Category: Legal Issues

Source: United States Attorneys General 4

            WASHINGTON – Samuel Sampson Peaks, 35, of Bowie, Maryland, was arraigned today on charges stemming from a 2013 cold case involving an armed sexual assault of a stranger, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Acting Chief Pamela Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            According to court documents, on February 12, 2013, Peaks encountered the victim, who was a stranger to him, at the Minnesota Ave. Metro station at approximately 6:00 a.m. He followed her and eventually brandished a handgun and forced her to perform a sexual act. After the assault was over, the victim immediately called police, who responded and recovered evidence. The evidence was timely tested for DNA in 2013 and resulted in a mixture of DNA from the victim and an unknown male. In 2020, the defendant was arrested for an unrelated crime in Prince George’s County, Maryland, at which time his DNA was collected and entered into CODIS, ultimately matching the DNA profile obtained from the evidence in the armed sexual assault case.

            On March 10, 2022, a District of Columbia Superior Court Grand Jury returned an indictment charging Peaks in the cold case with one count of first degree sexual abuse while armed with aggravating circumstances. On February 17, 2023, the defendant was sentenced to a period of incarceration after conviction in the Prince George’s County case. Peaks was brought to D.C. and arraigned on the sexual assault indictment on September 14, 2023.

            If convicted of the D.C. sexual assault, Peaks faces a maximum sentence of up to life in prison, a possible fine of up to $125,000, no less than five years of supervised release, and would be required to register as a sex offender for life.

            This case was brought as part of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia’s Cold Case Sexual Assault Initiative and investigated by MPD’s Sexual Assault Unit. In February 2018, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia created the Cold Case Sexual Assault Initiative, designed to work with law enforcement partners to reinvestigate, solve and bring charges in previously unsolved cases of sexual assault against adults and juveniles. The Cold Case Initiative works with the MPD, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Marshals Service, and state and local law enforcement agencies in the DMV area.

            This case is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Zubrensky.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Source: United States Attorneys General 4

            WASHINGTON — A Texas man has been arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges, including assaulting law enforcement, related to his actions during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.

            Billy Joe Gober, 65, of Smithville, Texas, is charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with felony offenses of civil disorder and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers. Gober is charged with several misdemeanor offenses as well, including, entering and remaining in restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings.

            Gober was arrested on Sept. 13, 2023, in Bastrop County, Texas, and made his initial appearance today in the Western District of Texas.

            According to court documents, on Jan. 6, 2021, at approximately 1:57 p.m., law enforcement authorities were attempting to maintain the police line on the south side of the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace. During this time, Gober walked up a set of stairs to approach the police line, charged and struck a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officer. A few seconds later, the officer removed Gober’s hands from their person, but Gober approached the line again and attempted to pull a police barricade away from another officer.

            A few minutes later, at approximately 2:04 p.m., a section of the police line on the south side of the Lower West Terrace was collapsing as a result of rioters’ repeated efforts to breach the line, including through the assault of multiple officers. At that time, Gober charged at another MPD officer, grabbed the officer’s baton, and attempted to take it.

            Using the baton, Gober then pulled the officer into the crowd of rioters. Once he had pulled the officer into the crowd, Gober grabbed and placed his arms around the officer.

            On January 11, three days after Gober’s flight back to Texas, he posted a photograph of himself in front of the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.

            This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas.

            This case is being investigated by the FBI’s San Antonio and Washington Field Offices, which identified Gober as BOLO (Be on the Lookout) #333 on its seeking information photos. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.

            In the 32 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,100 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 396 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The investigations are ongoing.

            Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.

            A complaint is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Source: United States Attorneys General 4

            WASHINGTON — A Tennessee man has been arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges related to his actions during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.

            Allan Jennings, 56, of Hillsboro, Tennessee, is charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with a felony offense of civil disorder. Jennings is also charged with several misdemeanor offenses, including entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, and destruction of government property.

            Jennings was arrested on Sept. 12, 2023, in Hillsboro, Tennessee, and made his initial appearance in the Eastern District of Tennessee.

