ALEXANDRIA, La. – Jasmine Roberson, 31, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has been sentenced by United States District Judge Dee D. Drell to 60 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, on arson charges.

According to information presented in court, on April 20, 2019, firefighters with the Alexandria Fire Department responded to reported fires at a strip mall on Elliott Street in Alexandria, Louisiana. When they arrived at the location, they observed flames in a store-front window and saw a hole in the window. The flames had subdued in that area, but as they moved through the business, they located flames through an open doorway and extinguished the fire. Evidence at the scene led firefighters to suspect arson.

On May 3, 2019, firefighters were called once again to reported fires at the same strip mall on Elliott Street in Alexandria. When they arrived, they found that another business had its front window broken and soot was visible on the ceiling above the window. Firefighters found an unbroken glass bottle that was used to fashion a Molotov cocktail that was filled with gasoline and a rag stuffed in the charred bottle.

Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) began an investigation into both fires and discovered that they were related. After conducting interviews of witnesses, ATF agents learned that the owner of the store that suffered damage from the second fire was in a romantic relationship with an inmate at Hunt Correctional Center. The victim indicated that the boyfriend/inmate had given her money to help start her business but when he learned that her business was not doing well financially, he told her he was going to burn it down.

Further investigation revealed that the boyfriend/inmate contacted Jasmine Roberson and a co-conspirator to set the fires so he could collect insurance money on the failing business. The first fire on April 20, 2019 was started on the wrong business so Roberson went back on May 3, 2019 and attempted to set fire to the correct business location.

A DNA analysis was performed on the glass bottle found at the scene and Roberson was identified as a potential match for DNA found on the bottle used at the fire. Roberson admitted to agents that he attempted to set fire to both businesses.

The ATF and Alexandria Fire Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Aaron Crawford prosecuted the case.

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DAYTON, Ohio – Sean T. Porter, 56, of Moraine, Ohio, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 240 months in prison and a lifetime of supervised release for attempting to solicit nude photos from teenage girls while registered as a sex offender.

According to court documents, from October 2020 through January 2021, Porter created seven accounts with the profile names “Sean” and “Mike” on a dating app. In that time, Porter communicated with approximately 52 individuals who identified themselves as minors as young as 11 years old and sent pornographic images of himself to at least 26 suspected minors. He also solicited sexual content from the minors. One of the minors Porter communicated with was an FBI undercover officer who was using two personas of minor females.

Porter made a number of requests for the undercover officer to send nude images.  Porter also sent images of himself in an exposed state.  On Valentine’s Day 2021, Porter sent a video of himself engaging in sexual conduct to the agent purporting to be a teenager.

Porter committed these acts while on federal supervision after serving 10 years in federal prison for his last offense.

Vipal J. Patel, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and J. William Rivers, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division, announced the sentence imposed by Senior U.S. District Court Judge Thomas M. Rose. Assistant Deputy Criminal Chief Laura I. Clemmens and Assistant United States Attorney Rob Painter are representing the United States in this case.

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PEORIA, Ill. – A Canton, Illinois, man, Joseph M. Graham, 29, of the 500 block of Baxter Court, pleaded guilty on October 21, 2021, to the charge of soliciting an obscene visual depiction of a minor. Sentencing has been scheduled for February 24, 2022, at the federal courthouse in Peoria, Illinois.

In court today, before U.S. District Judge James Shadid, Graham admitted that he used an online application to request sexually explicit images of an individual whom he believed to be 8 years old.

During the hearing, the government stated that in December 2019 Graham initiated messages arranging to meet with individuals he believed to be the child and his father and, on January 8, 2020, traveled to a coffee shop on North Prospect Road, in Peoria, where he was taken into custody by federal agents.

Graham remains in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending sentencing.

For the offense of solicitation of an obscene visual depiction of a minor, the statutory penalty is not less than five years and up to 20 years in prison; a fine of up to $250,000; and a term of supervised release of not less than five years and up to life.

The charges were investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Springfield Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald Hanna is representing the government in the prosecution.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice initiative led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), to marshal federal, state, and local resources to 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.

BOSTON – A former bank teller was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for her role in a scheme to fraudulently obtain funds from customer bank accounts.

Valnardia Novas, 25, of Framingham, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock to one year of home confinement and two years of supervised release. Novas was also ordered to pay restitution of $341,433 and forfeiture of $27,900. On Dec. 10, 2020, Novas pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud conspiracy.

This case was the result of a larger investigation into multiple schemes to withdraw funds, in the form of checks and cash, from customer accounts at several financial institutions. The organizers of the scheme paid individuals to go into banks with falsified identification documents in the names of bank customers and request withdrawals from those customers’ accounts. Bank tellers were also recruited to accept the falsified identification documents without scrutiny and facilitate the withdrawals. The fraudulently-obtained funds were then negotiated through accounts at other financial institutions that had been opened in the names of fictitious business entities. 

