HAMMOND – United States Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana, Thomas L. Kirsch II, announced that Ethel Shelton, age 72, of Gary, Indiana was convicted of two federal criminal conspiracy charges after a 10-day jury trial before District Court Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen.

The jury convicted Shelton on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud. Shelton’s co-defendant, Alex Wheeler, age 68, of Gary, Indiana was found not guilty of both charges.  Former Calumet Township Trustee Mary Elgin and her son Stephen Hunter previously pleaded guilty in this case, pursuant to plea agreements.

According to records in the case, Shelton was a member of Elgin’s political initiatives committee and served as Elgin’s Executive Secretary from 2006 to 2012. Throughout Elgin’s tenure as Calumet Township Trustee, members of the conspiracy, including Shelton and Hunter, used property and employee resources of the Trustee’s Office to run Elgin’s reelection campaigns. Elgin created an environment whereby employees believed that retaining their jobs hinged on purchasing tickets to her political fundraising events. Shelton was in charge of ticket distribution and payment collection, all of which occurred in the Trustee’s Office during work hours. Tickets were distributed according to the employees’ salary.  Shelton kept track of which purchased tickets and which did not.  Employees who could not pay for their tickets all at once were placed on payment plans.

The Calumet Township Trustee’s Office is a local government entity whose primary mission is to provide emergency relief and assistance to needy individuals and families.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with the assistance of Internal Revenue Service. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Maria Lerner, Abizer Zanzi and Philip Benson.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A former IRS employee has been sentenced in federal court for filing false tax returns.

Carla Lachelle Mitchell, 49, of Kansas City, Kan., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner on Monday, April 16, 2018, to one year and one day in federal prison. The court also ordered Mitchell to pay $137,483 in restitution.

Mitchell worked as a lead contact representative at the IRS Service Center in Kansas City, Mo., from 2006 to 2015. Mitchell admitted that while employed by the IRS she prepared false federal income tax returns for 2011, 2012 and 2013 for 13 of her friends and family, as well as herself.

When preparing tax returns, Mitchell included several false entries (such as fraudulent wages or dependents) to lower the individual tax liability or to increase their refunds. Mitchell has been linked to 27 fraudulent returns through her admissions, witness statements and IP addresses. According to court records, Mitchell also filed tax returns seeking fraudulent refunds in the names of two people without their authorization, stealing their identities in order to do so.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen D. Mahoney. It was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation.
 

Four people from Ohio were named in a 31-count indictment for their roles in a conspiracy in which they filed more than 800 tax returns annually between 2012 and 2015 resulting in approximately $15 million in refunds being issued, a portion of which neither they nor their clients were entitled.

Indicted are: Keith Jeffries, 44, of Maple Heights; Brian Peacock, 33, of Sandusky; Linnette Coleman, 44, of Cleveland; and Nicole Pugh, 31, of Cleveland. All four are charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States. All four face additional counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false and fraudulent tax returns.

Jeffries operated a tax preparation business under the name Krew Time, LLC. Jeffries, Peacock, Coleman and Pugh all prepared returns for Krew Time clients. The company operated out of three locations – from Jeffries’ residence on Friend Avenue in Maple Heights, from the back offices of a MetroPCS store on East 71^st Street in Cleveland and from a commercial building on East 140^th Street in Cleveland, according to the indictment.

The defendants filed false, fictitious and fraudulent tax returns in the name of Krew Time clients. The clients received the majority of the refunds with the defendants receiving a portion of the refund as their tax preparation fee, according to the indictment.

They did this by filing false itemized deductions, business income expenses, tax credit information, medical expenses, false filing status and other information to obtain income tax refunds to which the taxpayers were not entitled. This took place between 2011 and 2016, according to the indictment.

“This group spent years trying to rip off the federal government by filing hundreds of fake tax returns,” U.S. Attorney Justin E. Herdman said. “These defendants took advantage of programs designed to help sick people or struggling students and instead used them to enrich themselves.”

“These defendants wreaked havoc on the IRS by misusing their Electronic Filing Identification Number and Preparer Tax Identification Number to electronically file fraudulent income tax returns for their clients that generated inflated false income tax refunds,” stated Ryan L. Korner, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office.

