Tampa, FL – U.S. District Judge Susan C. Bucklew has sentenced Zachary Hunter (41, St. Petersburg) to six years in federal prison for receiving and possessing child pornography. The Court also ordered him to forfeit three computers, an external hard drive, and a thumb drive.

Hunter pleaded guilty on April 4, 2017.

According to court documents and testimony at the sentencing hearing, Hunter was responsible for possessing 1,366 images and 503 videos depicting child pornography, including some that involved prepubescent children and sadistic conduct.

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Gregory T. Nolan.

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 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 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.

LUBBOCK, Texas — Jessica Christine Holl, 29, of Lubbock, Texas, was sentenced this morning before Senior U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings to 210 months in federal prison for her role in a conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Holl pleaded guilty in March 2017 to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and furanyl fentanyl.

Co-defendants Sidney Caleb Lanier, 36, and Jamie Marie Robertson, 32, both of Lubbock, Texas, were both sentenced on June 9, 2017. Lanier was sentenced to 135 months in federal prison following his guilty plea in February 2017 to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl. Robertson was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison following her guilty plea also in February 2017 to one count of unlawful use of a communications facility.

The defendants have been in custody since their arrest in October 2016 following a law enforcement operation led by Lubbock Police Department and special agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration focused on the distribution in the Lubbock area of the highly potent synthetic opioid, fentanyl.

“Fentanyl is responsible for a sharp increase in overdoses and deaths across the country and poses a very high risk of death to not only users, but law enforcement and first responders as well,” said U.S. Attorney Parker. “Our local, state and federal partners will continue to push back hard on those who peddle this poison in our communities.”

While fentanyl can serve as a direct substitute for heroin in opioid-dependent individuals, it is a dangerous substitute as it is 50 times more potent than heroin and results in frequent overdoses that can lead to respiratory depression and death. Cheaper than heroin, fentanyl can be ingested, inhaled or absorbed through the skin; just a few milligrams, equivalent to a few grains of table salt, may be deadly.

According to documents filed in this case, from approximately January 2013 to October 27, 2016, Lanier, Holl, and Robertson did knowingly and intentionally combine, conspire, confederate and agree with each other to intentionally distribute and possess with intent to distribute a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl, a Schedule II controlled substance. Lanier supplied Holl and Robertson with large amounts of Fentanyl he purchased online on the Darknet from China using Bitcoin, a digital currency. The Fentanyl was shipped to various addresses in the Lubbock area, prepared by the defendants and sold for use.

The case was investigated by the Lubbock Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeff Haag is in charge of the prosecution.

# # #

SCRANTON - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Ashley Brosius, age 30, of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, a former player coordinator for the Mount Airy Casino Resort, was charged on July 5, 2017, in a criminal information with conspiracy to commit money laundering.

According to United States Attorney Bruce D. Brandler, the information alleges that Brosius and an unindicted co-conspirator defrauded the Mount Airy Casino Resort by engaging in a money laundering scheme involving the use of stolen names and PINs (personal identification numbers) that were tied to players’ club cards. It is alleged that with the assistance of an unindicted co-conspirator, Brosius used the stolen information to create duplicate player club cards, which she then loaded with “free slot play” credits. The fraudulently created cards were then given to the unindicted co-conspirator to gamble with, primarily at slot machines. The criminal information also alleges that the scheme began in November 2014 and continued to November 2015, and that the fraudulent free play amounted to approximately $140,000.

The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations and the Pennsylvania State Police. Assistant United States Attorney Michelle Olshefski is prosecuting the case.

Criminal Informations are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.

A sentence following a finding of guilty is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

The maximum penalty under the federal law for this offense is 20 years’ imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a $500,000 fine. The crime also carries a term of supervised release following imprisonment. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant’s educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.

# # #

SCRANTON – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that on July 6, 2017, United States District Judge Robert D. Mariani sentenced Lewis Davenport, age 40, to 48 months’ imprisonment and a two-year term of supervised release, for conspiring to commit theft on federal land, and for committing aggravated identity theft.

According to United States Attorney Bruce D. Brandler, Davenport and other individuals broke into unoccupied automobiles located in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Davenport admitted that he and his conspirators stole electronics, cellular phones, credit cards and other items from the automobiles, and used the stolen credit cards at various retail businesses in Bartonsville and in Easton, Pennsylvania.