Novas was a bank teller at TD Bank and was paid to participate in this scheme. In September and October 2017, co-conspirators instructed Novas to fraudulently withdraw more than $300,000 in the form of bank checks and cash.  

Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell and Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Leslie A. Wright and Christopher J. Markham of Mendell’s Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit prosecuted the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Baltimore, Maryland – Robert Allen Valladares, age 37, of Elkton, Maryland, pleaded guilty yesterday to distribution of fentanyl, and two counts of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.    

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Colonel Woodrow W. Jones III, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police; Cecil County State’s Attorney James A. Dellmyer; Cecil County Sheriff Scott Adams; and Chief Carolyn Rogers of the Elkton Police Department.

According to his guilty plea, in December 2019, the Cecil County Drug Task Force received information from a confidential informant that identified Valladares as a Cecil County controlled substances dealer acting under the alias of “Rob Valley” and provided his cell phone number.

On February 8, 2020, the Elkton Police Department was dispatched to a residence in reference to an overdose death. Upon arrival, an officer made contact with the victim’s father who stated that his son was deceased in his bedroom from, what he believed to be, an overdose. Emergency medical services arrived and pronounced the victim deceased shortly after.

Within the victim’s bedroom, officers located two empty wax bags stamped “Facetime” laying on the victim’s bed, an uncapped syringe that appeared to contain blood in it, and four cell phones. According to the victim’s family, the victim was recently discharged from a recovery house and appeared to be recovering well.

The victim’s father then informed officers that the night before the victim’s death, the victim asked his father to take him to his friend “Rob’s” house to obtain suboxone strips. The victim’s father knew Valladares and had meet him previously. Once the victim’s father drove him to Valladares’ residence, the victim went inside for approximately two minutes and returned to his father’s vehicle.

An autopsy performed on the victim’s body revealed the cause of death to be a mixed drug intoxication of acyrl fentanyl, fentanyl, desproprionyl fentanyl, methamphetamine and xylazine.

A subsequent forensic data extraction of the victim’s four cell phones revealed that the victim had called Valladares one day before his death and texted Valladares that his father was bringing him to his residence, and that they had to “keep it on the low”.

As stated in his plea agreement, on February 13, 2020, investigators executed a search warrant on Valladares’ residence. As a result of the search warrant, investigators seized prescription alprazolam pills, a digital scale, mail addressed to Valladares, five blue wax bags stamped “Facetime” containing suspected fentanyl, additional empty blue wax bags stamped “Facetime,” and a cell phone. Analysis of three of the blue wax bags stamped “Facetime” revealed the substance to be fentanyl.

A subsequent forensic data extraction of Valladares’ cell phone revealed that it contained over 80,000 text messages and messages consistent with the distribution and sale of controlled substances.

On May 4, 2020, a traffic stop was conducted on a vehicle leaving the Valladares residence. A K-9 scan resulted in the discovery of baggies containing fentanyl in the car. The driver advised that he had been purchasing drugs from Valladares for the past three to four months. Analysis of the substance within the bags seized from the car was confirmed to be fentanyl.

On May 19, 2020, a search warrant was executed at Valladares’ Elkton, Maryland residence. Valladares was detained at the front door of the residence. A search of the house yielded 38 bags of fentanyl. Valladares admits that he possessed the fentanyl with the intent to distribute it.

Valladares and the government have agreed that, if the Court accepts the plea agreement, Valladares will be sentenced to between 132 months and 168 months in federal prison.  U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander has scheduled sentencing for January 7, 2022 at 2 p.m. 

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the Maryland State Police, Office of the State’s Attorney for Cecil County, Cecil County Sheriff’s Office, and the Elkton Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kim Y. Oldham and Mary W. Setzer, who are prosecuting the case.

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Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge George J. Hazel sentenced Barry Thomas Goldsborough, age 53, of Laurel, Maryland to 195 months in federal prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release, for receipt of child pornography and for violating his federal supervised release. Goldsborough was on supervised release for two previous federal sex offense convictions for attempting to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity and for possession of child pornography.

As part of his sentence, Goldsborough acknowledged that he will be required to continue to register as a sex offender in the places where he resides, is an employee, and is a student, pursuant to the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), and the laws of his state of residence. Goldsborough will also be required to pay $9,000 in restitution.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge James R. Mancuso of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore; Colonel Woodrow W. Jones III, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police; and Chief Malik Aziz of the Prince George’s County Police Department.

  According his plea agreement, in April 2019, an internet search engine and internet portal sent a CyberTipline Report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that reported an email account associated with Goldsborough had uploaded 181 files of suspected child pornography to his user account. Law enforcement subsequently reviewed the 181 files and determined that approximately 70 of the 181 files were considered child pornography. 

