Month: March 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

Thank you, Rob, for that kind introduction and for your leadership at the COPS Office. I also want to extend my sincere thanks to everyone at NOBLE, including President Thomas and Executive Director Dwayne Crawford, for inviting me and for your continued leadership and support.  

As Rob mentioned, NOBLE has been a longstanding and valuable partner to the Department of Justice – and we are very appreciative of that partnership and all that NOBLE does to advance policing and equity in our country. NOBLE has never run away from the hardest questions in policing and civil rights, and your moral leadership and practical thinking have pushed the much-needed national conversation on community policing and building community trust.

I am delighted to join you all here today, along with my colleagues from the department, including our newly appointed director for the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) – Karhlton Moore. We are very excited to have Karhlton on board and I would encourage you to make time to meet with him and Rob while you’re here, given the critical resources and support their offices can provide you and your agencies.

I am also looking forward to the conversation that Sheriff Tompkins will engage in with this panel, on two critical topics that are front and center for you and all of us at the Department of Justice: officer safety and wellness and recruitment and retention.

Even under the best of circumstances, law enforcement agencies face challenges with keeping their officers safe and healthy, and recruitment and retention rates up. But, over the past two years, you all have faced unprecedented challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the social division and polarization, as well as a significant uptick in violent crimes, including gun violence and hate crimes.

All of which has only added to the stress and trauma officers deal with on a regular basis that has made it even harder for officers to maintain their health and safety on the job, and for agencies to build and maintain a solid workforce.

This is why we have made promoting officer safety and wellness a top priority at the Department of Justice. We know law enforcement’s most valuable resources are the men and women who put their lives on the line every day to protect and serve our communities. We also know that healthy officers make healthy communities. It is essential for all of us to work together to restore and strengthen the trust between law enforcement and the communities we all serve. Such trust is not only necessary for public safety, it also honors this nation’s core values of fairness and dignity for all.

For over a decade, the department has developed and invested in mental health and wellness programs to assist law enforcement.

This includes the resources the COPS Office provides through programs such as the Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act program (LEMHWA), as well as assistance available through the VALOR Program provided by BJA.

For example, BJA’s VALOR program has trained tens of thousands of officers in curricula focusing on wellness and safety and continues to offer training and technical assistance at no cost to state, local and Tribal law enforcement agencies. As a result of the VALOR program and LEMHWA, we have invested nearly $125 million to date in training and other assistance to support law enforcement mental health.

And just yesterday, we launched a new DOJ webpage on justice.gov that identifies all of our health and wellness resources for law enforcement. It draws heavily on the extensive libraries of tools and knowledge that have been sponsored by the COPS Office and BJA in recent years and puts them all together in one place to make it easier for agencies to access.

Going forward, we will continue to update this site with new material, with the hope that these resources will be a constant help to you and your colleagues.

Lastly, I would be remiss if I did not speak to you about BJA’s important Public Safety Officer Benefits (PSOB) program that assists the families of loved ones that are injured or killed in the line of duty. This program provides death, disability and survivor education benefits and has claims specialists available to consult with you or your agency to ensure your members and their families can access this critical support.

In addition to officer safety and wellness, we also know it is incredibly important for us to focus on recruitment and retention. Hiring and retaining the best law enforcement officers is critical for creating and maintaining safe and thriving communities. Moreover, a diverse and inclusive agency workforce that reflects the community residents leads to increased trust, collaboration and transparency. We need to create opportunities so that people who may not have ever seen themselves going into law enforcement are encouraged to join this noble profession.

One way we are helping law enforcement agencies meet this challenge is through the funding available through the COPS Office Hiring Program and BJA’s Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (or Byrne JAG) program to help agencies hire needed law enforcement personnel. The COPS Office has also published a number of reports on recruitment and retention in an effort to share promising approaches with the field, and we are also looking to conduct further research to develop best practices and guidance on officer hiring, recruitment and retention.

