United States Attorney Erica MacDonald today announced the sentencing of MAI NHIA VUE, 47, to 38 months in federal prison for failing to pay payroll taxes. VUE pleaded guilty on May 16, 2018, to one count of willful failure to pay payroll taxes and was sentenced on November 27, 2018, by Judge Wilhelmina Wright, in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

According to the defendant’s guilty plea and documents filed in court, VUE owned and operated Five Star Workforce Solutions (Five Star), which provided temporary contract employees to businesses in Minnesota. As part of Five Star’s contracts with its client businesses, Five Star was responsible for collecting and paying the payroll taxes from the employees, which included the federal withholding taxes, social security, and Medicare withholdings.

According to the defendant’s guilty plea and documents filed in court, during the tax years of 2014, 2015, and 2016, VUE created two sets of accounting books and paid payroll taxes for some employees but did not pay any payroll taxes for other employees, despite charging Five Star clients consistent rates between the two sets of employees. Additionally, VUE did not pay the employer’s portion of social security and Medicare taxes.

According to documents filed in court, VUE failed to pay nearly $2 million under this scheme, which should have gone to the IRS. VUE spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on luxury travel, gambling, gold, and the construction and furnishing of a new home.

United States Attorney Erica H. MacDonald thanked the special agents of the IRS-Criminal Investigation Division who investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Lewis, who prosecuted the case.

Defendant Information:

MAI NHIA VUE, 47

Lake Elmo, Minn.

Convicted:

• Willful Failure To Pay Payroll Taxes, 1 count

Sentenced:

• 38 months incarceration
• 3 years supervised release
• $1,820,331 in restitution to the IRS

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United States Attorney’s Office, District of Minnesota: (612) 664-5600

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Three men were charged in federal court yesterday for their roles in a series of armed business robberies in Kansas City, Mo., and Independence, Mo., over the past week.

Vonterrious Humbert, 18, Tremaine Johnson, 19, and Henry Simmons, 18, were charged in a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo., on Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018, with participating in a conspiracy to commit armed robberies and with using a firearm in relation to a crime of violence. They remain in federal custody pending a detention hearing, which has not yet been scheduled.

Humbert, Johnson and Simmons were arrested on Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018, following the early-morning armed robbery of a Phillips 66 convenience store and the attempted robbery of a Taco Bell on N.W. Barry Road in Kansas City, Mo. Two juvenile males were also taken into custody but are not identified in court documents and are not charged in the federal complaint.

According to an affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, the conspiracy included eight additional business robberies: five armed robberies of 7-Eleven convenience stores in Independence, Mo., and Kansas City, Mo., in the early morning hours of Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2018, and three armed robberies of a Domino’s Pizza, a 7-Eleven convenience store and a Sinclair convenience store in Kansas City, Mo., during the early morning hours of Sunday, Nov. 25, 2018. 

A Dodge Durango SUV was identified by witnesses at some of the robberies. On Monday, Nov. 26, 2018, law enforcement observed Humbert, Johnson, Simmons and the two juveniles traveling in a 2003 Dodge Durango to approximately 15 to 20 convenience stores, fast-food restaurants and other businesses that were open late or operated 24 hours a day. According to the affidavit, officers believed they were casing the businesses – making repetitive passes by these businesses in a slow, surveillance-like manner, as if examining the businesses for activity and occupants in advance of initiating a robbery.

At approximately 2:37 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018, the vehicle arrived at the shopping area at N.W. Barry Road and Ambassador Drive in Kansas City, Mo. The vehicle parked at a nearby apartment complex. Four individuals got out of the vehicle, the affidavit says; Humbert and Johnson walked across the street to the Phillips 66 convenience store while Simmons and a juvenile male walked to the Taco Bell. 

According to the affidavit, Humbert and Johnson robbed the Phillips 66 store at gunpoint, stealing approximately $400, then ran back across the street toward a wooded area near the apartment complex. Johnson and Humbert were pursued into a strip mall area near the apartment complex. Both were apprehended nearby, the affidavit says, and were found to have discarded the firearms they possessed at the time of the robbery – a Taurus handgun with a laser sight and an SKS-type 7.62x39mm rifle.

As this robbery was occurring, Simmons and the juvenile were allegedly attempting to rob the Taco Bell. They both had firearms when law enforcement officers approached them, the affidavit says, which they attempted to discard at the time of their arrest. Officers retrieved a loaded Taurus 9mm semi-automatic handgun with a laser sight and a loaded Ruger 9mm semi-automatic handgun.

A second juvenile male was identified as the driver and sole occupant of the Dodge Durango SUV at the time of the arrests. Officers searched the vehicle and found a loaded Glock .40-caliber semi-automatic handgun and a jar containing marijuana.