On November 19, 2019, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Goldsborough’s Laurel, Maryland residence and seized several electronic devices. A review of one of the devices revealed one image of child pornography. Law enforcement subsequently obtained a search warrant for Goldsborough’s email address, which revealed that Goldsborough sent and received multiple images of child pornography. For example, on January 27, 2018, Goldsborough received an image of child pornography from another email address. Goldsborough responded to the sender, indicating that he liked young girls between eight and 14 years old. Goldsborough also claimed to have had sex with an 11-year-old girl. 

As a result of an executed search warrant of Goldsborough’s Internet storage account, law enforcement located approximately 26 videos documenting the sexual abuse of children.

Goldsborough has two prior federal sex offense convictions involving minor children. Specifically, a prior conviction for attempted enticement of a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee and a prior conviction for possession of child pornography in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. Goldsborough was serving a 72-month term of federal supervised release from those two prior federal convictions at the time he committed the instant offense.  Prior to those convictions, Goldsborough was convicted in the District Court for Baltimore County in 2005 for Possession of Child Pornography and sentenced to a sentence of one year, suspended, with two years of supervised probation. Goldsborough was also convicted in the District Court for Howard County in 2015 with Failing to Register as a Sex Offender and sentenced to a two-day period of incarceration. 

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 Attorney’s 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.  For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc and click on the "Resources" tab on the left of the page.         

For information about the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office’s priorities regarding Project Safe Childhood, visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-childhood.  For more USAO-MD information about internet safety for children, visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended HSI, Maryland State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and the Prince George’s County Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy F. Hagan, who prosecuted the federal case.

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            WASHINGTON – Eleanor R. Milligan, 61, a longtime payroll administrator from Laurel, Md., was sentenced today to eight years in prison for carrying out a scheme in which she embezzled more than $1.6 million from her former employer.

            The announcement was made by Acting U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips and Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office Criminal Division.  

            Milligan was found guilty by a jury in July 2021, following a trial in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and first-degree theft. She was sentenced by the Honorable Timothy J. Kelly. The Court also ordered Milligan to pay restitution in the amount of $1,618,082 as well as a forfeiture money judgment in the same amount. Following her prison term, she will be placed on at least three years of supervised release.

            According to the government’s evidence at trial, except for brief periods, Milligan worked from 1998 to 2016 for a company based in Washington, D.C. Beginning in at least or about August 2009, and continuing until in or about March 2016, Milligan used her fellow employees’ names and personal identifying identification without authority to transmit false payment requests to herself through the employer’s payroll processing system.

            In total, Milligan stole money on more than 500 occasions, totaling $1,618,082. In addition, when she was nearly caught, Milligan created a fake email and mailing address in the name of another employee, whose identity she used to hide her scheme and that she was actually receiving the fraudulent payments herself.

            In announcing the sentence, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillips and Special Agent in Charge Jacobs commended the work of those who investigated the case from the FBI’s Washington Field Office. They also expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). They commended the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialists Chad Byron and Michon Tart, Victim-Witness Service Coordinator Tonya Jones, Supervisory Litigation Technology Specialist Leif Hickling, Litigation Technology Specialist Jeanie Latimore-Brown, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Diane Lucas and Christine Macey, who prosecuted the case.

PHOENIX, Ariz. – On Wednesday, Augustine Apkaw, 34, of Phoenix, Arizona, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Susan M. Brnovichto four years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Apkaw previously pleaded guilty to Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury.

On September 16, 2020, Apkaw hit his victim in the face with a baseball bat, causing her to suffer a broken jaw and tooth.  Apkaw is an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Community.

The Gila River Police Department conducted the investigation in this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Raynette Logan, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Phoenix, handled the prosecution.

CASE NUMBER:            CR-21-00198-PHX-SMB
RELEASE NUMBER:    2021- 073_Apkaw

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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.

NORFOLK, Va. – A Norfolk man was sentenced today to 262 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl and bribery of a public official.

According to court documents, Donatarius Leshay Boone, 31, received numerous packages through the U.S. Postal Service containing pressed fentanyl pills over the course of approximately sixteen months. Once received, Boone wholesale distributed the pills to at least three other individuals for further sale and distribution.  Although these pills contained fentanyl, they were pressed to look like real prescription opioid medication.

Between February and March 2021, law enforcement identified two packages, each containing approximately 2,000 fentanyl pills, bound for the Eastern District of Virginia. They further determined that one package was bound for a business located in Windsor and the other to a rented postal box at a UPS Store located in Suffolk. On March 15, Boone arrived to pick up the second package and, when confronted by law enforcement, he attempted to flee on foot. Upon apprehension, Boone admitted he was the intended recipient of both packages. He further admitted he had been responsible for the importation of approximately 10,000 pills per month. A subsequent search of Boone’s residence resulted in the recovery of a firearm, additional quantities of cocaine and fentanyl, scales, and commonly used adulterants.

