Month: March 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

WILMINGTON, N.C. – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina announced that an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) operation resulted in the charging and arrest of 20 defendants for various offenses, including drug trafficking and firearms offenses.

An OCDETF investigation is a coordinated federal, state, and local strategy to combat drug trafficking and organized crime, and it is the nation’s primary tool to disrupt and dismantle drug trafficking organizations. 

This investigation was spearheaded by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and assisted by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the United States Marshals Service, the Brunswick, Bladen, and Duplin County Sheriffs’ Offices, and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI).

ATF utilized agents from North and South Carolina as well as Task Force Officers from the New Hanover and Brunswick County Sheriffs’ Offices and the Jacksonville, Goldsboro, and Wilmington Police Departments.

This initiative speaks to the multi-agency commitment to fight crime in Brunswick, New Hanover, Duplin, and Bladen counties in partnership with United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina, the District Attorney’s Offices, as well as other federal, state, and local law enforcement.

The following individuals were charged by way of Criminal Indictment or Criminal Complaint.  The individual charges for each defendant are contained in the parenthesis following each listed defendant.

• Jiani Tomaz Alston, 26, of Raleigh, NC (Conspiracy to Distribute Five Hundred (500) Grams or More of a Mixture and Substance Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine; Possess With the Intent to Distribute Five Hundred (500) Grams or More of a Mixture and Substance Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine; and Aiding and Abetting)
• Demetrius Sonaz Alston, Jr., 25, of Charlotte, NC (Conspiracy to Distribute Five Hundred (500) Grams or More of a Mixture and Substance Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine; Possess With the Intent to Distribute Five Hundred (500) Grams or More of a Mixture and Substance Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine; and Aiding and Abetting)
• Kenneth Brown, 40, of Wilmington, NC (Conspiracy to Possess With the Intent to Distribute Twenty-Eight (28) Grams or More of Cocaine Base (Crack); Distribute a Quantity of Cocaine Base (Crack); Possession of a Firearm and Ammunition by a Convicted Felon)
• Massimo Campana, 30, of Wilmington, NC (Distribute a Quantity of a Mixture and Substance Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine; Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime)
• Kawshie Chapman, 48, of Wilmington, NC (Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with the Intent to Distribute Fifty (50) Grams or More of a Mixture and Substance Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine; Distribute 50 Grams or More of a Mixture and Substance Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine; Distribute a Mixture and Substance Containing a Detectable Amount of Cocaine; Possession of a Firearm by Convicted Felon; Receiving and Possessing a Short-Barreled Rifle)
• Ronesha Greene-McNeil, 35, of Leland, NC (Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with the Intent to Distribute Five Hundred (500) Grams or More of a Mixture and Substance Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine; Distribute a Mixture and Substance Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine; Distribute a Mixture and Substance Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine and Cocaine; Distribute 50 Grams or More of a Mixture and Substance Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine; Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon; Distribute Five Hundred (500) Grams or More of a Mixture and Substance Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine)
• David Hedge, 21, of Wilmington, NC (Distribution of a Quantity of a Mixture and Substance Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine and Quantity of Cocaine; Distribution of a Quantity of a Mixture and Substance Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine; Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime; Distribution of Five (5) Grams or More of Actual Methamphetamine)
• Anthony Jackson, 31, of Wilmington, NC (Distribute a Quantity of a Mixture and Substance Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine)
• Naulege Johnson, 23, of Wilmington, NC (Distribution of a Quantity of a Mixture and Substance Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine; Distribution of Fifty (50) Grams or More of a Mixture and Substance Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine)
• Shamar Keaton, 32, of Riegelwood, NC (Distribute a Quantity of a Mixture and Substance Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine)
• Devonte Lewis, 26, of Navassa, NC (Distribution of a Quantity of Cocaine Base (Crack); Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime; Felon in Possession of a Firearm; Distribution of a Quantity of Marijuana; Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime; Possession of a Machine Gun; Distribution of a Quantity of Cocaine Base (Crack))
• Juan Martinez, 22, of Wilmington, NC (Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon)
• Erving Muse, 39, of Wilmington, NC (Distribute a Mixture and Substance Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine; Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon; Distribute Fifty (50) Grams or More of a Mixture and Substance Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine; Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon)
• Dwayne Nixon, 46, Wilmington, NC (Distribute a Quantity of Cocaine)
• David Pigford, 36, of Clinton, NC (Conspiracy to Possess with the Intent to Distribute and Distribute Five Hundred (500) Grams or More of a Mixture and Substance Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine; Distribute Fifty (50) Grams or More of a Mixture and Substance Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine)
• Ernest Robinson, 34, of Currie, NC (Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon)
• Rodna Robinson, 34, of Currie, NC (Distribute a Quantity of Cocaine; Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime; Distribute a Quantity of Cocaine Base (Crack); Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime)
• Anthony Smith, 39, of Clarkton, NC (Conspiracy to Distribute Fifty (50) Grams or More of a Mixture and Substance Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine; Distribute a Quantity of a Mixture and Substance Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine; Distribute Fifty (50) Grams or More of a Mixture and Substance Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine; and Aiding and Abetting)
• Tyquawn Washington, 28, of Wilmington, NC (Distribute a Quantity of a Mixture and Substance Containing a Detectable Amount of Heroin)
• Oscar Williams, 38, of Leland, NC (Conspiracy to Distribute a Mixture and Substance Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine; Distribute a Quantity of a Mixture and Substance Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine; and Aiding and Abetting; Distribute a Quantity of a Mixture and Substance Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine; Distribute a Quantity of a Mixture and Substance Containing a Detectable Amount of Heroin; Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon; Distribute a Quantity of a Mixture and Substance Containing a Detectable Amount of Heroin)