The charges contained in this complaint are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashleigh A. Ragner. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department, the Independence, Mo., Police Department and the FBI.
 

PROVIDENCE - One of three brothers who admitted to running a large scale heroin and cocaine trafficking operation in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut was sentenced today to 20 years in federal prison.

Claudio Valdez, 46, of Woonsocket, and his brothers, Hector Valdez 45, of Woonsocket, and Juan Valdez, 51, of Milton, Mass., previously pled guilty in U.S. District Court in Providence, admitting that they arranged for several multi-kilogram shipments of heroin and cocaine from Mexico to drug stash houses in Cranston and Woonsocket, Rhode Island. The Valdez brothers then oversaw the distribution of the drugs to mid-level drug dealers and street dealers in the greater Providence and greater Boston areas and in Hartford, Connecticut.

Juan Valdez is scheduled to be sentenced on December 14, 2018. Hector Valdez is scheduled to be sentenced on January 18, 2019.

The three men, Dominican nationals, reentered the country illegally after having been previously convicted of felony drug crimes and deported. Immigration detainers have been lodged against all three.

At sentencing today, U.S. District Court Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., sentenced Claudio Valdez to 240 months in federal prison to be followed by 5 years supervised release.

As stipulated in a plea agreement filed with the Court, both the government and the defense recommended the Court impose a sentence of 240 months of incarceration. The U.S. Sentencing Guideline imprisonment range in this matter is 324 months to 405 months.

Claudio Valdez’s sentence is announced by United States Attorney Stephen G. Dambruch and Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Boston Division of the FBI.

In April 2017, based on information developed by the FBI Safe Streets Task Force during an investigation dubbed “Operation Triple Play,” a reference to the three Valdez brothers, the FBI, assisted by federal, state, and local law enforcement agents and officers in three states, executed 15 federal arrest warrants and 13 search warrants. Immigration detainers were lodged against 9 of the defendants charged in this matter, identified as Dominican nationals, most of which were living in the United States with what are alleged to be stolen identities.

During the course of the investigation that began in September 2016, the FBI Safe Streets Task Force seized nearly 2.2 kilograms of fentanyl, 4 kilograms of heroin, most of which was laced with fentanyl, 1.7 kilograms of cocaine, 142 grams of crack cocaine, more than 137 pounds of cutting agents, more than $400,000 in cash and 9 vehicles. 5 of the vehicles had hidden compartments used for transporting drugs and money.

The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gerard B. Sullivan, with the assistance of Assistant U.S. Attorneys William J. Ferland, Ronald A. Gendron, and Richard W. Rose.

Operation Triple Play is an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation initiated by the FBI Safe Streets Task Force. Under the direction of the FBI, the participating agencies in this investigation included the Drug Enforcement Administration (Providence and Boston Resident Agencies), Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Rhode Island State Police, Providence Police Department, Woonsocket Police Department, Central Falls Police Department, Cranston Police Department, Warwick Police Department, and the Rhode Island Department of Corrections.

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Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that KEVIN PINNOCK, a/k/a “Kev Savage,” a/k/a “Sav,” was sentenced yesterday to 12 years and three months in prison for using the internet to facilitate sex trafficking, possessing crack cocaine with intent to distribute, possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, and possessing stolen identification documents.  PINNOCK previously pled guilty before United States District Judge Deborah A. Batts, who also imposed yesterday’s sentence.

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “Kevin Pinnock used violence and coercion to force women to engage in commercial sex for his own profit.  He will now serve a substantial prison sentence for his crimes.  The prosecution of Kevin Pinnock is part of our determined effort to deliver justice to victims of sex trafficking and other forms of commercial exploitation, and to deter others from engaging in this predatory criminal conduct.”

In sentencing PINNOCK, Judge Batts said:  “The nature of the crimes in which the defendant was convicted” were “unspeakable, violent, gratuitous crimes he arrogantly committed on young women for his financial gain,” and that his theft of others’ identities “show[s] a shocking disregard on the part of the defendant for the havoc his crimes create for innocent victims in terms of their ruined credit and long-term ramifications on their financial lives.”

According to the Complaint, Indictment, Superseding Indictment, and other documents filed in the case, as well as statements made during court proceedings:

In 2015 and 2016, PINNOCK posted online advertisements to solicit customers to engage in commercial sex with women PINNOCK forced into prostitution by violence, abuse, and coercion.  PINNOCK retained virtually all of the profits from his sex trafficking business. 

Since at least November 2016, PINNOCK sold crack cocaine and possessed a loaded firearm, which had been stolen, in order to protect his drug dealing business.  He also possessed dozens of stolen identification cards – including driver’s licenses and Social Security cards – which he sold to other individuals who were engaged in identity theft and fraud.  Many of the identification cards had been obtained through the commission of robberies.