Another way we are seeking to help more broadly with recruitment and retention is to ease the burdens placed on law enforcement, by investing in alternative crisis response models and providing officers with the tools and training they need to be more effective in their communities.

Indeed, our law enforcement partners have repeatedly told us that, that change is needed because they cannot alone shoulder the responsibility of addressing the needs of people in crisis. In particular, I hear from law enforcement executives all the time about the difficulties their officers encounter dealing with issues of mental illness, substance use and homelessness. The stress and trauma of these jobs can take a heavy toll. We should not add to their burden by requiring them to address a wide array of social problems – problems that cannot, and should not, be solved by the criminal justice system alone.

To address these issues, we are promoting alternative approaches to responding to calls for service that have the potential to transform policing.

For instance, through BJA’s new Connect and Protect program, we are changing how we support law enforcement and advancing new policing practices to support the field. Connect and Protect provides grant funding to pair law enforcement and behavioral health professionals to respond to calls for service in innovative ways. Ensuring that more of these calls for service are handled effectively by mental health professionals trained to attend to people experiencing a crisis, will free up law enforcement officers to address more serious, violent offenses. Although no single program or service will prevent every tragedy, we know that a comprehensive approach that includes community-based mental health care is integral to effective solutions.  

We’re also funding similar efforts for interventions across the criminal justice system through programs such as BJA’s Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP), which funds a wide array of programs involving people with behavioral health needs, including first responder programs, community courts, crisis stabilization units, training for public safety and mental health providers – and programs that support intergovernmental cooperation between state and local governments.

In FY21, we awarded more than $30 million under the JMHCP and Connect and Protect programs and in FY22 we anticipate awarding $34 million dollars. Additionally, the COPS Office is funding the implementation of crisis intervention teams and supporting de-escalation training through its Community Policing Development Grant program. In FY21, we awarded over $21 million in those two critical areas and we anticipate awarding the same in FY22.

In addition to the grant funds we award, we also offer training and technical assistance resources at no cost to law enforcement agencies to help you implement alternative responses. For example, BJA supports 14 model mental health learning sites across the nation that support on the ground peer-to-peer learning. If you are thinking of implementing a new program, one of our learning sites will host you, at no cost, so that you can learn from your peers. More information on this unique peer-to-peer learning opportunity is available on the BJA website.

As we all know, there are no easy fixes or solutions to this problem of recruitment and retention. But I am confident that together we can tackle many of the barriers – big and small – and make sure that people dedicated to this life of public service have all of the tools and supports that they need.

I also believe that as we continue to maintain a dedicated focus on improving officer safety and wellness that too will help retain a healthy workforce. Through our programs, more and more officers are acquiring the skills they need to be effective not only on the job, but with continuously exercising self-care on and off duty.

These are just some of the ways we at the department are working hard to support you and your colleagues, and I hope we will continue to find more ways to partner together on this critical work. Together we will advance civil rights, build community trust and keep communities – and our police – healthy, safe and strong.

Thank you.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Remarks as Delivered

Thank you for that very kind introduction. Ron [Gathe] and I got to meet earlier this week at the orientation for new United States Attorneys in Washington, and then we got to spend several hours this morning together talking to his senior leadership staff and the whole U.S. Attorney’s office here.

Good afternoon to all of you. Thanks everyone, and particularly thanks to NOBLE, for inviting me today, and for your leadership.

Keeping our country safe – including from the scourge of violent crime – is one of the Justice Department’s most important responsibilities. But it is not one we can fulfill on our own. You and your law enforcement agencies are our indispensable partners.

You are the first so many turn to when there is a crisis – large or small. Every day, people look to law enforcement for help. And you respond.

You are on the frontlines of combatting violent crime. You are asked not only to keep our communities safe, but also to step in to address a wide array of social problems.

You are often the first people to respond to dealing with a mental health crisis or a substance abuse disorder.

And as we have tragically seen too many times, you do all of this at great risk to yourselves.

I want you to know that the Justice Department recognize how much is being asked of you every single day. And we will do everything within our power to support you and help keep you safe.

