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

SIOUX FALLS – United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced that a federal jury has convicted Juan Francisco Alvarez-Sorto, age 25, of El Salvador, and Deyvin Morales, age 29, of Guatemala, of the following offenses: Kidnapping; Carjacking; Brandishing a Firearm During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence; Unlawful Possession of a Firearm by a Prohibited Person; and Unlawful Reentry after Deportation. The jury returned its verdict on each count following a 6-day jury trial in federal district court in Rapid City, South Dakota. The verdict was returned on January 23, 2024.

According to evidence presented at trial, on May 5, 2022, Alvarez, Morales, and Lopez traveled from Greeley, Colorado, into southwestern South Dakota for the purpose of trafficking and distributing controlled substances, including methamphetamine, fentanyl, and heroin. During their trip, the defendants encountered law enforcement and engaged in a high-speed chase. The defendants eluded law enforcement at that time and hid in a remote area near Red Shirt, South Dakota. 

Alvarez, Morales, and Lopez then decided to carjack the next vehicle to come along the area at which the defendants stopped on BIA Highway 41. At approximately 2:00am on May 6, 2022, a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Victim Specialist left an unrelated crime scene investigation near Oglala, South Dakota, and began traveling back towards his duty station in Rapid City. The FBI employee was driving his assigned FBI vehicle.

As the employee was heading North on BIA 41 near the Badlands overlook on Cuny Table, he passed a vehicle that was parked in the approach near the overlook. As he passed the parked vehicle, the parked vehicle’s lights turned on and the vehicle pulled out behind the employee. The employee, believing he was being pulled over by law enforcement, pulled his vehicle to the side of the road. After the employee pulled his vehicle over, he next realized there was a male at his window pointing a rifle at him and ordering him to get out of the vehicle. The employee realized that the male, identified as Alvarez, was not a law enforcement officer and also that the vehicle had blocked his own vehicle, preventing him from driving away. 

Morales and Alvarez ordered the FBI employee out of the vehicle at gun point. The employee was ordered to get on the ground behind his vehicle while Alvarez was holding the rifle at the back of his head.  The employee was ordered to keep his head down while on the ground. The group then robbed him of his wallet, money, credit cards, car keys, watch, and personal and work mobile phones. 

The FBI employee was then ordered to get up and placed in the middle-rear seat of his government-issued vehicle, as the passenger side seat was blocked with items. While holding the rifle, Alvarez was seated in the front passenger seat of the employee’s vehicle and Morales, while armed with two handguns in his waistband, was seated in the rear driver’s side seat next to the employee. Lopez got into the driver’s seat of the employee’s vehicle. At this point, the defendants took control of the vehicle and took the employee hostage. As the group traveled North on BIA 41, they told the employee to cooperate and he would be safe, but if he did not, the group would come after his family and that they knew where he lived. 

The group traveled to Hermosa, South Dakota, stopping at a gas station at the intersection of State Highway 40 and Highway 79. Once the group arrived at the gas station, Lopez went inside to purchase gas. As she got out of the vehicle to go inside the gas station, Alvarez locked the doors to the employee’s vehicle, and the doors remained locked while Lopez was out of the vehicle. Lopez then came back to the vehicle holding a gas can and zip ties. She entered the vehicle and conducted a U-turn and then went to a gas pump. The FBI employee noticed that after Lopez came back to the vehicle, Alvarez, who was brandishing the firearm, had the zip ties in his possession and was getting them out.  As Lopez got out to pump gas, the doors to the vehicle were momentarily unlocked. Seizing the opportunity, the employee opened the rear driver’s side door, fought his way out of the vehicle, slipping out of his jacket to escape Morales’ attempts to detain him, and sprinted inside the front doors of the gas station to escape.

The three defendants then fled from the gas station and drove to Rapid City, where they abandoned the FBI vehicle and switched to another vehicle.  Alvarez and Morales were able to make it back to Greeley, Colorado, where they were ultimately arrested for their roles in the kidnapping and carjacking. During a search of the residence where Alvarez and Morales were arrested, law enforcement located firearms, including the rifle used during the kidnapping and carjacking, and controlled substances. 

