Source: United States Attorneys General

Headline: Armed Bank Robber Receives 20-Year Sentence

MADISON, WIS. – Scott C. Blader, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Julian Thomas, 40, Madison, Wis., was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge William Conley to 20 years in federal prison.  Judge Conley imposed 13 years for armed bank robbery and a consecutive seven years for brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. 

Thomas was convicted of these charges on October 19, 2017, after a two-day jury trial in federal court in Madison.  Thomas’s co-defendant, James Thompson, 29, Madison, Wis., pleaded guilty to these same charges on October 6, 2017.

The evidence presented at trial showed that Thomas and James Thompson robbed People’s Community Bank in Plain, Wis., on October 7, 2014.  Thompson testified during the trial about how he and Thomas jointly committed the robbery.

Based on witness testimony, Thomas forced the bank vice president to open the vault while Thompson held two bank tellers at gunpoint. After obtaining cash from the vault and the teller drawers, Thomas and Thompson ordered the three bank employees to the back of the bank, sprayed pepper spray in their eyes, and ordered them to kneel with their heads on the floor.       

At today’s sentencing, Judge Conley noted that Thomas, “chose at age 40 to do a crime that endangered everyone involved and took a mental and physical toll on the victims.”  Judge Conley also observed that Thomas was a career criminal with a 20-year criminal history who, at age 40, “graduated to a very serious crime when others usually do not at that age.”  Judge Conley added that Thomas was a defendant that presents a real danger to others.

The charges against Thomas and Thompson are the result of an investigation by the Sauk County Sheriff’s Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation.  The prosecution of this case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel Graber and Corey Stephan.

Source: United States Attorneys General

Headline: Bookkeeper Admits to Embezzling Client Funds

HOUSTON – A local woman has entered a guilty plea to 12 counts of mail and wire fraud and four counts of filing a false tax return, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick.

Gwendolyn M. Berry admitted that from September 2008 through Oct. 1, 2014, she took funds in excess of $1.7 million from a family for whom she provided bookkeeping services. Berry stole from the education accounts of the minor children and other family bank accounts and it to make payments for the benefit of herself and her family.   

Berry has also admitted she filed a false federal tax return for the tax years 2011 through 2014. In each of these tax returns, Berry omitted reporting some of her income and falsely claimed a refund.

Sentencing is set for May 4, 2018, before U.S. District Judge Gray Miller. At that time, she faces up to 20 years in federal prison for each of the fraud counts as well as another three years for the tax convictions.

Berry was permitted to remain on bond pending that hearing.

The U.S. Secret Service and IRS – Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa Annis is prosecuting the case.

Source: United States Attorneys General

Headline: Fayetteville Woman Pleads Guilty to Sex Trafficking of a Minor

GREENVILLE – The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Robert J. Higdon, Jr., announced that today in federal court, before United States Magistrate Judge Kimberly A. Swank, DAQUANJRA TASHA WHITE, 28, of Fayetteville,  pled guilty to one count of Sex Trafficking of Children.

During the defendant’s guilty plea hearing, the Government summarized the evidence supporting the defendant’s guilty plea.  Throughout the fall of 2015 into 2016, WHITE met the minor on Facebook, struck up conversations about WHITE’s escorting services, and convinced the minor to meet with her.  When the minor got together with WHITE, she took pictures of her(in various stages of undress), posted those pictures on Backpage, took the victim or arranged for her transport to various hotels, arranged for her to have sex for money with men, and took portions of the monies collected.  WHITE told the minor what to charge and what to do, even stating the girl worked for her. 

At sentencing, the defendant faces not more than life in prison and up to $250,000 in fines. 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Fayetteville Police Department conducted the investigation of this case.  Assistant United States Attorney Daniel P. Bubar is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.

Source: United States Attorneys General

Headline: Essex County, New Jersey, Man Gets 42 Months In Prison For Selling Fake Driver’s Licenses Online, Filing Bogus Tax Returns

NEWARK, N.J. – A Newark man was sentenced today to 42 months in prison for selling fake driver’s licenses through an online shop and filing fraudulent tax returns using stolen identity information, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Alexis Scott Carthens, 40, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit fraud in connection with authentication features and one count of conspiracy to defraud the government with respect to claims. Judge Linares imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.