Shortly after his interaction with law enforcement, Boone attempted to bribe a federal agent to form a “partnership.” Boone told the agent in a recorded phone call that, in exchange for $20,000, he expected the agent to protect him from criminal charges and assist him in maintaining his lines of drug supply and distribution. The agent immediately reported the conversation to his supervisors. On April 29, 2021, Boone was arrested after arranging a meeting with the agent. After his arrest, agents searched his car and found the $20,000 he promised. 

Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Mark R. Herring, Attorney General of Virginia; Raymond Villanueva, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C.; Daniel A. Adame, Inspector in Charge of the Washington Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and Al Chandler, Interim Chief of Suffolk Police, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of Professional Responsibility provided significant assistance in this case. 

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristin Bird 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 are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:21-cr-44.

BOSTON – A U.S. Postal employee pleaded guilty today in connection with stealing mail believed to contain controlled substances. 

Shawn M. Herron, 44, of Whitman, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute and one count of theft of mail by a postal employee. U.S. District Court Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV scheduled sentencing for Feb. 17, 2022. Herron was indicted in August 2020.

Since September 2005, Herron has been employed with the Postal Service where he has served as Supervisor of Customer Service at the Canton Post Office and more recently as Manager of Customer Services at the Fall River Post Office (FPO).

Herron tracked packages he suspected of containing narcotics and, rather than dealing with them appropriately, opened them and stole the contents. Specifically, Herron profiled priority parcels from Puerto Rico and West Coast states as well as parcels flagged by law enforcement as potentially containing illegal narcotics and then removed them from the mail stream. Herron tracked the suspected parcels through Postal Service databases and monitored their arrival at the FPO. After their arrival Herron located the parcels and brought them to his personal office space, where he stole the narcotics for distribution.

The charge of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $500,000. The charge of theft of mail provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell; Matthew M. Modafferi, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General; and Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eugenia M. Carris, Deputy Chief of Mendell’s Public Corruption & Special Prosecutions Unit, and Charles Dell-Anno, of Mendell’s Major Crimes Unit, are prosecuting the case.

Miami, Florida – A man who coerced two women and a girl into selling themselves for sex in Miami during the 2020 Superbowl was found guilty of commercial sex trafficking by a federal jury in Ft. Lauderdale this week.  

During the eight-day trial, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alejandra L. López and Brian Dobbins presented evidence that in January 2020, Edward Walker, 48, of New Haven, Connecticut, brought two adult women and a 17-year-old girl to Miami from Connecticut to engage in commercial sex acts during the SuperBowl.  While in Miami, Walker emotionally, psychologically, and financially coerced the victims into soliciting customers and having sex with them in exchange for money, all of which Walker kept.  Additional evidence showed that after the Superbowl in Miami, Walker planned to take the victims to Chicago, Illinois (during the NBA All-Star Game), New Orleans, Lousiana (during Mardi Gras), Las Vegas, Nevada, and other places to further sexually exploit them.   

The jury found Walker guilty of sex trafficking by force and coercion, sex trafficking of a minor and by force and coercion, and transporting a person for sexual activity.  U.S. District Judge James I. Cohn will sentence Walker on January 6, 2022, in federal court in Ft. Lauderdale.  He faces a sentence of up to life in prison.

This case was brought 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 the U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Divisions 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.

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami; and Alfredo Ramirez, III, Director of Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD), announced the guilty verdict.

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, in partnership with MDPD’s Human Trafficking Squad, and the South Florida Human Trafficking Task Force.  FBI New Haven; Homeland Security Investigations Miami; Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Miami Office; Miami Beach Police Department; and Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office assisted.  

To report suspected human trafficking or to obtain resources for victims, please call 1-888-373-7888; text “BeFree” (233733), or live chat at HumanTraffickingHotline.org.  The toll-free phone, SMS text lines, and online chat function are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.  Help is available in English, Spanish, Creole, or in more than 200 additional languages.  The National Hotline is not managed by law enforcement, immigration or an investigative agency.  Correspondence with the National Hotline is confidential and you may request assistance or report a tip anonymously.

To learn more about the National Resource Hotline visit www.humantraffickinghotline.org.  To learn more about the U.S. Department of Justice’s efforts to combat human trafficking visit www.justice.gov/humantrafficking.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case no. 20-cr-20087.

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NASHVILLE – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee announced its partnership with the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division as it launches the department’s new Combatting Redlining Initiative.

Redlining is an illegal practice in which lenders avoid providing services to individuals living in communities of color because of the race or national origin of the people who live in those communities. The new initiative represents the department’s most aggressive and coordinated enforcement effort to address redlining, which is prohibited by the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.

