Month: March 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

United States Attorney Dennis R. Holmes announced that a Brandon, South Dakota, man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for Attempted Enticement of a Minor Using the Internet.

Gatlin Wayne Herrera, age 29, was charged by Criminal Complaint on March 17, 2022.  He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Veronica L. Duffy on the same, and pled not guilty to the Indictment.

The maximum penalty upon conviction is up to life in federal prison and/or a $250,000 fine, life years of supervised release, and $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.  Restitution may also be ordered.

The Indictment alleges that between March 7, 2022, and March 16, 2022, Herrera, using his cellular phone, attempted to knowingly persuade, induce, entice, and coerce, an individual, who had not attained the age of 18, namely an undercover law enforcement officer posing as a 15-year-old female, to engage in sexual activity for which Herrera could be charged.   

The charge is merely an accusation and Herrera is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. 

The investigation is being conducted by Homeland Security Investigations, with the assistance of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, the Sioux Falls Police Department, the Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Office, the South Dakota Highway Patrol, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey C. Clapper is prosecuting the case.   

Herrera was released on bond pending trial which has not been set yet.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

United States Attorney Dennis Holmes announced that a Fort Thompson, South Dakota, man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury.

Jonathon Coleman, age 34, was indicted on March 8, 2022.  He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Veronica L. Duffy on March 18, 2022, and pled not guilty to the Indictment.

The maximum penalty upon conviction is up to 10 years in federal prison and/or a $250,000 fine, three years of supervised release, and $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.  Restitution may also be ordered.

The Indictment alleges that on July 5, 2021, in Fort Thompson, South Dakota, Coleman assaulted a man, which resulted in serious bodily injury.

The charge is merely an accusation and Coleman is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. 

The investigation is being conducted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs – Office of Justice Services, Crow Creek Agency.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Troy R. Morley is prosecuting the case.   

Coleman was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial.  A trial date has not been set.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

The Justice Department today announced an agreement between the department and the state of Ohio through its Secretary of State to help ensure that military service members, their family members, and U.S. citizens living overseas have an opportunity to participate fully in the upcoming May 3, 2022, federal primary election. The agreement is necessary to provide a remedy for a potential violation of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA).

The agreement provides additional time for election officials in Ohio to receive and count absentee ballots from eligible UOCAVA voters, in order to ensure that such voters will have sufficient time to receive and submit their absentee ballots for the May 3, 2022, primary election. Under the agreement, UOCAVA ballots sent back will be accepted for an additional 10 days – until May 23 – so long as they are executed and sent by the close of the polls on May 3, and otherwise valid. The agreement also provides extended time for UOCAVA voters to vote, sign and transmit completed ballots through the close of polls on the election day for the May 3 election. The agreement also requires that election officials transmit ballots to UOCAVA voters by expedited means no later than April 5, 2022. The agreement provides that elections officials will send voters their ballots by email if requested by the voter, or by a form of express mail or other express delivery service if the voter requested that the ballot be sent by mail. The agreement also provides that the state will provide a means for voters to have expedited delivery for their voted ballots when returned to the county election boards, at the state’s expense. Under the terms of today’s agreement, Ohio will also provide notice of the remedial measures to the affected voters and reports to the department concerning the transmission and receipt of the UOCAVA ballots for the May 3 primary election.

“This agreement reflects the Justice Department’s deep commitment to protecting the right to vote for members of our armed forces deployed around the world, their families, and U.S. citizens overseas, and ensuring that these voters are afforded a meaningful opportunity to vote in all federal elections,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “I commend Ohio state officials, who worked with the department to achieve a resolution that will safeguard voting rights for the state’s military and overseas voters in the upcoming primary election.”

UOCAVA requires states to allow uniformed service voters, serving both overseas and within the United States, and their families, and U.S. citizens residing overseas to register to vote and to vote absentee for all elections for federal office. States are required to transmit absentee ballots to these voters, by mail or electronically at the voter’s option, no later than 45 days before each federal election.

The Supreme Court of Ohio required the post-decennial census districts for the Ohio General Assembly and Representative to Congress to be redrawn, and thus the districts for these offices were established much closer to the May 3, 2022, primary election than expected. In light of the delay in the ability to have ballots prepared due to the litigation, Ohio requested from the Department of Defense a hardship exemption, from UOCAVA’s 45-day advance transmission requirement for the May 3, 2022, primary election. On March 4, 2022, the application for a waiver was denied by the Department of Defense because Ohio’s original plan for sending UOCAVA ballots did not provide sufficient time for UOCAVA voters to receive, mark and return their ballots in time to have their votes counted.

Immediately following denial of the waiver by the Department of Defense, the Justice Department worked with Ohio officials to devise measures to remedy the anticipated UOCAVA violation. To implement the agreement on remedies reached with the department, Ohio enacted emergency legislation and the Secretary of State issued a directive to the county boards of elections.

More information about UOCAVA and other federal voting rights laws is available on the Department of Justice website at https://www.justice.gov/crt/uniformed-and-overseas-citizens-absentee-voting-act. Please report any complaints to the Civil Rights Division at 1-800-253-3931.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Sito Aeroplan Nalwood, 33, of Chinle, Arizona, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Michael T. Liburdi to nineteen years in prison. Nalwood previously pleaded guilty to Voluntary Manslaughter.