As you well know, nearly 46 years ago, 60 Black law enforcement executives traveled to Washington, D.C., for a symposium on combatting crime.

They left Washington having created this organization. NOBLE’s founders recognized the power that comes from collaboration. And it is in that spirit of collaboration that I come here today.

I know that those of us in law enforcement are united when it comes to why we do this work. We are united by our commitment to keep our communities and our country safe. We are united by our commitment to uphold the rule of law and to ensure equal justice under law. And we are united by our understanding that, to do this work successfully, we must also be united with, and gain the trust of, the communities we serve.

By virtue of our experiences we all have been part of important and necessary conversations about how to build trust and legitimacy between law enforcement and our local communities.

We have been in conversations about how to retain that trust, and about how to repair it when it becomes broken.

The Justice Department has engaged in these efforts in several ways.

The method that receives the most media attention is our enforcement work, which is an essential part of how we advance accountability and transparency in policing.

But that is far from the only tool we have to help build trust and legitimacy in law enforcement. As this group knows, the Department provides billions of dollars in grants to support law enforcement.

The Department also seeks to develop and share best practices through technical assistance and other supportive means.

Today, I am announcing an important new initiative.

Through a revamped and re-envisioned Collaborative Reform Initiative, the Department’s COPS Office will be offering three different levels of assistance and expert services to our law enforcement partners everywhere in the country.

This will be the first time in history that the COPS Office is managing and providing these various levels of assistance at the same time.

Before I explain the new initiative, there is one critically important point I want to make: every part of the new Collaborative Reform Initiative is completely voluntary.

The initiative has been designed so that our law enforcement partners can make the decision to seek and customize support depending on the scope and complexity of their own needs.

Building on a decade of experience with various models, the new initiative reflects what stakeholders like you have told us.

Our new model reflects hours of listening sessions with law enforcement agencies and associations, civil rights groups, and community organizations.

NOBLE’s Executive Director, Dwayne Crawford, and his associates at the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Fraternal Order of Police, and the many other law enforcement organizations – as well as many community groups and leaders – provided us with valuable insights that have informed our new plan.

This new model reflects the lessons the Justice Department has learned about how best to support you, our law enforcement partners.

The result is an approach that offers law enforcement agencies the choice of three different levels of support and intervention. Each level, in its own distinct way, will help build collaboration, trust, and legitimacy.

The first level of assistance – and the most targeted and discrete – is the continuation of the existing Collaborative Reform Initiative Technical Assistance Center, or CRI-TAC.

Established in 2017, CRI-TAC provides a wide range of targeted technical assistance services.

The Department’s COPS Office leads CRI-TAC. But CRI-TAC involves a coalition of support and expertise from 10 leading law enforcement stakeholder organizations, including NOBLE.

Through CRI-TAC’s “by the field, for the field” approach, the Department is able to facilitate customizable, short-term technical assistance on more than 60 subjects. Those topics range from gun violence reduction and prevention, to officer safety and wellness, to community engagement.

Subject matter experts from the field design tailored solutions in collaboration with each agency to assess its individual needs.

Technical assistance timelines are established at the pace of the requesting agency, ranging from three to six months.

Last year, CRI-TAC worked with 171 law enforcement agencies.

The new initiative will maintain CRI-TAC as the first level of support.

Now, all of us in law enforcement know that we constantly face new and unexpected challenges. Often, these challenges involve responding to a critical incident.

To help address this reality, the initiative’s second level of assistance will be an updated Critical Response program.

A law enforcement agency that is experiencing a high-profile event or other special circumstance, and that determines it could use assistance, will be able to reach out to the COPS Office for help.

Like CRI-TAC, this program is also customizable and provides flexible assistance to law enforcement agencies in a variety of ways.

Once an agency connects with us, we will have tools in place to offer support ranging from after-action reviews, to peer-to-peer exchanges, to data analysis and recommendations, to discussions with experts.

The timeline for these engagements will vary depending on the needs and scope of the situation, but it will range anywhere from two weeks to nine months.