*                      *                      *

In addition to his prison term, PINNOCK, 22, of the Bronx, New York, was sentenced to three years of supervised release, a forfeiture money judgment in the amount of $15,000, and restitution in the amount of $100,000.

Mr. Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, and thanked the United States Secret Service, the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General, the New York City Police Department, and the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office for their assistance.

This case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit.  Assistant United States Attorney Robert B. Sobelman is in charge of the prosecution. 

     PHOENIX – This week, Antoinette Suzanne Arangua, 34, of Phoenix, Ariz., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Diane J. Humetewa to 30 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.  Arangua’s co-defendant, Dewayne Frederick Johnson, 37, of Phoenix, Ariz., was sentenced in September to 46 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.  Arangua and Johnson had previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess 15 or more stolen credit card numbers. 

     Arangua and Johnson admitted to using stolen credit card numbers to buy gift cards, get cash, and make other purchases throughout the Phoenix area between February 2017 and October 2017.  Arangua and Johnson encoded stolen credit card numbers onto other credit cards, tested the stolen numbers at various stores and gas stations, and then used them to make larger purchases.  During a search in October 2017, Arangua and Johnson were found with more than 1,700 stolen credit card numbers, more than 100 fabricated credit cards, two credit card embossers, a credit card reader/encoder, and approximately 74 gift cards and prepaid debit cards they had purchased using stolen credit card numbers. 

     The investigation in this case was conducted by the United States Secret Service.  The prosecution was handled by Bridget Minder, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Phoenix.

CASE NUMBER:                 CR-18-00346-001-PHX-DJH

RELEASE NUMBER:           2018-161_ Arangua etal

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For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/

Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on Twitter @USAO_AZ for the latest news.

ATLANTA – Jhonnita L. Williams, a former department administrator at the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA), pleaded guilty to participating in a false-invoice scheme that resulted in MARTA paying more than $520,000 for maintenance projects where no worked was actually performed.

“MARTA trusted Williams to use and protect taxpayer dollars effectively and responsibly,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak.  “Her participation in a half of million dollar theft of MARTA funds demonstrates that she sold the public’s trust for self-enrichment.”

“Williams circumvented proper government procedures and dipped into taxpayers’ money to subsidize her own personal greed,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “Public corruption is one of the FBI’s top priorities, and we are committed to holding accountable those who choose to abuse their positions of trust.”

 “MARTA has zero-tolerance for any employee who betrays the trust placed in us by our customers,” said MARTA Police Chief Wanda Y. Dunham.  “The guilty plea by Ms. Williams concludes a coordinated investigation with our federal law enforcement partners, and we are satisfied with the results.  We hope this guilty verdict serves as a deterrent for others who would attempt to defraud the taxpayers.”

According to U.S. Attorney Pak, the indictment, and other information presented in court: MARTA is the principal public transportation operator in the Atlanta area, providing fixed rail and bus service to more than 500,000 passengers per weekday. Formed by Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority Act of 1965, MARTA is a multi-county local governmental agency with a 2016 annual budget of more than $880 million.

Williams worked for MARTA from 1999 to 2017. From 2010 to 2017, Williams worked as an assistant and department administrator for Joseph J. Erves.  During most of the conspiracy, Erves served as MARTA’s senior director of operations and oversaw the maintenance of all of its buses and rail cars.

From approximately June 2010 to December 2016, Williams and Erves had more than 40 fake invoices prepared on behalf of three vendors for MARTA maintenance projects for which no work was performed.  Williams and Erves used the false invoices as bases to authorize payments to the three vendors – including fake invoices submitted by a business owned by Ferrell Williams (who was romantically involved with Jhonnita Williams).  After being paid, the all three of the vendors funneled most of the money received from MARTA back to Erves and Williams. In total, MARTA paid the three vendors more than $520,000 for maintenance projects where no worked was actually performed.

Williams used the money to pay for various personal expenses, including the financing and purchase of an approximately 3,000 square foot single-family home with four bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms.

On July 24, 2018, a grand jury returned a seven-count indictment against Williams, 47, of Atlanta, Georgia. Today, Williams pleaded guilty to one count of conspiratorial federal program theft. 

On September 20, 2017, Joseph J. Erves, 54, of Lithonia, Georgia pleaded guilty to federal program theft. On January 16, 2018, Erves was sentenced to two years and nine months in federal prison, and was ordered to pay $522,825.45 in restitution.

On March 29, 2018, Ferrell Williams, 63, of Cincinnati, Ohio, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit federal program theft.  On August 1, 2018, Ferrell Williams was sentenced to eight months in federal prison, and was ordered to pay $41,539.1 in restitution.