If convicted, the defendant’s sentence will be determined by the Court after reviewing factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.

This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigations. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Carmen Henderson and Alejandro Abreu.          

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. Defendants are entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

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

BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Michael Giokas, 58, of Clarence, NY, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara to wire fraud for defrauding numerous clients of his investment advisory firm out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul E. Bonanno, who is handling the case, stated that the defendant was a financial advisor and president of Giokas Wealth Advisors, located in Clarence. In that role, Giokas provided financial advisory services to more than 40 individual clients.

Between May 2017 and October 2017, the defendant persuaded certain clients to withdraw money from their investment accounts at Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company and invest the money in a company called Trinity Council, LLC. Giokas claimed that Trinity Council was a fund that invested in private corporations; that investments were guaranteed to earn interest between eight and nine percent per year; and that investment principal was guaranteed. The defendant also provided a fraudulent promissory note to one of his clients to convince the client that his investment in Trinity Council was legitimate.

Trinity Council was actually a shell company that engaged in no investment or business activity. Giokas was the sole member and only owner of Trinity Council, and the only person with signature authority on its bank accounts, which the defendant opened for the purpose of executing this scheme to defraud.
In a separate scheme, between 2015 and October 2017, Giokas prompted Nationwide to transfer money from his clients’ Nationwide accounts to the defendant under the guise of “fee requests.” Giokas claimed that he was entitled to the requested money as investment advisory fees, despite the fact that the requested amounts greatly exceeded what the defendant was entitled to pursuant to his fee agreements with his clients.

As a result of the two schemes, Giokas defrauded clients out of $1,473,396. 

The plea is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Kevin P. Lyons.

Sentencing is scheduled for July 20, 2018, at 1:00 p.m. before Judge Arcara.

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

BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Shaheen Hassanali, 45, and her husband, Riyaz Hassanali, 57, both of Williamsville, NY, were each sentenced to one year probation by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara. Shaneen Hassanali, who was convicted filing a false tax return, was also ordered to pay restitution totaling $248,606 to the Internal Revenue Service. Riyaz Hassanali was convicted of receiving and delivering misbranded drugs.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Maura K. O’Donnell, who handled the case, stated that for the tax years 2006-2009, Shaheen Hassanali filed false joint income tax returns for herself and her husband. The defendant substantially under-reported the income earned from her husband’s medical practice.

In addition, between 2009 and 2011, Riyaz Hassanali ordered, and administered to patients, a misbranded, and non-FDA approved, foreign market product, similar to the prescription drug Dysport, a prescription drug commonly used in cosmetic procedures.

The sentencings are the result of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations Division, under the direction of James D. Robnett, Special Agent-in-Charge, New York Field Office, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations, under the direction of Jeffrey Ebersole, Special Agent-in- New York Field Office.

Harrisonburg, VIRGINIA – The first three defendants in a 13-member conspiracy that trafficked more than 1,000 grams of heroin from Baltimore to Front Royal were sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Harrisonburg, United States Attorney Thomas T. Cullen announced.

Adrian Darnell Edwards, 22, of Front Royal, Va., was sentenced Monday to 190 months in prison. Alisha Marie Stocking, 21, of Toms Brook, Va., was sentenced to 48 months in prison. Stocking and Edwards both previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute 1,000 grams or more of heroin.

Randall Freeman, 40, of Manassas, Va., was sentenced Monday to 48 months in prison. Freeman previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin.  On Tuesday, five additional members of the conspiracy: Tiara Bailey, Da’Shawn Edwards, Keon Hackley, Antwan Lucas, and Antwan Cottman are scheduled to be sentenced in U.S. District Court.

“The United States Attorney’s Office will vigorously prosecute those who traffic heroin into our communities and profit from the addiction of others,” United States Attorney Cullen said today. “This office will continue to work with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners to combat the flow of these deadly opioids from Baltimore and elsewhere and build cases that hold those accountable for their trafficking crimes.”

According to information and evidence presented at previous hearings by Assistant United States Attorney Donald R. Wolthuis, the conspiracy began as early as 2013 with the goal of trafficking heroin from Baltimore to the Front Royal area. On average, members of the conspiracy distributed one kilogram of heroin per week during the life of the conspiracy, which operated between 2013 and April 2016.

