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

NORFOLK, Va. – Four Greensboro, North Carolina men were sentenced today to life in prison for their role in a murder-for-hire conspiracy that resulted in the death of 59-year-old Norfolk resident, Lillian Bond, on April 19, 2016.

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Jaquate Simpson, 39, and Landis Jackson, 39, were the leaders of a long-running criminal enterprise responsible for distributing hundreds of kilograms of cocaine worth millions of dollars into central North Carolina and Virginia’s Hampton Roads region.

On April 13, 2016, a Norfolk-based drug dealer failed to pay over $81,000 for a multi-kilogram delivery of cocaine. Simpson and Jackson’s organization retaliated by hiring a Nine Trey gang member, Kalub Shipman, 36, to kill the next person to exit a house associated with where the Norfolk dealer had been known to frequent. Shipman initially traveled to Virginia within hours of being offered the murder-for-hire contract with a fellow gang member. They conducted surveillance on the residence and then returned to Greensboro. Shipman then recruited Nelson Evans, 33, to assist in the murder-for-hire, offering him a portion of the $10,000 Shipman would receive upon completion.

Shipman and Evans traveled to Virginia on April 18, 2016. The following morning, at approximately 11:30 a.m., Shipman and Evans entered the Ingleside neighborhood of Norfolk and shot Lillian Bond multiple times as she was taking out the trash on Trice Terrace. Ms. Bond had been an employee of the Children’s Hospital for King’s Daughters for approximately 20 years and was described as a pillar in her community.

After a three-week trial in early 2023, the jury found each defendant guilty of the following charges on March 20, 2023:

Name	Charges
Jaquate Simpson, a/k/a “Quay,” “J,” “Stacks,” “Predator”	Continuing criminal enterprise; murder while engaged in continuing criminal enterprise; narcotics conspiracy; murder while engaged in a drug-trafficking offense; distribution of cocaine; use of a firearm resulting in death; conspiracy to commit murder for hire; murder for hire
Landis Jackson, a/k/a “Juve,” “Juvie”	Continuing criminal enterprise; murder while engaged in continuing criminal enterprise; narcotics conspiracy; murder while engaged in a drug-trafficking offense; distribution of cocaine; use of a firearm resulting in death; conspiracy to commit murder for hire; murder for hire
Kalub Shipman, a/k/a “Kato,” “Baydo”	Murder while engaged in a drug-trafficking offense; use of a firearm resulting in death; conspiracy to commit murder for hire; murder for hire; felon in possession of a firearm
Nelson Evans	Use of a firearm resulting in death; conspiracy to commit murder for hire; murder for hire

Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Brian Dugan, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office; and Mark Talbot, Chief of Norfolk Police, made the announcement after Senior U.S. District Judge John A. Gibney sentenced the defendants.

The case was investigated by the FBI Norfolk Field Office, Department of Homeland Security, DEA, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, and the Police Departments of Norfolk, Greensboro, Thomasville, Winston-Salem, and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, the Sheriff’s Departments of Guilford and Davidson County, and the U.S. Marshals Service.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joe DePadilla, John F. Butler, and Kristin G. Bird are prosecuting the case.

This case was investigated as part of four Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operations. 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.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:20-cr-90.

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

Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, a superseding indictment was unsealed charging Syed Rubel Ahmed, Shahed Alom, Abu Chowdhury, Anzu Khan and Sultana Razia with one count of kidnapping and one count of conspiracy to kidnap John Doe-1; Abu Chowdhury and Iffat Lubna with one count of conspiracy to kidnap John Doe-2.  Abu Chowdhury and his wife Lubna were previously charged with kidnapping John Doe-2 in the underlying indictment.  The defendants and the victims are members of the same ethnic community in Queens.  Ahmed, Alom, Khan and Razia were arrested today and are scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Joseph M. Marutollo.  Abu Chowdhury and Lubna were previously arrested and will be arraigned on the superseding indictment at a later date. A seventh defendant remains at large.

Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, James Smith, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), and Edward A. Caban, Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD), announced the arrests and charges. 

