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has experienced financial fraud, experienced professionals are standing by at the National Elder Fraud Hotline 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311). This Justice Department hotline, managed by the Office for Victims of Crime, can provide personalized support to callers by assessing the needs of the victim and identifying relevant next steps. Case managers will identify appropriate reporting agencies, provide information to callers to assist them in reporting, connect callers directly with appropriate agencies and provide resources and referrals, on a case-by-case basis. Reporting is the first step. Reporting can help authorities identify those who commit fraud and reporting certain financial losses due to fraud as soon as possible can increase the likelihood of recovering losses. The hotline is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET. English, Spanish and other languages are available. More information about the department’s efforts to help American seniors is available at www.justice.gov/elderjustice . For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts visit www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. Elder fraud complaints can be filed with the FTC at www.reportfraud.ftc.gov/ or at 877-FTC-HELP. The Justice Department provides a variety of resources relating to elder fraud victimization through its Office for Victims of Crime, at www.ovc.gov. For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its fraud enforcement efforts, visit www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch .


title: Nigerian Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Money Laundering and Aiding and Abetting Wire Fraud and Mail Fraud

component: USAO - North Dakota

body_text: BISMARCK – United States Attorney Mac Schneider announced that on September 11, 2024, United States District Court Judge Daniel M. Traynor sentenced Nigerian citizen Christopher Agbaje to serve 142 months’ imprisonment, and to pay $188,935.74 in restitution to a North Dakota law firm, on charges of 1) Money Laundering; 2) Aiding and Abetting Wire Fraud; and 3) Aiding and Abetting Mail Fraud. On May 16, 2024, after a four-day trial, a federal jury found Agbaje guilty on these charges while also finding him not guilty on charges of 1) Wire Fraud; and 2) Mail Fraud. In February 2024, Agbaje was extradited from the United Kingdom to North Dakota to face these charges. As demonstrated by evidence introduced at trial, between November and December 2020, Agbaje participated with others in a sophisticated scheme to defraud a North Dakota law firm out of $198,336.68. As part of this fraud scheme, individuals falsely purported to be a business owner in a legal dispute with a Bismarck, North Dakota, company and entered into a fictious attorney-client relationship with this law firm. Through email communications, these individuals made false statements and promises, upon which the law firm relied to their determinant. Thereafter, the law firm received a parcel containing a fraudulent Citibank check payable to the law firm in the amount of $198,850.00 and deposited this check in the law firm’s bank account. Subsequently, at the purported business owner’s request, the law firm sent a $198,336.68 wire transfer to Agbaje’s business partner. A short time later, Agbaje directed his business partner to fraudulently initiate a $180,000.00 international wire transfer with the intent to conceal the location, ownership, and control of the law firm’s money. When Agbaje became aware that law enforcement was conducting a fraud investigation in connection with the wire transfer he and his business partner had received, Agbaje instructed his business partner to “press on,” gain “leverage,” and claim “naivety.” “This strong sentence shows that international fraudsters cannot hide from justice,” Schneider said. “When North Dakotans are the victims of fraud, our prosecutors and law enforcement partners will work internationally to hold defendants accountable in a federal courtroom in Bismarck or Fargo.” "Today's sentencing demonstrates that no fraud scheme is beyond the reach of justice, no matter its complexity or scope," said Special Agent in Charge Alvin M. Winston Sr. of FBI Minneapolis. "Those who engage in fraudulent schemes will be met with swift and decisive action. The FBI will continue to work with partners across the globe to protect the financial security of the American people from those who seek to exploit it." This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jonathan J. O’Konek and Nick Baker. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided substantial assistance with securing the arrest and extradition of Agbaje. If you, or someone you know, has been a victim of cybercrime, please consider filing a report at the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at https://www.ic3.gov/ ######