To insulate identity of the sellers from the buyers, heroin customers in Virginia contacted a phone number in Maryland, either by voice call or text, which was controlled by conspiracy members and was known only as the “Chris phone.” “Chris” was not a real person, but rather was a fake name associated with the phone number customers contacted to place heroin orders. At the time an order was placed, customers were provided a street address in Baltimore where their order was to be picked up. When a customer arrived at the pre-determined address, the customer’s car was approached by other members of the conspiracy, a drug transaction took place, and the Virginia customers drove back to Front Royal. No socializing or small talk took place between the customer in the car and the seller on the street. The Virginia customers made these trips every day, sometimes multiple times per day. Once they returned to Front Royal, they both used the heroin and sold it to others.  

The three defendants sentenced today were Virginia customers who trafficked heroin after it had arrived from Baltimore. According to information presented to the court, Edwards is a “chronic” heroin trafficker who had distributed the drug since 2013. He is also responsible for introducing his then girlfriend, co-defendant Alisha Stocking, to heroin and heroin distribution, when she was 16-years-old. The two were responsible for distributing more than 1,000 grams of the drug during the life of the conspiracy.

Freeman was a frequent traveler to Baltimore to purchase heroin. He sometimes traveled alone or with other members of the conspiracy. After purchasing the heroin, Freeman returned to the Front Royal area to use and distribute it.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Winchester Office, the Front Royal Office of the Northwest Regional Drug and Gang Task Force, the Baltimore City Police Department, the Baltimore County Police Department, the Frederick, Maryland Sheriff’s Office, the Loudoun County, Virginia, Sheriff’s Office and the Howard County, Maryland, Sheriff’s Office.  Assistant United States Attorney Donald R. Wolthuis is prosecuting the case for the United States.

Brandon Kenon Rogers Gets Four Years in Federal Prison

          GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN — U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge announced today that U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney sentenced Brandon Kenon Rogers, 31, of Grand Rapids, to 48 months in prison and ordered him to pay $128,746.00 in restitution for committing student loan, grant and tax fraud.

          Rogers pled guilty on November 28, 2017, and admitted that he defrauded the U.S. Department of Education by obtaining the identity information of others and posing as those individuals while applying online for Student Loans and Pell Grants in their names. He also enrolled online in local community colleges, including Grand Rapids Community College and Kalamazoo Valley Community College, using those same identities. Rogers used the loans and grant funds for his own purposes without actually attending the classes as required. Rogers also used the stolen identities to obtain fraudulent income tax refunds.

          The government stressed at sentencing that, while taxpayers generously allow cash-strapped students to get loans and grants to better themselves with an education, news that this money lined the pockets of a criminal would undermine support for the programs that benefit others.

          U.S. Attorney Birge stated that, "I hope Rogers’s prison sentence sends a message that this kind of fraud won’t be tolerated here. I intend to make West Michigan a place for fraudsters to avoid."

          The Grand Rapids Community College Department of Public Safety, the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service investigated this case. Prosecution of Rogers was handled by Timothy VerHey, Assistant United States Attorney.

END

WILMINGTON, Del. – David C. Weiss, United States Attorney for the District of Delaware, announced that a federal grand jury sitting in Delaware returned a five-count indictment on April 12, 2018, charging Jaclyn McCain, 26, of Wilmington, with one count of obstruction of justice and four counts of lying to the FBI.

According to the Indictment, on June 6, 2017, in Newark, Delaware, a female victim was followed and ultimately taken from a location near her apartment.  A short time later, shots were fired at the victim’s boyfriend on Rt. 896.  The victim was then taken by car to Elkton, Maryland.  The victim’s body was found later that day in Elkton, near where shots had been heard around noon.  The car used in the murder was a silver Hyundai Sonata registered to McCain’s mother.

The Indictment describes McCain’s telephone communications just hours before the victim’s homicide in Elkton.  The Indictment further alleges that McCain swapped cars with her boyfriend at about 8 a.m. that morning, leaving the Hyundai Sonata with him and driving away in his car.  Video surveillance shows the Hyundai Sonata near the murder scene in Elkton.

