title: Black Hawk Man Sentenced to Federal Prison on Firearm Charge

body_text: RAPID CITY - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. District Court Chief Judge Roberto Lange has sentenced a Black Hawk, South Dakota, man convicted of Possession of a Firearm by a Prohibited Person. The sentencing took place on July 2, 2024. Kyle Puckett, 33, was sentenced to three years and five months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Puckett was indicted for Possession of a Firearm by a Prohibited Person and Possession with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance by a federal grand jury in June of 2023. He pleaded guilty on April 5, 2024, to Possession of a Firearm by a Prohibited Person. The charges were filed after Puckett, who is a convicted felon, was arrested in Rapid City with a loaded pistol, as well as over a thousand dollars in cash, numerous loaded magazines, a distributable amount of methamphetamine, and drug distribution paraphernalia. This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Rapid City Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Anna Lindrooth prosecuted the case. Puckett was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.


title: Wanblee Man Sentenced to Fifteen Years in Federal Prison

component: USAO - South Dakota

body_text: RAPID CITY - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier has sentenced a Wanblee, South Dakota, man convicted of Sexual Abuse of a Minor. The sentencing took place on June 28, 2024. Benjamin Francis Sitting Up, Jr., 38, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Sitting Up was indicted for Sexual Abuse and Abusive Sexual Contact by a federal grand jury. He pleaded guilty on April 12, 2024, to Sexual Abuse of a Minor. The conviction stemmed from Sitting Up sexually abusing a thirteen-year-old female in November of 2023. In 2019, Sitting Up had been convicted of transferring obscene material to another female. A federal judge had sentenced him to three years in prison with supervision to follow. After being released from prison, Sitting Up digitally raped another minor in his Wanblee, South Dakota, home, leading to the instant charges. In sentencing Sitting Up to fifteen years, the district court judge explained the statutory maximum sentence was appropriate given the defendant’s history of victimizing young girls. This matter was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office because the Major Crimes Act, a federal statute, mandates that certain violent crimes alleged to have occurred in Indian Country be prosecuted in Federal court as opposed to State court. This case was investigated by the FBI and the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorney Anna Lindrooth prosecuted the case. Sitting Up was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.


title: Former Illinois State Senator, Gubernatorial Candidate Sam McCann Sentenced to 42 Months in Prison for Fraudulent Use of Campaign Funds, Money Laundering, and Tax Evasion

component: Department of Justice

body_text: SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Former Illinois State Senator William Samuel McCann Jr, 54, was sentenced on July 9, 2024, to 42 months of imprisonment, to be followed by two years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $683,816.61 in restitution for fraudulent use of campaign funds, money laundering and tax evasion. At the sentencing hearing and during the bench trial in February 2024, the government presented evidence that McCann engaged in a broad, five-year scheme to defraud by converting more than $600,000 in campaign funds to his personal use. In sentencing McCann, U.S. District Judge Colleen Lawless stated that McCann betrayed the public trust and continued his fraud even after being questioned by his campaign employee and confronted by federal law enforcement officers. In addition, Judge Lawless found it aggravating that McCann attempted to commit a fraud on the court by falsely representing that he was physically and mentally incapable of proceeding to trial. McCann, of Plainview, Illinois, served as a state senator for the 49 th District of Illinois from 2011 to 2013, and for the redrawn 50 th District from 2013 to January 2019. McCann formed the Conservative Party of Illinois and, in 2018, launched an unsuccessful bid for Illinois Governor. McCann previously lived in Carlinville, Illinois, and owned and operated two construction-related businesses. McCann organized multiple political committees that were registered with the Illinois State Board of Elections: Sam McCann for Senate; Sam McCann for Senate Committee; McCann for Illinois; and Conservative Party of Illinois. From April 2011 to November 2018, McCann and his political committees received more than $5 million in campaign donations. The evidence presented during the bench trial and sentencing hearing established that McCann used campaign funds to purchase personal vehicles, pay personal debts, make mortgage payments, and pay himself, including the following: McCann used more than $60,000 in campaign funds to partially fund the purchases of a 2017 Ford Expedition in April 2017 and a 2018 Ford F-250 truck in July 2018, which he titled in his own name and used for his personal travel. McCann then used campaign funds for loan payments on the F-250 and for fuel and insurance expenses for both vehicles, while at the same time using campaign funds to reimburse mileage expense claims which he did not incur. In April 2018, McCann used $18,000 in campaign funds to purchase a 2018 recreational travel trailer, and in May 2018, he used $25,000 in campaign funds to buy a 2006 recreational motor home, both of which McCann titled in his personal name. McCann established an online account with a recreational vehicle rental business in Ohio and listed the vehicles for rent identifying Sam McCann as the owner. McCann then established a second account with the same rental business and identified himself as William McCann, a potential renter, with a different residential address and email than those he listed as the owner. From approximately May 2018 to June 2018, McCann, while representing himself as the renter, William, rented both the travel trailer and motor home from Sam, the owner, through the RV rental business. McCann caused a total of approximately $62,666 in campaign funds be used to pay the rental cost of the vehicles. The rental business retained approximately $9,838 for commission and paid McCann, as the owner, approximately $52,827 by direct deposit to McCann’s personal checking account. McCann reimbursed the campaign accounts $18,000, resulting in more than $77,000 in campaign funds used to buy and rent from himself. On or about October 4, 2016, McCann used a $20,000 cashier’s check funded by a campaign account and issued to him to pay off a personal loan, including legal fees, that had originally been issued to him as an equipment loan in 2011 and was in collection by the bank due to non-payment. From May 2015 to August 2020, McCann used campaign funds to pay approximately $64,750 on two separate personal mortgage loans that were secured by his former residence in Carlinville and an adjoining property used as an office for his construction business. In November 2018, after an unsuccessful campaign for Governor of Illinois, when he was no longer a candidate for office and did not financially support any other candidate, and continuing to June 2020, McCann caused the Conservative Party of Illinois to issue approximately $187,000 in payments to himself personally and an additional $52,282 in payments for payroll taxes. Using a payroll service, McCann was able to conceal himself as the payee for the expenditures from the campaign account. McCann also converted more than $100,000 in campaign funds for payment of personal expenses including Green Dot credit card payments related to a family vacation in Colorado and other personal expenses; charges from Apple iTunes, Amazon, a skeet and trap club, Cabela’s, Scheels, Best Buy, and a gun store; and cash withdrawals. In relation to his joint return for calendar year 2018, McCann failed to report income from his 2018 rental payments to himself for the RV trailer and motor home. In addition, in March 2018, McCann used a $10,000 check issued by a campaign account to make a down payment to a Shipman, Illinois, business for a motor home. When the purchase was not completed, the business issued a $10,000 refund check payable to William McCann, which he deposited to his personal checking account and failed to report as income received. During the third day of his bench trial, McCann pleaded guilty to all nine counts of the indictment, which charged him with seven counts of wire fraud, one count of money laundering, and one count of tax evasion related to his alleged misuse of campaign money for personal expenses. Prior to the commencement of the trial, the court revoked McCann’s pretrial release and ordered that he be detained. The statutory penalty for each count of wire fraud (seven counts) and one count of money laundering is up to 20 years in prison. For tax evasion, the statutory penalty is up to five years in prison. Following the sentencing, U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Harris stated: “As Judge Lawless explained in imposing sentence, McCann brazenly betrayed the public trust by engaging in a five-year scheme to defraud and converting more than $600,000 in campaign funds to his personal use. Today’s sentence appropriately holds McCann accountable for his criminal conduct. I thank the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations Division for their tireless and professional work in this matter. This Office will continue to hold public officials accountable for violating the public trust by exploiting it for their own personal gain.” “This sentence is a reminder that no one is immune to obeying the law,” said IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Thomas F. Murdock. “Mr. McCann took a number of steps to conceal his fraud from his donors, the Illinois public, and law enforcement. Now through the combined efforts of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the FBI and IRS CI, he will be held accountable for his deception.” “Investigating public corruption is a top priority for the FBI because the crime tears at the fabric of our democracy’s security,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Jermaine Deans. “Elected officials are entrusted and expected to protect the interests of the people with integrity — a moral value Sam McCann did not uphold. The FBI, together with our law enforcement partners, will continue to investigate public officials who abuse public trust and use their office to commit illegal acts.” The case investigation was conducted by the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Bass represented the government in the prosecution.