In pronouncing the sentence, Judge Mariani emphasized Davenport’s extensive criminal history, which included 19 convictions involving theft- and credit card fraud-related activities. Judge Mariani also imposed a $1,174.89 order of restitution as part of Davenport’s sentence.

The investigation was conducted by the National Park Service Rangers. Assistant United States Attorney Phillip J. Caraballo prosecuted the case.

# # #

LAREDO, Texas – A 48-year-old man from Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, has been sentenced for conspiracy to import crystal methamphetamine and brown heroin, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez. Genaro Garcia-Gutierrez pleaded guilty Nov. 1, 2016.

Today, U.S. District Judge George P. Kazen ordered him to prison for 150 months. Not a U.S. citizen, he is expected to face deportation proceedings following his release.

On July 20, 2016, Garcia-Gutierrez took part in a conspiracy to smuggle 5.22 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine and 1.7 kilograms of brown heroin through the Lincoln-Juarez International Bridge in Laredo. He was driving a 2008 Dodge Nitro with Mexican license plates. Authorities soon discovered 10 packages containing the crystal methamphetamine and four packages with the brown heroin in the rear passenger quarter panel of the vehicle.

Garcia-Gutierrez has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and Customs and Border Protection conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney José Angel Flores Jr. prosecuted the case.

HOUSTON – A 38-year-old resident of Houston has been arrested in connection with the submission of falsified funds requests to an investment adviser for the Basilian Father’s Missionsof the Catholic Church (BFM), announced Acting United States Attorney Abe Martinez.

A grand jury returned a sealed indictment against Rosina K. Blanco aka Rosina Aviles on June 29, 2017, charging her with eight counts of wire fraud. The indictment was unsealed upon her arrest by federal authorities today. She is expected to make her initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Frances Stacy at 2:00 p.m.

The BFM is headquartered in Sugar Land and raises money in North America to support schools in Mexico and Colombia. It reports to the Congregation of St. Basil, an order of Catholic priests headquartered in Toronto, Canada. The BFM receives funding from several sources to include the Congregation of St. Basil in Canada, individual mail solicitations and mission offerings.

The indictment alleges that on Aug. 31, 2015, Blanco was hired to be the bookkeeper for the BFM. She allegedly then caused more than $1 million in unauthorized transfers from BFM accounts to accounts in her name. Blanco accomplished the theft by using a computer to transmit fraudulent and falsified funds transfer requests from the Southern District of Texas to the BFM investment manager in St. Louis who then unwittingly transferred more than $1 million in BFM funds, according to the charges.

From September 2015 to October 2016, Blanco facilitated the transfer of approximately $1,107,425 from BFM accounts to her personal accounts without authorization, according to the indictment. Blanco allegedly used the majority of these funds for personal expenses such as jewelry, furniture, luxury cars, real estate, Louis Vuitton handbags, goods and services for her dog and other luxury items.

The FBI conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Belinda Beek is prosecuting the case.

An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence.

A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.

NEWARK, N.J. – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit today affirmed the convictions of three Orthodox rabbis who were convicted at trial of conspiring to kidnap Orthodox Jewish husbands who refused to grant their wives permission to divorce, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced.

In a precedential opinion in the consolidated appeals of Orthodox rabbis Binyamin Stimler, Jay Goldstein, and Mendel Epstein, the appeals court affirmed the convictions in all respects.

The goal of the conspiracy was to coerce the recalcitrant husbands to grant a “get” – permission to obtain a religious divorce – to their wives. On appeal, the defendants raised numerous claims, including a constitutional challenge to a federal statute and a claim that the prosecution violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Norman Gross and Glenn J. Moramarco of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Appeals Division in Camden.

Stimler, Goldstein & Epstein Verdict Release

Stimler & Epstein Sentencing Release

Goldstein Sentencing Release

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA - On July 7, 2017, Robert William Simet, 64, of Omaha, Nebraska, was arrested for making threats against United States Senator Joni Ernst. A charge is merely an accusation and Simet is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating this matter.

No other information or comments will be released until documents have been filed with the court as part of the public record.

                                                                                    -END-

Learn more about this release by calling Rachel J. Scherle at 515-473-9300, or by emailing her at Rachel.Scherle@usdoj.gov.