title: Mississippi residents convicted of fraud related to Covid-19 loans

body_text: OXFORD, MS – A federal jury convicted a Columbus man and a Clarksdale woman today for applying for and receiving a fraudulent Economic Injury Disaster Loan from the Small Business Administration (SBA) related to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Ramirez Ivy, of Columbus, Mississippi and Felicia Smith of Clarksdale, Mississippi conspired with Lakeith Faulkner, Norman Beckwood and others to each receive $200,000 from the SBA based on fraudulent loan applications. The loan applications contained fictitious documents and claimed business revenue that did not exist. After a three-day trial before U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills, the jury found both Ivy and Smith guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection to the fraudulent loan applications as well as one count each of aiding and abetting wire fraud. On December 7, 2022, Faulkner, a former SBA employee, entered a plea of guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. On May 24, 2023, U.S. District Judge Debra M. Brown sentenced Faulkner to serve 62 months imprisonment followed by five years of supervised release. Faulkner was also ordered to pay $10,620,452.26 in restitution to the SBA. On January 17, 2023, Beckwood entered a plea of guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock sentenced Beckwood to serve 62 months imprisonment followed by five years of supervised release. In addition to prison time, Beckwood was ordered to pay $10,620,452.26 in restitution to the SBA. In connection with his guilty plea, Beckwood also forfeited $700,147.74, a 2018 Mercedez Benz C Class and a 2020 Mercedes Benz G63. This scheme was initially uncovered during a civil investigation, led by the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Harland Webster. Thirty (30) other individual borrowers have also been charged in connection with the same scheme. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Clayton A. Dabbs and Parker King and Sam Wright of the Northern District of Mississippi are prosecuting the criminal case. The case is being investigated by the FBI, the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General, and the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.


title: Salvadoran Man Previously Deported on Eight Separate Occasions Sentenced for Illegal Reentry

body_text: BOSTON – A Salvadoran man was sentenced today for unlawfully reentering the United States after deportation. Melvin Alexander Orellana-Martinez, 54, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns to 60 months in prison. His sentence will be served concurrently with a 17-21 year state sentence he is currently serving in Massachusetts for several offenses, including multiple counts of aggravated rape, kidnapping and witness intimidation. In April 2024, Orellana-Martinez pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful reentry of a deported alien. On eight separate occasions between July 2007 and January 2020, Orellana-Martinez was removed from the United States. Between February 2008 and March 2019, Orellana-Martinez was convicted in California and Texas federal courts on five separate occasions of either illegal reentry or improper entry. Orellana-Martinez was last deported from the United States on Jan. 14, 2020. Sometime after his January 2020 removal, Orellana-Martinez unlawfully reentered the United States. On Jan. 6, 2023, federal immigration authorities were notified that Orellana-Martinez had unlawfully reentered the United States after he was arrested on other unrelated state charges. Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Todd M. Lyons, Boston’s Field Office Director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations made the announcement today. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Nagelberg of the Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.


title: Sixth Sentencing in Drug Trafficking Conspiracy Case Sends Del Rio Man to Federal Prison for 9 Years

component: USAO - Texas, Western

body_text: DEL RIO, Texas – A Del Rio man was sentenced in federal court to nine years in prison for his role in a criminal conspiracy to import and distribute methamphetamine. According to court documents, Ray Nathan Garcia, 46, attempted to deliver methamphetamine to co-conspirator Rose Vasquez Baker on Feb. 12, 2020. Homeland Security Investigations agents arrested Garcia and seized the drugs, which were verified to be 138 grams of methamphetamine and 6.11 grams of heroin. He also admitted to supplying Baker with methamphetamine on three previous occasions. Garcia was indicted for one count of conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. He pleaded guilty June 17, 2021. Co-defendants Oscar Ramirez, Carol Ann Dechaine, Ruben Reyes, Roberto Tovar and Melissa Villarreal , have been collectively sentenced to more than 58 years in federal prison. Baker and Bryan Alexander Gomez remain in federal custody as they await their sentence hearings. U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza of the Western District of Texas made the announcement. Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett Miner prosecuted the case.