This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the MARTA Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeffrey W. Davis, Chief of the Public Integrity and Special Matters Section, and Alison Prout are prosecuting the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.

SOUTH BEND - Marvin Tobar, age 29, of South Bend, Indiana, was sentenced before South Bend District Court Judge Jon E. DeGuilio for possession of a firearm after having been convicted of a felony offense, announced U.S. Attorney Kirsch.  

Tobar was sentenced to 64 months in prison followed by 1 year of supervised release. 

According to documents in this case, on the afternoon of April 22, 2018, Tobar stood in the road in a neighborhood in South Bend and fired twenty (20) rounds from a .223 caliber rifle.  Another man fired at least one shot from a handgun.  At least one vehicle that was parked down the street from the incident was struck by a bullet.  Numerous people were at home and present when Tobar fired his rifle.   Several witnesses came outside, met police, and talked about the incident.  After firing his rifle, Tobar ran inside a nearby house, hid the rifle in a crawlspace and hid the magazine in a closet.  When police found the gun, the magazine was empty but the rifle still had one live round in the chamber.  Tobar has three prior convictions for misdemeanors and two prior felonies.  One of his prior felonies involved Tobar taking a loaded rifle onto school property.  In 2011, Tobar was convicted of reckless homicide when he pulled a handgun and began shooting during a confrontation. When others joined him, a man was killed.  

This case was investigated by ATF with assistance from the South Bend Police Department.  The case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel Gabrielse.

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

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Fred Swan, Jr., 30, of Rochester, NY, who was convicted of Hobbs Act Robbery, Attempted Hobbs Act Robbery, and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, was sentenced to serve 192 months in prison by Chief U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Katelyn M. Hartford, who handled the case, stated that the defendant robbed four establishments at gunpoint between February 11, 2017, and March 24, 2017:

o On February 11, 2017, the defendant robbed the China Star restaurant at 600 West Main Street in Rochester. Swan entered the store and pointed a handgun at a restaurant employee and demanded money. The defendant grabbed approximately $60 cash from the store employee’s hand and fled the restaurant on foot;

o On February 18, 2017, the defendant robbed Alice’s Market convenience store at 1477 South Avenue in Rochester. Swan entered the store, went up to the register, pointed a handgun at the store clerk, and demanded money. The clerk gave the defendant approximately $50 cash from the register. The defendant fled from the store and was driven away from the scene by another individual;

o On February 19, 2017, the defendant robbed the Mobil Quick Mart store at 1810 Mount Hope Avenue in Rochester. Swan entered the store and pointed a handgun at a store employee as he approached the counter and demanded money from the register.  The employee refused to give Swan money. The defendant walked around the counter and struck the employee in the head with the handgun, and the two of them fell to the floor fighting. Swan eventually fled the store without getting any money; and

o On March 24, 2017, the defendant robbed the Fast Mart Inc. store at the Valero gas station at 931 South Clinton Avenue in Rochester. Swan entered the store, pointed a handgun at the store clerk, and demanded money. The clerk handed over $280 cash from the register. The defendant then demanded two packs of cigarettes, which the clerk handed to him. Swan fled the store with the cash and cigarettes.

On March 24, 2017, law enforcement officers searched the defendant’s apartment at 229 Meigs Street in Rochester and they recovered the .40 caliber handgun that was used in the Alice’s Market robbery.

Today’s sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Gary Loeffert, and the Rochester Police Department, under the direction of Chief Mark Simmons.

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NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY– November 27, 2018

Candace Michelle Craven, a Tennessee-based nurse practitioner pleaded guilty in federal court today, admitting that she participated in a health care fraud scheme that bilked TRICARE – the health care program that covers United States service members – out of more than $65 million.  As part of her guilty plea, Craven admitted to conducting sham “telemedicine” evaluations that resulted in the prescription of exorbitantly expensive compounded medications to patients that she never saw or examined in person.

Craven entered her guilty plea, to conspiracy to commit health care fraud, before U.S. District Judge Janis L. Sammartino, who will sentence Craven at a hearing scheduled for February 8, 2019. 

Compounded medications are specialty medications mixed by a pharmacist to meet the specific medical needs of an individual patient. Although compounded drugs are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), they are properly prescribed when a physician determines that an FDA-approved medication does not meet the health needs of a particular patient, such as if a patient requires a particular dosage or application or is allergic to a dye or other ingredient.