title: Former Alaska City Treasurer Sentenced for Wire Fraud, Money Laundering and Tax Evasion

component: Tax Division

body_text: An Alaska man was sentenced yesterday to 30 months in prison for embezzling more than $1 million from the City of Houston, Alaska, and from a Wasilla-based equipment company, and then evading taxes on the embezzled profits. According to court documents and statements made in court, from 2015 through 2018, Jess Adams was the Treasurer for the City of Houston, where he was entrusted with bookkeeping responsibilities and had administrative access to the city’s accounting records and software. Adams used this access to direct electronic transfers from the city’s bank account to a personal account in his name, which he maintained to hide the embezzled funds. Adams created fictitious entries in the city’s accounting records to disguise these payments as legitimate business expenses. In October 2018, the City of Houston placed Adams on administrative leave, and he resigned his position in November 2018. A year later, Adams was employed as a bookkeeper by an equipment company, where he exercised control over the company’s accounting records and software. Using this access, Adams directed electronic transfers from the company’s bank account to other personal accounts that Adams opened in his name to hide the embezzled money. To conceal his activity, Adams used fictitious entries in the company’s accounting software to make it appear as though these funds were transferred for the payment of legitimate business expenses. Adams then laundered the money he embezzled from the equipment company by making several wire transfers from his personal bank account to other accounts, each at a value greater than $10,000. To further conceal his embezzlement and evade his taxes, Adams – a former seasonal tax return preparer for a national tax advisory company – filed false individual income tax returns for tax years 2016 through 2021. These returns did not disclose the additional income he embezzled. In addition to his prison sentence, Adams was ordered to serve three years of supervised release and pay over $1.5 million in restitution to the United States, as well as additional restitution to the City of Houston and to the equipment company. Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney S. Lane Tucker for the District of Alaska made the announcement. IRS Criminal Investigation investigated the case, with substantial assistance from the Alaska State Troopers. Trial Attorney Boris Bourget of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Bradley for the District of Alaska prosecuted the case.


title: Missoula fentanyl distributor sentenced to more than seven years in prison

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

body_text: MISSOULA — A Missoula man who admitted to trafficking fentanyl pills in the community was sentenced today to seven years and four months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said. The defendant Shayden Bradley Westfall, 28, pleaded guilty in March to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen presided. The government alleged law enforcement learned that Westfall was at a Missoula hotel with distribution quantities of drugs and executed a search warrant on Westfall’s room in December 2022. Officers located approximately 500 fentanyl pills and a quarter pound of methamphetamine. Westfall also had a .40-caliber pistol he admitted had been traded for fentanyl pills. The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case. The Missoula High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Missoula Police Department conducted the investigation. This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit Justice.gov/PSN . XXX


title: Windsor Man on Federal Supervised Release Charged with Gun and Drug Offenses

component: USAO - Connecticut

body_text: Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, James Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge, ATF Boston Field Division, and Connecticut State Police Colonel Daniel Loughman today announced that a federal grand jury in New Haven has returned an indictment charging ANDRE O. JOHNSON, 28, of Windsor, with firearm and drug offenses. The indictment was returned on June 25, 2024, and Johnson appeared yesterday in New Haven federal court and pleaded not guilty to the charges. Johnson has been detained since June 11, 2023, when he was arrested by the Connecticut State Police in Wethersfield on related state charges. The indictment alleges that, on June 11, 2023, Johnson possessed a Smith & Wesson 9mm pistol, ammunition, and distribution quantities of cocaine and fentanyl. In April 2022, Johnson was convicted in federal court of drug and firearm trafficking offenses. It is a violation of federal law for a person previously convicted of a felony offense to possess a firearm or ammunition that has moved in interstate or foreign commerce. The indictment charges Johnson with possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years, and unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 15 years. Johnson was on federal supervised release at the time of the offenses charged in the indictment, and he faces additional penalties if he is found to have violated the conditions of his supervised release. U.S. Attorney Avery stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. This matter is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), the Connecticut State Police, the Wethersfield Police Department, and the West Hartford Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert S. Dearington. This prosecution is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce gun violence and other violent crime, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. In May 2021, the Justice Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit www.justice.gov/psn .


title: Registered Sex Offender Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Sex with Teen

component: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

body_text: ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig on Wednesday sentenced a registered sex offender to a decade in prison for crossing state lines to engage in sex with a minor. Joshua T. Wilson, 23, of Monroe County, Missouri, met the 16-year-old victim in the spring of 2022. Wilson, a registered sex offender, and the teen then began interacting almost daily via online apps. They engaged in sexual conversations and exchanged sexual images. Wilson also met up with the teen and took her to Kansas. He engaged in unlawful sexual activity with her during the trip. Wilson pleaded guilty in April to a charge of transporting a minor across state lines to engage in sexual activity. The FBI and the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dianna Edwards prosecuted the case. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc .


title: Citizen Of India Indicted For Falsely Claiming United States Citizenship In Passport Application

component: USAO - Pennsylvania, Middle

body_text: HARRISBURG– The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Jaydeepsinh Jayas, age 42, a citizen of India, was indicted by a federal grand jury for making a false statement in a passport application, applying for, and attempting to procure evidence of United States citizenship, and making a false claim to United States citizenship. According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, on or about November 10, 2023, Jayas applied for a passport in Chambersburg, Franklin County, Pennsylvania. In the passport application, Jayas attested that he was a United States citizen. As proof, Jayas submitted a delayed Pennsylvania birth certificate that he received from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania upon the submission of a falsified affidavit in which it was claimed that he was delivered in Bradford County, Pennsylvania by a midwife. Jayas, however, was born in and is a citizen of India. The case was investigated by the United States Department of State – Diplomatic Security Service, Philadelphia Resident Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney K. Wesley (Wes) Mishoe is prosecuting the case. The maximum penalty under federal law for the indicted offenses is 23 years imprisonment, a term of supervised release after imprisonment, a fine, and special assessment. A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and Federal Sentencing Guidelines. Indictments are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court. # # #


title: Two New Jersey Men Sentenced For Scheme To Defraud Investors In Hemp Company

component: USAO - New York, Southern

body_text: Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that VITALY FARGESEN and IGOR PALATNIK were sentenced to 4 years and 78 months in prison, respectively, by U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska for participating in a fraudulent scheme to defraud investors in CanaFarma Corp. and, later, CanaFarma Hemp Products Corp. (together, “CanaFarma”), by soliciting funds based upon false and misleading representations, failing to invest investor’s funds as promised, and secretly misappropriating millions of dollars of CanaFarma funds. PALATNIK was sentenced on January 11, 2024, and FARGESEN was sentenced today. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Vitaly Fargesen and Igor Palatnik orchestrated a sophisticated scheme to obtain millions of dollars from investors by falsely pledging to spend their funds building a legitimate business. Instead, Fargesen and Palatnik deceived investors about the nature of their business and kept millions of dollars of investor funds for their own personal use. After they were charged, Fargesen and Palatnik attempted to escape accountability by obstructing this Office’s investigation of their crimes. Today’s sentence should serve as a reminder that if you steal from investors and cover up your crimes, you will pay a steep price.” According to the allegations contained in the Indictment and statements made in public filings and public court proceedings: From in or about March 2019 to in or about March 2020, CanaFarma was a privately held Delaware corporation with offices in New York, New York. Beginning on or about March 19, 2020, CanaFarma was listed on the Canadian Stock Exchange, and beginning on or about March 23, 2020, CanaFarma was listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. CanaFarma marketed itself to the investors as a “fully integrated cannabis company addressing the entire cannabis spectrum from seed to delivery of consumer products.” To the public, FARGESEN was held out as Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning and PALATNIK as Senior Vice President of Product Acquisition at CanaFarma. In truth, the two men exercised full control of CanaFarma but hid their control from the investing public by, among other things, convincing an experienced businessman to falsely present himself to the market as the CEO of the company. Using their control of CanaFarma, FARGESEN and PALATNIK devised and carried out a scheme to defraud CanaFarma’s investors by soliciting approximately $14 million in funds, including investments in private shares of CanaFarma, with false and misleading representations concerning the company’s management, products, and financials; failing to invest investor’s funds as promised; and secretly misappropriating at least $4 million of CanaFarma funds for their own benefit. FARGESEN and PALATNIK effectuated the scheme by, among other things, controlling CanaFarma through a nominal CEO who reported to FARGESEN and PALATNIK, lying to investors regarding CanaFarma’s actual and anticipated operations, attempting to artificially inflate CanaFarma’s reported revenue, making false statements to CanaFarma’s auditors, and misappropriating millions of dollars of investor funds. * * * In addition to the prison sentence, FARGESEN, 54, of Manalapan, New Jersey, and PALATNIK, 49, of Morganville, New Jersey, were each ordered to forfeit $1,733,000 and to pay restitution in the amount of $4,703,915.26. Mr. Williams praised the outstanding work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Mr. Williams also thanked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which has filed a parallel civil action. The case is being overseen by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Margaret Graham, Adam Hobson, and Sarah Mortazavi are in charge of the prosecution.