title: Three Individuals Indicted for Role in Violent Bennington Drug Conspiracy

component: USAO - Vermont

body_text: Burlington, Vermont – The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced today that on August 8, 2024, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging William McLaughlin, 45, from Bennington, VT, Samantha Danforth, 35, from Bennington, VT, and Keahnard Rowell, also known as “Stacks”, 34, from New York, NY, with conspiring to distribute cocaine base and fentanyl in 2022. The indictment also charges McLaughlin with being a felon in possession of a firearm. Rowell was arraigned on the charges on September 9, 2024, and entered a plea of not guilty before United States Magistrate Judge Kevin J. Doyle. Judge Doyle ordered that Rowell continue to be detained during the pendency of this matter. McLaughlin’s and Danforth’s arraignment dates are yet to be set. According to court records, Rowell was a top lieutenant in a violent drug organization run by McLaughlin in Bennington from approximately February to July 2022. Danforth managed much of the day-to-day operations alongside McLaughlin. The broader organization included Bennington residents who would allow their homes to be used for drug storage and/or distribution, and others who executed drug sales on behalf of McLaughlin. Rowell was also present for multiple violent events perpetrated by McLaughlin, including a severe beating of a woman McLaughlin believed had drawn attention to a drug-storage location, and a stabbing of a man McLaughlin believed owed him drug money. The United States Attorney’s Office emphasizes that an indictment contains allegations only and that Rowell, McLaughlin, and Danforth are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. Rowell, McLaughlin, and Danforth all face up to 20 years in prison if convicted on these charges. The actual sentences, however, would be determined by the Court with guidance from the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines and the statutory sentencing factors. United States Attorney Nikolas P. Kerest commended the investigatory efforts of Homeland Security Investigations, the Bennington Police Department, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The prosecutors are Assistant United States Attorneys Corinne Smith and Paul Van de Graaf. Rowell is represented by Jason Sawyer, Esq. Counsel for McLaughlin and Danforth have not been identified yet. This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit Justice.gov/PSN .


title: Puerto Rico Man Sentenced for Destroying Wetlands Including in the Jobos Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve

component: Energy and Natural Resources Division

body_text: A Puerto Rico man was sentenced today to 14 months in prison, three years of supervised release and a $10,000 fine for the destruction and filling of wetlands in violation of the Clean Water Act. According to court documents, between January 2020 and December 2023, Awildo Jimenez-Mercado, 41, removed mangroves from wetlands within and around the Jobos Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (JBNERR) in Las Mareas, Puerto Rico. Despite lacking a permit, he filled the area with quarry material and built concrete structures atop. Jimenez-Mercado then built hospitality rental homes and an in-ground pool on the land, as well as a dock extending into the Caribbean Sea. He then named the property “Hidden Paradise” and rented the units online as short-term vacation properties for up to $495 per night. Jimenez-Mercado was indicted on Dec. 6, 2023, and pleaded guilty on May 3. Mangrove wetlands, such as those destroyed by Jimenez-Mercado, are critical to local infrastructure, economies and ecosystems because they can limit damage from flooding and storms, reduce pollution and provide habitat for numerous marine and endangered species. The JBNERR was designated as a reserve in 1981 to protect the wetlands and study the biological and societal impacts of estuarine habitat, as well as provide recreation and educational opportunities to local communities. The reserve is home to the endangered brown pelican, peregrine falcon, hawksbill turtle and West Indian manatee. Congress enacted the Clean Water Act in 1972 to protect and maintain the integrity of the waters of the United States. It prohibits the discharge of any pollutant and fill material into waters of the United States except when a permit is obtained from the United States. This case is part of an ongoing investigation into the destruction of wetlands in Puerto Rico. Previously charged individuals include Luis Enrique Rodriguez-Sanchez, sentenced in June; Pedro Luis Bones-Torres, scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 7; and Rafael Carballo-Diaz and Nathaniel Hernandez-Claudio , who are scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 13. Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow for the District of Puerto Rico made the announcement. The Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigation Division and the FBI investigated the case, with support from the Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands Environmental Crimes Task Force . Senior Trial Attorney Patrick M. Duggan of the Environment and Natural Resources Division’s Environmental Crimes Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth A. Erbe for the District of Puerto Rico are prosecuting the case.


title: Miami Jury Convicts Atlanta Resident of Fentanyl Conspiracy and Drug Trafficking Charges

