BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury today indicted three men on gun charges connected to an April burglary at a Tarrant pawnshop, announced acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent in Charge Steven L. Gerido.

A two-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges GABRIEL NATHANIEL POWELL, 18, of Center Point, with stealing 17 guns from Scott’s Jewelry and Pawn, a licensed firearms dealer, on April 5, and with selling or trading the 17 stolen guns. The indictment lists the firearms as three Century Arms model NPAPM70 rifles, one Leader Arms model AR 12 shotgun, one Sig Sauer model 716 rifle, six .40-caliber Glock pistols, one .45-caliber Glock pistol, three 9mm Glock pistols and two 10mm Glock pistols.

In separate indictments, the grand jury charged RYAN ARTHUR JOHNSON, 23, and REGINALD LAMAR BONNER, 37, both of Birmingham, with possessing stolen firearms on April 5. Johnson’s indictment charges him with possessing a stolen 10mm Glock model 20 Gen4 pistol. Bonner’s indictment charges him with possessing two stolen Glock handguns, one a 9mm pistol and one a 10mm pistol.

Bonner’s indictment also charges him as a convicted felon in possession of firearms for the two Glock pistols. According to the indictment, Bonner has the following prior convictions: possession of a controlled substance, Jefferson County District Court, 2008; possession of a controlled substance by fraud, Jefferson County Circuit Court, 2009; third-degree burglary and possession of burglar’s tools, Jefferson County Circuit Court, 2011.

The grand jury indicted five other men, in separate indictments, as convicted felons in possession of firearms. Those charges are as follows:

CHASTAN DACE MORROW, 34, of Arab, for possessing a Hi-Point .380 handgun on Oct. 16, 2015, in Marshall County, after being convicted in Humphreys County, Tenn., in 2006, for initiating the manufacture of methamphetamine, and for second-degree assault in Cullman County in 2007.

ANTOINE DORMAN, 29, of Oxford, for possessing a Hunter Arms 20-gauge double-barrel shotgun on Aug. 16, 2016, in Calhoun County, after being convicted of third-degree burglary and third-degree robbery in Calhoun County Circuit Court in 2008, and of third- and second-degree burglary and first-degree receiving stolen property in 2009, also in Calhoun County Circuit Court.

DONTERIO NAVELL KEITH, 27, of Talladega, for possessing a Davis Industries .380-caliber pistol on Jan. 1, 2017, in Talladega County, after being convicted in Talladega County Circuit Court of second-degree receiving stolen property in 2011 and of third-degree burglary in 2012, and being convicted in Clay County Circuit Court of third-degree and first-degree theft of property in 2014.

LOGAN MILAM, 22, of Childersburg, for possessing a Rohm .22-caliber revolver after being convicted of third-degree burglary and second-degree unlawful manufacturing of a controlled substance in Talladega County Circuit Court in 2016.

MICHAEL JUSTIN PARKER, 30, of Lincoln, for possessing a Taurus 9mm pistol after being convicted in Talladega County Circuit Court of second-degree unlawful manufacturing of a controlled substance in both 2012 and 2009.

The maximum penalty for stealing weapons from a licensed firearms dealer is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for possessing a stolen firearm is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

ATF investigated the cases, which the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama is prosecuting.

An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

###

Earlier today, Jonathan Flom, an attorney licensed in three states, was sentenced to 48 months’ imprisonment and three years’ supervised release for money laundering. Today’s sentencing took place before United States District Judge Roslynn R. Mauskopf at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, New York.

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).

“Attorney Jonathan Flom took advantage of the trust placed in him by virtue of his profession to make easy money for himself,” stated Acting United States Attorney Rohde. “Such abuse of trust will be appropriately punished.”

“Flom preyed on the vulnerabilities of victims who were already being cheated out of money, falsely representing himself as someone who was working in their favor,” Assistant Director-in-Charge Sweeney stated. “He further tried to exploit his role as an attorney to conceal the fraud, but in the end the joke was on him, when it was revealed that an undercover FBI agent had been keeping tabs on his scheme. Today’s sentencing serves as a fine example of how the FBI successfully brings these scams to light.”