“As alleged, the defendants carried out acts of brutal physical and sexual assault of the victims,” stated United States Attorney Peace.  “The defendants allegedly exploited their shared ethnic background with the victims in furtherance of the crimes.  I urge anyone who believes they were victims of these defendants to contact the United States Attorney’s Office at https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/report-crime.”

Mr. Peace thanked the Joint Violent Crimes Task Force, which is comprised of agents from the FBI and detectives from the NYPD, for their assistance with the investigation.

“The violent physical and sexual assaults these defendants allegedly inflicted upon the victims they kidnapped were disturbing beyond measure. Violent crimes of any nature have no place in our society, and those who perpetrate such crimes will find themselves facing the full extent of our justice system–the FBI and the FBI New York Joint Violent Crimes Task Force is here to make sure of it,” stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Smith.             

 “The men and women of the NYPD condemn these deeply disturbing allegations,” stated NYPD Commissioner Caban. “We and our law enforcement partners take extremely seriously all accusations of violence and abuse and remain dedicated to eradicating such criminal behavior from the streets of New York City.”

The March 27, 2023 Kidnapping of John Doe-1 in Jamaica, Queens

As alleged in the superseding indictment and detailed in court filings, over the course of approximately 13 hours on March 27, 2023, Ahmed, Alom, Chowdhury, Khan, Razia and a co-conspirator, abducted and assaulted a victim (“John Doe-1”) off a public street in Jamaica, Queens.  John Doe-1 had been walking in the vicinity of 181st Street and Hillside Avenue when Chowdhury allegedly forced him into a Honda SUV.  Inside the SUV, Chowdhury began beating John Doe-1 as the co-conspirator drove them around Queens.  During the kidnapping, Chowdhury forced John Doe-1 to exit the SUV and filmed the victim standing naked in a residential neighborhood.  Ahmed, Alom, Khan and Razia communicated with Abu Chowdhury via cellular telephone during the kidnapping, met Chowdhury at different points throughout the night, and took part in further beating and threats to kill John Doe-1.  When John Doe-1 begged for water from the kidnappers, the defendants gave him water laced with a sedative.  John Doe-1 later lost consciousness and woke up in a local hospital the day after he had been abducted.

The May 11, 2023 Kidnapping of John Doe-2 in Woodside, Queens

As alleged in the superseding indictment and detailed in court filings, over the course of approximately three days beginning on May 11, 2023, Chowdhury and Lubna abducted and assaulted John Doe-2.  John Doe-2 had been waiting to meet Lubna outside a restaurant in the vicinity of 72^nd Street and Broadway in Woodside, Queens, when Chowdhury forced John Doe-2 into a minivan and began beating him.  During the kidnapping, Chowdhury, Lubna and a co-conspirator took John Doe-2 to a hotel, where Chowdhury sodomized John Doe-2.  Chowdhury also made a ransom call to John Doe-2’s father, demanding $20,000 for the victim’s safety.  The neighborhood where the abduction occurred is an ethnic community which the defendants exploited in warning the victim that they could easily find him if he cooperated with law enforcement.  On the third day of the kidnapping, Chowdhury tied up and blindfolded John Doe-2, leaving him at an abandoned house.  John Doe-2 was able to free himself by chewing through his restraints, breaking open a window and asking residents in the neighborhood to call 911.

The charges in the indictment are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.  If convicted of all counts, the defendants face a maximum of life imprisonment.   

The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Section.  Assistant United States Attorneys Stephanie Pak and Vincent Chiappini are in charge of the prosecution with assistance from Paralegal Specialist Katrina Batista.

Defendants Previously Charged:

ABU CHOWDHURY
Age: 34
Jamaica, Queens

IFFAT LUBNA
Age: 24
Jamaica, Queens

Newly-Charged Defendants:

SYED RUBEL AHMED
Age: 43
Jamaica, Queens

SHAHED ALOM
Age: 29
Jamaica, Queens

ANZU KHAN
Age: 28
Jamaica, Queens

SULTANA RAZIA
Age: 38
Woodside, Queens

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 23-CR-278 (S-1) (NRM)

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

ALBANY, NEW YORK – John T. Cox, age 61, of Schenectady, New York, pled guilty today to mail fraud and stealing money from a federally funded governmental agency. 