“Lending discrimination runs counter to fundamental promises of our economic system.  When people are denied credit simply because of their race or national origin, their ability to share in our nation’s prosperity is all but eliminated,” said Attorney General Garland. “Today, we are committing ourselves to addressing modern-day redlining by making far more robust use of our fair lending authorities. We will spare no resource to ensure that federal fair lending laws are vigorously enforced and that financial institutions provide equal opportunity for every American to obtain credit.”

“When Redlining is employed by lending institutions, communities of color are prevented from recognizing the American dream of home ownership and become stagnated in their present socio-economic status,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Mary Jane Stewart for the Middle District of Tennessee.  We are pleased to partner with the Civil Rights Division to address this illegal practice and will pursue the appropriate remedy when such practices are identified.”

Redlining, a practice institutionalized by the federal government during the New Deal era and implemented then and now by private lenders, has had a lasting negative impact. For American families, homeownership remains the principal means of building wealth, and the deprivation of investment in and access to mortgage lending services for communities of color have contributed to families of color persistently lagging behind in homeownership rates and net worth compared to white families. The gap in homeownership rates between white and Black families is larger today than it was in 1960, before the passage of the Fair Housing Act of 1968.

This initiative, which will be led by the Civil Rights Division’s Housing and Civil Enforcement Section in partnership with U.S. Attorney’s Offices, will build on the longstanding work by the Division that seeks to make mortgage credit and homeownership accessible to all Americans on the same terms, regardless of race or national origin and regardless of the neighborhood where they live. The initiative will:

• Utilize U.S. Attorneys’ Offices as force multipliers to ensure that fair lending enforcement is informed by local expertise on housing markets and the credit needs of local communities of color.

• Expand the department’s analyses of potential redlining to both depository and non-depository institutions.  Non-depository lenders are not traditional banks and do not provide typical banking services but engage in mortgage lending and now make the majority of mortgages in this country.

• Strengthen our partnership with financial regulatory agencies such as to ensure the identification and referrals of fair lending violations to the Department of Justice.

• Increase coordination with State Attorneys General on potential fair lending violations.

Individuals may report lending discrimination by calling the Justice Department’s Housing Discrimination Tip Line at 1-833-591-0291, or submitting a report online.

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Seattle – A prolific drug trafficker, who sold deadly fentanyl-tainted pills, was sentenced this week in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 66 months in prison and three years of supervised release.  Raoul V. Normandia, Jr., 30, was arrested April 24, 2020, near his Federal Way, Washington, residence.  At his sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Robert S. Lasnik said Normandia, “was a drug dealer…. He was making a large amount of money selling drugs…. It was a pattern of criminal activity that he chose to do.”

“Fentanyl-tainted pills are flooding Western Washington and resulting in record high overdose rates and deaths,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. “Fatal fentanyl overdoses are up 82% in the first six months of 2021 as compared to 2020. We must do all we can to stop the distribution of these pills. They are made to look like oxycodone but are far more powerful and deadly.”

The investigation in this case began April 18, 2020, when a Navy sailor was found dead in his workspace aboard a Navy ship.  In his pocket were two counterfeit pills that were laced with fentanyl.  The Naval Criminal Investigative Services (NCIS) were able to identify former Navy sailor Ivan Armenta, 21, as the sailor who provided the pills to the sailor who died. Armenta had distributed the pills to three other sailors as well: Two became ill and one was revived by Narcan.  Armenta was sentenced to 4 years in prison last month.

The investigation into the source of the pills revealed Chase Friedrich, 29, had supplied the pills to Armenta.  He was arrested April 21, 2020, at his Des Moines, Washington, apartment.  A search of Friedrich’s apartment revealed cocaine, a handgun, and a bag of approximately 100 counterfeit pills.  Friedrich pleaded guilty in May 2021, and today he was sentenced to 3 years in prison and 3 years of supervised release. 

Investigators determined that Raoul Normandia had supplied the pills to Friedrich.  Law enforcement arrested Normandia in his car a few blocks from his Federal Way residence.  In his vehicle was cocaine.  During a court‑authorized search of Normandia’s residence, law enforcement recovered cocaine, MDMA, firearms (including an assault rifle), ammunition, body armor, narcotics, and various signs of the drug trade, including scales, baggies, heat sealers, Moneygram receipts, and twenty cell phones.

Normandia pleaded guilty in April 2021 to conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, possession of MDMA and cocaine with intent to distribute, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. 

In asking for a 7-year prison sentence, prosecutors wrote to the court, “Counterfeit prescription pills containing fentanyl… pose a unique and substantial danger of overdose. The fact that these pills are manufactured to look like a Precocet increases the likelihood that they will be taken not only by those who intend to take fentanyl, but also by individuals who believe they are taking nothing more potent than an oxycodone. This danger is particularly acute in light of the fact that fentanyl cannot be detected by smell or taste, and someone cannot tell if there is fentanyl in a pill merely by looking at it.”

