Month: March 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Six Armed Robberies in Moberly, Mexico, Marshall, Hannibal, Pilot Grove, Boonville

Source: United States Department of Justice News

A North Carolina man was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for accepting bribes to smuggle drugs and other contraband into Caledonia Correctional Institution (now Roanoke River Correctional Institution), and another North Carolina man pleaded guilty to a similar scheme.

Ollie Rose III, 62, of Pleasant Hill, was sentenced on March 15 to 46 months in prison and ordered to forfeit $42,000. According to court documents, Rose worked as a case manager at Caledonia Correctional Institution, a state prison in Halifax County. Rose admitted to using his position to smuggle contraband — including marijuana, tobacco, and synthetic cannabinoids (K2) — into the prison for inmates in exchange for bribes totaling at least $42,000, paid in cash and via a mobile application, and that he sometimes also took a portion of the drugs he smuggled into the prison as payment. The scheme lasted from at least November 2018 through October 2020, when Rose was arrested.

Warren Reed, 38, of Scotland Neck, pleaded guilty on March 18 to extortion under color of official right. According to court documents, Reed worked as a correctional officer at Caledonia Correctional Institution. He admitted to using his position as a public official to smuggle contraband — including marijuana and cell phones — into the prison for inmates in exchange for bribes. Reed is scheduled to be sentenced on June 20, and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, and Special Agent in Charge Robert R. Wells of the FBI’s Charlotte Field Office made the announcement.The FBI investigated the case with significant assistance from the North Carolina Department of Public Safety.

Trial Attorneys Rebecca M. Schuman and Lauren E. Britsch of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section are prosecuting the cases.

The cases are part of the Justice Department’s ongoing efforts to combat prison corruption. In addition to the above matter, the Public Integrity Section has obtained convictions against two other former North Carolina prison officials who smuggled contraband, including illegal narcotics, into Caledonia Correctional Institution in exchange for bribe payments. See United States v. Jeremy Chambers, No. 4:21-CR-00038 (E.D.N.C.); United States v. Kenneth Farr, No. 4:21-CR-00009 (E.D.N.C.). Separately, the Public Integrity Section has obtained convictions against several federal prison officials who smuggled contraband into Leavenworth Detention Center. See United States v. Willie Golden, Case No. 2:21-CR-20061 (D. Kan.); United States v. Janna Grier, Case No. 2:22-CR-20001 (D. Kan.); United States v. Jeane Arnette, Case No. 2:21-cr-20063 (D. Kan.); United States v. Cheyonte Harris, No. 2:21-CR-20054 (D. Kan.); United States v. Jacqueline Sifuentes, No. 2:21-CR-20053 (D. Kan.).

Source: United States Department of Justice News

The Department of Justice published guidance today on web accessibility and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). It explains how state and local governments (entities covered by ADA Title II) and businesses open to the public (entities covered by ADA Title III) can make sure their websites are accessible to people with disabilities in line with the ADA’s requirements.

The guidance discusses a range of topics, including the importance of web accessibility, barriers that inaccessible websites create for some people with disabilities, when the ADA requires web content to be accessible, tips on making web content accessible and other information and resources. The guidance offers plain language and user-friendly explanations to ensure that it can be followed by people without a legal or technical background.

“We have heard the calls from the public on the need for more guidance on web accessibility, particularly as our economy and society become increasingly digitized,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This guidance will assist the public in understanding how to ensure that websites are accessible to people with disabilities. People with disabilities deserve to have an equal opportunity to access the services, goods and programs provided by government and businesses, including when offered or communicated through websites.”

Finally, the guidance reviews the department’s ongoing work to advance website accessibility for people with disabilities through statements of interest and enforcement matters. For example, the department recently entered into numerous settlements with businesses — including Hy-Vee, Inc., The Kroger Co., Meijer, Inc., and Rite Aid Corporation to ensure that websites for scheduling vaccine appointments are accessible. 

The full guidance is available here.

To learn more about the department’s disability rights work, please visit www.ADA.gov.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Marionville, Missouri, man has been sentenced in federal court for producing child pornography and for receiving and distributing child pornography over the internet.

James Crowder, 78, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes on Thursday, March 17, to 18 years and four months in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Crowder to spend the rest of his life on supervised release following incarceration.

On March 29, 2021, Crowder pleaded guilty to one count of using a minor to produce child pornography and one count of receiving and distributing child pornography.

According to court documents, a CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in June 2020 indicated that Google discovered files that contained child pornography uploaded to Crowder’s account and that Twitter discovered a file that contained child pornography in Crowder’s tweet.

Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Crowder’s residence on Aug. 6, 2020. Crowder was questioned and admitted he had exchanged images and videos of child pornography (depicting children as young as five years old) with others for a period of at least four years. Crowder also told investigators he placed a hidden camera in a bathroom to obtain videos and images of children, then distributed those files over the internet.

Officers seized several digital storage devices, which contained multiple images of child pornography. Investigators also found evidence that Crowder had actively received and distributed a number of images and videos of child pornography over the internet.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher. It was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force.

Project Safe Childhood

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc . For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”

Source: United States Department of Justice News

A man who led Dubuque police on a high‑speed chase that ended with his car on its hood and his gun, heroin, fentanyl and cocaine in the snow was sentenced March 17, 2022, to four years in federal prison.

Richard Allen Roberts, age 39, from Chicago, Illinois, received the prison term after September 27, 2021 guilty pleas to one count of distributing crack near a playground and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

In a plea agreement, Roberts admitted that he sold about a half gram of crack cocaine to a confidential informant near Jefferson Park in Dubuque on January 26, 2021.  About a week later, police tracked Roberts’s car from Dubuque to Chicago.  When he returned to Iowa on February 5, 2021, officers stopped the car after it crossed the bridge into Dubuque from Wisconsin.  A narcotics K9 alerted to the odor of narcotics coming from Roberts’s vehicle.  After an officer asked Roberts to get out of his car, Roberts put the car in gear and fled.  During the subsequent chase, Roberts’ vehicle reached speeds in excess of 80 miles per hour and collided with a snowplow but kept going.  Roberts eventually lost control of his car approximately 3.5 miles away in Illinois, flipping the car over into a snow‑filled median.  When the car was turned back over, officers found a plastic bag containing about 32 grams of powder cocaine, 44 grams of crack cocaine, over 9 grams of heroin, 1.5 gram of heroin and fentanyl.  Next to the bag was a Smith & Wesson 9mm pistol.  Roberts had previously been convicted of 11 prior felony crimes in Illinois.

Roberts was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams.  Roberts was sentenced to 48 months’ imprisonment.  He must also serve a 6-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN).  PSN is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

Roberts is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was investigated by the Dubuque Drug Task Force and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dan Chatham. 

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.  The case file number is 21‑CR‑1017‑CJW‑MAR.

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