component: USAO - Florida, Southern

body_text: MIAMI – On Aug. 29, a federal jury found Gary Lincoln Davis, 52, of Atlanta, Ga., guilty of one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, two counts of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, and one count of attempted possession with intent to distribute cocaine. According to testimony and evidence presented during the four-day trial, Davis was introduced by a cocaine importer to a confidential source working for the government. Davis then met with this confidential source at the Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport in April 2022, to plan for a 90-kilogram cocaine shipment to be flown into the United States from Colombia. When that shipment did not come to fruition, Davis remained in contact with the confidential source—who Davis knew only as an international drug pilot—and agreed to source fentanyl for the confidential source. Davis then worked with his own network of drug traffickers in the Miami area and, on Dec. 13, 2022, Davis sold 84 grams of fentanyl to the confidential source for $4,900 in Miami. Thereafter, Davis continued to work with his own network of suppliers to set up larger deals, including the sale of a full kilogram of fentanyl. On March 7, 2023, Davis delivered a sample of fentanyl from one of his suppliers to a second confidential source, as proof of the fentanyl purity and potency that he would deliver in the full kilogram deal. Davis continued in his attempts to push forward with a larger fentanyl deal, and told the confidential sources that, in connection with those plans, he had already procured 364 grams of fentanyl from one of his suppliers. Throughout his interactions with the confidential sources, Davis also asked the confidential sources to provide him with multiple-kilogram loads of cocaine, which he said he would cook into crack cocaine and distribute in Georgia. On April 18, 2023, Davis met with one of the confidential sources and picked up a backpack he believed contained 6 kilograms of cocaine. Davis also delivered a sample of fentanyl from another supplier to the confidential source. As Davis left the meeting, he observed law enforcement approaching him and sprinted across six lanes of traffic, evading pursuit, and ultimately absconded back to Georgia. The FBI and U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) located and apprehended Davis in the Atlanta area several months later. U.S. District Judge Melissa Damian is scheduled to sentence Davis on Dec. 5, after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri of the FBI, Miami Field Office, announced the guilty verdict. FBI Miami investigated this case with substantial assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD), and USMS. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Marc Chattah and Sterling M. Paulson are prosecuting the case. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov , under case number 23-CR-20329. ###


title: Lehi Man Sentenced for Stealing More than $300,000 in COVID Relief Funds

body_text: Salt Lake City, Utah – Neil Alan Johnson, 44, of Lehi, Utah, was sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to pay $324,519 in restitution and forfeiture. The sentence, imposed by a U.S. District Court Judge, comes after Johnson pleaded guilty to wire fraud in February 2024 after he defrauded the COVID-19 relief program, a federal program through the Small Business Administration (SBA) intended to help American businesses and employees weather the economic shock of the global COVID-19 pandemic. According to court documents and statements made at Johnson’s sentencing hearing, from March 2021 through November 2022, Johnson devised and engaged in a scheme to defraud and obtain money by lying and fraudulently submitting a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Loan Application to the SBA for approximately $324,519 on behalf of his company. Then after obtaining the full loan amount, Johnson fraudulently submitted a PPP Loan Forgiveness Application to the SBA for the entire amount of the loan. His company, named “Neil Johnson,” was located at his home in Lehi, Utah. Johnson submitted the loan applications as the sole proprietor of the company. In furtherance of his scheme, Johnson lied on the applications. For example, on the initial loan application, he falsely represented that his self-named company had 21 employees, and an average monthly payroll of $129,808.69, even though it did not. On the loan forgiveness application, he falsely represented that the company’s payroll cost between March 25, 2021 and September 9, 2021, was $352,463.80, and that he had used all $324,519 of his loan funds to pay his employees’ payroll. In reality, Johnson illegally used up to $102,000 of the PPP-Loan proceeds to buy back his house in Lehi and transferred over $39,000 of the loan proceeds to a separate account. United States Attorney Trina A. Higgins for the District of Utah made the announcement. The Utah Federal COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force investigated the case, which includes Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Office of Inspector General’s U.S. Small Business Administration – Office of Inspector General (SBA-OIG), Department of Defense (DOD), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), U.S. Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG), and the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA). The public is encouraged to share information about the abuse of the Paycheck Protection Program or other SBA programs by submitting a complaint here . Assistant United States Attorney Todd C. Bouton of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah prosecuted the case. On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus and https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus/combatingfraud . Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form .