Judge Lasnik noted that it is the families of the sailor who died, and of the defendants, who suffer from the conduct. “There is so much tragedy in this case…. There’s four families that are rendered to their knees by these actions,” the Judge said.  Judge Lasnik said he reduced Normandia’s sentence, in part, because Normandia has been in custody throughout the pandemic -- suffering with the illness and through long-term lockdowns in the Bureau of Prisons.

The case was investigated by NCIS and the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office as a part of the West Sound Narcotics Enforcement Team (WestNET) and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lyndsie Schmalz.

           Montgomery, Ala. –    On Thursday, October 21, 2021, Ashley Nicole Haydt, 36, from Taylor, Alabama, was convicted by a federal jury for her role in a Dothan truck bombing that targeted a former boyfriend and father to one of her children, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Sandra J. Stewart.

            According to court records and evidence presented at trial, in 2017, Haydt worked at Wiregrass Rehabilitation Center in Dothan with Sylvio Joseph King. Testimony presented at trial showed that the two became friends and that Haydt began to tell King about her troubled relationship with her long-time boyfriend and father of her unborn child. Haydt was upset that her boyfriend would not agree to marry her and that he ultimately ended their relationship. In June 2017, the child was born and, soon after, the ex-boyfriend filed for custody. The jury saw numerous texts from Haydt to King during this time where she villainized her ex-boyfriend. She repeatedly expressed concern over losing custody of her infant child and how her life would be better if the ex-boyfriend were out of the picture. Those texts continued for several weeks until, at the suggestion of Haydt, they began using an alternate app to communicate called Snapchat. One of the principal features of Snapchat is that pictures and messages are usually only available for a short time before they become inaccessible to their recipients.

            Based on the ongoing encouragement from Haydt to eliminate her ex, King began to purchase materials needed to construct a pipe bomb. Haydt provided King with her ex-boyfriend’s address and in the early morning hours of October 23, 2017, King placed the explosive device in the ex’s work truck that was parked at his home. King detonated the bomb while the victim was driving to work and shrapnel from the device was blasted into the victim’s back and hip area. Thanks to the actions of a passing motorist and first responders, the victim survived. After the explosion, King sent Haydt a message that read, “boom, I felt that from 120 feet away.”

            Law enforcement quickly became suspicious of Haydt’s involvement in the crime. Haydt gave numerous conflicting statements during multiple interviews and when agents checked her cell phone, they discovered she had deleted text messages she exchanged with King the day of the bombing and before. She had also deleted the Snapchat app. However, significant evidence of their prior communications remained on King’s phone and he also testified during the trial confirming Haydt’s involvement. After a four-day trial, the jury found Haydt guilty of conspiracy, malicious use of an explosive, and concealing the commission of a felony. King had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy and malicious use of an explosive device in October of last year. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled in the next few months for each of them. At that hearing, they will be facing a minimum of 7 years, and a maximum of 40 years, in prison.

Acting U.S. Attorney Stewart would like to thank the following agencies for their diligent work on this case: The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Houston County Sheriff’s Office, the Dothan Police Department, and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA). The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Alabama Fire Marshal’s Office also assisted. Assistant United States Attorneys Brandon Bates and Chelsea Phillips prosecuted the case.

WILMINGTON, N.C. – Alexander Hawes, 36, of Duplin County, North Carolina, was sentenced yesterday to 145 months in prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of 50 grams or more of a substance containing methamphetamine, possession with intent distribute a quantity of methamphetamine, two counts of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and two counts of possession of a sawed-off shotgun. 

According to court documents, evidence presented in court, and other documents, on July 17, 2020 and again on August 4, 2020 the Duplin County Sheriff’s Office made controlled purchases of methamphetamine from Hawes in Rose Hill.  Hawes had a handgun during each of these deals.

On August 29, 2020, the Duplin County Narcotics Unit served a search warrant at Hawes’ residence in Rose Hill.  Law enforcement recovered a fully automatic rifle with a high-capacity magazine, a small amount of methamphetamine, and a sawed-off shotgun.   Law enforcement also found “buy money” from a controlled purchase that Duplin County had made from Hawes two days earlier.

The Duplin County Narcotics Unit working with the Drug Enforcement Administration arrested Hawes at his residence in Rose Hill on December 9, 2020.  Hawes had a loaded handgun and rifle on his person.  Law enforcement searched his residence and found another fully automatic weapon with a high-capacity magazine, 43 grams of methamphetamine, and another sawed-off shotgun.

During the course of the investigation, law enforcement was able to determine that Hawes was responsible for possessing with the intent to distribute and distributing almost a kilogram of methamphetamine.

This is part of operation “Fighting Jelly Fish” which is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launders, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

G. Norman Acker, III, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after sentencing by Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Duplin County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Severo   prosecuted the case.

Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 21-CR-00048-M.

Miami, Florida – A federal jury convicted a pair of Florida residents yesterday for their roles in an illegal exports scheme. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Peter Sotis, 57, of Delray Beach, and Emilie Voissem, 45, of Sunrise, participated in a scheme to cause the illegal export of rebreather diving equipment to Libya in August 2016.

Rebreathers enable a diver to operate undetected for long periods of time underwater by producing little to no bubbles and by efficiently re-circulating the diver’s own breath after replacing its carbon dioxide with oxygen. Because of these enhanced capabilities, rebreathers have a dual use, with both civilian and military applications, and are specifically included on the Commerce Control List, which is the list of dual use items that are export controlled and licensed by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security (DOC-BIS). Such restricted items require a DOC-BIS license if the rebreathers are to be exported to any countries with national security concerns, such as Libya.

The defendants were warned that it was illegal to export the items to Libya without a DOC-BIS license and they willfully attempted to export those items after receiving an instruction from a Department of Commerce special agent that such items were detained and not to be exported while a license determination was pending. The exhibits and testimony at trial showed that the defendants lied to and misled Ramas LLC, a shipping company in Virginia, about what the DOC-BIS agent had told them and about whether the rebreathers had a military use. Testimony at trial also showed that Sotis threatened a government witness not to cooperate with the federal investigation.

Sotis and Voissem were both convicted of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), attempted violation of the IEEPA and smuggling. Voissem was found not guilty of making false statements to a federal agency.

They are scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 6, 2022 and face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine for attempting to violate the IEEPA, a maximum of 5 years and a $250,000 fine for the IEEPA conspiracy, and a maximum of 10 years and a $250,000 fine for smuggling. A federal district judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez for the Southern District of Florida; Acting Assistant Attorney General Mark J. Lesko for the Justice Department’s National Security Division; Special Agent in Charge Ariel Joshua Leinwand of the DOC-BIS, Office of Export Enforcement, Miami Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Anthony Salisbury of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Miami Field Office made the announcement.

DOC-BIS Miami and HSI Miami investigated the case.  U.S. Customs and Border Protection Miami and FBI Miami assisted.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Thakur and Andy Camacho of the Southern District of Florida and Trial Attorney Nathan Swinton of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case no. 19-cr-20693.

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Memphis, TN – Today the Department of Justice, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced an agreement to resolve allegations that Trustmark National Bank engaged in lending discrimination by redlining predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Memphis, Tennessee. "Redlining" is an illegal practice in which lenders avoid providing services to individuals living in communities of color because of the race or national origin of the people who live in those communities.

"Enforcement of fair lending laws is a priority for the Civil Rights Division. Our fair lending laws enable us to hold banks and lenders accountable when they fail to serve communities of color in our country. Having fair access to mortgage lending opportunities is the cornerstone on which families and communities can build wealth," said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Civil Rights Division. "This settlement makes clear our commitment to ensuring equal access to lending opportunities for all communities, regardless of race or national origin."

"Home ownership," said Joseph C. Murphy, Jr., Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, "is the foundation of economic success for most American families. Fair lending practices required by federal law - and the enforcement of those laws - ensure a better future for all Americans. Our office believes that enforcement actions of this type are essential to fair lending system that benefits everyone, and we will continue to prioritize these cases."

The parties’ proposed consent order was filed today in conjunction with a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. The complaint alleges that Trustmark National Bank violated the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which prohibit financial institutions from discriminating on the basis of race, color, or national origin in their mortgage lending services. The complaint also alleges that Trustmark National Bank violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act, which prohibits offering or providing to a consumer any financial product or service not in conformity with federal consumer financial law.

Specifically, the complaint alleges that, from 2014 to 2018, Trustmark engaged in unlawful redlining in Memphis by avoiding predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhoods because of the race, color, and national origin of the people living in, or seeking credit for properties in, those neighborhoods. The complaint also alleges that Trustmark’s branches were concentrated in majority-white neighborhoods, that the bank’s loan officers did not serve the credit needs of majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhoods, that Trustmark’s outreach and marketing avoided those neighborhoods, and that Trustmark’s internal fair-lending policies and procedures were inadequate to ensure that the bank provided equal access to credit to communities of color.

The department opened its investigation after one of Trustmark’s regulators, the OCC, referred the matter. Trustmark has fully cooperated in this investigation and amicably resolved the allegations.

"Trustmark purposely excluded and discriminated against Black and Hispanic communities," said Director Rohit Chopra of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). "The federal government will be working to rid the market of racist business practices, including those by discriminatory algorithms."

"The OCC has had a long history of strong partnership with the Justice Department’s Housing and Civil Enforcement Section of the Civil Rights Division, referring potential fair lending violations and sharing our extensive examiner, economist and legal findings, as we did in the Trustmark matter," said Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael J. Hsu. "Today’s announcement is important because it signifies the unified and unmitigated focus that each of our agencies has placed on the enforcement of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. Our collective efforts are critical to addressing the discriminatory lending practices that create and reinforce racial inequity in the financial system."