title: Boyfriend Found Guilty by Jury of First-Degree Murder and Related Charges For Killing Romantic Rival Inside His Home in Southeast

component: USAO - District of Columbia

body_text: WASHINGTON – Vernon Parrish, 40, of Washington, D.C., has been found guilty by a jury of first-degree murder while armed and related charges stemming from a mid-afternoon shooting on September 26, 2021, outside a home in the 5200 block of E Street Southeast, Washington D.C., announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela A. Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). Parrish was found guilty by a jury on July 9, 2024, following a trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, of first-degree murder while armed, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, and unlawful possession of a firearm. The Honorable Anthony Epstein scheduled sentencing for October 11, 2024. According to the evidence, Parrish drove to the decedent’s home on September 26, 2021, armed with a firearm, to kill Ronald Bailey because they were both engaged in a romantic relationship with the same woman. Parrish sped into the block of E Street where the decedent lived. After bringing his car to a screeching halt, he got out of the car. Parrish screamed for the decedent and then fired multiple shots into the decedent’s house killing him. Parrish then fled the scene. Parrish was arrested on October 6, 2021. He has been in custody ever since. 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 FBI Washington Field Office Cellular Analysis Survey Team. Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gregory Kimak and Alec Levy, who investigated, indicted, and prosecuted the case.


title: Couple Pleads Guilty To $2 Million Bank Loan And COVID-19 Relief Fraud Schemes

component: USAO - North Carolina, Western

body_text: CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Antoine Johnson, 48, and Kimberly Maddox, 43, formerly of Huntersville, N.C., currently residing in Georgia, pleaded guilty today to federal charges for fraudulently obtaining approximately $2 million in bank loans and COVID-19 pandemic relief funds, announced Dena J. King U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Robert M. DeWitt, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Charlotte Division, joins U.S. Attorney King in making today’s announcement. According to plea documents and today’s court hearing, the defendants owned and operated Pick Up and Go Moving International, Inc. and affiliated businesses (collectively, PUGMI). Johnson was the president of PUGMI and Maddox the vice president. Court documents show that, between 2018 and 2023, the defendants fraudulently obtained multiple lines of credit, bank loans, Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program loans on behalf of their businesses totaling approximately $2 million. To secure the loans, the defendants lied on more than 30 loan applications about PUGMI’s income, gross revenues, expenses, and number of employees, and submitted fabricated supporting documents that included fraudulent tax returns and fictitious financial statements. Johnson and Maddox pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud and making a false statement to a financial institution. The statutory maximum sentence the defendants face is 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. Following the plea hearing, the defendants were released on bond. A sentencing date has not been set. The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Caryn Finley of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte is in charge of the prosecution. Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866‑720‑5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form .


title: U.S. Attorney's Office Announces Working Group Meeting To Advance Environmental Justice Initiative

body_text: CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The U.S. Attorney’s Office convened a meeting today of the Western District’s Environmental Justice & Environmental Crimes Working Group, reaffirming its commitment to advancing environmental justice. The federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies represented in the working group meeting were the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of the Inspector General and Criminal Investigation Division, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Department of Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, the North Carolina Department of Transportation, the North Carolina Department of Insurance, and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. June marked the two-year anniversary of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Environmental Justice Initiative (EJI) and the appointment of an Environmental Justice Coordinator, following an announcement by Attorney General Merrick Garland on key efforts by the Department of Justice to advance environmental justice. In her welcome remarks to the working group, U.S. Attorney Dena J. King thanked the partner agencies for their participation and expressed the Office’s commitment to environmental justice in communities across the Western District. U.S. Attorney King also highlighted prosecutors’ efforts to hold accountable violators of federal environmental statutes and noted that federal laws are in place to protect natural resources and prevent harmful pollutants from posing health risks for communities. “The collaboration between my Office and our partner agencies is crucial in protecting communities from environmental harm,” said U.S. Attorney King. “Our dedication to environmental justice is unwavering, and together, we can ensure that our efforts are effective and impactful.” Today’s working group meeting focused on federal prosecutors’ criminal and civil enforcement efforts, collaboration with partner agencies to develop goals and strategies including identifying areas qualifying under the EJI, as well as next steps and action items in support of potential leads and investigations. In addition, participants discussed efforts to increase education and public awareness and develop action items related to environmental statute violations. For more information about the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Environmental Justice Initiative, please visit: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdnc/civil-rights-program#EJC


title: Maine Man Sentenced to Two Years in Prison for Conspiring to Straw Purchase Firearms

component: USAO - Massachusetts

body_text: BOSTON – A Maine man was sentenced today in federal Court in Boston for conspiring to straw purchase firearms in Maine and traffic the firearms to Massachusetts. Traveyon Richardson, 26, of Bangor, Maine, was sentenced by Chief United States District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV to two years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. In April 2024, Richardson pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to straw purchase firearms and one count of trafficking of firearms. Richardson was indicted by a federal grand jury in July 2023 along with alleged co-conspirator Breon Stroup. The case against Stroup remains pending. In September 2022, Stroup allegedly used Snapchat to ask Richardson to purchase two specific firearms for him in Maine, where Richardson resides. The following day, Stroup allegedly sent Richardson a Cash App money transfer and Richardson purchased the firearms online. Then, Richardson picked up the firearms from the federal firearm license dealer and drove the firearms to Massachusetts in October 2022. Approximately two weeks later, in October 2022, Richardson and Stroup allegedly had a phone conversation where Stroup assured Richardson that he had deleted his Snapchat account. When Richardson inquired about Stroup’s iCloud account, Stroup allegedly responded that he had deleted his iCloud account also. Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and James M. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division made the announcement. Valuable assistance was provided by the Fall River Police Department and the Maine State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lucy Sun and Timothy E. Moran of the Organized Crime & Gang Unit are prosecuting the case. The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The remaining defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.


title: Global Cryptocurrency Exchange BitMEX Pleads Guilty To Bank Secrecy Act Offense

body_text: Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Christie M. Curtis, the Acting Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced that HDR GLOBAL TRADING LIMITED, a/k/a “Bitcoin Mercantile Exchange” or “BitMEX” (“BITMEX”), pled guilty today to violating the Bank Secrecy Act by willfully failing to establish, implement, and maintain an adequate anti-money laundering (“AML”) program. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “As BitMEX’s founders and long-time employee admitted in federal court in 2022, the company, one of the leading cryptocurrency derivatives platforms in the world from 2015 to 2020, operated in the United States without any meaningful anti-money laundering program, as required by federal law. As a result, BitMEX opened itself up as a vehicle for large-scale money laundering and sanctions evasion schemes, posing a serious threat to the integrity of the financial system. Today’s guilty plea indicates again the need for cryptocurrency companies to comply with U.S. law if they take advantage of the U.S. market.” FBI Acting Assistant Director in Charge Christie M. Curtis said: “By only mandating lax service access credentials, BitMEX not only failed to comply with nationally required anti-money laundering procedures designed to protect the US financial markets from illicit actors and transactions, but knowingly did so to increase the business’s revenue. Today’s plea represents the FBI’s steadfast dedication to ensuring adherence to all U.S. financial laws, protecting the U.S. financial system, and holding accountable those who attempt to establish a workaround for profits.” According to the allegations in the Information and other filings and statements made in court: Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed founded BITMEX in or about 2014, and Gregory Dwyer became BITMEX’s first employee in 2015 and later its Head of Business Development. BITMEX, which has long serviced and solicited business from U.S. traders and also operated through U.S. offices, was required to register with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) and to establish and maintain an adequate AML program. AML programs ensure that financial institutions, such as BITMEX, are not exploited for illicit purposes and serve to protect the integrity of the U.S. financial system and national security, more broadly. The company and its executives knew that because BITMEX operated in the United States, including by serving U.S. customers, it was required to implement an AML program that included a “know your customer” (“KYC”) component but chose to flaunt those requirements, requiring only that customers provide an email address to use BITMEX’s services. Indeed, senior executives each knew that customers residing in the United States continued to access BITMEX’s trading platform through at least in or about 2018 and that BITMEX policies nominally in place to prevent such trading were toothless or easily overridden to serve BITMEX’s bottom line goal of obtaining revenue through the U.S. market without regard to U.S. criminal laws. Corporate executives took affirmative steps purportedly designed to exempt BITMEX from the application of U.S. laws like AML and KYC requirements, despite knowing of BITMEX’s obligation to implement such programs by operating in the United States. As part of BITMEX’s willful evasion of U.S. AML laws, the company lied to a bank about the purpose and nature of a subsidiary to allow the company to pump millions of dollars through the U.S. financial system. * * * HDR GLOBAL TRADING LIMITED, an entity incorporated in the Republic of Seychelles, pled guilty to one count of violating the Bank Secrecy Act, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine. The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge. Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI’s New York Money Laundering Investigation Squad and thanked the attorneys and investigators at the CFTC whose expertise and diligence were integral to the development of this investigation. The prosecution is being handled by the Office’s Illicit Finance and Money Laundering Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica Greenwood, Samuel Raymond, and Thane Rehn are in charge of the prosecution.