“Every day, men and women in the Department of Justice respond to incidents of violent crime in South Dakota,” said U.S. Attorney Alison Ramsdell. “This dedication to improving community safety often comes with great personal sacrifice, and as this case unfortunately demonstrates, on occasion, an extreme risk to personal safety. We are grateful to our partners at the FBI for their dogged commitment to this difficult work, and we hope these convictions send a clear message about the lengths the U.S. Attorney’s Office is willing to go to vindicate the rights of victims, no matter who they are.”

“The FBI will not tolerate violence and threats to harm its personnel,” said Special Agent in Charge Alvin M. Winston Sr. of FBI Minneapolis. “Thank you to our law enforcement partners and the USAO-SD for their hard work and unwavering dedication. This verdict stands as a testament to our commitment to ensuring the safety and security of every member of the FBI. Justice will be relentlessly pursued against those who seek to harm or intimidate any of our workforce.”

This case was investigated by the FBI, Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the South Dakota DCI, the South Dakota Highway Patrol, the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety, the Rapid City Police Department, and the Greeley, Colorado, Police Department, and the Custer and Pennington County Sheriff’s Offices. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeremy R. Jehangiri and Paige Petersen prosecuted the case.

Alvarez, Morales, and co-defendant Karla Alejandra Lopez-Gutierrez were indicted by a federal grand jury in August of 2022 and Alvarez and Morales were indicted again in December of 2023.

The charge of kidnapping carries any term of years up to life in custody and/or a $250,000 fine and 5 years of supervised release. The charge of carjacking carries 15 years of custody and/or a $250,000 fine and 3 years of supervised release. The use, carry, and brandish a firearm charge carries a mandatory minimum of 7 years and up to life in custody and/or a $250,000 fine and 5 years of supervised release. The unlawful possession of a firearm by a prohibited person charge carries 10 years of custody and/or a $250,000 fine and 3 years of supervised release. The unlawful reentry after deportation charge carries 2 years of custody and/or a $250,000 fine and one year of supervised release. A $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund applies to each count, totaling $500.

A sentencing date has not yet been set. The defendants were remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

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

ST. PAUL, Minn. – An Arizona man has been sentenced to 24 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release and full restitution after embezzling more than $3 million from his employer, announced United States Attorney Andrew M. Luger.

According to court documents, David Efrem Katz, 56, was the former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Durand and Associates (“D&A”), a property management company that specialized in servicing homeowner associations (“HOAs”). Between 2012 and 2017, Katz embezzled over $3 million from D&A and its client HOAs.

Katz worked for D&A from approximately 1998 to 2017, starting as an accountant and eventually becoming CFO. As CFO, Katz had authorization to open credit cards in D&A’s name and use those credit cards for business expenses. However, Katz was not authorized to charge personal expenses to the cards, take out loans on D&A’s behalf without the owner’s approval, or use funds belonging to D&A or its HOA clients to pay his personal expenses.

Beginning in at least 2012 and continuing into 2017, Katz embezzled over $3 million from D&A and its HOA clients. Katz, who as CFO of D&A was responsible for payroll, paid himself significantly more than his agreed upon salary. Between 2011 and 2017, Katz paid himself $6,500 every two weeks as a salary despite his base salary never being more than $47,500 annually.

Katz also reimbursed himself for personal expenses and business expenses he never actually incurred. Katz paid himself between approximately $6,000 and $10,000 in reimbursements every two weeks. He labeled these payments as miscellaneous earnings and reimbursements, “recovery loans,” bonuses, and commissions. Katz never loaned or invested money in D&A that he was entitled to “recover.” To the extent he earned bonuses and commissions, they were in amounts significantly less than what he paid himself. And although Katz incurred some legitimate business-related expenses, they were in amounts significantly less than what he reimbursed himself.

On June 26, 2023, Katz pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. He was sentenced today in U.S. District Court before Judge Katherine M. Menendez to one count of wire fraud.

