Category: United States Attorneys General

Source: United States Attorneys General

Headline: Gautier Man Guilty of Drug Conspiracy After Throwing Drugs and Money from Vehicle

 

Hattiesburg, Miss. – Jermaine Antonio Newell, 32, of Gautier, pled guilty today before U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 100 or more grams of heroin, a schedule I controlled substance, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Stephen G. Azzam.

On November 15, 2017, DEA agents executed three search warrants at three different locations known to be used by Newell, based on information indicating that there would be evidence of drug trafficking activities at the properties. As agents executed one of the search warrants in Soso, Mississippi, a Jones County Deputy Sheriff saw Newell drive by the property and begin throwing bags from the van’s window. Newell threw a bag containing 951 grams of heroin, along with various pills, cocaine, marijuana, a digital scale and approximately $11,000.00 in cash. Shortly after he threw the items, Newell was stopped and arrested. He admitted to conspiring to possess the heroin and intending to distribute it.

Newell will be sentenced on April 17, 2018 at 9:30 a.m. by Judge Starrett, and faces a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison and a $5,000,000 fine.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration with assistance from the Jones County Sheriff’s Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathlyn R. Van Buskirk.

Source: United States Attorneys General

Headline: Bangor Man Pleads Guilty to Marijuana Conspiracy

Bangor, Maine:  United States Attorney Halsey B. Frank announced that Nicholas Reynolds, 33, of Bangor, pleaded guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court to conspiring to manufacture, distribute, and possess with intent to distribute marijuana. 

According to court records, during a period between October 2010 and August 2016, the defendant conspired with others to illegally manufacture and distribute marijuana. The defendant grew marijuana at a large, sophisticated indoor growing facility in Frankfort, Maine which he was told was an illegal medical marijuana grow. In May 2016, law enforcement officers executed a federal search warrant at the facility and recovered about 400 marijuana plants, 295 marijuana root balls, and paraphernalia used to manufacture and process marijuana.  According to the search warrant affidavit, the defendant and his co-conspirators were not registered as medical marijuana caregivers with the Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), and the location of the facility was not reported to DHHS.  

The defendant faces up to 20 years in prison, between three years and life of supervised release, and a $1,000,000 fine.  He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office. 

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. 

Source: United States Attorneys General

Headline: Peru Man Sentenced To 30 Months Imprisonment

FORT WAYNE – The United States Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana, Thomas L. Kirsch II, announced that Jamie Buckner, age 48, of Peru Indiana, was sentenced before Chief Judge Theresa Springmann on her guilty plea to eight counts of theft of government property. 

 

Buckner was sentenced to 30 months imprisonment and 3 years of supervised release.

 

According to documents in this case, from June through November 2015, Buckner stole United States Postage Stamps and other merchandise belonging to the United States Postal Services by presenting checks for the payment of stamps and merchandise knowing that the checks would not be honored by the financial institutions.  As part of the sentence, Buckner was ordered to pay restitution to the Postal Service in the amount of $21,578.21.

 

This case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service and was handled by Assistant United States Attorney Stacey R. Speith

 

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Source: United States Attorneys General

Headline: Three Wood County defendants plead guilty for roles in federal heroin conspiracy

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Three Wood County defendants pleaded guilty today for their roles in a heroin conspiracy, announced United States Attorney Mike Stuart. Jonathan “Mohawk” Brown, 36, and Sir Pritis Williams, 28, both of Parkersburg, entered their guilty pleas to conspiracy to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin. Kennedy Michele Walker, 23, of Vienna, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting the distribution of heroin. U.S. Attorney Stuart commended the collaborative investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Parkersburg Drug Task Force, the West Virginia State Police, the Wood County Sheriff’s Department, and the Police Departments of the cities of Parkersburg, Vienna, and Williamstown.

Brown and Williams admitted their respective involvement with several other individuals in distributing heroin at various locations throughout the Parkersburg area. In addition, Brown and Williams admitted to selling heroin to a confidential informant working with the Parkersburg Drug Task Force and the FBI on numerous occasions between November 2016 and May 2017. Both men further admitted to distributing between 100 and 400 grams of heroin during the course of the conspiracy. Brown and Williams face at least five and up to 40 years in federal prison when they are sentenced on April 26, 2018.

Walker admitted that on March 20, 2017, she provided heroin to another individual, who then sold it to a confidential informant working with the Parkersburg Drug Task Force. The drug deal took place in the area of 17th and Briant Streets in Parkersburg. Walker faces up to 20 years in federal prison when she is sentenced on April 26, 2018.

