Category: Security Intelligence

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (c)

SCRANTON- The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Salem Christopher Diop, age 22, of Kingston, Pennsylvania, was indicted by a federal grand jury on a sexual assault charge. 

According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, the indictment alleges that on July 8, 2023, Diop was on a cruise when he engaged in sexual assault with a victim incapable of appraising the nature of the conduct.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jenny P. Roberts is prosecuting the case.

The maximum penalty under federal law for this offense is life imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

Indictments are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.

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Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

BILLINGS  —  A Billings man who admitted to sexually abusing a girl in Busby, on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, between 2009 and 2010, was sentenced today to four years in prison, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.

Travis Ridenour, aka Travis Lamere, 35, pleaded guilty in May to abusive sexual contact.

U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided.

The government alleged in court documents that Jane Doe 1 disclosed that when she approximately 13 years old, in 2009, Ridenour sexually assaulted her as she was sleeping. Jane Doe 1 woke up, and Ridenour’s hand was underneath her underwear on her vaginal area.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case. The FBI conducted the investigation.

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Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

A man who distributed cocaine and heroin near Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, in 2017 and 2018 was sentenced August 29, 2023, to seven years in federal prison.

Malcolm Thornton, age 33, from Chicago, Illinois, received the prison term after a January 23, 2023 guilty plea to one count of possession with the intent to distribute cocaine.

In a plea agreement, Thornton admitted he was involved in selling cocaine and heroin out of a house near Loras College during 2017 and 2018.  Ultimately, Thornton and others were traveling back to Dubuque from Chicago on January 23, 2018, with over 300 grams of cocaine when they were stopped by members of the Dubuque Drug Task Force.

Thornton was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams.  Thornton was sentenced to 84 months’ imprisonment and must also serve a six-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.  Thornton 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 Patrick Reinert 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 Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Dubuque Drug Task Force comprised of the Dubuque County Sheriff’s Office and the Dubuque Police Department. 

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

The case file number is 22-CR-01021. 

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Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)

BOSTON – A Lynnfield man pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to fraudulently obtaining multiple Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act loans, including funds from the Payroll Protection Program (PPP), and unemployment benefits to which he was not entitled for his boxing gym.

Daniel Olivar, 44, pleaded guilty to four counts of wire fraud. U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani scheduled sentencing for Dec. 6, 2023. Olivar was arrested and charged in December 2022.  

Olivar was the owner of Sonny’s Boxing and Fitness, Inc., a boxing club and fitness center in in Middleton. Since at least 2019, Olivar engaged in a scheme to defraud and obtain CARES Act business loans, by filing false and fraudulent applications with the United States Small Business administration (SBA). This included an Economic Injury Disaster Loan  from the SBA and a PPP loan. In addition, Olivar filed a claim for unemployment benefits with the State of Massachusetts, falsely claiming that he was laid off from Gold’s Gym. As a result, from January 2020 until at least May 2021, Olivar received unemployment benefits from the state of Massachusetts. 

The charge of wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura J. Kaplan of the Criminal Division is prosecuting the case.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

Two men who orchestrated the transportation and distribution of over 500 pounds of ice methamphetamine to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, were sentenced on August 16 and 30, 2023, to a total of 63 years in federal prison.

Derek Michael Mims, age 32, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after a February 7, 2023 guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.

David Poitier Belton, age 37, from Compton, California, received the prison term after a February 1, 2023 guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and one count of being a felon and drug user in possession of a firearm.

In plea agreements, Belton, who was also known as “Blood,” and Mims admitted that they orchestrated the transportation of 30 to 60-pound shipments of ice methamphetamine from Los Angeles to Cedar Rapids between 2017 and March 2022.  Belton and Mims paid other individuals to transport the ice methamphetamine, typically in a vehicle that contained a specially made hidden compartment.  Once the ice methamphetamine arrived in Cedar Rapids, Belton or Mims would retrieve the methamphetamine and distribute it to other members of the organization for sale to customers.  In October 2020, the vehicle with the hidden compartment was searched by law enforcement officers while it was on a car hauler destined for Iowa.  Officers found approximately 30 pounds of ice methamphetamine inside the hidden compartment.

In late 2021, the Cedar Rapids DEA conducted a wiretap investigation into Belton’s drug organization.  In February 2022, agents intercepted communications indicating that a shipment of 60 pounds of ice methamphetamine was going to be coming from California to Iowa.  Investigators tracked a courier driving a rental truck from Los Angeles to Nebraska, where the truck was stopped.  During a search of the cargo area of the truck, officers found a plastic tote containing 60 pounds of ice methamphetamine.