“We are grateful to the ATF, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Marshals, and all the other agencies involved for their partnership and willingness to participate in this investigation,” stated Brunswick County Sheriff John Ingram. “We can always achieve more when working together as a team; this operation is a great example of that. I believe this sends a strong message to anyone thinking they can conduct criminal business in Brunswick County.”

“Our work today will have an immediate impact on this community,” said ATF Acting Special Agent in Charge Brian Mein. “This collaborative investigation, and the arrests made this week, will ensure that many of those responsible for criminal activity in our community remain behind bars.”

The charges and allegations contained in the Indictments and Criminal Complaints are merely accusations.  The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

Michael Easley, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Timothy Severo and Gabriel Diaz are prosecuting the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA — On Friday, March 18, 2022, U.S. District Court Judge David C. Norton of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina approved a consent decree that resolves alleged violations of the Clean Water Act by Defendant, Paul Edward Mashni, and several of his related entities that impacted wetlands on property near the Kiawah River, located on Johns Island, South Carolina. The complaint was brought in 2018 by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina, on referral from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Charleston District (Corps).

The Clean Water Act generally requires any person who plans to fill federally protected wetlands to receive a permit from the Corps. The complaint alleged that Mr. Mashni and his associated companies violated the Clean Water Act by filling wetlands without a permit. This case stems from development activities the defendants conducted on land they owned and land nearby that the defendants did not own. During the defendants’ ownership of the Johns Island property at issue, evidence shows that the defendants operated earthmoving equipment through at least 11 acres of the property. Mr. Mashni and the other defendants’ conduct in this case contributed to the destruction and/or significant degradation of wetlands at the site. The consent decree approved today secures a significant penalty and mitigation to resolve the alleged Clean Water Act violations, while ensuring fairness for developers who comply with the Clean Water Act by obtaining a permit from the Corps before undertaking regulated work in wetlands.

Under the consent decree, the defendants are required to pay $525,000 in civil penalties; purchase seventy freshwater wetland restoration or enhancement mitigation credits to offset the environmental impact of their activity; and be subject to a prohibition of certain new activities in waters or wetlands at the property at issue absent pre-clearance from the Corps. In total, the approximate cost of the defendants’ total obligations under the settlement is over $1,000,000.

“This is a substantial penalty,” said U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina Corey F. Ellis.   “It serves two purposes:  to restore the integrity of the waters of the United States and to deter others from polluting those waters.”

