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

MIAMI – On Jan. 10, a Pembroke Pines man was sentenced to 216 months in federal prison after pleading guilty in November 2023 to two counts of armed bank robbery, one count of carjacking, and two counts of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. 

On March 29, 2023, Edmanuel Victoria, 29, of Pembroke Pines, walked into a bank in Broward County and presented a note to one of the bank tellers that read: “Give money gun,” while he lifted his shirt to show he was carrying a black pistol in his waistband. The bank teller gave Victoria about $2,650 in cash. Victoria took the money and fled.

On June 5, 2023, Victoria stole—at gunpoint—a black Nissan Altima from a man who was sitting in the driver’s seat while the car was parked. Then, on June 7, 2023, Victoria attempted a second bank robbery, when he stole—again, at gunpoint—a currency bag from an employee of an armored truck company that was about to begin a cash pickup from a bank in Broward County. Victoria drove the stolen Nissan Altima away from the bank. Soon after, Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies and FBI agents located and arrested Victoria.

U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri of FBI, Miami Field Office, and Chief of Police Kipp Shimeno of the Pembroke Pines Police Department announced the sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith. 

FBI Miami’s Violent Crimes and Fugitive Task Force and the Pembroke Pines Police Department investigated the case with assistance from the Broward Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacob Koffsky prosecuted it. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jorge Delgado handled asset forfeiture.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 23-cr-60125.

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

MIAMI – On Jan. 16, Eric Edward Cadogan, a/k/a “livelife4fun69,” 39, of La Crosse, Wisconsin, formerly of Marathon, Florida, was arraigned and ordered detained pending trial by U.S. Magistrate Judge Lurana S. Snow, in Key West, Florida on an indictment charging him with distributing child pornography.

According to allegations in the indictment and previously filed criminal complaint, and presented during court hearings, Cadogan uploaded and distributed child pornography using a social media messaging platform.  Cadogan also offered to sell child pornography and said he had “100 of videos n pictures.” In messages with an online undercover agent, Cadogan indicated he had engaged in sexually explicit conduct with minor children.

This case is set for trial during the two-week period commencing Feb. 20, 2024. If convicted of the charge contained in the federal indictment, Cadogan faces a mandatory minimum term of 5 years in prison, up to twenty years in prison.

U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri of the FBI, Miami Field Office, announced the charges.

FBI Miami Key West Resident Agency investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine W. Guthrie is handling the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), 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 United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC 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 the PSC initiative and for information regarding Internet safety, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Anyone with information regarding suspected child abuse (to include physical and sexual abuse) is encouraged to call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.

A criminal complaint and an indictment contain allegations.  All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 23-mj-05020 and 23-CR-10017.

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

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Robert Fuller, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, today announced that JOHN VOLOSHIN, also known as “Josh Thomas,” 68, formerly of New Haven and Woodbridge, has been extradited to the U.S. from Brazil to face fraud, identity theft, and money laundering offenses.

As alleged in court documents and statements made in court, in May 2012, Voloshin was sentenced in Hartford federal court to 33 months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release for operating multiple fraud schemes that caused losses of more than $1.5 million to individuals and lenders.  He was released from prison in May 2014.  In November 2014, he was sentenced to an additional nine months of imprisonment for violating the terms and conditions of his federal supervised release for repeatedly lying to his supervising probation officer by concocting a bogus job for a real estate concern in London.  He was released from prison in June 2015.  In the fall of 2015, Voloshin engaged in another fraud scheme by soliciting money from individuals and falsely representing that the money would be fully invested to generate very high returns.  In November 2017, he was sentenced to 27 months of imprisonment for the offense and for violating his supervised release.  He was also ordered to pay $275,000 in restitution, in addition to his restitution obligation from his 2012 conviction.  He was released from prison in May 2018.

On September 23, 2020, a federal grand jury in New Haven returned an indictment charging Voloshin with seven counts of bank fraud, two counts of aggravated identity theft, and two counts of money laundering.  The indictment, which was unsealed today, alleges that between January and April 2019, Voloshin defrauded a company in Bloomfield for which he provided accounting and tax preparation services to individuals and companies.  Voloshin stole blank checks for both the company’s business account and the company owner’s personal account, forged the owner’s name on the checks, and negotiated the checks for his own benefit.  Voloshin also stole and negotiated checks and money orders that were written out as payment by third parties to the company.  As part of the scheme, Voloshin incorporated an entity in Wyoming with a name very similar to that of the company, opened a bank account in the name of the sham company, deposited misappropriated checks into the account, and used the stolen funds for his own benefit.

Voloshin was arrested on July 14, 2021, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and has been in custody since that time.  He appeared today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas O. Farrish in Hartford and pleaded not guilty to the new charges against him.

Bank fraud carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 30 years on each count, aggravated identity theft carries a mandatory two-year term of imprisonment on each count, and money laundering carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years on each count.  Voloshin also faces additional penalties if he is found to have violated the conditions of his supervised release from his 2017 conviction.

U.S. Attorney Avery stressed that an indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  U.S. Attorney Avery thanked Interpol and Brazilian authorities for their assistance in apprehending this defendant, and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs for coordinating the extradition proceedings in this matter.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys David T. Huang and Sean P. Mahard.