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

From October 2012 through August 2014, Ricardo Rosario, 35, of Jersey City, New Jersey, with the assistance of Carthens and Abraham Corcino, 36, of Jersey City, sold fake driver’s licenses over the Internet. In connection with their illegal operation, the defendants ran a website that was available at “fakeidstore.co” and “fakedlstore.com.”

A number of the fake driver’s licenses sold by Rosario and other conspirators were used by criminal actors in connection with “cash out” schemes where stolen credit card information, usually obtained through hacking or ATM skimming operations, was encoded on to counterfeit credit cards and used to steal cash from victims’ accounts.

The website sold fake New Jersey, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin driver’s licenses, and the website boasted that the licenses had “scannable barcodes” and “real” holographic overlays. The price for each fake driver’s license was approximately $150, but the website offered bulk pricing for orders of 10 or more.

The website allowed its users to pay by bitcoin, a cryptographic-based digital currency, or MoneyPak, a type of prepaid payment card that could be purchased at retail stores. The “FAQ” section of the website indicated that orders would be received approximately one to two days after payment was received and described the website’s policy with respect to returns: “No Refunds. No snitching.”

Rosario created and ran the website. Corcino and Carthens assisted Rosario by creating and mailing the fake driver’s licenses purchased through the website. Corcino also maintained an Instagram account to promote the website.

At his plea hearing, Carthens admitted that his role was to create the driver’s licenses and to mail them to the website’s customers. Carthens also admitted that he believed that some of the website’s clients were using the fake driver’s licenses to commit credit card fraud.

Carthens also admitted to his involvement in a separate scheme, spanning from December 2012 through November 2013, to use information stolen from a medical lab to file false and fraudulent tax returns. Carthens admitted working with at least one other conspirator, who assisted Carthens by providing him with email addresses and physical addresses to receive the fraudulently claimed tax refund money.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Linares sentenced Carthens to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay restitution of $121,922.32.

Rosario and Corcino have both pleaded guilty to related charges. Rosario was sentenced to 63 months in prison. Corcino was given three years of probation.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher in Newark; inspectors of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Acting Inspector in Charge Ruth M. Mendonca; and special agents of IRS–Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jonathan D. Larsen, with the investigation.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Zach Intrater of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Economic Crimes Unit and Assistant U.S. Attorney Barbara Ward, deputy chief of the asset forfeiture program.

Defense counsel: Wanda M. Akin Esq., Newark 

Source: United States Attorneys General

Headline: Pennsylvania Firearms Dealer Sentenced To 100 Months Imprisonment

HAMMOND – The United States Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana, Thomas L. Kirsch II, announced that Vahan Kelerchian, 58, of Richboro, Pennsylvania, doing business as Armament Services International “ASI”, was sentenced before Senior District Court Judge Joseph S. Van Bokkelen for his role in the acquisition of machineguns and restricted laser aiming sights.

Kelerchian was sentenced to 100 months imprisonment, ordered to pay a $100,000 fine and $28,200 in restitution along with serving 1 year of supervised release upon release from prison.  Kelerchian was found guilty after a two-week trial that ended October 15, 2016.  Kelerchian was taken into custody upon sentencing to begin serving his sentence. 

According to evidence presented at trial, Kelerchian conspired with Joseph Kumstar and Ronald Slusser, now former Lake County Police Officers, to knowingly make false statements relating to the acquisition of firearms.  Kumstar and Slusser, who have plead guilty, used their positions as sworn law enforcement officers in coordination with Kelerchian using his position as a Class 3 Federal Firearms Licensee to acquire approximately 71 fully automatic machineguns in the name of the Lake County Sheriff’s Department knowing that the Lake County Sheriff’s Department was not going to be the true owner of these weapons.  Kelerchian, Kumstar and Slusser conspired to use law enforcement letter head to create letters which falsely represented that the machineguns were going to be used by the Lake County Sheriff’s Department to carry out its law enforcement responsibilities since machineguns manufactured after 1986 can only be acquired by law enforcement agencies and not individual officers.  The machineguns were purchased for a cost of $1200 and $1600 and then when received by the Sheriff’s Department, transported offsite to be parted out.  The barrels (also known as the “upper”) were split with the officers and some were sent back to Kelerchian.  The “uppers” sold between $3000 and $3600 due to post-1986 parts not being available to the public because only law enforcement agencies or the military can acquire these weapons.