title: Stanberry Man Sentenced for Illegal Firearm

component: USAO - Missouri, Western

body_text: KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Stanberry, Mo., man who threatened to kill law enforcement officers when he was arrested was sentenced in federal court today for illegally possessing a sawed-off shotgun. Erin L. Graves, 45, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to eight years and four months in federal prison without parole. On May 1, 2024, Graves pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and to illegally possessing an unregistered firearm. Graves admitted he was in possession of a stolen Remington 20-gauge shotgun, which had a barrel of less than 18 inches in length, on Jan. 15, 2024. Today’s sentence includes an enhancement for obstruction of justice, due to multiple threats Graves made to several law enforcement officers. According to court documents, Graves referred to the sawed-off shotgun as his “cop killer” and stated that if he had shells for it, the officers’ heads would be splattered all over the wall. On the way to jail, he threatened to kill the transporting deputy and force his family to watch. He also stated that he should have killed the officers and threatened that if given a chance, he would do it. Additionally, Graves made several threats against the guards and security officers at the jail and the Department of Corrections, stating they “better have several down there” because he’s “going to take as many of [them] out as he can.” Graves also made threatening statements regarding his parole officer. Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Graves, who was on parole in two separate state cases at the time of this federal offense, has five prior felony convictions for stealing, two prior felony convictions for driving while suspended or revoked, two prior felony convictions for tampering with a motor vehicle, two prior felony convictions for burglary, and prior felony convictions for possession of a controlled substance and resisting arrest. This case was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica L. Jennings. It was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Gentry County, Mo., Sheriff’s Office, and the Northwest Missouri Drug Task Force. Project Safe Neighborhoods 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: Plymouth Man Arrested for Seven-Year-Long Cyberstalking Campaign

body_text: BOSTON – A Plymouth, Mass. man was arrested today for allegedly cyberstalking a Massachusetts victim through social media, email and various online platforms. Among other things, the defendant allegedly programmed multiple artificial intelligence-driven chatbots to mimic human conversation through text or voice interactions with unknown users of social media platforms. James Florence Jr., 36, was charged by criminal complaint with one count of cyberstalking. Florence was arrested this morning and, following an initial appearance in federal court in Boston, was detained pending a hearing scheduled for Sept. 16, 2024. According to the charging documents, between late 2017 and up until the present, Florence is alleged to have created multiple social media accounts and email addresses which he used to harass and threaten the victim anonymously. Florence had previously met the victim through a mutual friend and attended parties at the victim’s former residence between 2015 and 2017. It is alleged that, beginning in late 2017, Florence used anonymous social media accounts to post photographs of the victim and photographs of her underwear, which had been taken in her former residence, on various websites. Florence allegedly posted digitally altered images depicting the victim as nude or semi-nude. He allegedly posted the victim’s personally identifiable information on these accounts and on numerous websites – including her personal email addresses, home address, professional contact information, account passwords and even a list of colors she had previously dyed her hair, in order to “dox” her. Florence allegedly also programmed multiple artificial intelligence-driven chatbots with this information to mimic human conversation through text or voice interactions with unknown users of those platforms. In addition to having received threatening messages from social media and email accounts believed to be controlled by Florence, the victim also received harassing and extorting communications that are believed to be from users who messaged the victim as a result of Florence’s posts encouraging them to do so. Florence would taunt the victim by creating accounts in her name, using her likeness and tagging them with phrases like “Accept It Your Exposure Is Permanent Slut” and “Enjoy Your Exposure You Naughty Bimbo. You Belong To The Internet.” Florence allegedly posted photo collages of the victim to the website, ladies.exposed, including images edited to make her appear nude or semi-nude along with all her personal identifying information and captions that encouraged viewers to “Post & Share Her Everywhere. Make The Whore Famous.” The victim’s name, image and other personal information were posted on at least 13 websites. At least 27 unique accounts were used to harass, impersonate, or otherwise cause the victim substantial emotional distress. To date, the victim has received at least 60 distressing text messages, emails, or calls from unknown senders addressed to the victim discussing her image and information posted online through August 2024. “The defendant’s alleged actions represent a chilling window into the dangers of online harassment and cyberstalking in the digital age. Using advanced technology to manipulate, torment, and publicly humiliate someone for years is not just reprehensible, it is criminal. No one should have to endure the kind of relentless harassment and devastating psychological toll that we allege this victim has bravely endured,” said Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy. “Our office is dedicated to ensuring that individuals who exploit online platforms to stalk, harass, and exploit others are held accountable. We will continue to use every resource available to protect victims of these crimes and to bring justice to keyboard cowards who abuse the digital landscape for their own malicious purposes.” “Today, the FBI arrested James Florence Jr. for allegedly trying to hide behind his keyboard to sadistically cyberstalk and surveille the victim in this case, inflicting immense trauma and pain on both her and her family,” said Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division. The charge of stalking by electronic means provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Acting U.S. Attorney Levy and FBI SAC Cohen made the announcement today. The Plymouth Police Department and Plymouth Fire Department provided valuable assistance in the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Luke A. Goldworm of the Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case. The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.