Compliance and enforcement are important components of the Corps’ Regulatory program.  The Corps’ Charleston District has an active enforcement program throughout the State of South Carolina that is often aided by state and federal agencies, as well as by groups and individuals who report suspected violations. To address violations, the Corps is authorized to prescribe corrective action, impose administrative fines and prescribe removal of unauthorized fill, work or structures.

“The objective of the Clean Water Act is to ‘restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters,’” said Travis Hughes, the Regulatory Division Chief of the Corps’ Charleston District.  “Because filling and destroying wetlands is not easily undone, the Corps is committed to holding all responsible parties accountable when regulated work in wetlands is undertaken without a permit from the Corps.” 

For more information on Charleston District and the Corps’ Regulatory program, visit: https://www.sac.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/.

This case was handled by Corps counsel James Choate and Jonathan Jellema; Civil Division Chief James Leventis and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Johanna Valenzuela and Sheria Clarke for the District of South Carolina; and Martha Mann and Andrew J. Doyle of the Environmental Defense Section of the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

The Justice Department announced that United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) has agreed to pay approximately $5.3 million to resolve its potential liability under the False Claims Act for falsely reporting information about the transfer of U.S. mail to foreign posts or other intended recipients under contracts with the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). UPS is an international package delivery company incorporated in Delaware with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.

USPS contracted with UPS to pick up U.S. mail at six locations in the United States and at various Department of Defense and State Department locations abroad, and then deliver that mail to numerous international and domestic destinations. To obtain payment under the contracts, UPS was required to submit electronic scans to USPS reporting the time the mail was delivered at the identified destinations. The contracts specified penalties for mail that was delivered late or to the wrong location. The settlement resolves allegations that scans submitted by UPS falsely reported the time and fact that it transferred possession of the mail.

“Companies doing business with the government must meet their contractual obligations,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department of Justice will pursue those who knowingly fail to live up to their bargain and falsely bill the government for goods or services that they did not provide.” 

“The USPS contracts with commercial airlines for the safeguarding and timely delivery of U.S. mail to foreign posts, including the mail sent to our soldiers deployed to foreign operating bases,” said Executive Special Agent in Charge Ken Cleevely of the USPS Office of Inspector General. “The Office of Inspector General supports USPS by aggressively investigating allegations of contractual non-compliance within the mail delivery process, including the falsification of delivery information. Our special agents worked hand-in-hand with the Department of Justice to help ensure a reasonable resolution and we applaud the exceptional work done by the investigative and legal teams.”

This is the fifth civil settlement involving air carrier liability for false delivery scans under the USPS International Commercial Air Contracts, and collectively the United States has recovered more than $70 million as a result of its investigation of such misconduct.

The resolution obtained in this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, with substantial assistance from the USPS Office of the Inspector General and the USPS Office of General Counsel. Senior Trial Counsel Don Williamson of the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, represented the government in the civil case.

The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

A federal jury convicted a Utah man on Thursday of tax evasion, filing false tax returns and impeding the IRS.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Derald Wilford Geddes, of Ogden, was a dentist who owned and operated Mount Ogden Dental PC. From approximately 1998 through 2014, Geddes took numerous steps to evade approximately $1.8 million in back federal income taxes that he owed. He also obstructed the IRS’s efforts to collect these taxes, including by filing false liens against properties he owned and submitting to the IRS bogus “bonds to discharge debt” that he claimed were from the account of the former Treasury Secretary.

Geddes faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for tax evasion and three years in prison for each count of filing a false tax return and impeding the IRS. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Andrea T. Martinez for the District of Utah made the announcement.

This case is being investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation.

Trial Attorneys Ahmed Almudallal, Christopher Lin and Matthew Hoffman of the Tax Division, and supervisory paralegal Melissa McKinnon of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, are prosecuting the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

           Montgomery, Ala. –    On March 18, 2022, Athens City Schools administrator, William Richard (“Rick”) Carter, Jr., 46, was convicted for his role in a scheme to defraud the Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE), announced Acting United States Attorney Alice S. LaCour, FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp, Jr., and Special Agent in Charge Reginald J. France of the U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General’s Southeastern Regional Office.