On June 24, 2016, following a five-day trial, a federal jury convicted Flom of money laundering. According to previous court filings and the testimony at trial, between December 2013 and April 2014, Flom accepted $141,300 into his bank account from investors whom he believed to be the victims of a securities fraud scheme. He then funneled those monies to a man he believed was orchestrating the fraud scheme, but who in fact was an undercover agent with the FBI—while keeping a 5% fee for himself. At trial, the jury heard that recorded conversations between Flom and the undercover agent in which Flom bragged that the letters of his name stood for “For Love of Money” and provided advice to the undercover agent about how they could use the guise of attorney-client privilege to conceal the fraud from law enforcement.

At trial and at sentencing, the government also presented evidence that between approximately February 2012 and August 2013, Flom knowingly laundered $756,168 in a nearly identical securities fraud scheme with Cecil Franklin Speight. In this scheme, investor-victims who believed they were making legitimate stock purchases were instructed to send money to bank accounts belonging to Flom, knowing he was a lawyer and believing that he was going to transfer funds to the issuers of the securities. In fact, Flom took the investor-victims’ money, kept a percentage for himself and sent the remainder to Speight. The investor-victims received only worthless counterfeit stock certificates.

On February 12, 2016, Speight was sentenced to 42 months’ imprisonment and ordered to pay $3.3 million dollars in restitution following his guilty plea to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and securities fraud.

The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Keith D. Edelman, Moira Kim Penza and Jack Dennehy.

The Defendant:

JONATHAN FLOM

Age: 59

South Palm Beach, Florida

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 14-CR-507 (RRM)

BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury today indicted a Marion County man for methamphetamine distribution and gun charges, announced acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Special Agent in Charge Bret Hamilton.

A two-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges JASON LAMAR McSHERIDAN, 45, of Hamilton, with possessing with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine on Feb. 5, 2016, in Marion County. The indictment also charges McSheridan as a convicted felon possessing three firearms on that date, a Ruger .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol, a Taurus .45-caliber pistol and a Winchester .30-30 caliber rifle.

McSheridan’s prior convictions are first-degree burglary, 2005, and unlawfully manufacturing a controlled substance, 2011, both in Calhoun County Circuit Court, according to the indictment.

The penalty for possessing with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine is 10 years to life in prison and a maximum $10 million fine.

The maximum penalty for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

ATF investigated the case, which the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama is prosecuting.

An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

###

CHICAGO — A Chicago man who shared dozens of images of child pornography was sentenced today to 15 years in federal prison.

From August 2012 to September 2014, DONALD BOWEN used an electronic file-sharing network to trade the pornographic images with others via the Internet. In September 2014, Bowen granted access to his password-protected folder to an individual with whom he was chatting online. Unbeknownst to Bowen, the individual was actually an undercover law enforcement officer. The officer downloaded 39 images of child pornography from Bowen’s folder. The images viewed by the officer included young children engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

A subsequent forensics search of Bowen’s computer revealed more than 4,000 videos and 6,000 images of child pornography.

Bowen, 54, of Chicago, pleaded guilty last year to one count of transportation of child pornography. Bowen’s prior conviction for a misdemeanor offense related to child abuse triggered the mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years imposed by U.S. District Judge Charles Norgle.

The sentence was announced by Joel R. Levin, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and James M. Gibbons, special agent-in-charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Chicago.

“Defendant used his computer to share images of child pornography with others and, in doing so, continued the cycle of exploitation,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth R. Pozolo argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “The public needs to be protected from individuals like thedefendant.”

In addition to trading the pornographic images, Bowen admitted in a plea agreement that he possessed images of child pornography on various electronic devices, including a cellular phone and 15 optical discs. Bowen also admitted possessing a three-ring binder with a white cover that contained hundreds of printed photographs depicting child pornography.

BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury today indicted a Fairfield man for an armed car-jacking in Birmingham’s Avondale community in March, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge David W. Archey.

A two-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges MANUEL ALI TOWNS, 28, with taking a Nissan Altima from an individual on March 14 by force, violence and intimidation, and with intent to cause death or serious bodily harm. The indictment identifies the victim of the carjacking by the initials, B.M.D.

The indictment’s second count charges Towns with discharging a firearm during the carjacking.

The maximum penalty for carjacking is 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The penalty for discharging a firearm during a crime of violence is a minimum of 10 years in prison, which must be served consecutively to any other sentence imposed for the crime. The charge carries a maximum $250,000 fine.

The FBI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney William G. Simpson is prosecuting.

An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

###

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Santiago Cayetano-Diaz, age 22, and a citizen of Mexico, was sentenced today to time served (60 days in jail) for immigration fraud.

The announcement was made by Acting United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and Thomas P. Brophy, Acting Director of the Buffalo Field Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).

As part of his guilty plea, Cayetano-Diaz admitted that he possessed a counterfeit alien registration receipt card (commonly known as a green card) in Saratoga Springs, New York, on May 30, 2017, when he was arrested by ICE-ERO officers. Cayetano-Diaz also admitted that he is a citizen of Mexico, and that he was in the United States unlawfully.

Following his sentencing, Cayetano-Diaz was remanded to the custody of the Department of Homeland Security, for removal proceedings.

This case was investigated by ICE-ERO and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward P. Grogan.

ALBANY, NEW YORK – The following is a summary of misdemeanor immigration prosecutions from July 2017:

Marcelo Chavez-Vera, a citizen of Mexico, was sentenced on July 20, 2017 to time served (14 days in jail) following his guilty plea to illegally entering the United States. Chavez-Vera admitted that on July 7, 2017, he entered the United States by boat from Canada on the Akwesasne reservation, where he was then picked up by an acquaintance driving a vehicle. Acting on a civilian tip, Border Patrol stopped the vehicle and arrested him.

Carlos Olivar-Varon, a citizen of Mexico, was sentenced on July 20, 2017 to 20 days in jail following his guilty plea to illegally entering the United States. Olivar-Varon admitted that on July 7, 2017, he entered the United States by boat from Canada on the Akwesasne reservation, where he was then picked up by an acquaintance driving a vehicle. Acting on a civilian tip, Border Patrol stopped the vehicle and arrested him.

United States Attorney Randolph J. Seiler announced that Ehab Abdulmutta Jaber, age 46, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Veronica L. Duffy on July 25, 2017, and pled guilty to an Indictment that charged him with Possession of Firearms by a Prohibited Person.

The maximum penalty for the offense is 10 years in custody and/or a $250,000 fine, 3 years of supervised release, and $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Jaber was attending an event at the Hilton Garden Inn South in Sioux Falls on April 9, 2017, when security officers noticed him using his phone to take a video of the crowd. As videotaping was not allowed at the venue, security asked Jaber to leave. Jaber went to his vehicle and posted a Facebook live feed in which he pulled firearms out of his vehicle and from his person. He made statements on the feed that law enforcement believed were terroristic threats. Jaber was arrested and five firearms were seized.

Jaber admitted to law enforcement that he was addicted to methamphetamine, which makes it illegal for him to possess firearms under federal law.

The investigation was conducted by the Sioux Falls Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The case is being prosecuted by Criminal Chief Dennis R. Holmes.

A presentence investigation was ordered and a sentencing date has been scheduled for October 16, 2017. The defendant was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending sentencing.

Fairbanks, Alaska – Acting U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder announced today that Stephen Wyzatecki, 25, formerly an Airman stationed at Eielson Air Force Base, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Ralph R. Beistline to 38 months in prison, to be followed by an eight-year term of supervised release, for possessing child pornography.