title: U.S. Army Recruiter Charged with Bank Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft

component: USAO - New Jersey

body_text: NEWARK, N.J. – A sergeant first class in the U.S. Army and U.S. Army recruiter has been charged for engaging in a fraudulent scheme to defraud a credit union by using her position to obtain the personally identifying information of U.S. Army recruits and recruit candidates and submit fraudulent bank account applications to the credit union on the recruits’ behalf, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today. Jane Crosby, 33, of Jersey City, New Jersey, is charged by complaint with one count of bank fraud and seven counts of aggravated identity theft. Crosby appeared today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Leda Dunn Wettre in Newark federal court and was released on $100,000 unsecured bond. According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court: From Sept. 12, 2023, to Dec. 27, 2023, Crosby submitted “Pre-Active Duty Membership” bank account applications to a credit union on behalf of seven U.S. Army recruits or purported recruits, without their knowledge or consent. Such accounts are intended to facilitate the direct deposit of soon-to-be service members’ salaries once they join the military. These applications included the victims’ names and Social Security numbers as well as copies of their passports, driver’s licenses, and/or Social Security cards. Once these credit union accounts were opened, Crosby, posing as the victims, applied for approximately $266,000 in loans and credit card accounts and used some of the accounts to deposit fraudulent checks and then withdraw funds. The bank fraud charge carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense, whichever is greatest. The aggravated identity theft counts carry an additional consecutive mandatory minimum term of two years in prison and a maximum fine of up to $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Joel Kirch, with the investigation. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Kober of the General Crimes Unit in Newark. The charges and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. crosby.complaint.pdf


title: Northern Colorado Man Sentenced To 29 Years In Prison For Attempted Production Of Child Pornography

component: USAO - Colorado

body_text: DENVER – The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announces that Cullen Mackenzie Britton, 25, of Drake, Colorado, was sentenced to 348 months in prison and a lifetime of supervised release after he pleaded guilty to attempted production of child pornography. According to the plea agreement, over the course of about two years, Cullen contacted at least six minors between the ages of nine and 14, via a social media site, and attempted to get the minors to create, and send to him, child pornography. “The severity of this sentence shows how seriously we take sexual exploitation of children,” said Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado Matt Kirsch. “These abhorrent crimes will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” "This sentence represents a victory in the ongoing battle to protect our most vulnerable citizens - our children. This individual, who used social media to exploit and prey on minors, will now face the full weight of justice with a sentence that reflects the seriousness of his crimes,” said Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Denver Special Agent in Charge Ryan L. Spradlin. “HSI remains steadfast in our commitment to ensure that those who endanger our communities, especially our youth, are held accountable for their actions.” Judge Regina M. Rodriguez presided over the sentencing. The case was investigated by HSI Denver. Assistant United States Attorney Melissa Hindman handled the prosecution. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc . For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc and click on the "Resources" tab on the left of the page. Case Number: 23-CR-00480


title: Richmond man arrested after posting photo with machinegun sentenced to two years in prison

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

body_text: RICHMOND, Va. – A Richmond man was sentenced yesterday to two years in prison for possession of a machinegun. According to court documents, on Aug. 25, 2023, Latoye Octavius Cooper, 21, posted a picture of himself on social media with a .40 caliber pistol partially stuffed into the waistband of his pants. Police immediately responded to the area where the photo was taken and observed Cooper entering a vehicle. Officers followed Cooper to a local convenience store and made contact with him inside the store. The officers seized the .40 caliber pistol, which was equipped with a machine gun conversion device (MCD), which rendered the pistol fully automatic. The pistol was loaded, with a large capacity ammunition magazine and had one bullet in the chamber, ready to fire. Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and James VanVliet, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Washington Field Division, made the announcement after sentencing by Senior U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson. Assistant U.S. Attorney Olivia L. Norman prosecuted the case. This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce 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. A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:23-cr-155.