title: Defendant Originally Charged as "John Doe" Sentenced to Three Years in Prison for Fraud and Identity Theft

body_text: BOSTON – Jose Then, originally charged under the pseudonym “John Doe,” was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for mail fraud, false statement in an application for a passport, misuse of a social security number and aggravated identity theft. Jose Then, 52, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns to three years in prison and ordered to pay $6,228 in restitution. Upon completion of his sentence, Then will be subject to deportation proceedings. In April 2024, Then pleaded guilty mail fraud, false statement in an application for a passport, misuse of a Social Security number and aggravated identity theft. Then has been using the victim’s name, date of birth, and Social Security for decades. Then used the victim’s stolen personal identifying information to acquire a U.S. passport, a Massachusetts driver’s license, and thousands of dollars in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits. Then was also found in possession of a driver’s license with his image but the personal identifying information of another individual, as well as a Social Security number and birth certificate in the name of the third party. Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Jonathan Mellone, Special Agent in Charge of Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General; Mathew O’Brien, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, Boston Field Office; and Michael J. Krol, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by Homeland Security Investigations in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Puerto Rico Department of Public Safety; U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office of Inspector General; U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Massachusetts State Police Fraud Identification Unit; and the Weymouth and Quincy Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Sullivan of the Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case. The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigation’s Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force (DBFTF), a specialized investigative group comprising personnel from various state, local, and federal agencies with expertise in detecting, deterring, and disrupting organizations and individuals involved in various types of document, identity, and benefit fraud schemes. On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus and https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus/combatingfraud . Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline via the NCDF Web Complaint Form .


title: Brooklyn Man Sentenced for Possessing a Handgun with an Obliterated Serial Number

component: USAO - New York, Northern

body_text: ALBANY, NEW YORK – Adam Gomez, age 27, of Brooklyn, New York, was sentenced today to 11 months in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release, for possessing a handgun with an obliterated serial number. United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Matthew Scarpino, Special Agent in Charge of the Buffalo Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), made the announcement. As part of his prior guilty plea, Gomez admitted that on September 8, 2022, in a parking lot of a shopping mall in Albany County, he unlawfully possessed a Glock 17 handgun with an obliterated serial number. HSI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Belliss prosecuted the case.


title: The Grand Health Care System and Twelve Affiliated Skilled Nursing Facilities to Pay $21.3 Million for Allegedly Providing and Billing for Fraudulent Rehabilitation Therapy Services

body_text: ALBANY, NEW YORK – Strauss Ventures LLC doing business as The Grand Health Care System and 12 affiliated skilled nursing facilities (collectively, the Grand), have agreed to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by knowingly billing federal health care programs for therapy services that were unreasonable, unnecessary, unskilled, or that simply did not occur as billed. Many of the settling facilities are located in upstate and central New York, including in Albany, Oneida, Madison, Columbia, and Herkimer counties. “Today’s settlement protects patients and taxpayers by ensuring that medical treatment is dictated by patient need and not by financial motive,” said United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman. “Skilled nursing facilities provide important services to a vulnerable population, and we will continue to hold them accountable when they provide patients with unnecessary services and falsify records.” The settlement resolves allegations that from as early as January 1, 2014 to September 30, 2019, the Grand knowingly submitted false claims for rehabilitation therapy for residents at 12 facilities Strauss Ventures owned and operated. During this period, Medicare Part A (Medicare’s hospital insurance, which also pays for care in a skilled nursing facility in some circumstances) and TRICARE (the federal health care program for the Department of Defense) paid for such services at rates that varied based on the number of minutes of skilled rehabilitation therapy provided. The Grand allegedly submitted bills where the reimbursement claimed was based on providing more therapy than was reasonable and necessary, or in some cases where the therapists did not provide the amount of therapy reported. As part of the settlement, the Grand admitted that certain now-former Grand management level employees implemented quotas that each of the 12 facilities was expected to reach, including quotas relating to beneficiaries’ lengths of stay and to the percentage of beneficiaries billed at the highest reimbursement level. To meet these quotas, facilities often scheduled patients to receive therapy without consideration of what was reasonable and necessary based on the individual patients’ clinical condition. In addition, the Grand directed that no more than three patients be discharged from any facility per week and instructed that no Medicare Part A patients should be discharged from rehabilitation therapy unless it had been discussed with corporate officials. The Grand admitted that this resulted in some Medicare beneficiaries “staying on therapy longer than was reasonable and medically necessary.” The Grand acknowledged that there were various instances where supervisory officials, who did not personally evaluate or treat patients, set or adjusted the number of minutes of therapy that a Medicare patient would receive. The Grand also acknowledged that there were instances where supervisory personnel falsified the number of therapy minutes in the Grand’s electronic recordkeeping system or instructed subordinates to do so, well after the therapy was allegedly rendered. “We expect nursing facilities to provide only reasonable and appropriate amounts of skilled rehabilitation therapy service to their residents and to bill government healthcare programs only for the services actually provided,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton, head of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division. “The department is committed to protecting both vulnerable nursing home patients and taxpayers against fraudulent conduct by unscrupulous actors.” The settlement also resolves federal allegations that the Grand submitted false claims to Medicaid for services rendered at its Pawling, New York nursing home between January 1, 2016 and June 30, 2021. These claims were allegedly false because the reimbursement rate was inflated by data inaccurately reflecting the degree of care, including rehabilitation therapy services, needed by Medicaid patients there. The Grand has also entered into a five-year Corporate Integrity Agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) that requires an independent review organization to annually assess the medical necessity and appropriateness of therapy services billed to Medicare. “Violations of the False Claims Act are absolutely unacceptable and will not be tolerated by the FBI and its partners,” said Executive Assistant Director Michael Nordwall of the FBI’s Criminal, Cyber, Response and Services Branch. “We will continue our work of protecting the American taxpayer by relentlessly pursuing businesses that do not comply with the rule of law. If you bill federal health care programs in an unnecessary manner, there will be consequences.” “The Grand admitted to providing unnecessary care to our most vulnerable, to include knowingly keeping patients in their facilities and away from their loved ones when they needed them most,” said Craig Tremaroli, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Albay Field Office. “This settlement illustrates the FBI’s commitment to working with our partners to protect federally funded healthcare programs from abuse by companies looking to line their pockets with taxpayer dollars.” “As a part of this settlement, the defendants acknowledged that they obtained funds from the Medicare program to which they were not entitled,” stated Special Agent in Charge Naomi Gruchacz of HHS-OIG. “Individuals and entities that participate in the federal health care system are required to obey the laws meant to preserve the integrity of program funds and the provision of appropriate, quality services to patients.” “Protecting the integrity of the healthcare system for our military members and their families is a top priority of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), the law enforcement arm of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General,” stated Acting Special Agent in Charge Brian J. Solecki of DCIS Northeast Field Office. “DCIS will continue to work with its law enforcement partners and the Department of Justice to hold DoD contractors accountable for their fraudulent activity and ensure America’s service members are not subject to unnecessary risk.” The settlement resolves a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by two former providers of rehabilitation therapy at the Grand. The Act allows private persons to file civil actions on behalf of the government and share in any recovery. Under the settlement, the whistleblowers will receive approximately $4,047,000 of the settlement proceeds. The case is docketed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York under number 1:19-cv-1311. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York; the Justice Department’s Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section; HHS-OIG’s New York Region; the FBI, Albany Field Office; DCIS, Syracuse Resident Agency, and the New York State Attorney General’s Office investigated the matter. Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam J. Katz and Senior Trial Counsel Christelle Klovers represented the United States. grand_-_final_federal_settlement_agreement_fully_executed_1.pdf