Three codefendants involved in the same conspiracy, Joseph Reeder-Shaw, Bernard Spann, and Debra Martin, have previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin, and face at least five and up to 40 years in federal prison. Reeder-Shaw and Spann are scheduled to be sentenced on April 19, 2018. Martin is scheduled to be sentenced on April 5, 2018.

Assistant United States Attorney John Frail is in charge of the prosecution. The plea hearings were held before United States District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin.

This drug conspiracy is being prosecuted as part of an ongoing effort led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia to combat the illicit sale and misuse of prescription drugs and heroin. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, joined by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, is committed to aggressively pursuing and shutting down pill trafficking, eliminating open air drug markets, and curtailing the spread of opiate painkillers and heroin in communities across the Southern District. 

Source: United States Attorneys General

Headline: U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee Collects $11,041,603.14 in Civil and Criminal Actions for U.S. Taxpayers in Fiscal Year 2017

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – U.S. Attorney J. Douglas Overbey announced today that the Eastern District of Tennessee collected $11,041,603.14, in criminal and civil actions in Fiscal Year 2017.  Of this amount, $9,282,250.34, was collected in criminal actions and $1,759,352.80, was collected in civil actions. 

Additionally, the Eastern District of Tennessee worked with other U.S. Attorney’s offices and components of the Department of Justice to collect an additional $92,344,571.85, in cases pursued jointly with these offices. Of this amount, $8,310.00, was collected in criminal actions and $92,336,261.85, was collected in civil actions.         

Overall, the Justice Department collected just over $15 billion in civil and criminal actions in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2017. 

U.S. Attorney J. Douglas Overbey praised the hard work of the Assistant U.S. Attorneys and the Monetary Recovery Unit in his office stating, “The overall mission of the U.S. Attorney’s office involves not just protecting the public by prosecuting and locking up criminals, but also helping to restore victims to the fullest extent possible.  Restitution, fines and assessments ordered by the U.S. District Court, when collected by our office, benefit all victims of crime.  Collected restitution is paid directly to the victim(s) of the crime(s) for whom it was ordered, while collected fines and assessments are paid to the Crime Victims’ Fund to fund state victim compensation and assistance programs.”

The largest civil collections were from affirmative civil enforcement cases, in which the United States recovered government money lost to fraud or other misconduct or collected fines imposed on individuals and/or corporations for violations of federal health, safety, civil rights or environmental laws.  In addition, civil debts were collected on behalf of several federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Internal Revenue Service, Small Business Administration and Department of Education.

Additionally, the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Tennessee, working with partner agencies and divisions, collected $4,512,735.00 in asset forfeiture actions in FY 2017.  Forfeited assets deposited into the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund are used to restore funds to crime victims and for a variety of law enforcement purposes.

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Source: United States Attorneys General

Headline: Couple charged with illegally selling prescription medical devices

ATLANTA – Kimverlee Aderhold and Eric E. Ramey, Jr., have been arraigned on federal charges of unlawfully selling stolen medical devices that require a prescription without an actual prescription. Aderhold and Ramey were indicted by a federal grand jury on January 23, 2018.

“The medical products the defendants allegedly stole can only be obtained with a prescription from a medical provider,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak. “They sold them to unsuspecting consumers without determining whether the products were safe for the consumers to use and without instructing the consumers on how to use the products safely.  In doing so, the consumers’ health and safety were placed in jeopardy.” 

“When prescription devices are stolen and diverted from the legal supply chain, there is no longer any assurance that the products are safe and effective for their intended uses,” said Peter Kuehl, Acting Special Agent in Charge, FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations’ Miami Field Office. “This announcement should serve as a reminder of the FDA’s continued focus on individuals that put profits ahead of the health and safety of U.S. consumers.”

According to U.S. Attorney Pak, the charges, and other information presented in court: Aderhold was employed as the Retail Manager in Georgia for Advanced Home Care, a durable medical device company that has retail locations in Marietta and Norcross. Advanced Home Care is a retail distributor of CPap and BiPap machines and portable oxygen concentrators. The use of these medical products is not safe except when used under the supervision of a medical practitioner licensed by law to oversee their use. Federal law requires that CPap and BiPap machines and portable oxygen concentrators be purchased only with a prescription issued by a licensed medical practitioner.

 

Aderhold allegedly stole CPap and BiPap machines and portable oxygen concentrators from the inventory of the Advanced Home Care stores she managed. She and Ramey would advertise the stolen products for sale, primarily on Craigslist. Once a buyer responded to their advertisement, Ramey or Aderhold allegedly would meet with the buyer and sell the stolen medical equipment for cash only. The defendants did not ask the buyers to produce prescriptions for the devices. Ramey and Aderhold did not provide instructions to the buyers regarding the safe use of the stolen medical devices.      

