Source: United States Attorneys General

Headline: Former Wisconsin Produce Vendor Executive Pleads Guilty to Tax Evasion

MADISON, WIS. – The former corporate officer of a produce vendor in Johnson Creek, Wisconsin, pleaded guilty today to tax evasion, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Scott C. Blader for the Western District of Wisconsin.

According to the indictment and information provided to the court, Thomas G. Paine, 64, was the Vice President and Treasurer of G.W. Paine Inc., which sold fresh fruit and other produce under the business name Tree Ripe Citrus Company.  Paine was responsible for the finance and tax aspects of the business, but failed to file corporate tax returns for tax years 2010 through 2012 and concealed the business’ income from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by structuring cash bank deposits in amounts less than $10,000 to evade bank reporting requirements.  Paine admitted to causing a tax loss between $250,000 and $550,000.

U.S. District Court Judge James D. Peterson scheduled sentencing for May 8.  Paine faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison, a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties. 

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman and U.S. Attorney Blader commended special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Altman and Trial Attorney Eric C. Schmale of the Tax Division, who areuting the case. 

Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.

Source: United States Attorneys General

Headline: Two Men Arrested for Possession with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance

St. Thomas, USVI – Tommy Ramirez, 29, of the Dominican Republic and Ramon Clavel, 55, of Haiti, were arrested Monday on a criminal complaint charging them with possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, United States Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert announced. Ramirez and Clavel made their initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ruth Miller and were detained pending further proceedings.

According to the complaint, on Monday, Ramirez and Clavel presented themselves at the post office to claim a package that contained one kilogram of cocaine, a controlled substance.

If convicted of possession with the intent to distribute a controlled substance, Ramirez and Clavel face a minimum sentence of five years and a fine of $250,000.00.

United States Attorney Shappert reminds the public that a complaint is merely a formal charging document and is not evidence of guilty. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Department of Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Federal Bureau of Investigations. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sigrid M. Tejo-Sprotte.

Source: United States Attorneys General

Headline: Unsealed Indictment Charges Floridian in Complex Fraud Scheme

PITTSBURGH – Today, the Court unsealed the indictment of a Florida man charging him conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and bank fraud, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced.

The one-count indictment, returned on December 12, 2017, named Garri Shihman, 46, of Parkland, Fla., as the sole defendant.

According to the indictment presented to the court, Shihman was involved in a complex fraud that involved fraudulently processing credit card payments. The credit card companies will not allow their products and services to be used to pay for certain precluded activities, including the on-line sales of pharmaceutical drugs and of products violating trademark infringement laws. Shihman participated in a conspiracy designed to conceal from the credit card companies the fact that Shihman and his co-conspirators used their products and services to pay for precluded activities and to subvert the internal controls the credit card companies had in place to detect and prevent this type of activity. The fraud involved establishing shell corporations and web sites associated with the shell companies that falsely claimed that they sold a product other than pharmaceutical drugs or products that violated trademark infringement laws. The conspirators then applied for merchant accounts from the credit card companies in the names of the shell corporations and the fake web sites. Once the merchant accounts were established, they were used to process payments for pharmaceutical drugs or products that violated trademark infringement laws. Additionally, the conspirators arranged for the credit card statements sent to the consumers to have the names of the shell corporations and telephone numbers. The conspirators set up a telephone bank to receive calls from customers questioning billings on their credit card statements, and the conspirators explained to the customers the true nature of the transactions in hopes of avoiding charge-backs that could cause the credit card companies to question the legitimacy of the transactions.

The law provides for a maximum total sentence of 30 years in prison, a fine of $1,000,000 or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

Assistant United States Attorney Brendan T. Conway is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.

The Food and Drug Administration – Office of Criminal Investigations, Homeland Security Investigations, Pennsylvania State Police and United States Postal Inspection Service conducted the investigation leading to the indictment in this case.

An indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Source: United States Attorneys General

Headline: Mt. Pleasant Man Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison for Receiving Child Pornography

PITTSBURGH – A former resident of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to 60 months’ imprisonment, followed by 10 years’ supervised release, on a charge of receipt of material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.

United States District Judge Nora Barry Fischer imposed the sentence on Charles Kaper, age 53, of Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylvania.

According to information presented to the court, the court was advised that from June 2016 to July 2016, Kaper received videos and images containing material depicting the sexual exploitation of minors.