According to documents filed in this case and arguments made at today’s sentencing, on four occasions between November 2015 and April 2016, law enforcement agents identified the defendant’s computer offering files of child pornography through the internet. Law enforcement agents searched the defendant’s residence on Eielson Air Force Base on Oct. 12, 2016. Located on the defendant’s computer were 895 images and 69 videos of child pornography. Among the files possessed by the defendant were videos of prepubescent girls being sexually assaulted, and pictures of the genitalia of children as young as five years old.

When questioned by law enforcement agents, the defendant admitted to searching for and downloading child pornography. The defendant admitted that his use of the file-sharing network to download images of child pornography had been ongoing for approximately one year, that he viewed images weekly, and that the last time he had viewed child pornography was two days before the search.

In pronouncing his sentence, Judge Beistline commented that the images downloaded by the defendant were “graphic and involved numerous young girls” being filmed while they were being sexually assaulted. Judge Beistline noted that every time an image is viewed, the victim shown in that image is “re-victimized.” With his sentence, Judge Beistline sought to protect the children who are molested in order to feed the online marketplace of child pornography. “In Alaska, and throughout the country,” said Judge Beistline, “we just want to protect our children.”

The case was the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Safe Streets/Crimes Against Children/Human Trafficking Task Force. The task force marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children through sex trafficking, as well as to identify and recover victims. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Reardon prosecuted the case.

This prosecution is part of the Department of Justice’s ongoing Project Safe Childhood (PSC) initiative which was launched to increase federal prosecutions of sexual predators of children, and to reduce the number of internet crimes against children including child pornography trafficking. As a part of PSC, the United States Attorney’s Office has teamed with state and local agencies and organizations to increase law enforcement presence on the Internet, and to educate the public about safe internet use,

thereby reducing the risk that children might fall prey to online sexual predators. For additional information on the PSC initiative, please go to www.projectsafechildhood.gov or call the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska and ask to speak with the PSC coordinator.

SALT LAKE CITY – Donald Ray Fritcher, age 36, of Salt Lake City, will spend 330 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to distribution of child pornography. U.S. District Judge Dale A. Kimball, who imposed the sentence, also placed Fritcher on supervised release for life when he finishes his federal prison sentence.  There is no parole in the federal criminal justice system.

“Protecting vulnerable victims is one of the highest priorities in my office.  In Utah, we cannot, and will not, tolerate the exploitation of children.  he significant sentence imposed in this case will help protect children in Utah communities from a dangerous predator,” U.S. Attorney John W. Huber said today. 

As a part of a plea agreement reached with federal prosecutors, Fritcher admitted that between about July 1, 2015, and April 2016, he shared, through a file sharing program, images and videos of child pornography.  These images included depictions of prepubescent and minor children posing in various stages of undress and in sexually explicit poses.  He further stipulated that the images also depicted the sexual abuse of minor children.  Fritcher had more than 600 images and videos in his possession. Included in the images were pictures taken by Fritcher of two minor victims.

Fritcher, a registered sex offender in Utah, has two previous state convictions for attempted sex abuse of a child.  According to the indictment filed in the case, the pictures of the two minors were taken subsequent to his convictions in state court.      

Federal authorities arrested Fritcher in Utah in May 2016.  His arrest followed an investigation conducted by special agents of Homeland Security Investigations in Salt Lake City and Philadelphia working in collaboration with an investigator with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.  The Utah agent is a member of the Utah Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force.

"HSI takes very seriously our responsibility to rescue victims of child pornography, including the two victims in this case who no longer have to endure this abuse," said John Eisert, Acting Special Special Agent in Charge of HSI Denver. "Donald Fritcher's prison sentence sends a clear message to criminals like him who abuse our children: we will find you and we will bring you to justice.”

Fritcher was charged with production of child pornography and possession of child pornography in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in May 2016.  He pleaded guilty to a felony information in February 2017 charging his with distribution of child pornography.