SALT LAKE CITY – Dereck James Harrison, age 23, currently incarcerated at the Utah State Prison, pleaded guilty to one count of carjacking and one count of kidnapping in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City Thursday afternoon.  The two crimes resulted in the March 12, 2016, death of an individual identified in charging documents as K.P.R. U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby sentenced Harrison to life in federal prison following the convictions.

Harrison, who was charged by Felony Information in June, was arraigned on the charges contained in the Information earlier Thursday afternoon by U.S. Magistrate Judge Brooke C. Wells.

As a part of the plea hearing, Harrison stipulated to facts describing his conduct during the carjacking and kidnapping.  He admitted that on May 12, 2016, he and his father, Flint Harrison, took a truck from K.R.R., an employee of the Utah Transit Authority, after violently assaulting the victim.  He further admitted that when he and his father took the truck, his father intended to cause serious bodily harm or death to K.P.R.  Harrison admitted he aided and abetted his father in the assault. 

Harrison admitted that after carjacking the truck, he and his father abducted K.P.R. and transported him across state lines from Salt Lake City to Wyoming, where Harrison admitted that K.P.R. was killed by his father.  Harrison again admitted that he aided and abetted his father in  killing K.P.R.

Federal prosecutors had concurrent jurisdiction in the case with Salt Lake County, Utah, and Lincoln County, Wyoming. As a part of the plea agreement federal prosecutors reached with Harrison, they agreed to recommend Harrison’s federal sentence run concurrently with the sentence he received in Wyoming and one he is currently serving as a result of a conviction in Utah’s Second Judicial Court in Farmington.  Harrison will finish the sentence he is currently serving at the Utah State Prison before being transferred to Wyoming or federal prison.

“The crimes of carjacking and kidnapping committed in this case are very serious federal crimes.  The victim, killed during the commission of these crimes, was a resident of Utah.  The crimes occurred in Salt Lake County.  Although Harrison was prosecuted in Wyoming, it was important to my office and the Salt Lake District Attorney’s Office that Utah’s interests in this case be vindicated.  This guilty plea and the mandatory life sentence imposed resolve Utah’s interest.  We have done our part to hold Mr. Harrison accountable for his actions in Utah,” U.S. Attorney John W. Huber said today.

“We also had a strong federal interest in the case because it involved the extensive use of federal investigative resources, including resources of the FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service,” Huber said.

FORT WORTH, Texas — Robert Dion Ables, 40, of Hutchins, Texas, was sentenced this morning by U.S. District Judge John McBryde to 960 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in March 2017 to one count of receipt of child pornography and two counts of production of child pornography. Today’s announcement was made by U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Ables has been in custody since his arrest in December 2016 on a related federal criminal complaint.

“The sexual victimization and exploitation of these young girls is profoundly sad,” said U.S. Attorney Parker. “It is also, obviously, a serious crime for which the penalties are justifiably significant.”

According to documents filed in the case, in December 2016, U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents conducting a child pornography investigation served a search warrant at Ables’ residence in Hutchins, Texas. Ables acknowledged that, beginning in 2014, while he was living in the Fort Worth and Arlington area, he used social media applications such as Kik messenger on his phone to initiate contact with minor females. During his conversations, Ables convinced these females to send nude photographs of themselves.

At times Ables would coerce these females to send additional sexually explicit images by threatening to expose the female’s pictures on social media such as Facebook.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative, which was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/. For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ and click on the tab “resources.”

The U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Saskatchewan Internet Child Exploitation Unit (ICE) were in charge of the international investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney A. Saleem prosecuted.

# # #

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tom Larson, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Lake Lotawana, Mo., attorney was sentenced in federal court today for his role in a fraud conspiracy in which he and his former law partner stole more than $1.2 million from St. Luke’s Health System, a client of their former law firm.

Mark J. Schultz, 57, of Lake Lotawana, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips to one year and one day in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Schultz to pay $400,500 in restitution to St. Luke’s.

On Feb. 10, 2017, Schultz pleaded guilty to participating in a wire fraud and mail fraud conspiracy. His former law partner, Alan B. Gallas, 65, of Kansas City, Mo., also pleaded guilty in a separate but related case and was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Gallas to pay $1,224,264 in restitution to St. Luke’s.