On July 26, 2018, Nalwood attempted to take a bag from the victim by threatening her with a rifle. When the victim refused, Nalwood began firing shots around her. One of the shots hit the victim in the pelvis, which ultimately killed her. At the time he committed this crime, Nalwood was serving a term of supervised release, which had been imposed after Nalwood was convicted of an assault. The Court sentenced Nalwood to fifteen years in prison for voluntary manslaughter and an additional four years in prison for committing that crime while on supervised release.

Both Nalwood and the victim are members of the Navajo Nation, and the offense occurred in Chinle, on the Navajo Nation Indian Reservation.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation in this case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys William G. Voit and Sharon K. Sexton, District of Arizona, Phoenix, handled the prosecution.

CASE NUMBER:            CR-18-08328-MTL
RELEASE NUMBER:    2022-026_Nalwood

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For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on Twitter @USAO_AZ for the latest news.

 

Source: United States Department of Justice News

A federal jury today convicted a Tulsa man for taking part in a shooting that resulted in a woman being struck in the back of the head while she was driving, announced U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson.

Michael Sam, 21, was found guilty of Assault with Intent to Commit Murder in Indian Country, Assault With a Dangerous Weapon in Indian Country, Assault Resulting in  serious bodily injury in Indian Country, and two counts of Carrying and Using a Firearm during and in Relation to a Crime of Violence.

“Sam sought to settle a score when he recklessly shot into a car, missed his intended target, and struck a woman who was eight months pregnant. Not only did he have little regard for the individuals in the car, but he also endangered residents living in nearby homes,” said U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson. “Through a continuing, robust partnership between the AFT and Tulsa Police Department, Sam and other criminals have been brought to justice for the violent gun crime they commit in Tulsa’s neighborhoods.”

On April 8, 2019, the woman drove her boyfriend to a drug deal, where he arranged to illegally purchase Xanax. Sam was one of several individuals in the dealer’s car. Sam and the boyfriend knew one another from school. The boyfriend knew Sam did not like him and tried to shake his hand, but Sam refused. The boyfriend purchased the Xanax then returned to the car with the victim.

When they drove away, the victim noticed the dealer’s car following them in the rearview mirror. When she turned into a residential neighborhood, shots were fired from the dealer’s vehicle. A bullet struck the rear windshield, causing it to shatter then strike the victim in the back of the head. The victim lost control of the vehicle and hit a mailbox before coming to a stop. The boyfriend saw the dealers car, which Sam was in, drive by the crashed vehicle.

Another bullet went into a house in the neighborhood and was stopped by a glass door. The woman who lived in that house was home at the time in her living room.

A witness called 911 to report the incident, and the victim was transported to the hospital. The victim was approximately eight months pregnant at the time of the incident. The victim’s unborn child was not harmed. As a result of her injuries, the victim’s vision was affected for a period of time, and she continues to suffer from seizures and headaches.

In court, Sam’s former girlfriend testified that she showed Sam a news report about the crime. After viewing the report, Sam told her that he and another individual had shot a pregnant woman, but the intended target was the woman’s boyfriend. She said he bragged about the shooting and pretended to be holding a gun.

At the crime scene, Tulsa police officers collected 13 spent shell casings from the street and a projectile was recovered from the victim at the hospital. Investigators determined that a .40 caliber firearm and .45 caliber firearm had been used in the shooting.

In a download of Sam’s Facebook account, investigators discovered messages in which Sam offered to sell a Glock .40 caliber pistol on April 11, 2019, just three days after the shooting. Also, a download of the cell phone belonging to Sam’s girlfriend revealed text messages from April 11, 2019, in which Sam told the woman to hide his guns in a child’s backpack in their apartment after she texted him that someone was at the door and she was concerned it was law enforcement.

On Jan. 13, 2020, law enforcement recovered a Glock Model 21, .45 caliber pistol during a traffic stop in Muskogee, Oklahoma.  Forensic analysis showed that the pistol matched the cartridge casings recovered during the investigation into the Tulsa shooting. The driver, who was suspected of a separate crime, possessed the firearm but was not involved in the Tulsa shooting.

During testimony in court, an ATF Task Force Officer explained that criminals often trade, sell or dispose of firearms after they are used in high profile crimes in an effort to distance themselves from the guns and to hinder investigations. It was believed that Sam tried to do the same thing with the Glock .40 caliber pistol via Facebook just three days after the Tulsa shooting. The officer further said that the .45 caliber firearm was likely traded or sold sometime after the Tulsa shooting as well, which would explain why it was later found in Muskogee.

This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation, titled Operation Squeezed Out. The investigation centered on a firearms trafficking ring operating in the Northern District of Oklahoma and elsewhere.

OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

U.S. District Judge Daniel D. Crabtree, of the District of Kansas, presided over the trial. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Tulsa Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney David A. Nasar and Nathan E. Michel are prosecuting the case.