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew S. Ebert and Harry M. Jacobs prosecuted the case.

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

BEAUMONT, Texas – A Beaumont man has pleaded guilty to federal firearms violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Damien M. Diggs.

Daniel James Leatherwood, 21, pleaded guilty to Hobbs Act robbery and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence before U.S. Magistrate Judge Zack Hawthorn on Jan. 25, 2024.

According to court documents, in April and May of 2023, Leatherwood and another individual robbed several businesses in and around Beaumont at gunpoint. The robberies included two Game X Change stores, a Shell gas station, an Express Mart convenience store, and a Cindie’s lingerie store. 

Leatherwood was indicted by a federal grand jury on Nov. 1, 2023.  He faces up to 20 years in federal prison on the armed robbery charge and an additional seven years for brandishing a firearm during the commission of that crime.  The maximum statutory sentence prescribed by Congress is provided here for information purposes, as the sentencing will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.  A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office.

This case was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime.  Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.  As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

This case was investigated by the FBI, Beaumont Police Department, Nederland Police Department, Liberty Police Department and prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Tommy L. Coleman with the cooperation of the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office.

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

          MARQUETTE, MICHIGAN — U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Mark Totten today announced that a federal jury convicted Nathan Weeden, 23, of Houghton, Michigan for conspiring with others and defacing Temple Jacob – a Jewish synagogue in Hancock, Michigan – with swastikas and symbols associated with The Base, a multi-state, white supremacist group.

          “Today’s swift conviction sends a strong message that hate will not be tolerated in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula,” said U.S. Attorney Mark Totten, who was in Marquette for the trial. “No one should be the target of hate because of their race, ethnicity, religion, or any other status. When hateful words become hateful acts, my office will use every tool we have to protect the public and secure justice.”

          “This defendant shamelessly desecrated Temple Jacob when he emblazoned swastikas — a symbol of extermination — on their Temple walls,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Such conduct is unacceptable and criminal under any circumstances but doing so in furtherance of a self-described ‘Operation Kristallnacht’ conspiracy is beyond disgraceful. Antisemitism has no place in our society, and the Justice Department will aggressively prosecute white supremacists who seek to threaten and intimidate others from exercising their federally and constitutionally protected rights.” 

          In September 2019, Nathan Weeden, Richard Tobin, and Yousef Barasneh – all members of The Base, a multi-state, white supremacist organization – used an encrypted messaging platform to discuss vandalizing property associated with African Americans and Jewish Americans. Weeden and his co-conspirators dubbed their plan, “Operation Kristallnacht,” which in German means “Night of Broken Glass.” This term referenced events that took place on November 9-10, 1938, in which Nazis murdered Jews and burned and destroyed their homes, synagogues, schools, and places of business. Weeden carried out this plan on September 21, 2019, when he spray-painted swastikas and symbols associated with The Base on the outside walls of Temple Jacob.

          The jury convicted Weeden of two counts. The first count is Conspiracy Against Rights under 18 U.S.C. § 241, a civil rights statute that makes it a crime to conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person in the exercise of their rights.  The second count is for Damage to Religious Property under 18 U.S.C. § 247, also a civil rights statute that makes it a crime to intentionally deface, damage, or destroy religious property because of the race or ethnic characteristics of individuals associated with that religious property. Co-conspirators Richard Tobin (see here and here) and Yousef Barasneh (see here and here) were previously convicted of federal crimes in this matter.

          “People of all faiths deserve to feel safe in their communities,” said Cheyvoryea Gibson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Michigan. “The FBI and our law enforcement partners will continue to hold those accountable whose hate-filled aggression violates the civil rights of others. For law enforcement to safeguard against hate and violence, we request the public’s assistance in reporting suspicious or threatening behavior by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or submitting a tip online at www.tips.fbi.gov.“

          “Hate and intimidation have no place in Michigan or our communities,” said Special Agent in Charge James Deir of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Detroit Field Office. “The behavior in this conviction is most certainly disturbing, ignorant and intolerable. ATF is laser-focused on ensuring public safety by holding people accountable for their hate-inspired deplorable actions. Houses of worship need to remain safe places where people can go for spiritual redemption and growth. Any attack on a house of worship or a group of people is an attack on our very way of life in this great state.”