title: Seven Indictments Returned and One Sentencing Handed Down for Multiple Felony Second-Degree Theft Defendants

body_text: WASHINGTON – Several individuals were indicted by a grand jury in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia for felony second-degree theft. One other individual was sentenced for felony second-degree theft, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela A. Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). A grand jury indicted Mohamed A. Mohamed, 36, Washington, D.C., on July 3, 2024, on one count of felony second-degree theft. Arraignment is scheduled for July 11th. A grand jury indicted Deangelo L. Reed, 36, of Washington, D.C., on July 5, 2024, of one count of felony second-degree theft and threats to do bodily harm. Arraignment is scheduled for July 29 th . A grand jury indicted Richard T. Holmes, 51, of Washington, D.C., on July 3, 2024, on one count of felony second-degree theft. Arraignment is scheduled for July 11 th . A grand jury indicted Emoni Hubbard, 29, of Washington, D.C., on July 5, 2024, on three counts of felony second-degree theft. Arraignment is scheduled for August 22 nd . A grand jury indicted Quinton Mercer, 44, of Washington, D.C. on July 3, 2024, on one count of felony second-degree theft. Arraignment is yet to be scheduled. A grand jury indicted Meredith Wilson, 51, of Washington, D.C., on July 3, 2024, on one count of felony second-degree theft. Arraignment is yet to be scheduled for August 1 st . Eugene Fleet, 61, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced on July 1, 2024, in D.C. Superior Court, to one year in prison for felony second-degree theft from events occurring on January 12, 2024. According to the government’s evidence, on December 19, 2023, Fleet took a package containing a pair of jeans from a resident’s porch in Northwest, Washington, D.C. Then, less than a month later, on January 12, 2024, Fleet took a package containing a baby blanket from a resident’s porch in Northwest, Washington, D.C. In doing so, Fleet unlawfully entered areas he was not legally allowed to be in. Fleet had multiple prior theft convictions and was therefore subject to the enhanced penalties for his alleged theft, including a mandatory minimum sentence of one year in prison. The government had indicted Fleet on February 23, 2024. Fleet pleaded guilty in both cases on April 29, 2024. The Court imposed the one-year mandatory minimum of each of Fleet’s theft convictions but sentenced him concurrently. Since September 1, 2023, including the aforementioned cases, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia has indicted 56 cases involving a felony second-degree theft charge based on a defendant’s two or more prior theft convictions, not from the same occasion. In announcing the indictments and the sentencing, U.S. Attorney Graves and Chief Smith commended the work of those investigating the case from the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. They acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of criminal laws and every defendant is presumed innocent until, and unless, proven guilty


title: Pine Bluff Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Federal Prison for Drug Trafficking and Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug-Trafficking Crime

component: USAO - Arkansas, Eastern

body_text: LITTLE ROCK—Tristan Larandell Lee, a multi-convicted felon, will spend the next 15 years in federal prison for illegally possessing cocaine with intent to distribute and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a federal drug-trafficking crime. Jonathan D. Ross, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, announced the sentence, which was handed down on Tuesday, July 9, 2024, by United States District Judge James M. Moody, Jr. An investigation revealed that on Monday, March 8, 2021, Arkansas State Police troopers responded to a traffic accident on the median of I-530 after receiving reports of this vehicle being driven in a reckless manner. Arkansas State Police troopers located Lee in the driver’s seat. The responding trooper found Lee asleep. He struck the front passenger window which woke Lee up, at which time Lee attempted to start his vehicle and flee. Lee was given commands to exit his vehicle but refused to do so. The trooper eventually opened the passenger door to remove Lee from the vehicle, who was placed into custody due to combative behavior. During an inventory search of Lee’s vehicle, cocaine, heroin, marijuana, assorted pills, drug paraphernalia, and an Anderson Manufacturing, AM-15 rifle equipped with a 60-round drum magazine were located. On June 8, 2022, Lee, 39, of Pine Bluff, was indicted by a federal grand jury on one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine, one count of possession with intent to distribute heroin, one count of possession with intent to distribute marijuana, one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. On March 13, 2024, Lee pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime. United States District Judge Moody sentenced Lee to 10 years’ imprisonment for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and five years’ imprisonment for possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, ordering the sentences be served consecutively to one another. Judge Moody also sentenced Lee to five years’ supervised release. The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the Arkansas State Police. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Amanda Fields. # # # Additional information about the office of the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, is available online at https://www.justice.gov/edar X (formerly known as Twitter): @USAO_EDAR


title: 24 Indicted in Roanoke Paycheck Protection Program Fraud Scheme

component: USAO - Virginia, Western

body_text: ROANOKE, Va. – A federal grand jury in Roanoke, Virginia returned a sealed indictment earlier this month charging 24 individuals from the greater Roanoke area with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, making false statements, and fraud in relation to an emergency benefits program. The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was a COVID-19 pandemic relief program administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA) that provided forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses. “The Paycheck Protection Program was put in place when the world’s economy was battling a once-in-a-generation health crisis. This program provided much needed financial relief to keep small businesses open,” United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh said today. “However, in the midst of this global crisis, a small number of people saw an opportunity to commit fraud and other criminal conduct. My Office continues to work with our law enforcement partners to root out these fraudulent opportunists and hold accountable those who swindle the citizens of the United States.” “The FBI’s mission is to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution of the United States,” said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Stephen Farina. “We are committed to investigating those who seek to defraud the government and will work with our partners to ensure they are brought to justice.” “During a time of unprecedented national peril, these defendants took advantage of a pandemic by stealing federal funds intended to help businesses keep their employees paid and their doors open,” said David Meisenheimer, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (CI) Washington, D.C. Field Office. “I salute the case agents and prosecutors who exposed this fraud ring and brought these defendants to justice.” The indictment, unsealed today, alleges that between June 2020 and May 2021, the charged individuals participated in a scheme to obtain PPP loans when most of them did not have an operational business. Moreover, several of these individuals who applied for PPP loans for their purported businesses were simultaneously applying for unemployment benefits. As part of the scheme, Jaimeka Mechelle Austin and Kiearra Desaray Gardner collected personal information, such as dates of birth and social security numbers, from various friends and acquaintances that already owned businesses for the purpose of submitting fraudulent PPP loan applications on their behalf. If individuals did not already have an established business, for an additional fee, Austin and Gardner would create a sham business entity with no actual operations or employees in order for these individuals to then fraudulently claim benefits through the PPP loan program. In all, Austin, Gardner, and other co-conspirators facilitated dozens of fraudulent loan applications to obtain more than $1.5 million in benefits to which they were not entitled. Those charged include: Jaimeka Mechelle Austin, 31, purported owner of Mechelle’s Boutique LLC. Ta’Quan De’Carlos Austin, 34, purported owner of Quan’o’s Chimney Sweep LLC. Richard David Henson Brown, 35, purported owner of Immaculate Balla Cleaning Service LLC. Israel Antonio Cunningham, 36, purported owner of Tate’s Lawn Care & Services LLC. Rahiim Noel Cunningham, 27, purported owner of Quanie’s Lounge LLC. Timothy Edward Cunningham, Jr., 26, purported owner of Gen5 Dog Kennels LLC. Mikkielia Sentoyia Fisher, 37, purported owner of Mad Stylez Clothing. Joshua Scott Fleming, 32, purported owner of Clear N Shine Auto Detail. Kiearra Desaray Gardner, 35, purported owner of businesses in the name of Kiearra Gardner and Kustom Kreationz by Kie LLC. Sierra Desaray Garrison, 39, purported owner of Major Pressure LLC. Deshawn Lamar Johnson, 34, purported owner of Affordable Car Care LLC. Antonio Devaughn Levesy, 36, purported owner of Squeaky Clean Mobile Detailing LLC. Millot Kevin Lexima, 30, purported owner of Plugd N Kennel LLC. Xavier Lee Manigault, 31, purported owner of The Goat Car Care LLC. Talisha Geornell Otey, 33, purported owner of businesses in the name of Talisha, Lash Tech, and the Butterfly Effect 540 LLC. Corey Durrell Steelman, 37, purported owner of Steel Hauling LLC. Jamal Donnell Steelman, 34, purported owner of Steel Painters LLC. Jessica Nicole Taylor, 34, purported owner of All In Caregiving LLC. Thomas Manuel Taylor, 54, purported owner of Showcase Kennels LLC. Denisha Michelle Walker, 31, purported owner of multiple businesses including businesses in the name of Denisha Walker and Lit & Fit Sculpting LLC. Jenea Shontae Webb, 39, purported owner of Nae & Friends Childcare. Stephfon Davido Webb, 36, self-employed and working in the janitorial industry. Akeem Marquis Williams, 37, purported owner of Williams & Williams Moving Company LLC. A 24th defendant has indicted but has not yet been arrested, and that defendant remains under seal. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations is investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael A. Baudinet, Jason M. Scheff, and Lee S. Brett are prosecuting the case. An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.