The Indictment further details the connection between the events described above and the shooting of a six-year-old child later that same day in Wilmington.  The shots that gravely injured the six-year-old were intended for the same individual (the victim’s boyfriend) targeted in the Rt. 896 shooting earlier that day.

Four weeks after the murder, the FBI interviewed McCain and told her that her mother’s Hyundai Sonata was used in a homicide.  Agents also told her that the homicide was related to the shooting of the six-year old that occurred later that same day.  The Indictment alleges that, in the interview, McCain on multiple occasions denied letting anyone use, drive, or borrow her mother’s car. 

Internet searches from the defendant’s phone, as early as three nights after the homicide, reference a homicide that occurred in Elkton.

U.S. Attorney Weiss stated the following: “The investigation into the circumstances surrounding the homicide and shootings that occurred on June 6, 2017 is a matter of critical importance to this Office and our community.  Witnesses to such events are expected to respond truthfully when questioned. The failure to do so will bring consequences.  I want to thank the Federal Bureau of Investigation for their extraordinary and ongoing work on this case.”

If convicted of obstruction of justice as charged in the Indictment, the defendant faces a maximum sentence of twenty (20) years imprisonment.

This case is being investigated by the Wilmington Police Department, the Delaware State Police, the Elkton Police Department, the Delaware Department of Justice, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  This case is being prosecuted by First Assistant U.S. Attorney Shannon T. Hanson and Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Mackler.

Criminal indictments are only allegations and are not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – On April 16, 2018, Jose Penaranda Tan, 58, of Morristown, Tennessee, was sentenced by the Honorable J. Ronnie Greer, U.S. District Judge, to serve 12 months and one day in federal prison.  In addition to his prison sentence, Tan must also pay restitution to Medicare, Medicaid (known as TennCare in the state of Tennessee), Cigna, Optum, and Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) of Tennessee in an amount to be determined by Judge Greer.

Tan pleaded guilty in June 2017 to one count of a 35-count indictment charging him with health care fraud, false statements related to health care matters, and aggravated identity theft.  

Tan was the owner and operator of Therapeutic Services of Morristown (TSM), a clinic providing occupational, physical, and speech therapy services, specializing in pediatric care.  He worked at TSM as a therapist and as a supervisor of various employees, including the therapists and administrative assistants who were responsible for submitting bills to Medicare, TennCare, and private health insurance companies.   A detailed account of his offenses is included in the indictment and plea agreement on file with the U.S. District Court.

Tan admitted that over the course of more than two years, he submitted, or caused to be submitted, almost 10,000 false and fraudulent claims to government and private insurers, totaling approximately $1 million.  He instructed employees to bill insurers as if TSM therapists were providing individualized therapy sessions to patients, when in fact Tan directed therapists to treat patients in group settings.  By falsely claiming that TSM therapists were providing individual therapy, rather than group therapy, Tan was able to secure higher rates of reimbursement from Medicare, TennCare, Cigna, Optum, and BCBS.  Additionally, Tan knowingly and fraudulently used the National Provider Identifiers of former therapist employees to bill for therapy services that were provided by non-credentialed therapy assistants, rather than by qualified and credentialed therapists.

This fraud resulted in Medicare, TennCare, Cigna, Optum, and BCBS paying approximately $400,000 to TSM, to which the clinic was not entitled. 

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to pursue charges against health care providers in the Eastern District of Tennessee who fraudulently bill and obtain payments from our federal healthcare benefit programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, for services not provided.  We will use all resources available to ensure the government is reimbursed for funds owed by these individuals and entities who receive payments to which they were not entitled,” said U.S. Attorney J. Douglas Overbey. 

This therapist stole the identities of licensed providers and used them to obtain payments from federal health programs,” said Derrick L. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General in Atlanta. “He cheated his patients out of the care they deserved and is now paying the price for his actions.”

This case was investigated by the Department of Health and Human Services – Office of the Inspector General and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.    Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Gunn and T.J. Harker represented the United States.

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GREENVILLE– The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Robert J. Higdon, Jr., announced that today in federal court, Senior United States District Judge Malcolm J. Howard sentenced DARRICUS DIQUEL SUGGS, 23, of Tarboro, North Carolina to 97 months of imprisonment followed by 3 years of supervised release.