Kelerchian also used his company (Armament Services International “ASI”) to assist Kumstar and Slusser to acquire 74 restricted laser aiming sights again using law enforcement letterhead from the Lake County Sheriff’s Department and the Lowell Police Department.  These class 3b laser sights were restricted by the Food and Drug Administration.  These lasers were designed, per a variance from FDA, to be used for law enforcement and military use only because they did not have the audible or manual safety locks as required for class 3b lasers.  The laser aiming sights had a visible laser that could be seen in excess of 50 feet and an invisible laser that could be used for targeting with infrared goggles in excess of 1 mile.  Kelerchian along with the officers used their positions to acquire these devices and sell them to the general public or keep the devices for themselves.

In addition to the charges above, Kelerchian was also found guilty of money laundering and false statements to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives regarding false demonstration letters involving high powered belt-fed machine guns.  Kelerchian was also charged with bribery but was acquitted of that charge.

United States Attorney Thomas L. Kirsch II said, “ Mr. Kelerchian abused the authority entrusted to him for criminal purposes.  The 8 years that he will spend in federal prison, which began today, should be a deterrent to others similarly situated that act for illegal purposes.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to aggressively prosecute our nation’s firearm laws and seek meaningful sentences of offenders to both punish and deter this type of criminal behavior.

As reported previously, Joseph Kumstar was sentenced to 57 months; Edward Kabella was sentenced to 24 months; and Ronald Slusser was sentenced to 70 months for their involvement in this case. 

This case is a result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Department of Defense Criminal Investigative Services; Federal Bureau of Investigation; Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations; and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Philip C. Benson and Thomas M. McGrath.

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Source: United States Attorneys General

Headline: Sherman Man Sentenced to Three Years in Prison for Violating Clean Air Act Related to Asbestos Removal at Former Pillsbury Plant

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – U.S. District Judge Sue E. Myerscough today ordered a Sherman, Ill., man, Joseph J. Chernis, IV, to serve 37 months in federal prison for failure to adequately remove and dispose of asbestos material, violations of the Clean Air Act, at the former Pillsbury Mills facility in Springfield. Following his prison term, Chernis, 35, was ordered to remain on supervised release for a period of three years. Chernis was ordered to self-report to prison when directed by the Bureau of Prisons.  

Chernis pled guilty on April 7, 2017, to three counts of violating the Clean Air Act. Chernis admitted that he hired an untrained individual to illegally remove dry asbestos pipe insulation from the Pillsbury Mills facility. From October 2014 to August 2015, dry asbestos-containing insulation was cut and stripped from pipes inside four buildings at the facility, including the structure known as the Dryer building.

“The defendant’s illegal and reckless acts endangered the health of those performing the asbestos removal and others,” stated U.S. Attorney John E. Childress, “and caused the U.S. EPA to assume clean-up efforts at a cost of millions of dollars.”

“Asbestos can cause cancer and other serious respiratory diseases, so it is important that it be handled legally,” said Brad Ostendorf, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of EPA’s criminal enforcement program in Illinois. “The defendant knew the rules regarding the legal removal of asbestos containing materials, but ignored them. In this way, he threatened not only the environment but the safety of his untrained workers and the general public. This case demonstrates that EPA and its partner agencies will not abide those who try to make money by breaking the law.”

Under provisions of the Clean Air Act, the EPA has promulgated rules, regulations and requirements to control the removal, handling and disposal of asbestos, a hazardous air pollutant. Any owner or operator of a renovation or demolition activity which involves removal of specified amounts of asbestos-containing material must comply with the EPA regulations. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Crystal Correa and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney James Cha, of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, represented the government in the prosecution. The charges were investigated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Criminal Investigation Division.