Schultz and Gallas were attorneys and partners in the law firm of Gallas & Shultz in Kansas City, Mo., which specialized in collection work for corporations. Schultz and Gallas have each surrendered his license to practice law.

Gallas admitted that he engaged in a scheme from 2009 through July 2015 to defraud a client, St. Luke’s Health System, of monies collected by his law firm totaling $1,224,264. Schultz admitted that he participated in the conspiracy from January 2014 through July 2015.

Gallas was the attorney responsible for the St. Luke’s account at the law firm. After attempting to collect on patient accounts for a period of time, St. Luke’s would transfer its larger outstanding patient accounts to Gallas & Shultz for collection. As payments on patient accounts were received, the payments were logged into the case management system for the appropriate patient account. The monies were then deposited into the law firm’s trust account. On a periodic basis, often monthly, the firm would remit the patient payments collected to St. Luke’s.

Gallas admitted that he caused personnel at the law firm to withhold money from payments made to St. Luke’s by placing thousands of payments on “hold” status, then directing those funds be transferred from the trust account to the firm’s operating account. The pattern of not remitting some payments to St. Luke’s escalated significantly from 2012 to 2015. According to court documents, the firm withheld 601 payments totaling $211,391 in 2012. The firm withheld 699 payments totaling $266,696 in 2013. The firm withheld 625 payments totaling $227,892 in 2014. Through the month of July 2015, the firm withheld 625 payments totaling $216,845.

Schultz admitted that he agreed with Gallas and others to transfer funds from the trust account into the law firm’s operating account. According to court documents, Schultz was informed by his office manager in January 2014 that she was going to quit because she could no longer agree to move money out of the trust account. Schultz nevertheless continued to profit from the diversion of funds from the trust account until the discovery of the scheme in July 2015.

These cases were prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul S. Becker. They were investigated by the FBI.

TRENTON, N.J. – A Trenton man was sentenced today to 72 months in prison for his role in a drug trafficking organization that allegedly distributed hundreds of grams of heroin in Trenton and the surrounding areas, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced today.

Keith Hunter, a/k/a “Meech,” 24, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson in Trenton federal court to an information charging him with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin. As part of his guilty plea, Hunter also admitted possessing at least one firearm during the conspiracy.

In December 2016, Hunter and nine other members of a drug trafficking organization operating in Trenton were charged by criminal complaint with conspiracy to distribute heroin. The complaint referred to the drug trafficking organization as the “Abdullah DTO,” after its alleged leader, Ishmael Abdullah.

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

From June 2015 through December 2016, Hunter and others engaged in a drug trafficking organization that operated in the area of Spring and Passaic streets in Trenton. Through the authorized interception of telephone calls and text messages, controlled purchases of heroin, the use of confidential sources of information, and other investigative means, law enforcement learned that defendant Ishmael Abdullah was a leader of the Abdullah DTO and was responsible for obtaining significant quantities of heroin from multiple suppliers, including from defendants Jose Joaquin Torres-Mezquita and Ileana Sanchez. Abdullah and Hunter coordinated the organization’s distribution of heroin through themselves and other conspirators. Members of the Abdullah DTO used temporary prepaid phones, stash houses and cars, and spoke in code to avoid detection by law enforcement. In connection with their narcotics conspiracy, Hunter and other members of the Abdullah DTO maintained joint access to multiple firearms.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Wolfson sentenced Hunter to four years of supervised release.

Acting U.S. Attorney Fitzpatrick credited agents and officers with the Greater Trenton Safe Streets Task Force, including special agents of the FBI, Newark Division, Trenton Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher; special agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), Newark Division, Trenton Satellite Office, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Lawrence J. Panetta; officers of the Trenton Police Department, under the direction of Director Ernest Parrey Jr.; officers of the Princeton Police Department, under the direction of Chief of Police Nicholas Sutter; officers of the Ewing Police Department, under the direction of Chief of Police John P. Stemler III; and detectives of the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo J. Onofri, with the investigation.

He also thanked special agents of the FBI’s Philadelphia Field Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael Harpster; special agents of Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Terence S. Opiola; officers of the New Jersey State Police, under the direction of Superintendent Col. Joseph R. Fuentes; and officers of the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Sheriff John A. Kemler, for their assistance in the case.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Brendan Day of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Criminal Division in Trenton.