SUGGS was named in a two-count Indictment on November 2, 2017.  On December 7, 2017, SUGGS pled guilty to one-count of Hobbs Act Robbery and Aiding and Abetting and one-count of Felon in Possession of a Firearm.

On November 21, 2016, SUGGS and James Leroy Everette, who previously pled guilty on January 11, 2018, entered the Speedway gas station located in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, wearing gloves and concealing their faces with shirts or a ski mask. Everette immediately leapt over the counter and instructed the victim clerk to open the cash register, at which time he grabbed the cash out of the register.  The victim clerk advised investigators that one of the robbers threatened to “blow her head off” if she did not comply. The robbers then fled the scene with $382 in U.S. currency, which they ultimately divided among themselves.

Immediately after the aforementioned robbery, SUGGS and his accomplice drove to Wendell, North Carolina, where they broke into Perry’s Gun Shop. Upon arrival at the business, Sharpe used a cinder block to break through the glass door of the business.  SUGGS and Everette then entered the business. SUGGS and Everette shattered a display case and stole 9 Smith and Wesson handguns before fleeing the scene.  Within hours of the burglary, Everette was captured by law enforcement, and identified SUGGS as his accomplice in the Speedway robbery and burglary of Perry’s Gun Shop.

On November 22, 2016, investigators conducted a search of SUGGS’ residence and recovered the firearms stolen from Perry’s Gun Shop.  The firearms, along with assorted 9mm and .380 caliber ammunition, were found in SUGGS’ bedroom.  SUGGS was taken into custody and subsequently provided a statement to authorities during which he acknowledged his involvement in the robbery of Speedway.  However, SUGGS denied entering Perry’s Gun Shop and maintained that he only “peeked” inside the store.

In conclusion, SUGGS is responsible for robbing a gas station and stealing 9 firearms from a gun shop.  During the robbery of the Speedway gas station, the defendant and his accomplice stole $382 and threatened the victim clerk with death if she did not comply.

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

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Rocky Mount Police Department and the Wendell Police Department conducted the criminal investigation of this case.  Assistant United States Attorney James J. Kurosad handled the prosecution of this case for the government.

NEWARK, N.J. – A fugitive wanted by the FBI for almost 15 years admitted today to defrauding a financial institution to obtain hundreds of thousands of dollars for himself, his computer retail business, and his associates, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Steven Nacim, 49, a/k/a “Fouad,” a Moroccan national, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge William J. Martini in Newark federal court to a superseding information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

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

In March and April of 2002, Nacim and others owned and operated a business known as Computer 3000, based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and Casablanca, Morocco. Nacim and his conspirators executed a fraudulent check scheme involving the negotiation of a $289,326 check drawn on insufficient funds, and the wire transfer of the proceeds through multiple accounts controlled by the conspirators. Nacim used the majority of the funds for his own benefit and for the benefit of his computer business.

The conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice his gain, or twice the loss sustained by the victim of the offense. Nacim agreed to pay $240,580 in restitution to the victim bank, and to forfeit $240,580. He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 26, 2018, at 10:00 a.m.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Bradley W. Cohen, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shirley U. Emehelu, Chief of the Asset Recovery Money Laundering Unit.

Defense counsel: Joseph B. Shumofksy Esq., Newark, New Jersey

            WASHINGTON – The owner of Atius Technology Institute (“Atius”), a privately owned, non-accredited school specializing in information technology courses, pleaded guilty today to bribing a public official at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in exchange for the public official’s facilitation of over $2 million in payments that were supposed to be dedicated to providing vocational training for military veterans with service-connected disabilities.  Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu for the District of Columbia made the announcement.

            Albert S. Poawui, 41, of Laurel, Maryland, pleaded guilty to an Information alleging one count of bribing a public official.  The plea was entered before U.S. District Judge John D. Bates of the District of Columbia.

            According to Poawui’s plea agreement, the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) program is a VA program that provides disabled U.S. military veterans with education and employment-related services.  VR&E program counselors advise veterans under their supervision which schools to attend and facilitate payments to those schools for veterans’ tuition and necessary supplies.