United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman; Craig L. Tremaroli, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); and Ryan T. Geach, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (DOJ OIG) Northeast Region, made the announcement.

Cox admitted that between June 2017 and February 2023, while employed as a Budget Analyst in the Albany County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO), he stole $122,251.25 by issuing 16 fraudulent checks drawn on funds in the care of the ACSO, an agency that received more than $10,000 in federal funding each year during this time period.

Cox used the checks to pay himself directly or to pay down his line of credit.  Cox then tried to cover up his fraud by falsifying ACSO records to suggest that the funds were being used for legitimate purposes such as vehicle and equipment purchases. Cox stole some of the money from a Department of Justice program in which the federal government shares the proceeds of federal asset forfeitures with state and local law enforcement agencies.

Cox is scheduled to be sentenced on May 9, 2024 by United States District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino. The mail fraud conviction carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison and the federal program theft conviction carries a maximum term of 10 years in prison.  Both charges carry a fine of up to $250,000 and a term of supervised release of up to 3 years.  A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statutes the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, and other factors.  Cox has also agreed to pay $122,251.25 in restitution to the ACSO, and to a forfeiture money judgment in the amount of $113,301.25.

The FBI, DOJ OIG, and ACSO investigated the case with valuable assistance from the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua R. Rosenthal is prosecuting the case.

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

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Aaron Griesche, age 40, of Niskayuna, New York, pled guilty today to possessing child pornography, announced United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Craig L. Tremaroli, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Griesche admitted that on July 11, 2021, he possessed child pornography on a USB flash memory stick found in his residence.  Griesche admitted that he had purchased the memory stick from an online retailer and transferred videos of child pornography from the Internet to the device.

Sentencing is scheduled for May 10, 2024. Griesche faces up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of at least 5 years and up to life. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, and other factors. The judge may also order Griesche to pay restitution to the victims of his offense and forfeit the device used in the offense.  Griesche will also have to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.

The FBI and the New York State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force investigated this case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Dustin C. Segovia is prosecuting this case as part of Project Safe Childhood.

Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is led by United States Attorney’s offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS). Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

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

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Marcus Lombardo, age 40, of Hannibal, New York, was sentenced today to serve 135 months in federal prison for possessing child pornography, announced United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Craig L. Tremaroli, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

As part of his earlier guilty plea, Lombardo admitted that on February 18, 2021, during a visit at his home from his United States Probation Officer, Lombardo possessed at least 180 image and video files of child pornography on an SD card found inside a cell phone that he was prohibited from possessing under the conditions of his supervised release. 

Lombardo was on federal supervision following a 2012 federal conviction for receipt and possession of child pornography and commission of a felony offense while on pretrial release. He was sentenced to a one-year term of imprisonment in 2019 for violating the conditions of his release on a prior occasion and was sentenced to 16-month term in 2021 for the violation that occurred on February 18, 2021.

United States District Judge David N. Hurd also imposed a 15-year term of supervised release, which will start after Lombardo is released from prison, and ordered him to pay a $100 special assessment and restitution in the amount of $12,000 to victims depicted in the images and videos he possessed.  Lombardo will also be required to continue to register as a sex offender.

This case was investigated by the United States Probation Office (Syracuse) and the FBI Mid-State Child Exploitation Task Force, comprised of FBI Special Agents and Investigators of the New York State Police, Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI).  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Sutcliffe as a part of Project Safe Childhood.

Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is led by United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS). Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

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

NEWARK, N.J. – A Hudson County, New Jersey, man was charged with possessing and distributing images of child sexual abuse, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today.

Brandon Tyler Mooney, 26, of Bayonne, New Jersey, is charged by complaint with one count of possession and one count of distribution of child pornography. Mooney was arrested on Jan. 11, 2024, made his initial appearance today before U.S. Magistrate Judge José R. Almonte in Newark federal court, and was detained.

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

From as early as June 2023, Mooney exchanged child pornography with another individual by way of a cloud-based instant messaging platform. On Dec. 19, 2023, Mooney sent multiple images and videos, including content that appears to involve sexual images of children under the age of 12, to an undercover law enforcement official. Law enforcement officials found in Mooney’s possession over 600 images that appear to depict child sexual abuse.