Following the seizure of the 60 pounds of ice methamphetamine, Belton continued to purchase additional methamphetamine from his source in California.  On February 27, 2022, Belton was intercepted speaking with Kiyonte Sowell, a relative of Belton in California.  Belton told Sowell that he was booking Sowell a flight, instructed Sowell to “pack you a big ass suitcase, you already know you ain’t going to stay for that many days” and then said, “You already know what the rest is so we gonna, I’m gonna book you out a ticket in the morning.”  The next day, Sowell went to Los Angeles International Airport, taking a large roller bag with him through airport security as carry‑on luggage.  Airport security conducted an X‑ray of the roller bag and observed multiple bags of an unknown substance underneath the clothes inside the bag.  During a secondary search of the bag, security found five vacuum‑sealed bags containing ice methamphetamine.  Sowell admitted that the bag was his but said his brother had packed it.  When asked if he was aware of the contents of the bag he shrugged and said, “It looks like cocaine or meth, I don’t know.”  He then said he was going to Iowa, “but all I know is that I’m missing my flight and I’m going to jail.” 

On March 8, 2022, investigators searched Belton’s home in Cedar Rapids.  During the search investigators located a small amount of cocaine and 15 firearms.  Belton was a felon, having twice been convicted of felony burglary and once of possession with intent to distribute marijuana.  Belton was also prohibited from possessing firearms because he was an unlawful user of marijuana.

Belton and Mims were sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams.  The judge described Belton and Mims as leading a “huge organization bringing back astronomical quantities of ice methamphetamine” that caused “untold damage to the community.” 

Belton was sentenced to 396 months’ imprisonment and Mims was sentenced to 360 months’ imprisonment.  Each man must also serve a five‑year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Belton and Mims are being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until they can be transported to a federal prison.

The case 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 DEA Task Force in Cedar Rapids and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  The DEA Task Force in Cedar Rapids consists of the DEA; the Linn County Sheriff’s Office; the Cedar Rapids Police Department; the Marion Police Department; and the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dan Chatham. 

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

The case file number is 22‑CR‑39‑CJW‑MAR.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)

BOSTON – A Norfolk, Mass. man has been charged and has agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to price gouge hospitals for scarce N95 filtering facepiece respirators (N95 masks) at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Jason Colantuoni, 35, was charged by an Information with one count of conspiracy to commit price gouging in violation of the Defense Production Act. A plea hearing has not yet been scheduled by the Court. 

According to the charging documents, on March 11, 2020, a longtime friend of Colantuoni (Individual 1) formed a company in Florida in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is alleged that from in or about March 2020 through April 2020, Colantuoni, Individual 1 and the company’s head of sales (Individual 2) conspired to use the company to exploit and profit off of the critical need of hospitals and healthcare workers for scarce N95 masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Specifically, Colantuoni, Individual 1 and Individual 2 allegedly accumulated N95 masks from various sources and then sold the N95 masks through the company to desperate hospitals in Massachusetts and elsewhere at prices in excess of the prevailing market price. 

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the hospitals to which the company sold N95 masks typically paid approximately $0.44 to $0.70 per respirator. Through the company, Colantuoni, Individual 1 and Individual 2 allegedly offered to sell N95 masks to hospitals for as much as $11.95 per mask.

Through the company, it is alleged that Colantuoni, Individual 1 and Individual 2 sold a total of approximately 1,000 boxes of N95 masks to various hospitals, with each box containing 20 or 30 masks. The weighted average price for the company’s purchases of N95 masks was approximately $4.48 per mask, while the weighted average price for the company’s sales of N95 masks to hospitals was approximately $9.91 per mask.  

The charge of conspiracy to commit price gouging in violation of the Defense Production Act provides for a sentence of up to one year in prison, up to one year of supervised release and a fine of up to $10,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division; Fernando McMillan, Special Agent in Charge of the Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations; Christopher Algieri, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, Northeast Field Office; Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; and Michael J. Krol, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bill Brady and Howard Locker of the Health Care Fraud Unit are prosecuting the case.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus and https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus/combatingfraud. 
    
Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline via the NCDF Web Complaint Form.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that MARIUS LAMONT MAYE, also known as “Pee Wee,” 49, of Bridgeport, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Omar A. Williams in Hartford to 72 months of imprisonment, followed by eight years of supervised release, for distributing fentanyl and heroin.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in January and February 2019, law enforcement made controlled purchases of fentanyl from Maye, and in September 2019, investigators conducted a controlled purchase of heroin from Maye.  On October 3, 2019, a court-authorized search of Maye’s Bridgeport residence revealed two handguns, gun magazines, and ammunition.

Maye was arrested on October 16, 2020.  On May 3, 2022, he pleaded guilty to three counts of possessing with intent to distribute, and distribution of, controlled substances.

Maye’s criminal history includes seven prior drug-related convictions and a manslaughter conviction.  In 2008, he was sentenced in Bridgeport federal court to 72 months of imprisonment and eight years of supervised release for a narcotics distribution offense.

Maye, who is released on $200,000 bond, is required to report to prison on October 30.

This investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Bridgeport Safe Streets Task Force, which includes personnel from the Connecticut State Police and the Bridgeport, Norwalk, and Trumbull Police Departments.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen L. Peck and Brendan J. Keefe.