According to the guilty plea, a team of individuals worked to recruit and pay Marines, primarily from the San Diego area, and their dependents – all TRICARE beneficiaries – to obtain compounded medications that would be paid for by TRICARE.  This information was sent to Choice MD, the Tennessee medical clinic that employed Craven.  Craven then conducted phone calls with the TRICARE beneficiaries, and recommended that they be prescribed compounded medications despite never examining the patients in person.  These prescriptions were then signed by doctors employed by Choice MD, were not given to the beneficiaries, but sent directly to particular pharmacies controlled by co-conspirators, which filled the prescriptions and billed TRICARE at exorbitant prices.

Josh Morgan, a former Marine from San Diego, pleaded guilty in April to Conspiracy to Commit Health Care Fraud for his role in recruiting TRICARE beneficiaries to fraudulently receive these prescriptions.  The doctors who signed the prescriptions, Carl Lindblad and Suzy Vergot, pleaded guilty to the same charges in September.

Between December 2014 and May 9, 2015 – the day that TRICARE stopped reimbursing for compounded medications – doctors working at Choice MD signed 4,442 total prescriptions.  Over this time, their co-conspirators billed TRICARE $65,679,512 for these prescriptions.

Craven represents the seventh defendant charged in relation to this fraud scheme.  In addition to Morgan, Lindblad, and Vergot, Jimmy and Ashley Collins, the owners of Choice MD, and CFK, Inc., the owner of a co-conspirator pharmacy, were indicted in March 2018 on charges of Conspiracy to Commit Health Care Fraud and Illegal Payments of Remunerations.  That case remains pending.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Benjamin J. Katz and Mark W. Pletcher.

DEFENDANTS                                              Case Number             18-cr-4209-JLS                       

Michelle Candace Craven                                   Age: 52

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Conspiracy to Commit Health Care Fraud – Title 18, U.S.C § 1349

Maximum penalty: 10 years’ imprisonment and fine of higher of $250,000 or double loss amount

AGENCIES

Defense Criminal Investigative Service

Naval Criminal Investigative Service

IRS Criminal Investigation Division, Gulfport, MS

Federal Bureau of Investigation - Jackson, MS Field Office

Hattiesburg, Miss. – Roderick Simpson, 44, of Hattiesburg, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett to 121 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Assistant Special Agent in Charge Derryle Smith with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Simpson was also ordered to pay a $5,000 fine.

On October 10, 2016, DEA agents utilized a confidential source to purchase 55.4 grams of methamphetamine from Simpson for $900. Simpson pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine on June 6, 2018.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shundral H. Cole.

TRENTON, N.J. – A Florida woman was sentenced today to 60 months in prison for her role in an oxycodone distribution conspiracy in Flemington, New Jersey, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Alicia Balaban, 35, of Wellington, Florida, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Freda Wolfson to an information charging her with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute oxycodone. Judge Wolfson imposed the sentence today in Trenton federal court.

According to the documents filed in the case and statements made in Court:

From April 2016 through December 2017, Balaban, her mother, Michele Call, 63, of Flemington, New Jersey, and Nelida Rios, 55, also of Flemington, worked together to secure prescriptions for oxycodone, fill them at pharmacies in Flemington, and then distribute the pills to Marie DeJulia, 42, of Lodi, New Jersey, from Call’s and Rios’ residences for resale. The conspirators distributed thousands of 30 mg oxycodone pills.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Wolfson sentenced Balaban to three years of supervised release, and fined her $1,500. She ordered forfeiture of $93,560.

All of the defendants have pleaded guilty. On Nov. 20, 2018, Call was sentenced to 54 months in prison and Rios was sentenced to 48 months in prison. DeJulia is awaiting sentencing.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Jersey Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Valerie A. Nickerson in Newark, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Danielle Alfonzo Walsman, Chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Public Protection Unit in Newark.

Last of Ten Defendants Sentenced in Scheme That Involved Installing Card- Skimming Devices in Gas-Pumps, Creating Cloned Credit Cards Using Captured Account Numbers, and Using Cloned Cards to Bulk-Buy Prepaid Cards at Meijer Branches Throughout the Greater Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and Lansing Areas

          GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN— Guillermo Rodriguez, 45, of Miami, Florida, was sentenced to serve 78 months in the Federal Bureau of Prisons for leading a wire-fraud and identity-theft conspiracy that operated between Florida and Michigan for several months during 2015, U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge announced today.

          Rodriguez is the last of a total of 10 defendants sentenced in the course of a long-running investigation that was led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Lansing office of the FBI’s Detroit Division, and that resulted in three related cases that were prosecuted in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids. In addition to Rodriguez, the following defendants, all of whom were residents of the Miami, Florida, area, received lesser prison sentences based on their varying roles in the scheme and whether they cooperated with investigators after their arrests: Yunier Cudello-Albelo, 33, was sentenced to serve 69 months; Yaimari Gonzalez-Santos, 39, was sentenced to serve 12 months; Juan Ledesma, 27, was sentenced to serve 63 months; Elisabe Hernandez-Perez, 46, was sentenced to serve 12 months; Yoel Alfonso, 39, was sentenced to time-served in pretrial detention; Dunieski Gutierrez, 41, was sentenced to serve five months; Jesus Carrazana, 45, was sentenced to serve six months; Isabel Tiedemann, 29, was sentenced to time-served in pretrial detention; and Yimi Garcia-Rodriguez, 29, was sentenced to serve 24 months.