Kimverlee Aderhold, 27, and Eric E. Ramey, Jr., 31, both of Grayson, Georgia, were arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Catherine M. Salinas, and are charged with conspiring to steal medical products that can be obtained only with a prescription and possession of the same stolen medical products. They are also charged with multiple counts of theft of such medical products and possession of stolen medical products. Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only contains charges.  The defendants are presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendants’ guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

This case is being investigated by the Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations.

 

Assistant U.S. Attorney William L. McKinnon, Jr., is prosecuting the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.

Source: United States Attorneys General

Headline: Shelton Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Child Pornography Offense

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that MICHAEL HULL, 60, of Shelton, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to one count of receipt of child pornography.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on May 31, 2017, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents conducted a court-authorized search of HULL’s Shelton residence and seized approximately 16 electronic devices, including computers and external hard drives.  A forensic examination of the seized devices revealed approximately 13 images and 126 videos of child pornography, including images and videos depicting children younger than 12 engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

The investigation also revealed that HULL had a video camera installed in his bathroom, which captured images of individuals, including children, who used his bathroom.

Judge Underhill scheduled sentencing for April 24, 2018, at which time HULL faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.

HULL has been detained since his arrest on May 31, 2017.

This matter is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Connecticut Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacabed Rodriguez-Coss.

This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.

Source: United States Attorneys General

Headline: Two Men Sentenced To Prison In International $200 Million Credit Card Fraud Conspiracy

Last of 22 Defendants Convicted and Sentenced

TRENTON, N.J. – A New York man and a Middlesex County, New Jersey, man were sentenced to today to federal prison terms for their respective roles in one of the largest credit card fraud schemes ever charged by the Justice, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Qaiser Khan, 53, of Valley Stream, New York, previously pleaded guilty to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. He was sentenced today to six months in prison. Sat Verma, 65, of Iselin, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty to an information charging him with one count of access device fraud. He was sentenced to one year in prison. U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson imposed both sentences today in Trenton federal court.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Khan and Verma were originally charged in February 2013 as part of a conspiracy to fabricate more than 7,000 false identities to obtain tens of thousands of credit cards. They are the last of 22 defendants to be sentenced in this scheme.

The scheme involved a three-step process in which the defendants would make up a false identity by creating fraudulent identification documents and a phony credit profile with the major credit bureaus; pump up the credit of the false identity by providing bogus information about that identity’s creditworthiness; then borrow or spend as much as they could without repaying the debts. The scheme caused more than $200 million in confirmed losses to businesses and financial institutions.

The scope of the criminal fraud enterprise required the conspirators to construct an elaborate network of false identities. Across the country, the conspirators maintained more than 1,800 “drop addresses,” including houses, apartments and post office boxes, which they used as the mailing addresses for the false identities.

Khan admitted he helped obtain credit cards in the name of third parties – many of which were fictional – then directed the credit cards to be mailed to addresses controlled by members of the conspiracy. He also admitted they knew the cards would be used fraudulently at businesses. Verma admitted he effected transactions with access devices issued to another person.

In addition to the prison terms, Judge Thompson sentenced Qaiser to five years of supervised release and fined him $10,000. Verma was sentenced to three years of supervised release, ordered to forfeit $270,000 and fined $1,000.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI’s Cyber Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher in Newark, with the investigation. He also thanked postal inspectors with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Acting Inspector in Charge Ruth M. Mendonca, Newark Division, special agents of the U.S. Secret Service, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Mark McKevitt, and the U.S. Social Security Administration for their assistance.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zach Intrater and Daniel Shapiro of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Economic Crimes Unit, as well as Assistant U.S.
Attorney Sarah Devlin of the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Unit.

This case was brought in coordination with the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, which was established to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. Attorneys’ offices and state and local partners, it’s the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations. Over the past three fiscal years, the Justice Department has filed nearly 10,000 financial fraud cases against nearly 15,000 defendants including more than 2,900 mortgage fraud defendants. For more information on the task force, please visit www.stopfraud.gov.

Defense counsel:
Khan: Christopher Adams Esq., Roseland, New Jersey
Verma: Jerard A. Gonzalez Esq., Hackensack, New Jersey

Source: United States Attorneys General

Headline: Winchester Man Sentenced to 8.5 Years in Federal Prison for Conspiring to Distribute Over a Kilogram of Heroin

            CONCORD, N.H. –Acting United States Attorney John J. Farley announced today that Ross Gould, 30, formerly of Winchester, New Hampshire was sentenced to 8.5 years in federal prison for participating in a heroin trafficking conspiracy.