As is the case with CRI-TAC, this program is completely voluntary and will be offered as a way for the Justice Department to support your work. Not to add to it.

Finally, we recognize that there are times when needs exceed what targeted technical assistance can provide.

We know that there are localities in which law enforcement agencies and communities are ready and eager to collaboratively reform.

Building on lessons learned from the initial Collaborative Reform model that launched in 2012 but ended in 2017, the third and most intensive piece of this new model will be the Organizational Assessments program.

This program will offer the most intensive form of support, involving in-depth assessments on systemic issues.

To reiterate – we listened when you voiced your concerns about how the program operated in the past. And that is why we are going to be doing things differently.

We heard you when you said that more helpful than one hefty report at the tail-end of an engagement would be guidance and recommendations on an ongoing basis.

Now, when an agency participates in the Organizational Assessments program, areas for reform will be addressed with timely, ongoing, and actionable guidance.

We heard you when you said that realistic recommendations are more useful than recommendations that sound good on paper but are difficult to put into place in practice.

We will not be leaving you with a long list of suggested measures to implement on your own. We will provide you with the technical assistance you need to accomplish reforms as they are identified.

To help ensure transparency and accountability, we will also routinely report the status of our efforts to the public.

I want to be clear that this level of support is intensive. It is designed to transform a law enforcement agency’s operations and its relationship with the community.

But this is not an enforcement action – it is a voluntary opportunity for an agency that knows it needs to make changes, and wants to make changes, to help them do that.

The Department will be prioritizing offering this level of support to agencies that have a clear desire to engage with this model.

It is our hope that each of these programs – CRI-TAC, Critical Response, and Organizational Assessments – will provide our law enforcement partners with the various forms of support you need to do your jobs safely and effectively.

Earlier today, you heard from my colleague, Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta, who is an indispensable member of the Justice Department’s leadership team.

The initiative we are announcing today reflects not only her oversight of the COPS Office, but the spirit in which she operates in the Department as a whole.

Through her management of various components, including the COPS Office, the Office of Justice Programs, and the Civil Rights Division, Vanita is ensuring that we collaborate by sharing best practices and supporting each other within the Department.

Improving our coordination inside the Department will help us better support all of the external law enforcement agency partners. I cannot commend Vanita enough for her efforts on this and so many other critical issues. [Applause]

As I said at the beginning of my remarks, we at the Justice Department understand the pressures that you are under.

We recognize the extraordinary burdens that are being placed on you every day.

It is our hope that this new Collaborative Reform Initiative will ease some of those burdens.

Last Friday marked my first full year serving as Attorney General. I had enormous respect for the work that this organization does, but I have had that respect since long before I became Attorney General. This is my fourth tour of duty at the Justice Department – I just do not seem to be able to stay away. [Laughter]

During each tour, I’ve had the benefit of the support and advice from NOBLE, for which I am grateful and for which I will continue to be grateful. [Applause]

I have repeatedly emphasized the role the Justice Department plays in upholding the rule of law.

And as I have said, the only way we can do that successfully is by keeping and earning the trust of the American people and the communities we serve.

We earn that trust by keeping all of our communities safe and by protecting the civil rights and civil liberties of the people in our communities.

That is the Justice Department’s mission, and I know it is crucial. It is one that none of us can accomplish alone. It is one that we can and will accomplish together.

I thank you for your partnership and your leadership.

And I look forward to working with you in the days ahead. Thank you.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

          LOS ANGELES – Two downtown Los Angeles residents were arrested today on a federal criminal complaint alleging they fraudulently obtained more than $300,000 – and attempted to obtain an additional $1 million – in COVID-relief loans for several companies they claimed to own and operate.

          Sean Schoepflin, 42, a.k.a. “Sean Fitzgerald,” and Erika Leon, 44, a.k.a. “Erika Fitzgerald,” are each charged with one count of wire fraud, according to a complaint that was unsealed today. They are expected to make their initial appearances this afternoon in United States District Court.