title: St. Charles County Man Caught with Child Pornography Sentenced to 97 Months in Prison

body_text: ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White on Tuesday sentenced a man who was caught with child sexual abuse material to 97 months in prison. Philip Daniel Shurtliff, 34, will also have to register as a sex offender. Shurtliff pleaded guilty in February to two counts of receipt of child pornography. He admitted that after a tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children led the St. Charles County Cyber Crimes Task Force to his home, he told detectives that he had been trading child pornography for approximately 19 years. Shurtliff acknowledged that 42 files containing child sexual abuse material were in his Kik Messenger account and that investigators found 97 images and 27 videos containing child pornography on his phone. The FBI and the St. Charles County Cyber Crimes Task Force investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Chapman prosecuted the case. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc .


title: Indian River County Fentanyl Trafficker Sentenced to Over 13 Years in Prison

component: USAO - Florida, Southern

body_text: MIAMI – On July 9, Alphonso Coleman, Jr., 41, of Indian River County, Fla., was sentenced to 160 months in federal prison, to be followed by 4 years of supervised release, for distributing fentanyl and cocaine. According to the court record, between March 14, 2023, and May 2, 2023, Coleman distributed over four ounces of fentanyl and an ounce of cocaine. On April 4, 2024, Coleman pleaded guilty to distribution of fentanyl and cocaine. U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Deanne L. Reuter of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Miami Field Division, and Sheriff Eric Flowers of the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office (IRCSO) made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon in Fort Pierce, Fla. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael D. Porter. According to the DEA’s National Drug Threat Assessment , synthetic drugs, such as fentanyl, are poisoning our nation. Fentanyl has proven to be a deadly poison that does not discriminate. Its victims include every gender, race, age, and economic background, and its debilitating effects are the same across all demographics. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. Even in small doses, fentanyl can be deadly. Just one fentanyl pill can kill, as noted in DEA’s One Pill Can Kill campaign. As little as two milligrams, about the size of 5 grains of salt, can be fatal. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), fentanyl and other synthetic opioids are the most common drugs involved in overdose deaths. Over 150 people die every day from overdoses related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl. The State of Florida has also seen an exponential increase in overdoses associated with fentanyl. In 2022, more than 5,622 people died from overdoses involving fentanyl and fentanyl analogs in Florida. For more information visit: https://www.fdle.state.fl.us/MEC/Publications-and-Forms/Documents/Drugs-in-Deceased-Persons/2022-Annual-Drug-Report-FINAL-(1).aspx ; https://www.cdc.gov/opioids/basics/fentanyl.html# ; and https://www.dea.gov/factsheets/fentanyl . You may find a copy of this press release (and any updates) on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl . Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 23-CR- 14035. ###


title: High-Ranking MS-13 Gang Leader Pleads Guilty to Eight Murders, Multiple Attempted Murders, Arson and Firearms Offenses