           According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Carter, conspired with other school officials to fraudulently enroll students in public virtual schools and then falsely reported those students to the Alabama State Department of Education in order to illegally receive additional education funding. Carter’s co-conspirators include former superintendent of the Athens City Schools district Dr. William L. (“Trey”) Holladay, III; David Webb Tutt, of Uniontown, Alabama; Gregory (“Greg”) Earl Corkren, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama; and former superintendent of the Limestone County School district Thomas Michael Sisk.

           During Carter’s four-week trial, the jury heard evidence that he and his co-defendants obtained student identities to use in their scheme from various private schools located across the state—particularly private schools in the Black Belt region of Alabama. The defendants offered the private schools computers, direct payments, and access to online curriculum to persuade them to share their students’ academic records and personal identifying information with the public school districts. Multiple private school parents and former students testified that during the school years that the scheme occurred, 2016-2017 and 2017-2018, they had little to no connection with the public-school districts in which they were supposedly enrolled. The parents continued to pay private school tuition and the students continued to attend the brick-and-mortar private schools each day, receiving instruction from teachers at those private schools.

           There was also testimony provided about a meeting with the ALSDE in March of 2016 where the state notified Athens City School officials that private school students were being erroneously listed as public-school enrollees and directed the Athens School officials to correct the problem. However, evidence presented at trial showed that instead of following that guidance, Carter and his co-conspirators took steps to conceal and continue their scheme. For example, they created fake report cards, manufactured false addresses for the students of the private schools who lived outside of Alabama, and submitted falsified course completion reports to the state department of education. When shown the fake report cards and completion reports during the trial, the parents and former students testified that they had never seen them before and did not know any of the teachers listed on them.

           The submission of this false documentation allowed payments to continue from Alabama’s Education Trust Fund to the Athens City Schools district and the Limestone County Schools district. Carter and his co-conspirators then received, for their own personal use, portions of the state funding. They skimmed the state money through direct cash payments and payments to third-party contractors owned by the various co-conspirators. During the course of the scheme, the total potential loss was approximately $10 million.

            The jury found Carter guilty on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, four counts of wire fraud, and two counts of aggravated identity theft. At some upcoming date, Carter will be sentenced. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment, as well as substantial monetary penalties and restitution. He is also facing a mandatory consecutive two-year sentence on each count of aggravated identity theft. Co-defendants William L. Holladay, III, Gregory Earl Corkren, David Webb Tutt, and Thomas Michael Sisk, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the government. Gregory Corkren also pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft.

           “We trust every educator to make teaching our children the top priority,” said Alice S. LaCour, acting United States Attorney for this case. “In this case, Mr. Carter violated that trust and put profit ahead of the well-being of students. I am proud of the work of the law enforcement agents who spent countless hours uncovering the disheartening fraud perpetuated by Mr. Carter and his co-conspirators.”

           “Today’s verdict is the result of hard investigative work by my office and our partners,” stated FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp. “The FBI will continue to work to hold accountable public officials who fail the citizens of their community by misusing their positions of trust for personal gain.”

           “Today’s action shows that this former school official not only knowingly and willfully abused his position of trust for personal gain, but did so at the expense of the educational development of children. That is unacceptable,” said USDOE-OIG Special Agent in Charge Reginald J. France. “Deservedly, Mr. Carter will be held accountable for cheating Alabama students and taxpayers.”

           “Integrity and trust are character traits common to teachers and administrators across Alabama,” stated Alabama State Department of Education Superintendent Dr. Eric G. Mackey. “As much as this case saddens educators everywhere, the State Department of Education is proud to have worked with the U.S Attorney’s Office, U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General (OIG), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Alabama Attorney General’s Office to bring this fraud to light. When the Board selected me as Superintendent, I made it clear that core tenants of my administration would be integrity and transparency. The U.S. Attorney, FBI, and OIG, like us, are determined to make sure every taxpayer dollar is accounted for and every dollar intended for the classroom is spent on the classroom. We appreciate their hard work and dedication throughout the investigation and adjudication.”

           This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the United States Department of Education’s Office of Inspector General, with assistance from the Alabama Attorney General’s Office. Assistant United States Attorneys Jonathan S. Ross, Alice S. LaCour, and Brett J. Talley prosecuted the case.