Under the proposed consent order:

• Trustmark will invest $3.85 million in a loan subsidy fund to increase credit opportunities for current and future residents of predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in the Memphis area; dedicate at least four mortgage loan officers or community lending specialists to these neighborhoods; and open a loan production office in a majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhood in Memphis.

• Trustmark will devote $400,000 to developing community partnerships to provide services to residents of majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Memphis that increase access to residential mortgage credit.

• Trustmark will devote at least $200,000 per year to advertising, outreach, consumer financial education, and credit repair initiatives in and around Memphis.

• Trustmark will pay a total civil money penalty of $5 million to the OCC and CFPB.

• Trustmark already has established a Fair Lending Oversight Committee and designated a Community Lending Manager who will oversee these efforts and work in close consultation with the Bank’s leadership.

The Justice Department’s enforcement of fair lending laws is conducted by the Civil Rights Division’s Housing and Civil Enforcement Section. Additional information about the Section’s fair lending enforcement can be found at www.justice.gov/fairhousing. Individuals may report lending discrimination by calling the Justice Department’s Housing Discrimination Tip Line at 1-833-591-0291, or submitting a report online.

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“A unanimous federal jury has found that Lev Parnas and Andrey Kukushkin conspired to manipulate the United States political system for their own financial gain.  In order to gain influence with American politicians and candidates, they illegally funneled foreign money into the 2018 midterm elections with an eye toward making huge profits in the cannabis business.  Campaign finance laws are designed to protect the integrity of our free and fair elections – unencumbered by foreign interests or influence – and safeguarding those laws is essential to preserving the freedoms that Americans hold sacred.  I commend the career prosecutors of this Office’s Public Corruption Unit whose outstanding work has helped bring to justice those who sought to illicitly influence our government.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced that the following persons were arraigned or appeared this week before U.S. Magistrate judges on indictments handed down by the Grand Jury or on criminal complaints. The charging documents are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty:

Appearing in Billings before U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy J. Cavan and pleading not guilty on Oct. 21 was:

Colton James Fredrickson, 35, of Billings, on charges of prohibited person in possession of a firearm and ammunition. If convicted of the most serious crime, Fredrickson faces a maximum 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Fredrickson was detained pending further proceedings. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. PACER case reference. 21-71.

Appearing on Oct. 20 was:

Michael Paul Nohrenberg, 57, of Ryegate, on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute meth. If convicted of the most serious crime, Nohrenberg faces a mandatory minimum 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least five years of supervised release. The FBI’s Western Transnational Organized Crime Task Force and the Eastern Montana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force investigated the case.  PACER case reference. 21-61.

Appearing on Oct. 19 was:

Jeffrey Ryan O’Keefe, 27, of Billings, on charges of prohibited person in possession of a firearm. If convicted of the most serious crime, O’Keefe faces a maximum 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. O’Keefe was detained pending further proceedings. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Billings Police Department investigated the case.  PACER case reference. 21-34.

Appearing on Oct. 18 was:

Cameron Ross Forney, 38, of Billings, on charges of false statement during a firearms transaction and prohibited person in possession of a firearm. If convicted of the most serious crime, Forney faces a maximum 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Forney was detained pending further proceedings. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. PACER case reference. 20-135.

Appearing in Great Falls before U.S. Magistrate Judge John T. Johnston and pleading not guilty on Oct. 19 was:

Shane William Driscoll, 36, of Whitehall, on charges of prohibited person in possession of a firearm. If convicted of the most serious crime, Driscoll faces a maximum 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Driscoll was detained pending further proceedings. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Montana Probation and Parole Division and Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.  PACER case reference. 21-09.

Nicole Ann Lopez, 37, of Great Falls, on charges of wire fraud. If convicted of the most serious crime, Lopez faces a maximum 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Lopez was released pending further proceedings. The FBI investigated the case. PACER case reference. 21-69.

Appearing in Missoula before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen L. DeSoto and pleading not guilty on Oct. 21 was:

Dale Robert Johnson, 36, of Butte, on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute meth. If convicted of the most serious crime, Johnson faces a mandatory minimum 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least five years of supervised release. Johnson was detained pending further proceedings. The Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Postal Service, Butte Silver Bow Police Department and Montana Division of Criminal Investigation investigated the case. PACER case reference. 21-34.

The progress of cases may be monitored through the U.S. District Court Calendar and the PACER system. To establish a PACER account, which provides electronic access to review documents filed in a case, please visit http://www.pacer.gov/register.html. To access the District Court’s calendar, please visit https://ecf.mtd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/PublicCalendar.pl.

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