          "This is the second gas-pump skimmer scheme my Office has prosecuted over the last few years," stated U.S. Attorney Birge. The first involved a group operating out of Austin, Texas, and resulted in seven convictions and a prison sentence of over 12 years for its leader, Antonio Dejesus Perez-Martinez. "This second investigation and series of prosecutions should send a second strong message to any group that might contemplate coming into West Michigan to carry out this scheme that we are ready, willing, and able to federally prosecute every member of that group. If a criminal is bound and determined to commit gas-pump identity theft, West Michigan is definitely not the place they want to try it."

          "The crime of identity theft and the scams associated with it have become more sophisticated and pervasive. These individuals thought they could target victims around the country with impunity," said Timothy R. Slater, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Detroit Division. "The FBI, along with our federal, state and local partners, is dedicated to stopping these perpetrators and educating the public so that citizens do not fall victim to these schemes."

          The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Hagen W. Frank. The case was investigated primarily by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Ingham County Sheriff’s Office, the Eaton County Sheriff’s Office, the Grand Rapids Metropolitan Fraud and Identity Theft Team, the Michigan State Police, the Unites States Postal Service, and the Michigan Department of Weights and Measures (which has regulatory responsibility over commercial gas pumps). Employees of Meijer Theft Protection Services also provided valuable assistance.

END

Three people from Michigan were sentenced to prison for using stolen identities to apply for fraudulent bank loans.

Brian J. Graham-Love, 24, was sentenced to 51 months in prison after previously pleading guilty to aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

Madison Isaacson, 20, was sentenced to two years in prison after previously pleading guilty to aggravated identity theft.

Kristi Belanger, 20, was sentenced to three months in prison, after previously pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

The trio used fraudulently obtained personal identification information, which they used to open bank accounts and submit loan applications at various Dollar Bank locations in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

They successfully used the identities of four people to receive loans totaling $52,000, of which they withdrew nearly $41,000, according to court documents.

This case was investigated by the FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the University Heights Police Department.  It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert Kern and Danielle Angeli.

HARRISBURG – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Eddie Viera, age 44, of Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, was sentenced on November 27, 2018, by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Christopher C. Conner to 84 months’ imprisonment for drug trafficking.

According to U.S. Attorney David J. Freed, Viera distributed and possessed with intent to distribute heroin. He was arrested by the Pennsylvania State Police on February 15, 2016 near mile marker 77 of Interstate 81 after a high speed pursuit for nearly 20 miles. Along the route of the pursuit, Troopers found over 950 individual packets of heroin which Viera had thrown out the window of his car.  Viera was already the subject of an arrest warrant after members of the Franklin County Drug Task Force observed him allegedly distributing heroin and found over 70 individual packets of heroin in his apartment in December 2014.   

Chief Judge Conner sentenced above the recommended guidelines in this case stating, among others, that Viera was “spectacularly incorrigible.” 

The matter was investigated by the Franklin County Drug Task Force, the Pennsylvania State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott R. Ford prosecuted the case.  

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

This case was also brought as part of a district wide initiative to combat the nationwide epidemic regarding the use and distribution of heroin.  Led by the United States Attorney’s Office, the Heroin Initiative targets heroin traffickers operating in the Middle District of Pennsylvania and is part of a coordinated effort among federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who commit heroin related offenses.

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Ten people were sentenced to prison for their roles in a conspiracy to install credit-card skimmers on gas pumps in at least five states, including several locations in Northeast Ohio, and steal account information from thousands of people.

The sentences are as follows:

Ranset Rodriguez, 41, of Miami: 81 months in federal prison.

Jose Manuel Iglesias, 52, of West New York, New Jersey: 81 months in federal prison.

Yaniris Alfonso, 32, of Miami: 57 months in federal prison.

Edelberto Hernandez, 46, of Kiowa, Colorado: 33 months in federal prison

Yadian Quesada-Hernandez, 32, of Tampa: 30 months in federal prison.

Alejandro Moises, 53, of Miami: 24 months in federal prison.

Luis Enrique Jimenez Gonzales, 28, of Hialeah, Florida: 24 months in federal prison.

Eddy Pimentel-Vila, 46, of Jersey City, New Jersey: 24 months in federal prison.