          According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, from April 2020 to October 2021, Schoepflin and Leon made numerous false statements to the United States Small Business Administration to secure more than $300,000 – and attempt to secure an additional $1 million – in Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) for their businesses.

          Schoepflin and Leon allegedly falsely stated that the business entities they created had several employees and several hundred thousand dollars in revenues, and that they would use the EIDLs for working capital for those businesses. Schoepflin also allegedly falsely stated on loan applications that he had never been convicted of a felony.

          In fact, their purported businesses – Capital Adventures Inc., Lady Capital Inc., Digital Army Ltd., and Lady Pictures LLP – had no employees and little to no revenue, they used the EIDLs largely for personal expenses, and Schoepflin had previously been convicted of multiple felonies.

          For example, Schoepflin falsely stated in one loan application that Capital Adventures had revenues of $560,000 in the 12-month period from February 1, 2019 to January 31, 2020, the affidavit alleges. In June 2020, when an SBA employee sent an email to Schoepflin requesting Capital Adventures’ business tax return to show proof of the company’s existence as a business entity, Schoepflin allegedly sent an unsigned tax form that stated that Capital Adventures had gross sales or receipts of $625,112 in 2019.

          In fact, Capital Adventures did not file an IRS Form 1120 for 2019 until July 2021, after it requested and was denied an increase for its EIDL, according to the affidavit. Furthermore, between February 2018 and April 2020, Capital Adventures’ bank accounts had total deposits of approximately $35,000.

          The FBI and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration investigated this matter.

          Assistant United States Attorneys David Ryan and Solomon Kim of the Terrorism and Export Crimes Section are prosecuting this case.

          The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was designed to provide emergency financial assistance to millions of Americans who are suffering the economic effects resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. One source of relief provided by the CARES Act is the authorization of up to $349 billion in forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses through the PPP. In April, Congress authorized more than $300 billion in additional PPP funding.

          The EIDL program is designed to provide economic relief to small businesses that are currently experiencing a temporary loss of revenue. EIDL proceeds can be used to cover a wide array of working capital and normal operating expenses, such as continuation of health care benefits, rent, utilities, and fixed-debt payments.

          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 Hotline at (866) 720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

BOSTON – An MS-13 member was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for RICO conspiracy and for his participation in the July 2018 murder of a teenage boy who was stabbed at least 32 times in a public park in Lynn.  

Eliseo Vaquerano Canas, a/k/a “Peligroso,” 22, a Salvadorian national, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Mark L. Wolf to 43 years in prison and five years of supervised release. Vaquerano will be subject to deportation proceedings upon completion of his sentence. In February 2021, Vaquerano pleaded guilty to conspiracy to conduct enterprise affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity, also known as RICO conspiracy, on behalf of the MS-13 gang. As part of his racketeering activity, Vaquerano participated in the 2018 murder of a teenager, who was murdered with extreme atrocity and cruelty, and with deliberate premeditation, in violation of Massachusetts law.

MS-13, or La Mara Salvatrucha, is a transnational street gang operating in Massachusetts and numerous other states, as well as countries such as El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. MS-13 gang members often commit acts of extreme violence against suspected rivals, those suspected of cooperating with law enforcement, and others who the gang views as a threat. In recent years, dozens of MS-13 members have been convicted of RICO conspiracy and other serious felonies in the District of Massachusetts. 

MS-13 is organized into “cliques” or branches operating in local territories. Vaquerano belonged to the “Sykos Locos Salvatrucha” clique of MS-13, which operated in the cities of Lynn, Chelsea, and other parts of Massachusetts. MS-13 has various ranks, with elevation to “homeboy” status generally requiring the commission of a significant act of violence. Evidence showed that Vaquerano had achieved homeboy status in MS-13 even prior to the July 2018 murder. Evidence also showed that Vaquerano helped recruit young members on behalf of the gang, including at Chelsea High School.