            According to admissions made in connection with Poawui’s plea, in or about August 2015, Poawui and a VR&E program counselor agreed that Poawui would pay the counselor a seven percent cash kickback of all payments made by the VA to Atius.  In exchange, the counselor steered VR&E program veterans to Atius and approved Atius’s invoices for payment. 

            Poawui admitted that the counselor and a second VR&E counselor approved payments to Atius without regard for the accuracy of necessary documentation in order to maximize the scheme’s profits.  Between August 2015 and December 2017, Poawui and the scheme’s other participants caused the VA to pay Atius approximately $2,217,259.44.  Poawui paid the first VR&E counselor over $155,000 as part of the illicit bribery scheme.  These bribery payments were hand-delivered by Poawui or an Atius employee to the VR&E counselor or the counselor’s assistant, a veteran who was enrolled in the VR&E program.

            Poawui also admitted that, with the knowing assistance of a second Atius employee, he made numerous false representations to the VA to enhance the scheme’s profits.  For example, Poawui and the second employee certified to the VA that veterans attending Atius were enrolled in up to 32 hours of class per week, when in fact both knew that Atius offered a maximum of six weekly class hours.  After the VA initiated an administrative audit of Atius, Poawui, the VR&E counselor and the Atius employee took steps to conceal the truth about earlier misrepresentations they had made to the VA.

            Poawui’s plea is the result of an ongoing investigation by the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the VA Office of Inspector General.  Trial Attorney Simon J. Cataldo of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sonali D. Patel of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia are prosecuting the case. 

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that a federal jury in Hartford has found JOSEPH STEELE, also known as “Joey,” 32, of Hartford, guilty of drug and firearm offenses.  The trial before U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea began on April 12 and the jury returned verdicts of guilty on three counts of a four-count indictment yesterday afternoon.

According to the evidence disclosed during the trial, on June 14, 2017, the Hartford Police Department’s Vice and Narcotics Unit received information that STEELE was in possession of a firearm while operating a white Cadillac.  Investigators located the Cadillac and conducted a traffic stop at the intersection of Enfield Street and Capen Street.  After STEELE consented to a search of the vehicle, investigators lifted a rear seat cushion and found a .40 caliber semiautomatic pistol, 50 wax folds of fentanyl, and two knotted plastic bags containing approximately 6.5 grams of crack cocaine.

In April 2016, STEELE was convicted in Connecticut Superior Court of possession of a pistol without a permit.  It is a violation of federal law for a person previously convicted of a felony offense to possess a firearm or ammunition that has moved in interstate or foreign commerce.

Yesterday, the jury found STEELE guilty of one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine base (“crack cocaine”), one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, and one count of possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon.  STEELE was acquitted of one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

Judge Shea scheduled sentencing for July 9, 2018, at which time STEELE faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years on each of the drug offenses, and a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years on the firearm offense.

STEELE has been detained since his arrest on June 14, 2017.

This investigation was conducted by the Hartford Police Department’s Vice and Narcotics Unit and the FBI’s Northern Connecticut Violent Crime Gang Task Force, which includes members of the Hartford Police Department, East Hartford Police Department, Connecticut State Police and Connecticut Department of Correction.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael J. Gustafson and Jocelyn Courtney Kaoutzanis.

CHICAGO — The bookkeeper for two Chicago-area staffing companies has admitted in federal court that he conspired to defraud the IRS for at least a decade by falsifying corporate tax returns and W-2 forms to reduce the taxes assessed against the companies and their owners.

BARRY POTICHA, 73, of Northbrook, pleaded guilty Monday to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States.  Poticha admitted in a plea agreement that he caused a total federal tax loss of more than $24 million.

The guilty plea was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Gabriel Grchan, Special Agent-in-Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Chicago Field Office.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn E. Malizia.

Poticha admitted that beginning no later than 2000 and continuing through December 19, 2011, he conspired with an independent contractor to falsify information supplied to the IRS in the quarterly Employment Tax Returns (Form 941) filed by the companies, as well as in false W-2 forms the companies provided to their employees and the IRS.  When employees discovered discrepancies in the W-2 forms, Poticha issued letters to conceal the fraud.  This conduct resulted in a federal tax loss of approximately $24,450,609.