The charges and allegations against the remaining defendants are merely accusations and those defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Defense counsel: Robert J. Haney Esq., Princeton, New Jersey

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tom Larson, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Springfield, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for receiving and distributing child pornography over the Internet.

Danny Lee Dumas, 43, of Springfield, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to 20 years in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Dumas to spend the rest of his life on supervised release following incarceration.

Dumas pleaded guilty on Nov. 9, 2016. Dumas admitted that he received and distributed child pornography between Jan. 1 and April 9, 2015.

An investigation began in Suffolk County, New York, when another person told law enforcement officers that he e-mailed images of child pornography to Dumas. Law enforcement officers also received two CyberTips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children involving online chats with another person, to whom Dumas sent images of child pornography.

Local law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Dumas’s residence on April 9, 2015, and seized his computer and other digital storage devices.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher. It was investigated by the FBI, the Southwest Missouri Cybercrimes Task Force and the Suffolk County, N.Y., Police Department.

Project Safe Childhood

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc . For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."

July 7, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                        Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                                  at (410) 209-4885

Greenbelt, Maryland – On July 6, 2017, Richard Butler III, age 35, of Hyattsville, Maryland, pled guilty in federal court to being a felon in possession of explosives and malicious use of explosive materials.

The guilty plea was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Special Agent in Charge Daniel L. Board, Jr. of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - Baltimore Field Division; and Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Chief Marc S. Bashoor.

According to the plea agreement, on or about March 4, 2016, at approximately 3:25 a.m., the Prince George’s County Fire Department (PGFD) responded to the Overland Garden Apartments in Landover, Maryland for an automated general fire alarm. PGFD personnel arrived on scene and subsequently located the remnants of a fire in the master bedroom.

Fire investigators arrived on scene and conducted an investigation inside and around the apartment. Investigators located a concrete brick inside the master bedroom on the floor between the bed and window. Investigators located, in close proximity to the brick, an improvised incendiary device,—specifically, a clear plastic water bottle, which contained an unknown liquid, and a brown paper towel material protruding from the mouth of the bottle. Investigators also located a similar plastic bottle melted to the top of the burned bed. On the exterior of the apartment, in close proximity to the broken master bedroom window, investigators located a blue plastic one-quart motor oil container. The three bottles were submitted to the ATF Forensic Science Laboratory for examination and were found to contain the presence of gasoline.

At the time of the incident, two adults and three minors were inside the apartment.

Surveillance video recordings revealed that at approximately 2:27 a.m. on March 4, 2016, an individual matching the description of Butler walking into a local gas station where he purchased the gasoline and filled three plastic containers.

According to his plea agreement, Butler had previously sustained a conviction for an offense punishable by more than one year of imprisonment, which made him ineligible to possess destructive devices.

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the ATF and Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer Sykes and Thomas Sullivan who prosecuted the case.

A Cleveland man was sentenced to nearly five years in prison and ordered to pay $7.8 million in restitution for violating the Clean Air Act by failing to remove asbestos prior to demolishing a former factory in Cleveland, Acting U.S. Attorney David A. Sierleja said.

Christopher Gattarello, 53, and Robert A. Shaw, Sr., 77, of Ypsilanti, Michigan also defrauded a Louisiana company out of $1.1 million. Shaw was sentenced to a year in prison.

U.S. District Judge Donald C. Nugent sentenced Gattarello to 57 months in prison. He ordered restitution of $5.9 million to the city of Cleveland to clean the site, nearly $800,000 to the U.S. EPA for work already done on the site, and $1.1 million to the defrauded Louisiana company.

“Mr. Gattarello created a garbage dump in a residential neighborhood near a school, which remains an environmental hazard,” Sierleja said. “He has caused irreparable harm and deserves this punishment.”

“The defendants in this case put unsuspecting workers at great risk and threatened the health and safety of the community when they failed to follow proper procedures for removing asbestos,” said Scot Adair, Acting Special Agent in Charge of EPA’s criminal enforcement program in Ohio. “This case demonstrates that EPA and its law enforcement partners will prosecute those who willingly break environmental laws in an attempt to cut costs.”

“Let these sentencings stand as a warning to those who victimize the public that whether you are the main perpetrator of a fraud, or merely assist in its facilitation, the law will hold all guilty parties accountable,” said Ryan L. Korner, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office. “The successful prosecution of these individuals is a direct result of the excellent partnership that federal, state and kocal law enforcement has in combating violations of federal law."