Defendant helped three previously-sentenced codefendants fraudulently obtain over $2.1 million from his bank

LEXINGTON, Ky. – A former Vice President of PBI Bank in Lexington was sentenced to two years in federal prison after pleading guilty to helping three other people defraud the bank.

U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves sentenced Joseph Tobin, age 45, for six counts of aiding and abetting bank fraud and one count of bank fraud. Judge Reeves had previously sentenced Daniel Sexton to 109 months, Jonathan Williams to 60 months, and Sheila Flynn to 24 months of imprisonment for their roles in the fraud. Sexton, Williams, and Flynn are currently serving their sentences in federal prisons after pleading guilty.

According to their guilty pleas, Sexton and Williams owned and operated several mobile home businesses in Georgetown, Kentucky. Flynn worked at those businesses as an office manager. Tobin was a Vice President at PBI Bank in Lexington, which was receiving funds through the Troubled Assets Relief Program at the time of the offense.

Sexton, Williams, and Flynn conspired together to obtain various bank loans using false corporate accounting records, false tax records, and false appraisals for assets such as a private plane. They also failed to disclose debts they owed to others in their loan applications. Tobin knew that the loan applications were fraudulent but approved them anyway.

Sexton and Williams also recruited other people to take out loans from PBI Bank then direct the money to them. Tobin approved these loans even though he knew that Sexton and Williams were the true borrowers. Tobin also set up a straw loan for another borrower.

In addition to their prison sentences, Judge Reeves ordered the four defendants to pay restitution to four victimized banks. Sexton and Williams were each ordered to pay over $2.6 million in restitution, Tobin is responsible for $185,001 and Flynn for over $1.4 million.

Carlton S. Shier, IV, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Amy S. Hess, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Alfred Hogan, Special Agent in Charge, Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Assets Relief Program, jointly announced the sentence. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dmitriy Slavin represented the United States.

LAS VEGAS, Nev.– A Las Vegas woman who worked as a laboratory technician at a local pediatric medical practice was sentenced today to 24 months in prison for unlawfully obtaining the personal identifying information of a patient’s parent and using it to apply for personal credit cards, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Steven W. Myhre for the District of Nevada. United States District Judge Jennifer A. Dorsey also sentenced her to one year of supervised release.

Sherice Joan Williams, 42, pleaded guilty on Feb. 21, 2017, to aggravated identity theft. During the time the crime occurred, she was employed as a laboratory technician at Children’s Heart Center, a large pediatric cardinology practice in Las Vegas.

According to admissions made in the plea agreement, between about Dec. 1, 2014 and Jan. 27, 2015, Williams accessed the personal identifying information of a patient’s parent, then using this information, she applied for personal credit cards without authorization. She submitted a credit card application online from an IP address registered to her employer.

The case was investigated by the FBI and Henderson Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Burns.

If you are a victim of identity theft, visit www.IdentityTheft.gov or call 1-877-438-4338 to report and recover from identity theft.

###

     PLANO, Texas — A 43-year-old Richardson, Texas man has been found guilty of child enticement charges in the Eastern District of Texas, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston.

     Jason Craig Montgomery was found guilty by a jury of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor. The verdict was reached late in the evening of July 27, 2017, following a three-day trial before U.S. District Judge Marcia Crone.

     According to information presented in court, in March 2017, Montgomery placed an ad on an online classified advertising website that raised law enforcement concerns as to whether Montgomery was seeking to engage in sexual activity with a child. Accordingly, an undercover FBI agent responded to the ad as an individual with access to a minor child. Between March 30, 2017 and April 18, 2017, Montgomery engaged in an ongoing and repeated exchange of messages with the undercover agent, in an attempt to coerce and entice the minor child to whom the agent purportedly had access. In those messages, Montgomery expressed his interest in enticing the child, indicated his willingness to engage in sexual activity with the child, his concerns about law enforcement detection, and asked to meet with the child. On April 18, 2017, Montgomery arrived at a designated residence in Plano, Texas, at which time he was arrested by members of the Plano Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. A search of Montgomery’s vehicle revealed a number of items brought for the child, including alcohol and prophylactics. Montgomery was indicted by a federal grand jury on May 10, 2017.