component: USAO - New York, Eastern

body_text: Earlier today, in federal court in Central Islip, Alexi Saenz, also known as “Blasty” and “Plaky,” the leader of the Brentwood/Central Islip chapter of the Sailors Locos Salvatruchas Westside (Sailors) clique of La Mara Salvatrucha, also known as the MS-13, a transnational criminal organization, pleaded guilty to racketeering charges in connection with his participation in eight murders, namely, the January 28, 2016 murder of Michael Johnson; the April 29, 2016 murder of Oscar Acosta; the September 5, 2016 murder of Marcus Bohannon; the September 13, 2016 murders of Kayla Cuevas and Nisa Mickens; the October 10, 2016 murder of Javier Castillo; the October 13, 2016 murder of Dewann Stacks; and the January 30, 2017 murder of Esteban Alvarado-Bonilla; as well as his participation in three attempted murders, arson, narcotics trafficking, and firearms offenses. Today’s guilty plea proceeding was held before United States District Judge Gary R. Brown. When sentenced, Alexi Saenz faces up to 70 years in prison, and a minimum sentence of 40 years in prison, under the terms of his plea agreement. Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Christie M. Curtis, Acting Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), and Robert E. Waring, Acting Commissioner, Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD), announced the guilty plea. “To say that Alexi Saenz’s hands are drenched in blood does not begin to describe the multiple killings and extreme mayhem he personally directed and committed in the span of one year in Suffolk County,” stated United States Attorney Peace. “While those murders and violent crimes were intended to further the sordid mission of the MS-13, the defendant has failed miserably. As a result of the exceptional work of this Office’s prosecutors and the members of the Long Island Gang Task Force, the MS-13 has been decimated in the district and we will continue working tirelessly to hold every one of these violent gang members accountable for the crimes they have committed and harm they have caused. It is my sincere hope that today’s guilty plea brings some measure of solace and closure to the families of his victims.” “Alex Saenz’s actions were senseless and barbaric,” stated SCPD Acting Commissioner Waring said. “The murders of teenagers Kayla Cuevas and Nisa Mickens shook our communities and reverberated around the nation. My hope is that this guilty plea will give the victims’ families some closure while also demonstrating our commitment to dismantling these criminal enterprises. I commend the work of the SCPD detectives and officers, the Long Island Gang Task Force and the Eastern District of New York for their continued success in prosecuting these gang members.” According to court filings and statements made during today’s guilty plea proceeding, Alexi Saenz was the local leader of the Brentwood/Central Islip chapter of the Sailors clique of the MS-13 – one of the more powerful, violent, and well-established cliques on the East Coast of the United States. He committed the following crimes in order to maintain and increase his membership and status within the gang, and to further the mission of the MS-13: January 28, 2016 Murder of Michael Johnson On January 28, 2016, Alexi Saenz and other MS-13 members and associates were at the Jocorena Deli in Brentwood, where they saw 29-year-old Michael Johnson, and claimed to recognize him as a member of the rival Bloods street gang. At that point, Johnson was marked as their “food” – a reference to their intention to kill him. After receiving the requisite approval from the New York leader of the Sailors clique to commit this murder, Alexi Saenz contacted several other MS-13 members, informed them of the plan to kill Johnson, and instructed them to bring weapons, including a machete and a baseball bat, to a wooded area in Brentwood. Alexi Saenz then lured Johnson to that secluded meeting location under the guise of smoking marijuana. The MS-13 members and associates ambushed Johnson from behind – striking Johnson with the baseball bat, stabbing him with a knife and taking turns hacking him with the machete. They fled after hearing police sirens in the area. Johnson was reported missing by family members. Less than one week after his murder, on February 2, 2016, members of the SCPD responded to a 911 call about a body found in the woods by a passerby and recovered Johnson’s body. An autopsy determined Johnson’s cause of death to be sharp and blunt force injuries. April 29, 2016 Murder of Oscar Acosta In early 2016, Alexi Saenz and his fellow Sailors clique members decided to “green light,” or approve, the murder of 19-year-old Oscar Acosta because they suspected that he was associating with the rival 18th Street gang after previously aligning himself with the MS-13. The New York Sailors clique leader assigned roles as to which members would take the lead in planning and carrying out the murder. On April 29, 2016, MS-13 members met Acosta in a wooded area near an elementary school in Brentwood where he had been lured under the guise of smoking marijuana. They brutally beat Acosta with tree limbs, knocking him unconscious. They bound Acosta’s hands and feet, wrapped an article of clothing around his mouth to prevent him from making noise, and summoned other MS-13 members, including Alexi Saenz. The MS-13 members loaded Acosta into the trunk of Alexi Saenz’s car, and drove to a more secluded area in Brentwood near the abandoned Pilgrim State Psychiatric Hospital. At the direction of Alexi Saenz, the MS-13 members removed Acosta, who was still alive, from the trunk and carried him deeper into the woods where they took turns hacking him to death with a machete. The murder was supervised by Alexi Saenz, as his role as the local clique leader. The MS-13 members then buried Acosta’s body in a shallow grave. Acosta’s body was discovered by law enforcement nearly five months later, on September 16, 2016, during a search for another MS-13 victim. His cause of death was homicidal violence, including sharp and blunt force injuries to his head and torso. July 18, 2016 Attempted Murders of John Doe #1 and John Doe #2 On July 18, 2016, during a Sailors clique meeting at Alexi Saenz’s house in Central Islip, the defendant instructed the group to hunt for rival gang members who had been disrespectful to the MS-13, in order to attack and kill them. Later that evening, other members of the MS-13, who were driving around Brentwood armed with firearms and a machete, spotted a group of men on Apple Street. Believing these men to be members of a rival gang, three MS-13 members got out of the car and attacked the group, firing rounds from two different guns, and then using a machete to hack at one of the men who had fallen to the ground. After the attack, the group drove back to Alexi Saenz’s house, where they hid the weapons. Two individuals were injured as a result of this attack. John Doe #1 was struck with a bullet, but survived. John Doe #2 was attacked with a machete and was permanently disfigured. August 10, 2016 Attempted Murders of Suspected Rival Gang Members In 2016, members of the MS-13 were engaged in a series of disputes with members of the Goon Squad, a rival gang in Brentwood. On August 10, 2016, Alexi Saenz and another MS-13 member drove through the neighborhood around Lukens Avenue in Brentwood, and spotted several men who they believed were members of the Goon Squad. They then rallied other members of the Sailors clique to come kill the rivals. The MS-13 members divided into two vehicles and drove towards the house where the suspected Goon Squad members had been spotted. Alexi Saenz’s car kept watch for the police, while two other MS-13 members, each bearing a gun, approached the group of suspected rivals and fired numerous shots in their direction. No one was hit, although a stray bullet entered a neighbor’s house and struck the headboard of a bed in which the neighbor was sleeping. September 5, 2016 Murder of Marcus Bohannon On September 4, 2016, during a Sailors clique meeting at Alexi Saenz’s house in Central Islip, the defendant and other MS-13 members went out hunting for rival gang members to kill. The MS-13 members separated into several cars and drove around Central Islip and Brentwood, until Alexi Saenz’s group spotted 27-year-old Marcus Bohannon walking along Lowell Avenue in Central Islip in the early morning hours of September 5. Suspecting that Bohannon was a member of the rival Bloods gang, two MS-13 members, carrying firearms, got out of the vehicle, approached him, and started shooting. Alexi Saenz then drove them away. Bohannon was struck nine times, including in his head, neck, and chest, and died from his wounds. September 12, 2016 Arson During the summer of 2016, Sailors clique members of the MS-13 were regularly having altercations with local gang members based in a neighborhood on Freeman Avenue in Brentwood. On September 12, 2016, the MS-13 members retaliated by setting fire to a car parked in the driveway of one of the houses in that rival gang neighborhood. Alexi Saenz directed other gang members to purchase gasoline and carry out the arson, while he drove around watching for police presence. Other MS-13 gang members drove to that house, where they poured gasoline on a car parked in the driveway and set it on fire. The car exploded and set another parked car on fire. September 13, 2016 Murders of Kayla Cuevas and Nisa Mickens On September 13, 2016, Sailors clique members brutally murdered 15-year-old Nisa Mickens and 16-year-old Kayla Cuevas, both students at Brentwood High School. In the months leading up to the murders, Cuevas was involved in a series of disputes with members and associates of the MS-13. Approximately one week before the murders, these disputes escalated when Cuevas and several friends were involved in an altercation with MS-13 members at Brentwood High School. After that incident, the MS-13 members vowed to seek revenge against Cuevas. On the evening of September 13, 2016, Alexi Saenz and other members of the Sailors clique of the MS-13 were driving in separate cars around Brentwood in search of rival gang members to attack and kill. One group of MS-13 members spotted Cuevas and Mickens walking down residential Stahley Street. Recognizing Cuevas, they called Alexi Saenz and were granted permission to kill the girls. Several MS-13 members then chased down and attacked both Cuevas and Mickens, wielding baseball bats and a machete, striking each of the girls numerous times in their heads and bodies, while Alexi Saenz’s car drove around watching for police. After the murders, the group retreated to Alexi Saenz’s home in Central Islip, where they changed clothes and hid the weapons. Mickens, whose body was discovered later that evening on Stahley Street, not far from Cuevas’s home, sustained significant sharp force trauma to her face and blunt force trauma to her head. Cuevas, whose body was discovered the following day behind a house adjacent to where Mickens’s body was found, sustained significant blunt force trauma to her head and body and multiple lacerations. October 10, 2016 Murder of Javier Castillo In October 2016, the MS-13 targeted 15-year-old Javier Castillo because he was believed to be a member of the 18th Street gang, one of MS-13’s principal rivals. On October 10, 2016, several members of the Sailors clique convinced Castillo, who lived in Central Islip, to drive with them to Freeport – approximately 30 miles away – to smoke marijuana. Once there, they met Alexi Saenz and other Sailors clique members. The group then lured Castillo to an isolated marsh area in Cow Meadow Park, where they attacked him, taking turns hacking him to death with a machete. Afterwards, the MS-13 members dug a hole and buried Castillo’s body, which was not recovered until one year later, in late October 2017. Castillo was determined to have suffered multiple sharp force injuries to his head, neck, torso and extremities. October 13, 2016 Murder of Dewann Stacks On the evening of October 13, 2016, Alexi Saenz and other members of the Sailors clique of MS-13 were driving around Central Islip and Brentwood in search of rival gang members to attack and kill. That night, they spotted 34-year-old Dewann Stacks and, believing him to be a rival gang member, Alexi Saenz authorized his murder. While Alexi Saenz drove around watching for police presence, another group of MS-13 members, armed with two machetes and a baseball bat, drove over to attack Stacks. Three armed MS-13 members got out of the car, and beat and hacked Stacks to death on American Boulevard, a residential street in Brentwood. Stacks sustained severe sharp and blunt force trauma to his face and head, leaving his body nearly unrecognizable. January 30, 2017 Murder of Esteban Alvarado-Bonilla On the morning of January 30, 2017, Alexi Saenz and other members of the Sailors clique of MS-13 spotted 29-year-old Esteban Alvarado-Bonilla inside El Campesino Deli in Central Islip. Alvarado-Bonilla was wearing a football jersey bearing the number “18,” which led the MS-13 to conclude that he was a member of a rival gang, and they plotted to kill him. Several other MS-13 members obtained a mask and another vehicle that would be used to commit the murder. Alexi Saenz provided the clique’s 9-millimeter handgun for use in the murder. At approximately 10:30 a.m., a masked MS-13 member entered the deli, approached Alvarado-Bonilla from behind, and shot him multiple times, killing him. One of the bullets pierced through Alvarado-Bonilla’s head and struck the chest of a female employee of the deli, who was standing directly in front of him. The deli employee survived the gunshot wound. Narcotics Trafficking Conspiracy For a year and a half, from approximately April 2016 through March 2017, in order to finance the illegal operations of the Sailors clique, Alexi Saenz obtained wholesale quantities of cocaine and marijuana, which he distributed to other Sailors clique members and associates for street-level sales in Brentwood and its surrounding areas. After the sales, the profits were turned over to Alexi Saenz, for use in, among other things, purchasing firearms for use by clique members, wiring money to MS-13 leaders in El Salvador and buying additional narcotics for further distribution. * * * * Today’s guilty plea is the latest achievement in a series of federal prosecutions by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York targeting members of the MS-13, a violent, transnational criminal organization. The MS-13’s leadership is based in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico, but the gang has thousands of members across the United States. With numerous branches, or “cliques,” the MS-13 is the most violent criminal organization on Long Island. Since 2003, hundreds of MS-13 members, including dozens of clique leaders, have been convicted on federal felony charges in the Eastern District of New York. A majority of those MS-13 members have been convicted on federal racketeering charges for participating in murders, attempted murders and assaults. Since 2010, this Office has obtained indictments charging MS-13 members with carrying out more than 70 murders in the Eastern District of New York, resulting in the convictions of dozens of MS-13 leaders and members in connection with those murders. These prosecutions are the product of investigations led by the FBI’s Long Island Gang Task Force, which is comprised of agents and officers of the FBI, SCPD, Nassau County Police Department, Nassau County Sheriff’s Department, Suffolk County Probation Office, Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office, the New York State Police, the Hempstead Police Department, the Rockville Centre Police Department and the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks. The government’s case is being handled by the Criminal Section of the Office’s Long Island Division. Assistant United States Attorneys John J. Durham, Paul G. Scotti, Justina L. Geraci and Megan E. Farrell are in charge of the prosecution, with the assistance of Paralegal Specialist Kerry Ucci and Automated Litigation Specialist Michael Compitello. The Defendant : ALEXI SAENZ (also known as “Blasty” and “Plaky”) Age: 29 El Divisadero, Morazán, El Salvador; and Central Islip, New York E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 16-CR-403 (S-8)(GRB)