According to court documents and testimony:

Gattarello owned and controlled several garbage-hauling businesses in Cleveland, including Reach Out Disposal, All Points Rubbish Disposal and Axelrod Rubbish Recycling. Shaw worked for Gattarello at those companies, while William Jackson operated a Cleveland building demolition company.

Gattarello leased the former National Acme facility on East 131st Street in Cleveland in 2011. The 570,000 square-foot facility was built in 1917 and was used for manufacturing for nearly a century. It is located near many homes and a school. Gattarello represented that paper and cardboard waste would be recycled at the facility. Removing asbestos from the facility would cost an estimated $1.5 million.

Gattarello directed paper and cardboard waste, as well as municipal garbage, be delivered to the facility for recycling. Over the next several months, more garbage, paper and cardboard were delivered than could be handled, and Gattarello had the waste moved inside. By 2012, most of the facility was filled with garbage.

Gattarello entered into a contract to purchase the facility in May 2012. He intended to demolish the facility and sell any metal removed as scrap.

In July 2012, Jackson submitted a notice of demolition with Cleveland stating there was no asbestos in the National Acme facility. About 10 days later, the city rejected Jackson’s notice and stated demolition could not begin until proper notice was submitted and approved. About 10 days after that, on July 21, 2012, Jackson began demolition at Gattarello’s direction.

Asbestos fibers were released into the environment during demolition. Debris accumulated outside the facility and asbestos in the piles were exposed to the wind and elements.

Jackson had pleaded guilty to related charges and is awaiting sentencing

Gattarello and Shaw also admitted to defrauding AIM Business Capital LLC. The Lousiana company specializes in “factoring” – a practice in which AIM purchases accounts receivable, such as invoices billed to customers for goods and services. Businesses that factored their receivables with AIM received immediate cash. AIM purchased the receivables at a percentage discount of the invoice. AIM made a profit by collecting the full amount of the invoice from the business’s customers.

Shaw entered into contracts with AIM for the purchase of receivables from Reach Out and Axelrod in 2011 and 2012. Gattarello directed the creation of false and fraudulent invoices for the companies and directed that they be submitted to AIM. In some cases, Gattarello and Shaw directed other employees to create false letters attesting to the validity of the invoices, which Shaw forwarded to AIM. The loss to AIM was $1.1 million.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brad Beeson and Chelsea Rice following an investigation by the U.S. and Ohio Environmental Protection Agencies, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service.

DALLAS—Wesley Michael Woodyard, 66, most recently from Dallas, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater to 87 months in federal prison for his role in a scheme to defraud Ace European Insurance Company (ACE) located in London, England of more than $4.6 million from approximately 2002 through 2013, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Woodyard pleaded guilty in December 2016 to one count of wire fraud. Woodyard has been in custody since the time of his arrest in Minnesota in June 2016. Judge Fitzwater also order Woodyard to pay $3,943,179 in restitution and serve a three year term of supervised release following his release from federal prison.

According to documents filed in the case, Woodyard owned and operated Ringler Associates of North Texas, Incorporated (RANT). From approximately 1993 through 2015, RANT contracted with Ringler Insurance Agency to act as its agent to sell annuities provided by insurance underwriters whose products were offered for sale through Ringler Insurance Agency.

Ringler Associates, Incorporated (RAI) acted as a parent company for Ringler Insurance Agency and other subsidiaries conducting insurance business on behalf of RAI.

RANT settled insurance claims primarily by selling structured settlements (through annuities) offered for sale through Ringler Insurance Agency. The beneficiaries of these annuities were frequently victims of long term disability related injuries and/or death related to employment. While a policy beneficiary could choose to take a lump sum payment from the insurance company, usually the beneficiary agreed to be compensated through a structured settlement. The annuity would pay the beneficiary a set amount either monthly, quarterly or annually, for an extended period of time, often for the life of the beneficiary. Annuities usually offered the most cost-effective means for an insurance company to pay out a structured settlement. RANT sold annuities available on the open market through Ringler Insurance Agency.