In November 2018, Vaquerano and five other MS-13 Sykos clique members were indicted following an investigation into the murder of a teenage boy, whose body found in a park in Lynn on Aug. 2, 2018. The six defendants in this case included five participants in the murder, as well as one longstanding member of the Sykos clique. In a related case, the government charged a juvenile co-conspirator who was the sixth person involved in the murder.

The evidence in this case, which included a recording of one of Vaquerano’s co-defendants describing the murder in graphic detail, revealed that Vaquerano Canas and five other MS-13 gang members murdered the victim based on their mistaken belief that he may have been assisting law enforcement. 

On July 30, 2018, the six gang members lured the victim to a public park. At least four of the attackers, including Vaquerano, were armed with knives. The group pretended to be friendly with the unsuspecting victim and took him to a wooded area of the park where they surrounded the victim and repeatedly stabbed him to death. At least four of the six assailants took part in stabbing the victim. Vaquerano had an especially active role in the brutal attack. Evidence showed that as the victim was being attacked, he called out to Vaquerano for help, believing that Vaquerano was his friend. Instead, Vaquerano repeatedly stabbed and hacked at the victim with a large knife. Vaquerano attacked the victim with such force that parts of his large knife shattered, and pieces of the blade were embedded into the victim’s skull. 

After killing the victim, the gang members left his body in the wooded area of the public park where it was discovered days later, on Aug. 2, 2018. An autopsy revealed that the victim suffered at least 32 distinct sharp force trauma wounds consistent with being stabbed repeatedly, along with multiple blunt force injuries.

All six defendants indicted in this case, along with the juvenile charged in the related case, have pleaded guilty. Vaquerano is the fifth defendant to be sentenced in the case. On Feb. 14, 2022, Erick Lopez Flores, a/k/a “Mayimbu,” was sentenced to 40 years in prison. On Feb. 15, 2022, Jonathan Tercero Yanes, a/k/a “Desalmado,” was sentenced to 33 years in prison. On Feb. 16, 2022, Henri Salvador Gutierrez, a/k/a “Perverso,” was sentenced to life in prison. On Feb. 18, 2022, Djavier Duggins, a/k/a “Haze,” was sentenced to 15 years in prison. A sentencing hearing for the remaining co-defendant, Marlos Reyes a/k/a “Silencio,” has not yet been scheduled by the Court.

First Assistant United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; Matthew B. Millhollin, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Colonel Christopher Mason, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Essex County District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett; Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden; Acting Boston Police Commissioner Gregory Long; and Lynn Police Chief Christopher Reddy made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kunal Pasricha, Kaitlin O’Donnell, and Philip Mallard of the Criminal Division prosecuted the case.

This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. 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.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Acting U.S. Attorney Michelle M. Baeppler announced that Quentin D. Watson, 35, of Akron, Ohio, was sentenced on Wednesday, March 16, 2022, by U.S. District Judge Pamela A. Barker to 30 years in prison and ordered to pay $4,503.01 in restitution for the victim’s funeral costs after Watson was convicted at trial of distributing fentanyl that led to a fatal overdose, possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. 

“Thousands of lives have been lost, and so many families have endured crushing pain and suffering due to the opioid epidemic here and across the country,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Michelle M. Baeppler. “Drug dealers who exploit the vulnerabilities that addiction creates should be prepared to serve lengthy prison sentences.”

According to court documents and evidence presented during trial, on June 24, 2020, law enforcement officers responded to an Akron-area residence for a report of a drug overdose.  Upon arrival, officers located a deceased individual and began an investigation.  It was later determined that the decedent suffered an overdose after ingesting a fentanyl and heroin mixture. 

While the investigation into the overdose death was ongoing, Watson was arrested on October 6, 2020, during a traffic stop after officers found that he possessed various amounts of fentanyl, methamphetamine and a 9-millimeter pistol in his vehicle.  Law enforcement later completed their investigation into the overdose death and determined that Watson did distribute a fentanyl mixture to the victim who ingested it, overdosed and died.    

This case was investigated by the FBI, Akron Police Department, Akron Fire Department, Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office and Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Aaron P. Howell and Christopher J. Joyce.