            According to court documents, on Jan. 6, 2021, Jennings attended the “Stop the Steal” rally near the Washington Monument and later walked with a crowd down Constitution Avenue, NW, toward the U.S. Capitol. Jennings was then identified via open-source video, body-worn camera, and U.S. Capitol Police closed circuit television security video (CCTV) among the crowd of rioters that converged at the Lower West Terrace Tunnel.

            By approximately 2:41 p.m., Capitol CCTV shows that Jennings was among the first three rioters to enter the Tunnel from the Lower West Terrace in pursuit of retreating police officers. Jennings held up his phone as he entered, apparently filming his and the other rioters’ progress. Upon entering the Tunnel, Jennings darts ahead of all of the other rioters toward the first set of glass doors inside the Tunnel. Rioters further back then began to summon more rioters to join their efforts in pushing forward as Jennings—who was still holding up his phone—looked through the glass at the assembled police officers as rioters poured into the Tunnel behind him.

            At approximately 2:42 p.m., body-worn camera footage shows Jennings as he pulled an implement of some kind, which a police officer who witnessed these events identified as a knife with a glass breaking end from his pocket. The police officer whose body-worn camera recorded these events then pointed at Jennings and said, “He’s got a weapon in his hand,” as Jennings raised the implement and tapped the top corner of the glass door in front of him. Jennings then pulled back the implement and quickly struck the glass several times, shattering it on the second attempt.

            After the glass door was shattered, rioters moved through the broken set of doors and toward a subsequent set of frosted glass doors. As rioters moved past him, Jennings inspected his hand, which appeared to be injured. Moments later, Jennings made his way back toward the front of the mob, where he put his hands on an officer’s riot shield and pointed at officers. Shortly thereafter, Jennings—whose hand was visibly bleeding by this point—braced himself backward against the line of rioters in front of him to assist their push against the police line.

            Jennings then exited the Tunnel and returned to the Lower West Terrace.

            This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee.

            This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Knoxville and Washington Field Offices. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.

            In the 32 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,100 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 396 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The investigation remains ongoing.

           Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.

            A complaint is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Source: United States Attorneys General 7

PORTLAND, Maine: An Auburn man, formerly of Hollis, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Portland for receipt and possession of child sexual abuse material.

Chief U.S. District Judge Jon D. Levy sentenced Dylan Carmichael-Margel, 31, to 78 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $34,000 in restitution. Carmichael-Margel pleaded guilty on June 23, 2022.

According to court records, between May 2020 and January 2021, Carmichael-Margel knowingly received and possessed images and videos of child sexual abuse material. Some of the images depicted children under 12. In January 2021, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) executed a search warrant at Carmichael-Margel’s Hollis residence and seized a cell phone and laptop. Child sexual abuse material was recovered from both devices. Child sexual abuse images recovered from the cell phone included victims as young as two years old.

HSI investigated the case.

To report an incident involving the possession, distribution, receipt or production of child pornography: Child sexual abuse material – “child pornography” – captures the sexual abuse and exploitation of children. These images document victims’ exploitation and abuse, and they suffer re-victimization each time the images are viewed. File a report with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at https://report.cybertip.org/ or 1-800-843-5678. Your report will be forwarded to a law enforcement agency for investigation and action. If you have an emergency that requires an immediate law enforcement response, call 911 or contact your local police or sheriff’s department.

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 the Department’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, visit www.justice.gov/psc.

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Source: United States Attorneys General 7

A Webster City man who ordered a pound ice methamphetamine from a man he met in state prison was sentenced November 29, 2022, to more than 15 years in federal prison.

Gabriel Allen Pelz, age 44, from Webster City, Iowa, received the prison term after a May 18, 2022 guilty plea to one count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and one count of use of a communication facility to commit a felony drug crime.

Information disclosed at sentencing showed that Pelz met Andrew Surprenant while they were both incarcerated in state prison.  Pelz was released from state custody in December 2021, and, in early January 2022, Pelz contacted Surprenant and arranged to acquire a pound of ice methamphetamine from him.  At the time, law enforcement was monitoring a wiretap on Surprenant’s phone and intercepted the conversations between Pelz and Surprenant.  Law enforcement conducted surveillance of Surprenant’s residence and watched Pelz arrive at there.  After Pelz left, law enforcement conducted a traffic stop of him and recovered a pound of ice methamphetamine from Pelz.  Pelz later admitted that he acquired the ice methamphetamine from Surprenant and intended to distribute it to others in the Webster City area. 