The charge of possession of child pornography carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The charge of distribution of child pornography carries a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison, a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and a $250,000 fine.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited the Newark Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task force, under the direction of FBI Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy in Newark, the Bayonne Police Department, under the direction of Chief of Police Robert Geisler, and the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Esther Suarez, with the investigation leading to the charges.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Taj Moore of the General Crimes Unit in Newark.

The charges and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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

CHICAGO — A Chicago financial advisor has been charged in federal court with swindling clients out of nearly $1.5 million by soliciting them to invest in purported movie productions.

HELEN GRACE CALDWELL, 58, of Chicago, is charged with wire fraud in a criminal information filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Chicago.  Arraignment has not yet been scheduled.

According to the information, Caldwell worked for a bank as a senior financial advisor.  She also established an entity called Canal Productions LLC for the purported purpose of producing movies.  From 2014 to 2023, Caldwell solicited various bank clients, including elderly individuals, to invest in her alleged movie productions, knowing that those funds would actually be used for her own personal benefit, the information states.  Caldwell persuaded the victims to liquidate their other assets in order to fund her purported movie investments, the information states.

As a result of the scheme, Caldwell defrauded three clients out of approximately $1,480,500, the information states.

The charge was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Robert W. “Wes” Wheeler, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Corey B. Rubenstein.

The public is reminded that an information is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.  Wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison.  If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.

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

Jacksonville, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Michael Buck Brockway (40, Jacksonville) has pleaded guilty to using the internet and his cellphone to attempt to entice a 13-year-old child to engage in sexual activity. Brockway faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 10 years, up to life, in prison as well as a potential lifetime term of supervised release. Brockway was arrested on July 28, 2023, and is being detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has not yet been scheduled.

According to court documents, on July 17, 2023, an agent with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), using the personae of a 13-year-old child (UC), began an undercover investigation designed to identify individuals who were seeking to meet children online for sexual activity. The UC, as the “child,” began an online conversation on a particular social media application (app) with user “Telly_Rider,” who was later identified as Brockway. Over the next 10 days, Brockway and the “child” engaged in numerous sexually explicit conversations using several social media apps and text messaging. During these online conversations, Brockway confirmed that the child was only 13 years old, inquired about the child’s sexual experience, and asked if the child wanted to meet him in person for sex. On July 27, 2023, Brockway asked the child if “she” was alone for the next few days, and he confirmed that the child was living at a particular apartment complex in Jacksonville. Brockway sent the child explicit videos of himself using a sex toy, including one video that he produced and sent while onboard a U.S. Navy ship that was docked at Naval Station Mayport.

On July 28, 2023, Brockway drove to the apartment complex where the child purportedly lived, then over to a nearby restaurant where the child had agreed to meet him. When Brockway entered the restaurant to meet the child, he was arrested by detectives from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO). During a search incident to his arrest, Brockway’s cellphone and three condoms were recovered from his front pockets. A search of Brockway’s car revealed a container of personal lubricant, an unopened bottle of vodka, and a sex toy. A search of Brockway’s cellphone revealed at least 200 photos and 400 videos depicting children being sexually abused.      

This case was investigated by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 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 child victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

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

The FBI saw a 20% increase in reports of financially motivated sextortion incidents targeting minors during a six-month period that ended in March 2023, compared to the previous year. The scam is the latest iteration of sextortion, which has historically been driven by sexual gratification and control, but is now mostly motivated by greed. Minors and young adults caught in this trap often feel isolated, embarrassed, and cornered with seemingly no way out. In some cases, victims have turned to self-harm and suicide.

The FBI wants parents, educators, caregivers, teens, and young adults to fully understand the dangers of financially motivated sextortion and to know there are options for those who need help.

“The consequences of sextortion are being felt across the country,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “In an effort to protect the American public, the FBI encourages parents, educators, caregivers, and children to learn more about the steps they can take to shield themselves and their loved ones from this crime. We and our partners will relentlessly pursue criminals who perpetuate this deplorable activity.”