title: Federal judge finds Billings man guilty of multiple sexual assault and child molestation crimes, attempted sex trafficking, child pornography and other offenses spanning approximately 30 years on Fort Belknap Indian Reservation and in Billings

component: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

body_text: GREAT FALLS — A federal district judge today found a Billings man, formerly of Hays, guilty of multiple crimes involving the sexual assault and molestation of children, attempted sex trafficking, child pornography and other crimes dating back approximately 30 years on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation and in Billings, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said. After a three-day bench trial that began on Sept. 9, Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris found the defendant, James Kirby King, 58, guilty on 17 counts in a 25-count superseding indictment that alleged various sexual assault child molestation crimes against six separate victims. The court found King not guilty on eight counts. “The years-long horror of sexual abuse and trauma King inflicted on his victims, most of whom were children when he started his assaults, is unimaginable. King unconscionably sought out vulnerable children for exploitation to satisfy his own desires and caused a lifetime of pain for them. May these verdicts serve as a measure of justice for them. Protecting children from predators like King is our office’s highest priority, and I am deeply grateful to our prosecution team, the FBI, Fort Belknap Law Enforcement, and Great Falls Police Department for their extraordinary work on this awful case,” U.S. Attorney Laslovich said. The government alleged in court documents and at trial that King was a prolific sex offender who preyed on the most vulnerable and marginalized Native Americans in Montana for decades by molesting, sexually assaulting, drugging, trafficking and exploiting any defenseless person without regard to their sex, age or biological relationship. During trial, the government presented evidence that led to convictions for offenses against victims identified as Jane Doe 1, Jane Doe 2, Jane Doe 3, Jane Doe 4, Jane Doe 10 and other multiple victims. Some of the victims were under the age of 12 at the time, some were under the age of 16 and some were adults. Most of the conduct occurred on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, where King lived, and in Billings, where King lived more recently. The charged conduct began as early as approximately 1992 and continued until his arrest in 2023. As alleged in court documents, for more than a decade, King repeatedly molested, drugged, assaulted and sexually exploited Jane Doe 1, whose first memory of the molestation was when she was five years old in 1996. In approximately 1994 or 1995, when Jane Doe 2 was 14 years old, King gave her a small amount of alcohol at his residence and she “went blank.” Jane Doe 2 later awoke and became aware of King kneeling between her legs and taking pictures of her naked vaginal area. In addition, King attempted to sexually exploit Jane Doe 3 on numerous occasions and forced numerous sex acts on her both as a child and later as an adult on the Fort Belknap Reservation and in Billings. King drugged and raped Jane Doe 4 on the Fort Belknap Reservation when she was in her 20s and he was in his 40s. And King attempted to sex traffic by coercion Jane Doe 10 in October 2023. The court found King guilty of: Aggravated sexual abuse of a child, one count Incest, two counts Sexual exploitation of children, three counts Aggravated sexual abuse by rendering unconscious or drugging the victim, two counts Sexual abuse, two counts Attempted aggravated sexual abuse by rendering unconscious or drugging the victim, one count Attempted sexual abuse, one count Sexual abuse of a minor, one count Aggravated sexual abuse by force, one count Attempted possession with the intent to sell child pornography in Indian Country, one count Possession of child pornography in Indian Country, one count Attempted sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, one count King faces a maximum of life in prison, a $250,000 fine and five years to a lifetime of supervised release, along with a mandatory minimum of 15 years to life in prison for the crimes of sexual exploitation of children and attempted sex trafficking by coercion. The court will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Sentencing was set for Jan. 15, 2025. King remained detained pending further proceedings. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the case. The FBI, Fort Belknap Law Enforcement and Great Falls Police Department conducted the investigation. XXX


title: Former CIA Officer Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Conspiracy to Commit Espionage