     Under federal statutes, Montgomery faces a minimum of 10 years and up to life in federal prison. The maximum statutory sentence prescribed by Congress is provided here for information purposes, as the sentencing will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office.

     This case is being prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

     This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Plano Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Marisa Miller and Bradley Visosky.

GREENEVILLE, Tenn.– Darries Leon Jackson, a.k.a.“Darryl Jackson,” 58, of Morristown, Tennessee, was sentenced on July 31, 2017, by the Honorable J. Ronnie Greer, U.S. District Court Judge, to serve life in federal prison for his conviction of possession of ammunition by a convicted felon. There is no parole in the federal system.

Jackson was convicted, following a three-day jury trial in April 2017. He was subject to the provisions of the Armed Career Criminal Act, whereby a person convicted of possessing a firearm or ammunition after a felony conviction is subject to a minimum mandatory 15-year sentence up to life in prison if that person has three or more prior violent felony or drug felony convictions.

Jackson is awaiting trial in state court for the murder of one individual in Hawkins County and attempted murder of another individual in Hamblen County in October 2014. The ammunition that was the subject of his federal charges is believed to be the same ammunition used in the commission of these crimes.

Agencies involved in this investigation included the Hawkins County Sheriff’s Office, Hamblen County Sheriff’s Office, and Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Gregory Bowman and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindsey W. Lane represented the United States.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a comprehensive national strategy that creates local partnerships with law enforcement agencies to effectively enforce existing gun laws. It provides more options to prosecutors, allowing them to utilize local, state, and federal laws to ensure that criminals who commit gun crime face tough sentences. PSN gives each federal district the flexibility it needs to focus on individual challenges that a specific community faces.

###

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Today, Chief U.S. District Judge Frank D. Whitney sentenced the leader of a cocaine trafficking ring to 235 months in prison, announced Jill Westmoreland Rose, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. In addition to the prison term imposed, Florencio Apreza-Guerrero, 38, of Mexico, was also sentenced to five years of supervised release.

U.S. Attorney Rose is joined in making today’s announcement by John A. Strong, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Charlotte Division and Eddie Cathey of the Union County Sheriff’s Office.

According to filed documents and court proceedings, from 2013 to 2016, Apreza-Guerrero was the leader of a drug conspiracy responsible for trafficking large amounts of cocaine into Union and Mecklenburg Counties. Court records indicate that, over the course of the investigation, law enforcement seized approximately 35 kilograms of cocaine, seven firearms, and $138,000 in cash. Court records also show that Apreza-Guerrero’s drug network was responsible for trafficking 40 to 50 kilograms of cocaine per month. In March 2017, Apreza-Guerrero pleaded guilty to one count of drug trafficking conspiracy and one count of money laundering conspiracy.

Apreza-Guerrero’s co-conspirators have already been sentenced as follows:

1. Pedro Valle-Barrera, 38, of Mexico, was sentenced to 135 months, followed by five years of supervised release.

2. Ivan Ortiz Lezama, also known as Tomas Barajas-Rodriguez, 30, of Mexico, was sentenced to 120 months, followed by five years of supervised release.

3. Juan Cesar Valle-Barrera, 33, of Mexico, was sentenced to 78 months, followed by one year of supervised release.

4. Alberto Manuel Arreola, 38, of Mexico, was sentenced to 66 months, followed by two years of supervised release.

5. Hever Garcia-Delgado, 33, of Monroe, NC, was sentenced to 45 months, followed by three years of supervised release.

6. Alfonso Guevera-Garcia, 23, of Monroe, NC, was sentenced to 24 months, followed by two years of supervised release.

Apreza-Guerrero is currently in federal custody and will be transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility. All federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole. Apreza-Guerrero and his co-conspirators will also be subject to deportation proceedings upon the completion of their federal sentences.