Pelz was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams.  Pelz was sentenced to 188 months’ imprisonment, and he must also serve a six-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Andrew Surprenant previously pled guilty to his involvement with a Mexico‑based drug trafficking organization.  On October 21, 2022, Surprenant was sentenced to 396 months’ imprisonment. 

Pelz is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dillan Edwards and was investigated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program of the United States Department of Justice through a cooperative effort of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Tri-County Drug Enforcement Task Force consisting of the Waterloo Police Department, Cedar Falls Police Department, Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Department, Evansdale Police Department, Waverly Police Department, Hudson Police Department, La Porte City Police Department, and the Bremer County Sheriff’s Department; the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the United States Postal Inspection Service; and Homeland Security Investigations. 

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. 

The case file number is 22-CR-02017.

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Source: United States Attorneys General 7

BANGOR, Maine: A Calais man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Bangor for distributing child sexual abuse material.

U.S. District Judge Lance E. Walker sentenced Samuel Staples, 27, to 60 months in prison and five years of supervised release. Staples pleaded guilty on August 31, 2022.

According to court records, in September 2021, Staples began a chat session with the administrator of a social networking group dedicated to sharing child sexual abuse material and sent the administrator a sexually explicit image of a prepubescent female child. Based on this information, a search warrant was executed at Staples’ residence, and during the search, Staples admitted sending the image. Multiple images and videos of child pornography were also found on his cell phone.

Homeland Security Investigations, the Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit, and the Calais Police Department investigated the case.

To report an incident involving the possession, distribution, receipt or production of child pornography: Child sexual abuse material – “child pornography” – captures the sexual abuse and exploitation of children. These images document victims’ exploitation and abuse, and they suffer re-victimization each time the images are viewed. File a report with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at https://report.cybertip.org/ or 1-800-843-5678. Your report will be forwarded to a law enforcement agency for investigation and action. If you have an emergency that requires an immediate law enforcement response, call 911 or contact your local police or sheriff’s department.

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 the Department’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, visit www.justice.gov/psc.

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Source: United States Attorneys General 7

A man who sexually abused a sleeping woman was sentenced today to more than fifteen years in federal prison.

Robin Roberts, age 67, from the Meskwaki Settlement, received the prison term after a June 1, 2022 jury verdict finding him guilty of sexual abuse.

The evidence at trial showed that on July 8, 2021, the victim went to Roberts’ residence.  During her time at the residence, Roberts sexually abused the victim while she was sleeping.

Roberts was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams.  Roberts was sentenced to 188 months’ imprisonment and ordered to pay a $5,000 special assessment pursuant to the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act.  He must also serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Roberts is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Lisa C. Williams and Liz Dupuich and was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Meskwaki Nation Police Department. 

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. 

The case file number is 21-CR-0060.

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Source: United States Attorneys General 7

BANGOR, Maine: An Orrington man pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Bangor to conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine and fentanyl in Penobscot County as well as conspiring to make false statements to federal firearms licensee.

According to court records, between January 2018 and December 2021, Joshua Jerrell, 27, conspired to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine, a substance containing methamphetamine and fentanyl. Jerrell regularly arranged to obtain quantities from a source through phone calls, texts and social media using coded language. He would then distribute these drugs to his customers in Penobscot County. In June 2021, Jerrell made false statements to a federal firearms licensee in Holden in an attempt to obtain firearms for his drug supplier.

Jerrell faces a maximum term of 20 years imprisonment on the drug charge and up to five years on the firearms conspiracy charge. He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigative report by the U.S. Probation Office. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. Assistance was provided by the Orono, Bangor, Brewer, Caribou, Presque Isle and Houlton police departments. U.S. Attorney Darcie N. McElwee also recognized the cooperation and coordination provided by the Maine State Attorney General’s Office.

Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces: 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.

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Source: United States Attorneys General 7

LEXINGTON, Ky. — A Lexington man, Ramon Camacho Zepeda, 54, was sentenced to life in in federal prison, on Friday, by U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell, after previously being convicted of conspiracy to commit kidnapping and interstate transportation of stolen automobiles.