body_text: Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, 71, of Honolulu, a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer, was sentenced today to conspiring to gather and deliver national defense information to the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Ma was arrested in August 2020, after admitting to an undercover FBI employee that he had facilitated the provision of classified information to intelligence officers employed by the PRC’s Shanghai State Security Bureau (SSSB). According to court documents, Ma worked for the CIA from 1982 until 1989. His blood relative (identified as co-conspirator #1 or CC #1 in court documents), who is deceased, also worked for the CIA from 1967 until 1983. As CIA officers, both men held Top Secret security clearances that granted them access to sensitive and classified CIA information, and both signed nondisclosure agreements. As Ma admitted in the plea agreement, in March 2001, over a decade after he resigned from the CIA, Ma was contacted by SSSB intelligence officers, who asked Ma to arrange a meeting between CC #1 and the SSSB. Ma convinced CC #1 to agree, and both Ma and CC #1 met with SSSB intelligence officers in a Hong Kong hotel room for three days. During the meetings, CC #1 provided the SSSB with a large volume of classified U.S. national defense information in return for $50,000 in cash. Ma and CC #1 also agreed to continue to assist the SSSB. In March 2003, while living in Hawaii, Ma applied for a job as a contract linguist in the FBI’s Honolulu Field Office. The FBI, aware of Ma’s ties to PRC intelligence, hired Ma as part of a ruse to monitor and investigate his activities and contacts with the SSSB. Ma worked part time at an offsite location for the FBI from August 2004 until October 2012. As detailed in the plea agreement, in February 2006, Ma was tasked by the SSSB with asking CC #1 to identify four individuals of interest to the SSSB from photographs. Ma convinced CC #1 to provide the identities of at least two of the individuals, whose identities were and remain classified U.S. national defense information. Ma confessed that he knowingly and willfully conspired with CC #1 and SSSB intelligence officers to communicate and transmit information that he knew would be used to injure the United States or to advantage the PRC. In court documents and at today’s sentencing hearing, the government noted that Ma was convicted of a years-long conspiracy to commit espionage, a serious breach of national security that caused the government to expend substantial investigative resources. The government also noted that Ma’s role in the conspiracy was to facilitate the exchange of information between CC #1 and the SSSB, which consisted of classified CIA information that CC #1 had obtained between 1967 and 1983. Under the terms of the plea agreement, Ma must cooperate with the United States for the rest of his life, including by submitting to debriefings by U.S. government agencies. At the sentencing hearing, government counsel told the court that Ma has been cooperative and has taken part in multiple interview sessions with government agents. Ma has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release. Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, U.S. Attorney Clare E. Connors for the District of Hawaii and Executive Assistant Director Robert Wells of the FBI's National Security Branch made the announcement. The FBI’s Honolulu and Los Angeles Field Offices investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ken Sorenson and Craig Nolan for the District of Hawaii, and Trial Attorneys Scott Claffee and Leslie Esbrook of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section prosecuted the case.


title: Fort Myers Sex Offender Arrested For Pizza Shop Armed Robbery

component: USAO - Florida, Middle

body_text: Fort Myers, FL – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the arrest and filing of a criminal complaint charging Shadarien Lamarr Ward (22, Fort Myers) with Hobbs Act robbery and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. Ward appeared in federal court in Fort Myers earlier today and has been ordered to remain in federal detention pending trial in this case. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison. According to court documents and other public records, on the evening of September 1, 2024, Ward robbed a pizza shop near downtown Fort Myers at gunpoint, pistol-whipping an employee in the process. After grabbing the cash register drawer and approximately $700 in cash, Ward fled the area on foot. Ward was later identified by law enforcement after an extensive review of surveillance cameras in the area tracked him to a nearby motel after the robbery. Ward, a registered sex offender, was wearing a GPS monitor at the time of the robbery as part of his state sex offender probation, which helped law enforcement retrace his steps leading up to and immediately following the robbery. Although he cut off his GPS monitor and absconded from supervision after the robbery, Ward was located and arrested by law enforcement in North Fort Myers yesterday. A complaint 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 is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Fort Myers Police Department. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Simon Eth. 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: Jury Finds District Man Guilty of Second-Degree Murder for Killing Innocent Bystander

body_text: WASHINGTON – Kylee Palmer, 25, of Washington, D.C., has been found guilty by a jury of second-degree murder while armed and related charges stemming from a day-time shooting on February 12, 2020, in Southeast, D.C., announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). Palmer was found guilty by a jury on September 11, 2024, following a two-week trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, of second-degree murder while armed, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, felony destruction of property, and tampering with evidence. The Honorable Rainey Brandt scheduled sentencing for December 12, 2024. According to the government’s evidence, on February 11, 2020, Palmer got into an argument with an ex-girlfriend and stole her cell phone. After exchanging calls with the ex-girlfriend’s brother in the early hours of February 12, 2020, at approximately 11:01 a.m., Palmer drove a stolen black Nissan Altima, with another individual inside, past 843 51st Street Southeast, where they fired six bullets into the ex-girlfriend’s family home. One of those shots broke through a living room window and struck Barron Goodwin, a 60-year-old innocent bystander, in the head as he slept on a couch in the living room. About an hour later, after Palmer fled the scene, he burned the vehicle used in the shooting in an alley near the 800 block of Chesapeake Street Southeast. In announcing the verdict, U.S. Attorney Graves and Chief Smith commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They also expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by the U.S. Marshals Service and FBI CAST team. Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ryan Sellinger, Christopher Carson, Lisa Lindhorst, and Julia Cosans, who investigated, indicted, and prosecuted the case.