Yonasky Rosa, 35, of Tampa: 22 months in federal prison.

Lester Enrique Castaneda, 39, of Hialeah, Florida: six months in federal prison and six months of home detention.

Juan Carlos Banos, 59, of Parma, and Carlos Rodriguez Martinez, 43, of Aurora, Colorado, remain at large.

The defendants conspired to install skimmers on point-of-sale terminals inside of gas pumps located in Ohio, Colorado, Maryland, Utah and elsewhere between August 2014 and July 2017. The defendants then re-encoded the stolen credit/debit card account information, including the actual account holders’ names, onto counterfeit credit cards, which were used to fraudulently purchase gift cards, merchandise, goods and services in Ohio and elsewhere, according to court documents.

The defendants traveled from Florida to install the skimmers and worked together to distract gas station employees and/or obstruct their view while the skimmers were covertly installed. Skimmers were discovered on gas pumps in Rocky River, Solon, Stow, Hudson, Fairview Park, Medina, Cleveland, Canton, Cuyahoga Falls, Norton, Austintown and elsewhere, according to court documents. 

“This group stole credit card information from thousands of people all over Northeast Ohio just looking to fill up their gas tanks and continue on their way,” U.S. Attorney Justin E. Herdman said. “Instead, these victims had their personal information taken and used to make fraudulent credit cards, which this group in turn used to steal merchandise.”

“This sophisticated, multistate criminal enterprise stole credit card numbers from innocent folks putting gas in their cars,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Stephen D. Anthony. “These individuals, now in prison, caused financial difficulties for numerous everyday citizens, and for this, they are being held accountable.”  

“This investigation is a great example of how all levels of law enforcement worked together to dismantle a criminal organization which targeted unsuspecting victims from around the United States.  The multiple arrests and successful prosecution could not have happened if it weren’t for the hard work and dedication from the men and women of the state police, local law enforcement, and FBI,” said Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Schuck, U.S. Secret Service - Cleveland Field Office. “The Secret Service is dedicated to protecting our nation’s financial infrastructure and this an example of one of the success stories.”

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Megan R. Miller and Robert W. Kern are prosecuting the case following an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Secret Service and the Boulder County (Colorado) Sheriff’s Office.

                PLANO, Texas – A 49-year-old Carrollton, Texas man has been indicted for child exploitation charges in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Joseph D. Brown today.

Joseph Patrick Mosher was named in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury on Nov. 15, 2018 charging him with sexual exploitation of a child.  Mosher appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kimberly Priest Johnson on Nov. 19, 2018 and was ordered to be detained until trial.

According to the indictment, in September of 2018, a teenager known to Mosher reported to school officials that he believed he had been secretly filmed in a bathroom of Mosher’s home.  Carrollton Police Department detectives executed a search warrant at the home and seized a number of hidden cameras and electronic devices.  A forensic review of those devices revealed a number of videos of males captured in private spaces within the home.  It appeared that the males did not know they were being recorded or that Mosher had obtained footage of them engaged in private or personal activities.

If convicted, Mosher faces a minimum of 15 years and up to 30 years in federal prison. 

Any minors who may have had contact with Joseph Patrick Mosher or visited his home are urged to contact the U.S. Attorney’s Office at 1-800-804-3547.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office will take the necessary steps to protect all minors’ identities and confidential information. 

This case is being prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ 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 www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

This case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Carrollton Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marisa J. Miller.

It is important to note that an indictment should not be considered as evidence of guilt and that all persons charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

PITTSBURGH – A federal grand jury returned an indictment today against a resident of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, on charges of violating the federal narcotics and firearms laws, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.

The three-count Indictment, returned on Nov. 27, named Landon Alexander Gatta, 23, of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, as the sole defendant.

According to the Indictment, on November 5, 2018, in the Western District of Pennsylvania, Gatta possessed with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of a mixture containing fentanyl and heroin. Gatta, a felon, also is charged with unlawfully possessing a firearm and ammunition on November 5, 2018, and possessing that firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Federal law prohibits felons from possessing a firearm or ammunition.

The law provides for a maximum total sentence of not less than 10 years and up to life in prison, a fine of up to $5,500,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history of the defendant.

Assistant United States Attorney Jerome A. Moschetta is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.

The Pennsylvania State Police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives conducted the investigation leading to the Indictment in this case. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that has been historically successful in bringing together all levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice has made turning the tide of rising violent crime in America a top priority.

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

RICHMOND, Va. – A Henrico man was sentenced today to 21 months in prison and five years of supervised release for possessing 30 baggies of crack cocaine hidden in his underwear inside Richmond Police Department (RPD) headquarters. 

