Month: April 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

PROVIDENCE, R.I. –  A North Providence man who lives and works in Rhode Island today admitted that he filed COVID-relief unemployment applications in at least two other states, collecting more than $20,000 in benefits he was not entitled to receive, announced United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha and Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha.

Derrick Gadson, 35, pled guilty in federal court to two counts of wire fraud and one count of theft of government money.

According to information presented to the court, while collecting COVID-relief unemployment benefits in Rhode Island in June 2020, Gadson began filing for unemployment benefits in Massachusetts and Arizona, fraudulently claiming that he worked in both states. Gadson collected a total of $20,727 in federally funded unemployment insurance benefits that he was not entitled to receive.

Gadson is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith on July 11, 2022. The defendant’s sentence will be determined by a federal district judge after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

This case, as well as other instances of criminal activity related to fraudulent applications for pandemic-related unemployment insurance benefits are being investigated jointly by the FBI, the Rhode Island State Police, and the U.S. Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General. Cases are jointly reviewed, charged, and prosecuted by a team of prosecutors that include Assistant U.S. Attorneys Denise M. Barton, Stacey P. Veroni, and G. Michael Seaman, and Rhode Island Assistant Attorney General John M. Moreira, chief of the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Public Integrity Unit.

Rhode Islanders who believe their personal identification has been stolen and used to fraudulently obtain unemployment benefits are urged to contact the Rhode Island State Police at financialcrimes@risp.gov or the FBI Providence office at (401) 272-8310.

On May 17, 2021, the United States 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.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

ABINGDON, Va. – Moris Alexis Flores, 33, an inmate at United States Penitentiary Lee County (USP Lee), was sentenced yesterday to over 15 years in prison for conspiring to murder a fellow inmate, attempting to commit murder, and being an inmate in possession of a prohibited object in relation to an assault that occurred at USP Lee in January 2020.

According to court documents, Flores, a member of the MS-13 gang, and four fellow inmates – Carlos Alfredo Almonte, Julio Angle Chavez, German Arquimides Hernandez, and Angel Moreno Guevara – were charged with conspiring to murder another inmate, “AZ”, a member of the Mexican Mafia gang.  Armed with metal shanks, Flores and Guevara entered AZ’s cell and stabbed AZ multiple times.  While Flores and Guevara were assaulting AZ, Almonte, Chavez, and Hernandez blocked the prison cell doorway in an effort to prevent other inmates and prison staff from interfering with the attack.  As a consequence of the attack, AZ sustained multiple stab wounds but ultimately survived.

Almonte, Chavez, Hernandez, and Guevara have each pled guilty for their roles in the assault and will be sentenced in June 2022.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Prisons investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lena L. Busscher, Daniel J. Murphy, Whit D. Pierce, and Anthony P. Giorno are prosecuting the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

HARRISBURG –The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that on April 6, 2022, five previously deported aliens were indicted separately by a federal grand jury for illegal reentry into the United States. These matters arose in counties throughout the district including Franklin, Luzerne, Lackawanna, and York Counties.

According to United States Attorney John C. Gurganus, Luis Zavala-Cruz a/k/a Jose Luis Zavala-Palacios, age 49, was previously deported from the United States to Mexico in March 2010.  He is alleged to have illegally reentered the United States again sometime after March 2010.  He was found in the United States in York County, Pennsylvania, after an October 6, 2021, arrest which eventually led to an accident – damage to vehicle/property conviction.

Maynor Garcia-Gomez, age 27, was previously deported from the United States to Guatemala in May 2019.  He is alleged to have illegally reentered the United States again sometime after May 2019.  He was found in the United States in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, after being involved in a vehicle accident and charged with Driving Under the Influence.

Jose Melendez, age 34, was previously deported from the United States to Honduras in March 2019.  He is alleged to have illegally reentered the United States again sometime after March 2019.  He was found in the United States in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, after a March 18, 2022, arrest by the Carbondale City Police on charges of endangering the welfare of a child. 

Darwin Alexis Pasos-Santos, age 32, was removed from the United States to Honduras in August 2014.  He is alleged to have illegally reentered the United States at some point after August 2014 after eluding examination or inspection by immigration officers.  He was found in the United States in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania on March 26, 2022, after having been arrested for driving under the influence.

Lazar Sava a/k/a Adrian Sandu, age 35, of Romania, departed the United States while an order of deportation was outstanding against him.  He is alleged to have illegally reentered the United States.  He was found in the United States in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania on April 26, 2019, after having been arrested in Maryland and extradited to Pennsylvania due to numerous active warrants for theft related offenses.

Zavala-Cruz, Garcia-Gomez, Melendez, Pasos-Santos and Sava all face a maximum penalty of 2 years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine.

These matters were investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) and are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joanne M. Sanderson.

A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. Indictments are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Michael Rivera, 31, of Santa Clara, New Mexico, made an initial appearance in federal court today facing charges of production of child pornography and coercion and enticement of a minor. Rivera will remain in custody pending a preliminary and detention hearing scheduled for April 12.

According to a criminal complaint, a few days before March 23, 2021, Rivera allegedly engaged in sexual conduct with a victim who was 12 years old at the time. Rivera allegedly began to request naked images of the victim. On Jan. 19, investigators seized the victim’s cell phone and conducted a forensic examination. The examination allegedly revealed sexually explicit images and videos of the victim.

A complaint is only an allegation. A defendant is considered innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted, Rivera faces a minimum of 15 years and up to 30 years in prison for production of child pornography and a minimum of 10 years and up to life in prison for coercion and enticement.

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is investigating this case with assistance from the Grant County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Marisa A. Ong is prosecuting the case.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

WASHINGTON – A federal court in Louisville, Kentucky, unsealed an indictment today charging a Louisville man for interfering with a federally protected right, and using and discharging a firearm in relation to a crime of violence by shooting at and attempting to kill a candidate for elective office.

According to court documents, Quintez O. Brown, 21, of Louisville, discharged a firearm in an attempt to interfere with victim C.G.’s mayoral campaign in Louisville and to intimidate C.G. from campaigning as a candidate for mayor in the Louisville primary election.

The defendant made an initial court appearance today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Colin H. Lindsay of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. The initial appearance will continue tomorrow. If convicted of all charges, he faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison and maximum sentence of life 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, U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett of the Western District of Kentucky, and Special Agent in Charge Jodi Cohen of the FBI’s Louisville Field Office made the announcement.

The investigation is being conducted by the FBI’s Louisville Field Office and the Louisville Metro Police Department as part of FBI Louisville’s Public Corruption Civil Rights Task Force.

Trial Attorney Jolee Porter of the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda E. Gregory from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Kentucky are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.