According plea documents, during 2002 through 2013, Woodyard devised a scheme to defraud and to obtain money and property by false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises. Woodyard engaged in a pattern of deceitful conduct and made false representations designed to fraudulently induce representatives of Ace European Insurance Company (ACE) to send 11 wire transfers totaling approximately $4,674,258 to one or more bank accounts controlled by Woodyard. ACE initially sent these funds to companies acting as a third party administrator who then transferred the ACE funds to Woodyard. As charged in the indictment, Woodyard stole $4.6 million which was intended to be used to purchase annuities for beneficiaries of ACE European insurance policies. The beneficiaries directly impacted by Woodyard’s extensive and lengthy scheme were United Nations employees who were either injured or killed in connection with their employment.

Woodyard falsely represented to ACE, as well as third party administrators Roger Rich and Company, and Vanbreda International, that Woodyard intended to lawfully use all funds received from ACE to purchase several life insurance annuity contracts from Metropolitan Life, Incorporated or some other legitimate insurance company. Woodyard also caused ACE funds to be sent from Roger Rich and Vanbreda directly to RANT rather than to the annuity provider and thus denied Ringler Insurance Agency its commission earned for the transaction. Woodyard fraudulently concealed from ACE and others that Woodyard unlawfully used the majority of ACE funds for Woodyard’s own personal financial benefit. As a result of this scheme, from 2002 through 2013, Woodyard fraudulently obtained a total of about $4,674,258 from ACE European Insurance Company.

As charged in the indictment, Woodyard made a total of about $857,626 in so-called “lulling payments” during the period from October 2004 through June 2014. These lulling payments were made by Woodyard in an effort to give beneficiaries the false impression that Woodyard had actually purchased legitimate insurance annuity contracts for these beneficiaries. Woodyard made these lulling payments in order to make detection of his extensive 11 year scheme more difficult. For restitution purposes, Woodyard was given credit for these lulling payments. Including all relevant conduct losses and credits, Woodyard was ordered to pay total restitution of $3,943,179.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Jarvis prosecuted.

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BROOKLYN, NY– Gerald Cocuzzo, a registered broker, was sentenced earlier today to 18 months in prison after having pleaded guilty to securities fraud for his role in the fraudulent market manipulation of ForceField Energy Inc. (ForceField), a publicly traded company previously listed on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol “FNRG.”

The sentencing was announced by Bridget M. Rohde, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and William F. Sweeney, Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office.

According to court filings and facts presented at the plea hearing, between 2009 and 2015, Cocuzzo and others engaged in a scheme to defraud investors in ForceField, a purported worldwide distributor and provider of LED lighting products and solutions, by artificially controlling the price and volume of traded shares of ForceField through, among other means: (1) using nominees to purchase and sell ForceField stock without disclosing this information to investors and potential investors; (2) orchestrating the trading of ForceField stock to create the misleading appearance of genuine trading volume and interest in the stock; and (3) concealing secret payments to stock promoters and broker dealers who promoted and sold ForceField stock to investors and potential investors while falsely claiming to be independent of the company. The fraudulent scheme caused a loss of approximately $131 million to the investing public.

Between January 2015 and April 2015, Cocuzzo received secret cash kickbacks from a ForceField executive in exchange for purchasing ForceField stock in his clients’ brokerage accounts. Cocuzzo did not disclose these payments to his clients. Cocuzzo and his co-conspirators took pains to conceal their participation in the fraudulent scheme by using prepaid, disposable cellular telephones and encrypted, content-expiring messaging applications to communicate with each other, and by paying kickbacks in cash during in-person meetings.

Today’s proceeding, which took place before United States District Court Judge Brian M. Cogan, is the third sentencing to take place in connection with the fraud in ForceField securities. Five other defendants in this matter who pleaded guilty, and one defendant convicted after trial, are awaiting sentencing.

The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Business and Securities Fraud Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Mark E. Bini and Lauren H. Elbert are in charge of the prosecution.

The Defendant:

GERALD COCUZZO

Age: 39

Residence: Delray Beach, Florida

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 16-CR-234 (BMC)

Earlier today in federal court in Brooklyn, Brian Adams, leader of a Brooklyn-based sex trafficking ring, was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment and 10 years’ supervised release by United States District Judge Jack B. Weinstein, based on his guilty plea last February to sex trafficking young women in Brooklyn. He was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $10,500 to the victim identified in the indictment as Jane Doe #4.

The sentence was announced by Bridget M. Rohde, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and William F. Sweeney, Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI).