In addition to defrauding the IRS for the benefit of the employers and their owners, Poticha also admitted filing false personal income tax returns on his own behalf for tax years 2010 through 2015.  In each of these years, Poticha fraudulently underreported his own income and over-reported his income tax withholding, resulting in a federal tax loss of $341,621 and a state tax loss of $32,604.

The conviction is punishable by up to five years in prison.  The Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.

U.S. District Judge Gary Feinerman set sentencing for Aug. 14, 2018, at 10:30 a.m.

The charges against Kohl were the result of an investigation conducted by the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation; Drug Enforcement Administration- Madison, Wisconsin and Los Angeles, California; Dane County Narcotics Task Force; Dane County Sheriff’s Department; Madison Police Department; UW-Madison Police Department; U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Sauk County Drug Task Force; Richland-Iowa-Grant Drug Task Force; Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office; State Line Area Narcotics Team; and Rock County Special Investigations Unit.  The prosecution of the case has been handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Diane Schlipper and David Reinhard. 

ALEXANDRIA, La. – United StatesAttorney David C. Joseph announced that a Deville man pleaded guilty Monday to possessing a silencer that had not been registered.

Jonathan Hayes, 32, of Deville, Louisiana, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Dee D. Drell to one count of receipt or possession of an unregistered firearm.  According to the guilty plea, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries agents arrested Hayes on June 1, 2016 in the Camp Beauregard Wildlife Management Area. Agents found him in possession of a Ruger .22 caliber rifle, a Savage .22 caliber rifle and a firearm silencer. The silencer, which is a firearm under federal law, had no manufacturer’s mark of identification or serial number. The silencer was not registered in the National Firearms and Transfer Record.

Hayes faces 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine for each count.  Sentencing has been set for June 20, 2018.

The ATF and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dominic Rossetti is prosecuting the case.

Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that RANDY WANG pled guilty to defrauding his former employer, a company based in Manhattan that manages a global airline alliance whose members consist of approximately 13 international airlines and their affiliates (the “Company”), by incurring more than $2.2 million in unauthorized charges on the Company’s credit card account.  WANG pled guilty to one count of wire fraud before U.S. District Judge John F. Keenan.

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “As he admitted in court today, Randy Wang took advantage of his position at a major New York-based company to charge millions of dollars’ worth of nonbusiness purchases on the company’s credit card.  He now awaits sentencing for the theft and deceit that victimized his own employer.”

According to allegations contained in the Information filed against Wang and statements made in related court filings and proceedings:  

During the relevant time period, WANG was employed as a business manager for the Company, and for approximately the last two months of the scheme, WANG also served as the Company’s interim chief financial officer.  From at least in or about January 2016 through in or about October 2017, RANDY WANG, the defendant, incurred more than $2.2 million of unauthorized charges on the Company’s credit card account, by making hundreds of purchases at both online and brick-and-mortar retailers.  WANG’s purchases, which were entirely unrelated to his official duties and were not for the benefit of the Company, included approximately 443 laptop computers, 241 mobile electronic devices, 24 tablet computers, and numerous other electronics.  In order to evade detection of his criminal conduct, WANG made changes to the Company’s accounting records to disguise the nature of the credit card charges.

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WANG, 34, of Bayside, Queens, pled guilty to one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense.  The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant would be determined by the Court.

Mr. Wang’s sentencing is scheduled for September 5, 2018, at 11:00 a.m.

Mr. Berman praised the work of Homeland Security Investigations and the El Dorado Task Force.  

This case is being handled by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine I. Magdo is in charge of the prosecution.

NORFOLK, Va. – Two illegal aliens, one of whom was previously convicted of an aggravated felony in Arizona and has been deported at least three times, have been sentenced to prison for dealing methamphetamine in Norfolk.

According to court documents, Jaime Sanchez-Huerta, aka “Carlos Slim,” 23, of Mexico, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and possession of a firearm by an illegal alien.  Alejandro Rodriguez-Vargas, 34, of Mexico, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and illegal reentry by a deported alien. 

