Month: March 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

PITTSBURGH, PA – A resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to 120 months of imprisonment to be followed by five years of supervised release on his conviction of federal narcotics laws related to a nine-month Title III wiretap investigation into drug trafficking in and around the counties of Jefferson, Clearfield, and Allegheny, United States Attorney Cindy K. Chung announced today.

United States District Judge Christy Criswell Wiegand imposed the sentence on Doug Austen, age 41, of the Carrick section of the City of Pittsburgh.

According to information presented to the court, on June 9, 2021, Austen sold another individual 84 grams of pure methamphetamine.

Assistant United States Attorneys Jonathan D. Lusty and Michael R. Ball prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

The Drug Enforcement Administration led the multi-agency investigation of this case, which also included the United States Postal Service – Office of Inspector General, United States Postal Inspection Service, Homeland Security Investigations, Internal Revenue Services, Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, and Pennsylvania State Police. Also assisting were the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office, Clearfield County District Attorney’s Office, and the Clarion Borough Police Department. United States Attorney Chung commended all of the agencies for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Austen.

This prosecution is a result of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles high-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten communities throughout the United States. OCDETF uses a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Two Trenton, Missouri, men have been indicted by a federal grand jury for their roles in a conspiracy to distribute fentanyl in Grundy County, Mo., and elsewhere.

Troy Lee Palmer, 24, and Dallas W. Hughs, 26, were charged in a six-count indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury on March 1, 2022. That indictment has been unsealed following the arrests of Palmer and Hughs. Palmer, who was arrested yesterday, remains in federal custody pending a detention hearing on March 28, 2022. Hughs is not eligible for bond as he was already in state custody on separate case.

The federal indictment alleges that Palmer and Hughs participated in a conspiracy to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl since Oct. 27, 2020.

In addition to the conspiracy, Palmer is charged with one count of possessing fentanyl to distribute in Grundy County on Dec. 8, 2020, and one count of possessing several firearms in furtherance of drug-trafficking crimes. Palmer allegedly possessed a Cricket .22-caliber bolt-action rifle, a Ross .22-caliber rifle, a Ross .410-gauge shotgun, a Ruger 410-gauge shotgun, a Hiawatha 12-gauge shotgun, and a Ruger .223-caliber rifle on Dec. 8, 2020.

Hughs is also charged with three counts of distributing fentanyl in Grundy County on separate occasions between Aug. 23 and Sept. 13, 2021.

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

This case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Maureen Bracket. It was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Grundy County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Trenton, Mo., Police Department, the Northwest Missouri Drug Task Force, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Buchanan County Drug Strike Force, and IRS-Criminal Investigation.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

BOSTON – A Fitchburg man pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Worcester to his role in a wide-ranging fentanyl, heroin, crack and cocaine trafficking conspiracy.

Kevin Martinez, 42, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin, 400 grams or more of fentanyl, 280 grams or more of cocaine base (commonly known as crack cocaine) and 500 grams or more of cocaine. U.S. District Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman scheduled sentencing for Sept. 16, 2022. 

According to court documents, following a fatal fentanyl overdose in September 2018, law enforcement began an investigation into a drug trafficking organization (DTO) in the Fitchburg area led by co-conspirators Pedro Baez and Anthony Baez. Beginning in July 2019, electronic communications revealed that the Baez DTO distributed a fentanyl and heroin mixture, cocaine and crack cocaine on a regular basis to individuals in the Fitchburg area, who then redistributed the drugs to others.

Over the course of the investigation, over 1.8 kilograms of a heroin and fentanyl mixture, over 3.6 kilograms of cocaine and over 50 grams of crack cocaine, as well as a stolen, loaded handgun, drug manufacturing equipment and over $376,000 was seized. Martinez was responsible for distributing nearly 500 grams of cocaine. 

Martinez was charged along with 17 others in July 2020. He is the 12^th defendant to plead guilty in the case.

For the charge of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin, 400 grams or more of fentanyl, 280 grams or more of cocaine base and 500 grams or more of cocaine, Martinez faces a sentence of up to life in prison, at least six years of supervised release and a fine of up to $20 million. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; Commissioner Carol Mici of the Massachusetts Department of Correction; and Colonel Christopher Mason, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police made the announcement. The Fitchburg Police Department, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Lunenburg Police Department also provided valuable assistance. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alathea Porter of Rollins’ Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit is prosecuting the case.

The operation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations.

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

Source: United States Department of Justice News

VALDOSTA, Ga. – A Georgia man with a prior federal conviction for fraud was sentenced to federal prison for a scheme he orchestrated to claim government pandemic funds using identity theft and fraud.

Darrius Hollis, 28, of Quitman, Georgia, was sentenced to serve a total of 42 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Hugh Lawson on March 23, after pleading guilty to wire fraud. The sentence included 30 months on the wire fraud conviction and 12 additional months to serve consecutively on a revocation of the supervised release Hollis was still serving for the earlier bank and wire fraud conspiracy conviction. In addition, Judge Lawson ordered Hollis to pay $42,667 in restitution to the Georgia Department of Labor. There is no parole in the federal system.

According to court documents, a United States Secret Service Special Agent was contacted by an individual in Aug. 2020, who believed Hollis was involved with filing fraudulent unemployment insurance claims. Hollis was familiar to the agent because of his prior federal fraud conviction. The U.S. Department of Labor ran a query of its claims database and discovered that an unemployment insurance claim seeking federal and state pandemic assistance was electronically filed in Hollis’ name stating that he had been working at a Quitman business and lost his job due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, Hollis was in federal prison during most of that claimed time period serving a sentence for a previous conviction, having been released from federal custody in late April 2020. Further investigation discovered that Hollis used the identities of two victims to fraudulently apply for and receive unemployment insurance and Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act money. Hollis admitted to the scheme and is responsible for a total of $42,337 in losses to the State of Georgia and the United States.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

The case was investigated by the United States Secret Service, the U.S. Department of Labor and the Georgia Department of Labor.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert McCullers prosecuted the case.