This case is the result of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). OCDETF is a joint federal, state and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nation’s primary tool for disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations, targeting national and regional drug trafficking organizations and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources to disrupt or dismantle the targeted criminal organization and seize their assets.

In making today’s announcement U.S. Attorney Rose thanked the FBI and UCSO which led the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven R. Kaufman, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte, prosecuted the case.

Charlottesville, VIRGINIA – A fifth individual involved in a series of armed robberies last summer in Albemarle and Greene counties was sentenced today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Charlottesville, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

Demetrius Steppe, 20, of Ruckersville, Va., was sentenced today to 180 months in federal prison. Steppe previously pled guilty to two counts of using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

Steppe was sentenced for his involvement in three armed robberies. The first of these robberies occurred on June 8, 2016 when Steppe, Terence Tyree and Kentavia Jones robbed the Papa John’s Pizza establishment in Greene County. The second robbery occurred on June 12, 2016 when Steppe and Isaiah Wilson robbed the 7-11 convenience store in Albemarle County. In this robbery, used an assault rifle to intimidate and threaten the store clerk. The third robbery occurred on June 17, 2016 when and Tyree returned to the Papa John’s Pizza establishment in Greene County for a second time. During each of these robberies, the defendants – while dressed in all black and wearing masks and gloves – brandished firearms at the clerks and demanded money and cell phones.

In total, these four defendants, as well as Jaquarius Johnson and Chelsea Scott, were responsible for five armed robberies of commercial establishments throughout June and July 2016. The targets were comprised of convenience stores and pizza restaurants in Albemarle and Greene Counties. addition, defendants Terence Tyree, Jaquarius Johnson and Kentavia Jones were responsible for a violent home invasion in Albemarle County occurring on July 18, 2016. separate hearings earlier this week, Terence Tyree, Kentavia Jones, Jaquarius Johnson and Isaiah Wilson were sentenced to federal prison time for their respective roles in the above robberies and the home invasion. For their respective conduct, Tyree, was sentenced to 360 months, Jones was sentenced to 225 months, Johnson was sentenced to 126 months and Wilson was sentenced to 68 months.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Albemarle County Police Department and the Greene County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the Albemarle County and Greene County Commonwealth Attorneys Offices. Assistant United States Attorneys Ronald M. Huber and Christopher Kavanaugh prosecuted the case for the United States.

Orlando, Florida – Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces that Julis Denson (Orlando, 30), Marquis Denson (Orlando, 31), Capree Patterson (Orlando, 26), Alvin Kendrick (Orlando, 42), and Isaac Tolbert (Orlando, 38) have pleaded guilty to robbery and brandishing a firearm in relation to the robbery of a Cash America Pawn store in Orlando. In addition to the armed robbery, Marquis Denson has also pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. Each faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison. The sentencing dates have not yet been set.

According to the plea agreement, on December 7, 2016, Kendrick drove Marquis Denson, Julis Denson, Patterson, and Tolbert to the Cash America Pawn store in the Pine Hills area of Orlando. Marquis Denson took a .45 caliber pistol into the store, brandished it, and demanded that the employees empty the cash registers. Meanwhile, Patterson used a sledgehammer to break the glass display cases so that he, Julis Denson, and Tolbert could take the jewelry. Shortly after, Marquis Denson, Julis Denson, Patterson, and Tolbert exited the store with 99 pieces of jewelry, worth nearly $35,000, and $949 cash. They then jumped into the car that Kendrick had waiting and fled to a home several miles away. Law enforcement officers arrived at the home shortly after and arrested Patterson and Marquis Denson as they fled on foot. The remaining individuals were arrested several days later.

This case was investigated by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shawn P. Napier.

Orlando, Florida – Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces the unsealing of an indictment charging Andy William Bosch (42, Orlando) with two counts of enticement of a minor. If convicted, he faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years, up to life, in federal prison.