According to evidence presented at trial, the charges stemmed from the kidnappings of two individuals, identified in court records as J.O. and M.A.T.O.  Both victims were killed during the commission of the kidnappings.  Their bodies were discovered in the trunk of a Volkswagen Jetta, on September 11, 2017, at 430 Blue Sky Parkway, in Lexington.  That location was an automotive repair business owned by J.O.  Two vehicles belonging to J.O. were stolen during the offenses and transported to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.  Evidence presented at trial revealed that Camacho Zepeda and Diaz Barraza were distributing kilogram quantities of cocaine and heroin in Lexington, and that J.O. had incurred a debt to them, based on his involvement in the drug trafficking.  Testimony by a pathologist from the Kentucky Medical Examiner’s Office established that J.O.’s cause of death was attributed to “chop wounds” to the head and asphyxiation.  The second victim, M.A.T.O., died from asphyxiation.

Zepeda, Rosario Diaz Barraza, 32, of Phoenix, and John Carlos Betancourt, 27, of Penuelas, Puerto Rico, were convicted at trial in April 2022.  Diaz Barraza was sentenced in September 2022 to 35 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release.  Betancourt was sentenced in July 2022 to 84 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

Additionally, Serrano-Jimenez pled guilty as charged to conspiracy to commit kidnapping in the case.  On October 6, 2022, he received 168 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release. Finally, Jose Felix Tlatenchi, of Wilkes- Barre, pled guilty to an information as an accessory after the fact to the kidnapping. He was sentenced to 120 months and a term of SR

Under federal law, Zepeda must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence.  Upon his release from prison, he will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for five years.

“This sentence brings to close the prosecution of a horrific crime,” said Carlton S. Shier, IV, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky.  “Unfortunately, in addition to the severe damage of abuse and addition, the illegal drug trade often brings with it dramatic violence.  Here, two people brutally lost their lives, and the sentences imposed are unquestionably warranted.  Bringing those responsible for this awful crime to justice involved tireless, dedicated, and remarkable work, by both our trial team and our law enforcement partners, across several states.  Those who continue to engage in this dangerous trade should know that we are committed and will continue to use all the resources available to us to combat it.”

“This case perfectly illustrates the brutal nature of drug trafficking; two individuals suffered a violent end because they got mixed up with the wrong crowd,” said Special Agent in Charge J. Todd Scott, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Louisville Division.  “Lexington is a safer community today, with one more violent offender sentenced to prison for committing these barbaric acts.”

United States Attorney Shier; DEA Special Agent in Charge Scott; Colonel Phillip Burnett, Commissioner, Kentucky State Police; and Chief Lawrence Weathers, Lexington Police Department, jointly announced the sentencing.

The lengthy investigation was conducted primarily by the Lexington Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Kentucky State Police.  Multiple additional law enforcement agencies also provided valuable assistance, including the Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Police Department, the Reading, Pennsylvania Police Department, the Pennsylvania State Police, the New York City Police Department, the Harlingen, Texas Police Department, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations.  The United States was represented in the case by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Todd Bradbury and Francisco Villalobos.             

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Source: United States Attorneys General 7

On November 22, 2022, Justin Haubrich, 46, from Milford, Iowa, was sentenced to 108 months in federal prison.

Haubrich pled guilty June 28, 2022, in federal court in Sioux City, to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

Evidence at the plea and sentencing hearings showed that from May 2018 through January 2019, Haubrich was involved in a conspiracy that distributed at least 2500 grams of methamphetamine.  Haubrich was supplied methamphetamine from sources in Denison and Council Bluffs, Iowa for further distribution in Northwest Iowa.  During a traffic stop in January 2019, Haubrich was found in possession of a .45 caliber handgun and was known to keep and store firearms during his drug trafficking activities.  

Sentencing was held before United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand.  Haubrich was sentenced to 108 months’ imprisonment and must serve a term of three years supervised release following imprisonment.  There is no parole in the federal system.  Haubrich remains in custody of the United States Marshal until he can be transported to a federal system.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shawn S. Wehde and was investigated by Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, the Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office, the Palo Alto County Sheriff’s Office, the Okoboji, Iowa Police Department, and the Iowa DCI Laboratory.   

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. 

The case file number is 21-4097. 

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