According to court documents, on September 5, 2017, Zyejuan Redd, 21, was arrested by RPD officers on an outstanding warrant within the area of the Mosby Court public housing community. After being taken into custody, officers transported Redd to RPD headquarters where he was placed alone in an interview room equipped with video monitoring equipment. Several minutes later, RPD officers observed Redd on the video monitor reaching into and jostling the front of his pants in an attempt to retrieve an item. Based on Redd’s movements, RPD officers confronted Redd and discovered plastic bags containing 30 individually wrapped corner baggies of crack cocaine and a baggie containing a heroin.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Scott W. Hoernke, Acting Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Washington Field Division, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge M. Hannah Lauck. Assistant U.S. Attorney Erik S. Siebert prosecuted the case.

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 is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:18-cr-72.

            WASHINGTON– Steven Gorham, 30, formerly of Temple Hills, Md., was sentenced today to a 42-month prison term after pleading guilty to a federal firearms charge stemming from his arrest in Southeast Washington, announced U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu and Peter Newsham, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Gorham pled guilty in September 2018, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, to a charge of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a person convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year. He was sentenced by the Honorable Randolph D. Moss. Following his prison term, Gorham will be placed on three years of supervised release. He also faces the possibility of additional time for violating terms of his release from prison in an earlier case.

            According to the government’s evidence, on Dec. 4, 2017 at about 4:30 p.m., officers from the Metropolitan Police Department’s 7^th District Crime Suppression Team approached Gorham and other individuals on the 2300 block of Ainger Place SE, in the Woodland Terrace neighborhood. The officers asked Gorham how he was doing, at which time he tried to flee. Officers pursued Gorham and stopped him a block away. They recovered from his waistband a .380-caliber firearm with five rounds of ammunition in the magazine and one round in the chamber.  The firearm previously was reported stolen from Thomasville, N.C.

            At the time of his arrest in this case, Gorham was barred from possessing a firearm due to a 2008 conviction in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia. That conviction was for assault with intent to kill while armed and a related firearms offense. In that case, on July 1, 2006, Gorham shot a man in the abdomen and then, when the victim turned to flee, shot him again in the back.  The victim was paralyzed during this assault, which took place on the 2300 block of Ainger Place SE, the same location where Gorham was stopped with this firearm. Gorham was sentenced to a 12-year prison term for the 2006 attack and placed on supervised release on Oct. 13, 2017. He was arrested in this case less than two months later.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Liu and Chief Newsham commended the work of MPD’s 7^th District Crime Suppression Team.  They recognized the work of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; ATF’s Crime Gun Intelligence Center referred the case for federal prosecution.  They acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialists Jeannette Litz and Teesha Tobias and Legal Assistants Katie Cowley and Emma Atlas. Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Vanore, who prosecuted the case.

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

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Fred Swan, Jr., 30, of Rochester, NY, who was convicted of Hobbs Act Robbery, Attempted Hobbs Act Robbery, and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, was sentenced to serve 192 months in prison by Chief U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Katelyn M. Hartford, who handled the case, stated that the defendant robbed four establishments at gunpoint between February 11, 2017, and March 24, 2017:

o On February 11, 2017, the defendant robbed the China Star restaurant at 600 West Main Street in Rochester. Swan entered the store and pointed a handgun at a restaurant employee and demanded money. The defendant grabbed approximately $60 cash from the store employee’s hand and fled the restaurant on foot;

o On February 18, 2017, the defendant robbed Alice’s Market convenience store at 1477 South Avenue in Rochester. Swan entered the store, went up to the register, pointed a handgun at the store clerk, and demanded money. The clerk gave the defendant approximately $50 cash from the register. The defendant fled from the store and was driven away from the scene by another individual;

o On February 19, 2017, the defendant robbed the Mobil Quick Mart store at 1810 Mount Hope Avenue in Rochester. Swan entered the store and pointed a handgun at a store employee as he approached the counter and demanded money from the register.  The employee refused to give Swan money. The defendant walked around the counter and struck the employee in the head with the handgun, and the two of them fell to the floor fighting. Swan eventually fled the store without getting any money; and

o On March 24, 2017, the defendant robbed the Fast Mart Inc. store at the Valero gas station at 931 South Clinton Avenue in Rochester. Swan entered the store, pointed a handgun at the store clerk, and demanded money. The clerk handed over $280 cash from the register. The defendant then demanded two packs of cigarettes, which the clerk handed to him. Swan fled the store with the cash and cigarettes.

On March 24, 2017, law enforcement officers searched the defendant’s apartment at 229 Meigs Street in Rochester and they recovered the .40 caliber handgun that was used in the Alice’s Market robbery.

Today’s sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Gary Loeffert, the Rochester Police Department, under the direction of Chief Mark Simmons, and the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Eric Laughton.

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