Beginning in 2004, the defendant trafficked and attempted to traffic numerous young women and girls, some as young as 12-years-old, for sex with adult men in Brooklyn. The defendant arranged sex dates for these young women and girls, and had them attend sex parties. The defendant ran the prostitution business from his home in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant, where many of these young women lived while they worked for him. He also subjected one of the young women, Jane Doe #1, to violence, forcing her to prostitute herself, and directed one of his workers to use Facebook to solicit underage women for the defendant’s sex parties, where adult men would pay the underage women for sex.

"The defendant’s conduct severely harmed numerous young women and girls, some of whom were still in middle school when preyed upon by the defendant and his co-conspirators. “This prosecution and sentence demonstrate that those who seek to profit from the sexual exploitation of others will be held accountable,” stated Acting United States Attorney Rohde.

“It defies explanation why men knowingly seek out girls as young as 12-years-old for sex, but the subject in this case knew he could make money offering up a service that attracts a vile clientele,” Assistant Director-in-Charge Sweeney stated. “He forced his young victims into a world most adults wouldn’t be able to cope with physically, or mentally. We won’t stop going after each and every criminal who exploits children and uses them for their own selfish profits.”

At sentencing, Jane Doe #1 recounted in a written statement that the defendant forced her to have sex beginning when she was 14-years-old, physically abused her, and threatened to have her and her family deported. Because of this abuse, Jane Doe # 1 stated, “I have tried to kill myself, and if it were not for my children I would continue to try. I am in therapy and can’t foresee the day I will be able to do without therapy.” She concluded, “Yet, I don’t want Mr. Adams to think he broke me. I try every day to become stronger. He will not win by having me destroyed for my entire life. I try each day to be stronger and to become the great mother that I know I can be. He tried to kill me in so many ways every day but I refuse to let that happen to me.”

The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Civil Rights Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Michael P. Robotti and Hiral D. Mehta are in charge of the prosecution.

The Defendant:

BRIAN ADAMS

Age: 35

Brooklyn, New York

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 14-CR-650

Bangor, Maine: Acting United States Attorney Richard W. Murphy announced that Victor Lawrence, 63, of Chelsea, Maine pled guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court to theft of travel reimbursement benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

According to court records, Lawrence submitted 77 claims from 2015 through 2016 to the VA for travel reimbursement, falsely claiming that he had driven nearly 100 miles to obtain treatment from the Togus VA Medical Center while he was in fact residing less than six miles away.

Lawrence faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He will be sentenced after completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office.

The investigation was conducted by the Criminal Investigation Division of the V.A. Office of the Inspector General.

            WASHINGTON – Sergio Velasquez Cardozo, 35, formerly of Falls Church, Va., was sentenced today to a 5 ½ year-prison term on charges stemming from an incident in which he snuck up on a college student and grabbed and groped her, announced U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips.

            A jury found Velasquez Cardozo guilty in April 2017 of kidnapping, third-degree sexual abuse, fourth-degree sexual abuse and misdemeanor sexual abuse. The verdict followed a trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Velasquez Cardozo was sentenced by the Honorable Lynn Leibovitz. Upon completion of his prison term, he will be placed on three years of supervised release. He also will be required to register as a sex offender for a 10-year period following his release from prison.

            According to the government’s evidence, at approximately 1 a.m. on Sept. 17, 2016, the victim was walking home to her apartment on the Georgetown University campus. While walking in the 3400 block of Prospect Street NW, Velasquez Cardozo snuck up behind her, grabbed her in a bear hug, and fondled her breast and buttocks.

            Officers with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) happened to be driving slowly right behind, and next to, Velasquez Cardozo when he attacked the woman. They immediately stopped and arrested him. He has been in custody ever since.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Phillips praised the work of officers from MPD’s Second District and from MPD’s Sexual Assault Unit. He also expressed appreciation for the work of the Georgetown University Police Department, which arrived on the scene shortly after Velasquez Cardozo was apprehended, and assisted both the victim and the MPD officers. He acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialist Brenda C. Williams, former Paralegal Specialist Joyce Arthur, Victim/Witness Advocate Veronica Vaughan, and Litigation Technology Specialists Aneela Bhatia and Anisha Bhatia. Finally, he commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kathleen “Katie” Kern and Peter V. Taylor, who investigated and prosecuted this case.