 

           Court documents and statements in court showed that beginning in 2011 and continuing through mid-March 2015, Gould distributed quantities of heroin throughout the Keene, New Hampshire, area.  Investigators determined that Gould initially sold gram quantities of heroin, but later started selling larger quantities of heroin to individuals in Keene and the surrounding towns.  From mid-2014 through Gould’s arrest in March of 2015, Gould’s drug trafficking increased substantially.  He obtained approximately two kilograms of heroin every four or five weeks from a heroin source in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Gould used a drug courier to obtain the heroin from the source and transport the drugs back to the Keene area where the drugs were distributed by Gould and other drug couriers. 

 

           After the lengthy investigation, Gould was arrested in March, 2015.  A search of Gould’s Winchester residence resulted in the seizure of approximately five grams of heroin, $11,000 cash and 14 firearms. A subsequent search of a safe that Gould kept at another residence resulted in the seizure of 1.7 kilograms of heroin, 392 grams of cocaine and a small quantity of miscellaneous pills.

 

           Gould pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute over one kilogram of heroin on October 5, 2017.  Under the terms of the plea agreement, Gould consented to liquidate personal property purchased with drug proceeds that resulted in the forfeiture by the United States of approximately $ 28,000.  Gould also forfeited to the United States 14 firearms that he purchased with drug proceeds. The United States previously forfeited the $11,000 cash seized from Gould’s residence.

 

           Three of Gould’s drug couriers have been sentenced to federal prison as a result of their participation in this drug trafficking organization. Jamie Hilow, 29, formerly of Winchester, is serving an 11-year prison sentence. Hilow’s wife, Jaclyn Hilow, 31, also formerly of Winchester, is serving a 10-year prison sentence.  Jason Daigle, 40, formerly of Nelson, is serving an eight-year prison sentence.

 

           Two of Gould’s sources from Lawrence also have been convicted on drug trafficking charges.  Jonathan Cruz-Marte, 34, was sentenced to 55 months in prison and Felix Portes, 56, was sentenced to 57 months in prison.

 

           “The United States Attorney’s Office is committed to working with our local, state and federal law enforcement partners to target individuals who are distributing illegal drugs in New Hampshire,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Farley. “While those who suffer from addiction need access to treatment, those who seek to profit from the distribution of heroin and other deadly drugs will be prosecuted aggressively.  I commend the work of the law enforcement officers who worked together during this long-term investigation to disrupt and dismantle a major drug trafficking organization that was responsible for the distribution of large quantities of heroin in the Keene area.”

 

            The investigation was conducted by the: (1) Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations; (2) New Hampshire Attorney General’s Drug Task Force; (3) Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; (4) New Hampshire State Police; (5) Keene, New Hampshire Police Department; (6) Richmond, New Hampshire Police Department; and (7) Salem, New Hampshire Police Department.  Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Cole Davis prosecuted the case.

           This case was supported by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF).  The OCDETF program is a federal multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force that supplies supplemental federal funding to federal and state agencies involved in the identification, investigation, and prosecution of major drug trafficking organizations.

 

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Source: United States Attorneys General

Headline: Monett Sex Offender Sentenced to 21 Years for Child Pornography

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Timothy A. Garrison, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced a convicted sex offender in Monett, Mo., was sentenced in federal court today for receiving child pornography over the Internet.

Carl Donald Greiner, 32, of Monett, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 21 years and 10 months in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Greiner to spend the rest of his life on supervised release following incarceration.

Greiner, who pleaded guilty on Aug. 31, 2017, was previously convicted of possessing child pornography, sexual misconduct and furnishing pornographic material to a minor in 2004. While on supervision for those offenses, Greiner, Greiner engaged in sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old female victim and was convicted of statutory rape and statutory sodomy in the first degree.

A person using Greiner’s computer reported to police officers on April 30, 2016, that she saw a large amount of child pornography on the computer located in his bedroom, including videos of children ranging in age from 4 to 17. Officers executed a search warrant at Greiner’s residence the same day and seized his desktop computer along with an address book with Internet addresses.

Investigators discovered multiple images and videos of child pornography on Greiner’s computer that had been downloaded from the Internet.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ami Harshad Miller. It was investigated by the Southwest Missouri Cybercrimes Task Force and the Monett, Mo., Police Department.

Project Safe Childhood

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc . For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”