title: Bozeman man sentenced, fined $2,500 for assault onboard airplane

body_text: MISSOULA — A Bozeman man who admitted assaulting a woman passenger while on a flight from Salt Lake City, Utah, to Bozeman was sentenced today to two years of probation and fined $2,500, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said. The defendant, Hunter Andrew Dietrich, 33, pleaded guilty in March to assault onboard an aircraft in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States, a misdemeanor. U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen presided. The court also ordered $1,704 restitution to the airline. In court documents, the government alleged that on Feb. 11, 2023, SkyWest Flight 3789 operating as Delta Connections traveled from Salt Lake City, Utah, to Bozeman. During the flight, Dietrich, a passenger, was disruptive, assaulted numerous individuals and disobeyed repeated instructions from the flight crew to behave. The investigation found that Dietrich kissed a flight attendant on the head while touching her buttocks, and, while sitting next to a female passenger, he put his hands between her legs and his arm around her shoulder after being told not to. Dietrich continued this behavior while the plane was on approach, and he appeared to be intoxicated. The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case. The FBI and Bozeman Airport Police conducted the investigation. XXX


title: Arizona man indicted for kidnapping

component: USAO - Kansas

body_text: WICHITA, KAN. – A federal grand jury in Wichita returned an indictment charging an Arizona man with kidnapping then holding a victim for ransom. According to court documents, Martin Brandon Gillen, 26, of Phoenix, Arizona, is charged with one count of kidnapping, one count of transporting child pornography, one count of possession of child pornography, one count of sexual exploitation of a child (production), and one count of transportation for criminal sexual activity. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Hart is prosecuting the case. Project Safe Childhood This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc OTHER INDICTMENTS Stephen Barnhart, 58, of Wichita, was indicted on one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and one count of possession of ammunition by a convicted felon. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) is investigating this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Treaster is prosecuting the case. James Arnold Martinez, 26, of Oklahoma was indicted on one count of cyberstalking a child, one count of sexual exploitation of a child, and one count of distribution of child pornography. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ola Odeyemi is prosecuting the case. Ruben Ortiz-Moreno, 35, of Wichita was indicted on one count of possession of a firearm by an illegal alien. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ola Odeyemi is prosecuting the case. An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. ###


title: Salina Couple Sentenced After Being Found Guilty of  Child Abuse and Neglect

component: USAO - Oklahoma, Northern

body_text: TULSA, Okla. – In June of 2023, a federal jury found Joel Richard Smith and Amanda Irene Smith guilty of Child Abuse in Indian Country and Child Neglect in Indian Country. Today, U.S. District Judge Sara E. Hill sentenced the Salina husband and wife in separate hearings. Judge Hill ordered Joel Richard Smith, 49, a Cherokee Nation citizen to 180 months imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release. Amanda Irene Smith, 45, was sentenced to 240 months imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release. According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, Joel and Amanda Smith were legal guardians for the 9-year-old child victim. In April 2019, the Mayes County Sheriff’s Office received a call about a child who escaped to a neighbor's home, was hungry, filthy, and in need of medical attention. At trial, the child victim testified about the abuse and neglect that she suffered at the hands of the defendants. She described being forced to do manual labor in the yard with her hands, like digging holes and moving large rocks. She would be locked outside for extended periods, even in poor weather. If the child was allowed to eat, she said it was usually a bottle, oatmeal, or baby food. At night, she would crawl into the kitchen to get food because she was hungry. After being caught, she stated she was handcuffed to the pack-n-play she slept in. She described being forced to wear diapers instead of being allowed to use the restroom, being hit with a broom that broke on her head, a belt, and a horsefly. Testimony from medical professionals revealed that the child entered the home of the Smiths at age four and weighed 50 pounds. However, in April 2019, at age nine, the child victim only weighed 41 pounds. Medical professionals testified about the child's malnutrition, bruising, and infected handcuff wounds. At sentencing, Joel Smith took responsibility for his actions and inactions. However, Amanda Smith continued to deny any involvement. Joel Smith will remain in custody pending transfer to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. Amanda Smith was permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. The FBI and Mayes County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephanie Ihler and Melody Nelson prosecuted the case.


title: New Horizons Computer Learning Centers In Tampa And Orlando Resolve Post-9/11 GI Bill Allegations

component: USAO - Florida, Middle

body_text: Tampa, FL – Two New Horizons Computer Learning Center franchises and their owner agreed to pay $1,350,000 to resolve allegations that the schools overcharged the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) by failing to report tuition waivers and scholarships provided to VA-supported students and by falsely certifying compliance with Title 38’s ban on incentive compensation tied to student enrollment. The Post-9/11 Veterans Education Assistance Act of 2008 (“GI Bill”) financially supports service members, veterans, and their eligible dependents who attend an education or training program at an educational institution. The longer a person serves in the military, the greater the benefits available under the GI Bill. If a school offers to waive tuition for a student receiving less than 100-percent assistance, that tuition waiver must be reported to the VA and the student’s portion reduced accordingly. Additionally, Title 38 prohibits participating schools from paying any commission, bonus, or other incentive payment based directly or indirectly on securing student enrollments. The United States alleged that, between 2017 and 2021, LTJ Group V, LLC, and Innovak of Florida, Inc., which did business as New Horizons Computer Learning Centers in Tampa, Florida, and Orlando, Florida, failed to report tuition waivers for students receiving less than 100-percent assistance under the GI Bill and falsely certified compliance with Title 38 by paying commissions, bonuses, or other incentive payments to enrollment representatives. The settlement resolves United States v. Robert J. Remington, et al., Case No. 8:24-cv-511-TPB-UAM. The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only. No determination of liability has occurred. “The Post-9/11 GI Bill recognizes the bravery and sacrifice of our nation’s veterans by providing them the opportunity to obtain education and training necessary to furthering a post-military career,” said United States Attorney Roger Handberg. “My office will continue to work with the VA to ensure compliance with GI Bill requirements and to vigilantly protect the program’s financial viability.” “The settlement announced today demonstrates the VA Office of Inspector General’s commitment to aggressively pursuing individuals and schools who target veterans’ education benefits,” said Special Agent in Charge David Spilker with the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General’s Southeast Field Office. “The VA OIG will continue to work with its law enforcement partners to protect the integrity of VA’s education benefits program.” This resolution results from a coordinated effort by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida and the Department of Veterans Affairs - Office of Inspector General. Senior Litigation Counsel Lindsay S. Griffin and Assistant United States Attorney Mamie V. Wise handled the investigation and prosecution of the case.


title: Egyptian Fugitive Extradited from Spain Admits Role in Defrauding Rideshare Company

component: USAO - New Jersey

body_text: NEWARK, N.J. – An Egyptian citizen extradited to the United States on wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges today admitted defrauding a peer-to-peer rideshare company out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in fraudulent referral fees, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today. Hatem Ghouneim, 35, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler in Newark federal court to an indictment charging him with three counts of wire fraud. According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court: From January through December 2019, Ghouneim engaged in a scheme to defraud a technology company that operates a rideshare service. By creating fraudulent accounts and using stolen identities, Ghouneim induced the victim company to pay him referral fees for each new fraudulently created account. Through the scheme, Ghouneim defrauded the company of hundreds of thousands of dollars in referral fees. The wire fraud charges each carry a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 13, 2024. U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy in Newark, with the investigation leading to the guilty plea. He also thanked the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs and the FBI Attaché’s Office in Spain for their assistance, as well as the government of Spain for their substantial assistance arresting and extraditing Ghouneim to the United States. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shontae D. Gray of the Economic Crimes Unit in Newark. ghouneim.indictment.pdf