          The grand jury issued its two-count indictment against Nathan Weeden on June 27, 2023. The indictment was unsealed on June 29, 2023, after the defendant was arrested by the FBI.

          This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler and Trial Attorney Eric Peffley of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section. The FBI investigated the case with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Hancock Police Department.

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

DETROIT – A Northville man pleaded guilty today to providing a financial institution with false documentation in connection with a bank loan, announced United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison.

Ison was joined in the announcement by Special Agent in Charge Cheyvoryea Gibson, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Detroit Field Division

Theodore Toloff, 65, entered his guilty plea today before United States District Judge David M. Lawson.

According to court records, Toloff served as the Chief Financial Officer of the Frank W. Kerr Company (“Kerr”), a now-defunct pharmaceutical wholesaler that had been based in Novi, Michigan. Kerr had a revolving credit agreement with two large financial institutions under which the company borrowed funds up to $60 million pursuant to a calculation dependent on the company’s eligible accounts receivable and inventory. Toloff admitted that he submitted false documentation to the financial institutions that included $18 million in ineligible accounts receivable and that Kerr borrowed additional funds after this false documentation was submitted.

“Today’s guilty plea reflects my office’s continued commitment to ensuring that our banking and lending systems are not distorted through false financial information,” stated United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison.

“The defendant admitted to providing false documents to a financial institution, undermining the law and integrity of our financial systems, said Special Agent in Charge Cheyvoryea Gibson of the FBI in Michigan. “The FBI works tirelessly with our partner law enforcement and regulatory agencies to investigate those who commit financial crimes. We urge the public to submit tips on alleged crimes such as those detailed in this case to 1-800-CALLFBI (1-800-225-5324) or online at www.tips.fbi.gov.”

Toloff faces a statutory maximum penalty of 30 years imprisonment.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew J. Yahkind. The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of investigation.

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

Logan Savage, 43, of Arapahoe, Wyoming, was sentenced to 36 months in prison for assault resulting in serious bodily injury and, in a separate crime, 24 months in prison for theft from an Indian organization. These sentences will be served concurrently. The defendant was also ordered to pay $81,922.37 in restitution. Chief U.S. District Court Judge Scott W. Skavdahl imposed the sentence on Jan. 23.

Savage pled guilty to the assault crime in Oct. 2023. According to court documents, Savage admitted to entering the residence of the victim on Feb. 11, 2023, and then beating and kicking the victim and hitting the victim with a pistol.

Savage pled guilty to the theft of an Indian organization charge in Nov. 2023. According to court documents, the defendant was employed as the Finance Director of Wind River Family and Community Healthcare (WRFCH) in Riverton from July 2022 through May 2023. WRFCH issued the defendant a credit card to use for business expenses. Company policy explicitly prohibited using the credit card for personal expenses. From about Oct. 1, 2022, through Mar. 31, 2023, Savage willfully misused the company credit card to make personal purchases including firearms, furniture, and groceries.

The assault case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael J. Elmore. The theft case was investigated by the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael J. Elmore and Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron J. Cook.

Case No. 23-CR-00034 (Assault) and Case No. 23-CR-00139 (Theft)

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

Dusty Ronald Harris, age 42, of Casper, Wyoming, and Thelma Faber, age 44, of Greeley, Colorado, were arraigned on Jan. 19. Each defendant was charged with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl, aiding and abetting, and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl. Trial has been set for Mar. 25 before Chief U.S. District Court Judge Scott W. Skavdahl in Casper.

Harris and Faber were each detained at the request of the government and remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals. If convicted on all charges, each defendant could be sentenced to a maximum of 40 years’ imprisonment with no less than three years of supervised release and up to a $2 million fine. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

This crime is being investigated by the FBI, Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation and the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy W. Gist.

An indictment merely contains allegations, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Case No. 24-CR-20