Assistant United States Attorney Jessica Lieber Smolar prosecuted this case on behalf of the United States.

U.S. Attorney Brady commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation for conducting the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Kaper.

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.justice.gov/psc.

Source: United States Attorneys General

Headline: Shavertown Bookkeeper Sentenced To 38 Months’ Imprisonment For Embezzling Nearly $450,000 And For Obstructing The IRS

SCRANTON – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Richard J. Morgan, age 54, of Shavertown, Pennsylvania, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge James M. Munley to 38 months’ imprisonment and five years of supervised release, for committing bank fraud and interfering with the administration of the internal revenue laws. Morgan was also ordered to pay $494,618.85 in restitution to his victims and the IRS.

According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, Morgan owned and operated Wilkes-Barre Bookkeeping LLC, a Shavertown, Pennsylvania-based business that provided payroll services to its clients.  Local businesses contracted Morgan to pay employee payroll and salary expenses, to file IRS Form 941 Employer Quarterly Federal Tax Returns, and to remit employment tax liabilities to federal, state and local taxation authorities.  For three of his clients, Morgan failed to file the IRS Forms 941 and remit the employment taxes to the appropriate authorities, instead embezzling the funds for his own personal use.  Between March 2010 and October 2016, Morgan embezzled $376,224.85 from those clients, all while lying to them about his activities.

Morgan also served as a Treasurer for a non-profit corporation and was tasked with selling its assets and winding up its operations when it closed in February 2010.  Instead, after paying the non-profit corporation’s outstanding liabilities, Morgan embezzled the remaining residual sales proceeds of $68,172.

When the IRS commenced an investigation of Morgan’s activities, he took steps to impede the revenue agents and conceal his embezzlements.  Morgan claimed to be working with fictitious IRS employees to resolve the matter, and provided the IRS with altered bank statements and accounting records.  Morgan owes the IRS approximately $50,222 for unpaid taxes on his embezzled funds.

In pronouncing the sentence, Judge Munley highlighted Morgan’s attempts to conceal his activities from the IRS, and that Morgan continued embezzling funds from one of his clients even after becoming aware of the federal criminal investigation into his activities.  Judge Munley also focused on Morgan’s use of the embezzled money to fund life luxuries, and the damages he inflicted on local small businesses and non-profit organizations.

The investigation was conducted by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division.  Assistant United States Attorney Phillip J. Caraballo prosecuted the case.

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Source: United States Attorneys General

Headline: Buffalo Man Sentenced On Gun And Drug Charges

CONTACT:   Barbara Burns
PHONE:        (716) 843-5817
FAX #:           (716) 551-3051

BUFFALO, N.Y. – U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Jose Feliciano-Miranda, 37, of Buffalo, NY, who was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, heroin and cocaine, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, was sentenced to 147 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Scott S. Allen, Jr., and Wei Xiang, who handled the case, stated that between April 2015 and April 2016, Feliciano-Miranda assisted co-defendant Manuel Freire who coordinated the receipt, and subsequent distribution, of wholesale quantities of heroin and cocaine in Buffalo from sources in Puerto Rico and New York City.

On April 24, 2015, federal law enforcement officers intercepted a parcel mailed from Puerto Rico destined for a residence on Hudson Street in Buffalo.  A half a kilogram of cocaine was hidden in speakers contained in the parcel. Two other co-conspirators, who, at Freire’s direction, went to retrieve the parcel, were arrested. 

In early 2016, Feliciano-Miranda and Freire began selling heroin out of 247 Niagara Street in Buffalo.  On April 1, 2016, law enforcement officials executed a search warrant at that property. During the search of Feliciano-Miranda’s Jeep Cherokee, law enforcement officials discovered a “trap,” a hydraulic powered concealment chamber that can only be opened after several sequential steps, which drug traffickers use to conceal quantities of contraband when traveling long distances.

Another search warrant was executed at a residence on Byrd Way, which led to the recovery of a loaded firearm. 

Manuel Freire has been convicted and is awaiting sentencing.

The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Acting Commissioner Byron Lockwood; the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge James J. Hunt, New York Field Division; the Erie County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Timothy Howard; the Federal Bureau of Investigation Safe Streets Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Kevin P. Lyons; and the United States Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Boston Division Acting Inspector-in-Charge Raymond Moss.

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