According to court documents, on April 25, 2017, Norfolk Police arrested Sanchez-Huerta on his way to a drug deal in Norfolk. Sanchez-Huerta, an illegal alien, was in possession of a loaded .45 caliber pistol. Norfolk Police searched Sanchez-Huerta’s vehicle and hotel room and discovered $4,000 in cash, 4.5 grams of methamphetamine, marijuana, digital scales, and a box of .45 caliber ammunition. The following day, Norfolk Police searched a second hotel room tied to Sanchez-Huerta and discovered Rodriguez-Vargas, another illegal, and 137 grams of “Ice.” Rodriguez-Vargas has been deported at least three times before and he was previously convicted of re-entry by a deported alien subsequent to a conviction for an aggravated felony in Arizona in 2013.

Sanchez-Huerta was sentenced to 12 years and four months in prison today. Rodriguez-Vargas was sentenced to 10 years in prison on February 16. Both men will be deported upon completion of their sentences.

Tracy Doherty-McCormick, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Michael K. Lamonea, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Norfolk, and Larry D. Boone, Chief of Norfolk Police, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Mark S. Davis. Assistant U.S. Attorney Darryl J. Mitchell prosecuted the case.

ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations and the Virginia Beach Police Department provided significant assistance with this investigation.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:17-cr-129.

ALBUQUERQUE – Dale Dominic Galvan, 40, an enrolled member of the Zia Pueblo, who resides in Englewood, Colo., was sentenced today in federal court in Santa Fe, N.M., to 23 months in prison followed by one year of supervised release for his conviction on a child abuse charge. 

Galvan was indicted on May 12, 2015, and was charged with abandonment or abuse of a child under the age of 18 on April 15, 2014, on the Santa Clara Pueblo in Rio Arriba County, N.M.

On Sept. 18, 2017, Galvan pled guilty to an information charging him with child abuse.  In entering the guilty plea, Galvan admitted that on April 15, 2014, he exposed a two-year-old child to inclement weather by leaving the child in a vehicle for at least 20 to 45 minutes on a cold night with a temperature of about 29 degrees Fahrenheit.  The child was dressed only in a t-shirt, without a diaper, socks, or pants and was found to be cold and shivering.  Galvan further admitted that his actions caused and permitted a substantial and unjustifiable risk of serious harm to the safety and health of the child. 

This case was investigated by the Northern Pueblos Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services, and the Santa Clara Pueblo Tribal Police Department and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle T. Nayback.

NEWARK, N.J. – A Newark, New Jersey, resident today admitted conspiring to obtain marijuana from California to sell in New Jersey, and paying cash bribes to two U.S. Postal Service (USPS) mail carriers to intercept and deliver parcels to him, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Glenn Blackstone, 48, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Esther D. Salas in Newark federal court to an information charging him with one count of giving bribes and one count of conspiracy to distribute marijuana. He was released on $100,000 unsecured bond.

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

From October 2014 to September 2017, Blackstone purchased marijuana from a conspirator, who produced the marijuana in California and oversaw shipping it in parcels from California and Nevada. Blackstone then sold the marijuana to others in Newark. Blackstone provided the then-USPS mail carrier, Leonard Gresham, 50, of Rahway, New Jersey, and another then-USPS mail carrier approximately $12,400 in cash payments to deliver the parcels to him. These parcels had fictitious names and addresses on them and were not addressed directly to Blackstone.

On multiple occasions, Blackstone asked the mail carriers to remove the parcels from the normal delivery stream and deliver them instead to him at various locations in Newark. Blackstone paid the letter carriers approximately $50 to $100 in cash for each delivery.

On Feb. 13, 2018, Gresham pleaded guilty before Judge Salas to an information charging him with one count of accepting bribes. He is scheduled to be sentenced May 30, 2018.

The drug conspiracy count with which Blackstone is charged is punishable by a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison, a maximum of 40 years in prison and a fine of up to $5 million, or twice the gross gain from the offense. The bribery count is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. Sentencing is scheduled for July 24, 2018.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents with the USPS-Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Eileen Neff, Northeast Area Field Office, and inspectors of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Acting Inspector in Charge Ruth M. Mendonca, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jihee G. Suh of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Special Prosecutions Division in Newark.

Defense counsel: Ray Hamlin Esq., Newark