According to the indictment, between March 10and March 16, 2016, Bosch enticed a minor to travel from the Philippines to the United States to engage in sexual activity. Then, from October 20, 2016, to February 15, 2017, he used a cellphone to coerce the same minor into engaging in sexual activity. Bosch also has pending state charges for interference of custody and providing false information to a law enforcement officer, stemming from the same alleged incident.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service and the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office. It will be prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Christina R. Downes, on assignment from the Office of Principal Legal Advisor, ICE.

It is another case 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, 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.

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge James D. Whittemore today sentenced Anthony J. Klatch II (36, previously of Tampa) to nine years and seven months in federal prison for wire fraud. The Court also ordered that he serve this sentence consecutive to a 39-month sentenced imposed in July 2016, in the Southern District of Florida for access device fraud and identity theft. Klatch also must pay $516,754.94 in restitution to the victims of his investment scheme.

According to court documents, in or around 2011, Klatch pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy, securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering in the Southern District of Alabama. In December 2014, after his release from federal prison, he began serving a term of supervised release in Tampa.

While on supervised release, Klatch directed the establishment of and controlled a company called Assurance Capital Management, LLC (“ACM”) and maintained a bank account opened in that name. Between June 2015 and September 2015, Klatch used ACM to represent to investors and potential investors that ACM was a company with over $18 million in client assets under management and that ACM and those working for ACM engaged in profitable online stock trading on behalf of its investors. In truth, ACM was a shell company used by Klatch to induce and defraud investors.

In executing his scheme, Klatch would often disguise his true identity and tell investors that his name was “Larry Heim,” ACM’s fund manager. Klatch, often posting as “Larry Heim,” provided investors and potential investors false and fraudulent financial statements and other investment materials showing that ACM was profitable and had more than $18 million in online trading accounts and that its funds were profitably traded. In reality, ACM had few if any funds “under management,” and the funds ACM did have were either lost by Klatch during trading or used by him for personal expenditures. In total, Klatch defrauded investors out of more than $516,000.

In early 2016, while serving a nine-month sentence for violating his supervised release in the Alabama case, but before being charged in this case, Klatch absconded from a halfway house. He was rearrested approximately six months later in Miami. At the time of his arrest, he had approximately eight stolen identities in his possession that he had used to generate counterfeit credit cards to purchase such things as luxury automobiles and resort memberships.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Commodities Futures Trading Commission. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mandy Riedel.

A Parma man was sentenced to 17 1/2 years in prison for sexually exploiting a 14-year-old girl, said Acting U.S. Attorney David A. Sierleja and Stephen D. Anthony, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Cleveland Office.

A jury last year convicted Richard Purnell, 56, of sex trafficking of children.

“This is a child rapist who deserves every day of this prison sentence,” Sierleja said. “This case is further proof that human trafficking happens all around us. We will go after customers as well as people who profit from human trafficking.”

“Purnell chose to repeatedly victimize a 14-year-old girl for his own sexual gratification without any regard for what is legally or morally acceptable," said Special Agent in Charge Stephen D. Anthony of the FBI Cleveland Division. "His actions are reprehensible and unacceptable. The FBI will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to aggressively pursue and bring to justice those who engage in human trafficking.”

Purnell repeatedly engaged in commercial sex acts with the 14-year-old, whose images were posted on the website backpage.com by Ronnie Pratt. He continued to engage in commercial sex acts with the girl even after she told him she was only 14 years old, according to trial testimony.

Pratt is serving 14 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to sex trafficking charges.

The Purnell case is the first time a customer has been prosecuted federal in a human trafficking case in the Northern District of Ohio.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bridget M. Brennan and Linda Barr following an investigation by the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force. The Child Exploitation Task Force is comprised of the FBI, Adult Parole Authority, Cleveland Metro Housing Authority, Cleveland Police Department and Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office. The Parma Police Department provided substantial assistance to the investigation.