Source: United States Navy
By working closely with AIM Photonics’ state-of-the-art foundry, NRL’s Optical Sciences Division is developing photonic components with functionalities targeting DoD priorities such as analog signal processing, quantum information and computing, data remoting, and navigation and timing.
Source: United States Department of Justice News
Assistant U. S. Attorneys Amanda Griffith (619) 546-8970 and Jennifer McCollough (619) 546-8773
NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – April 4, 2022
SAN DIEGO – A California man was sentenced today to 162 months in prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release for attempting to meet an undercover agent he believed to be a minor to have sexual relations with her.
Eduardo Alcala, 43, was arrested on August 2, 2021 and pleaded guilty to the charges on November 4, 2021. According to information presented at the sentencing proceeding, Alcala sent a Facebook friend request to an undercover federal agent who told him that she was 13 years old. Alcala and the undercover agent continued communicating through text messages. Over the course of the text exchanges and several phone calls, Alcala appeared to groom her as the conversation escalated from talking about going to the beach, to “hooking it up,” to “working [her] out,” and eventually to having sex and masturbating over the phone before they planned to meet in person. Alcala made plans to meet at a park to engage in sexual conduct with the girl he believed to be 13 years old. During this time, Alcala was a convicted and registered sex offender already on parole for one of multiple convictions involving children under the age of 18. Notably, Alcala told the undercover agent that he was on parole and informed his parole officer he was going to meet his sick mother before going to the park, where he was arrested.
“This defendant was willing to victimize someone he believed to be a 13-year-old child. Fortunately, he instead connected with an undercover agent,” said U.S. Attorney Randy S. Grossman. “This successful prosecution demonstrates our unwavering commitment to protecting children. But the home is often our first line of defense. We urge all parents to be vigilant and aware of their children’s online activity.” Grossman commended the team of prosecutors and agents who worked diligently on this matter.
“This previously convicted sex offender communicated with someone he thought was a child for his own gratification, without regard to the physical, psychological and emotional damage he would have caused,” said Chad Plantz, Special Agent in Charge for HSI San Diego. “Thank you to those men and women who work tirelessly to make our community and virtual playgrounds a safe place for all children.”
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Agents in Calexico, California, conducted the investigation. The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
DEFENDANTS Case Number 21cr2643-TWR
Eduardo Alcala Age: 43
SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Attempted Enticement of a Minor – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 2242(b)
Maximum penalty: life in prison; $250,000 fine
AGENCY
Homeland Security Investigations
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
A New Jersey man was sentenced to life in prison today for murder in aid of racketeering; conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering; conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana, cocaine, and heroin; and possession with intent to distribute heroin.
Miguel Angel Corea Diaz aka Reaper, 41, of Long Branch, a leader in the transnational criminal enterprise La Mara Salvatrucha or MS-13, was convicted by a federal jury on Nov. 23, 2021, after a four-week trial. Co-defendant Junior Noe Alvarado-Requeno aka Insolente and Trankilo, 24, of Landover, Maryland, was also convicted at trial and faces a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 25.
According to court documents, MS-13 is a transnational gang composed primarily of immigrants or descendants from El Salvador. MS-13 has branches or “cliques” that operate throughout Frederick County, Anne Arundel County, Prince George’s County, and Montgomery County, Maryland and elsewhere on the East Coast.
“The brutality of Corea Diaz is almost unfathomable,” said U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron for the District of Maryland. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to remove these violent gang members to keep our communities safe from the violence perpetrated by MS-13. With the help of members of our communities we will work to bring to justice those MS-13 members who commit these horrible crimes.”
“As members of MS-13, Corea Diaz and his co-conspirators were ruthless and showed no regard for human life by extorting innocent people, tampering with witnesses, and ordering a murder over a drug dispute,” said Assistant Director in Charge Steven M. D’Antuono of the FBI Washington Field Office. “With today’s sentence, Corea Diaz will no longer be able to commit senseless violence and homicidal acts on our streets. The FBI remains steadfast in our resolve to work with our partners to ensure that individuals like Corea Diaz are held accountable for their crimes and to eliminate MS-13’s violence from our communities.”
“The ruthlessness of MS-13 in pursuit of profits shows a clear link between violence and the illicit drug trade,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram. “Today’s sentence won’t undo the harm Diaz is responsible for, but it ensures that for the rest of his life, he will no longer be a direct threat to the communities he terrorized for so long. DEA will continue to work tirelessly with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to ensure violent criminals like Diaz are taken off the streets, helping to make American communities safer and healthier.”
“Any time we can get a notorious gang member off the streets, it is a victory for both law enforcement and law-abiding citizens,” said Special Agent in Charge James R. Mancuso of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore. “In this case, the criminal is particularly violent, and now he will face the consequences of his crimes. HSI is grateful to have worked with our partnering federal and local law enforcement agencies to make the communities safer for the citizens of Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia.”
According to evidence presented at trial, between 2015 and 2018, Corea Diaz and his co-defendant Alvarado-Requeno controlled and operated the Sailors Locos Salvatruchos Westside (S.L.S.W. or Sailors) Clique. This Sailors Clique was involved in a host of significant criminal activity including murder, extortion, drug trafficking, money laundering, and witness tampering. Evidence showed that the gang ran a “protection” scheme in and around its home base in Langley Park, Maryland, and extorted local businesses by charging them “rent” for the privilege of operating in MS-13 “territory.” The gang also trafficked in illegal drugs, including heroin and cocaine. A large share of the proceeds of the gang’s illegal activities were sent to gang leadership in El Salvador using structured transactions and intermediaries to avoid law enforcement scrutiny.
According to evidence presented at trial, the Sailors Clique committed acts of violence against suspected rival gang members, as well as against its own membership for breaking gang rules. In March 2017, a member of the Sailors Clique who was hiding from law enforcement in the Lynchburg, Virginia, area had a dispute with a local high school student over marijuana. In response, Corea-Diaz and Alvarado-Requeno organized a squad of MS-13 members to drive down to Lynchburg and murder the minor. The gang members kidnapped the student from his front lawn and cut his hand off before killing him. After the murder, Corea Diaz and Alvarado-Requeno helped to hide and protect the killers from law enforcement.
The FBI and HSI investigated the case, with valuable assistance provided by the DEA’s Washington and New York Field Divisions, the Prince George’s County Police Department, the Montgomery County Police Department, the Bedford County Sherriff’s Office, and the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office.
Trial Attorneys Julie Finocchiaro and Alexander Gottfried of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and U.S. Attorney Timothy Hagan for the District of Maryland prosecuted the case.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Preferred Family Healthcare, a Springfield, Missouri-based non-profit, will pay more than $8 million in forfeiture and restitution to the federal government and the state of Arkansas under the terms of a non-prosecution agreement announced yesterday, which acknowledges the criminal conduct of its former officers and employees.
“Preferred Family Healthcare must relinquish the illegal profits it garnered from a wide-ranging fraud and bribery scheme,” said U.S. Attorney Teresa Moore for the Eastern District of Missouri. “Several former officers and employees are being prosecuted in separate criminal cases for their individual criminal conduct. This non-prosecution agreement holds the charity itself responsible for their actions as agents of the charity. Public tax dollars were stolen and misused in the course of this public corruption scheme, and through this agreement and these separate prosecutions, those dollars are being restored to the public coffers.”
“Employees of Preferred Family Healthcare used charitable organizations to illegally line their own pockets through fraud and bribery,” said Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher of IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI). “IRS-Criminal Investigation and our law enforcement partners will continue to work diligently to uncover large frauds designed to divert funds that were meant to help those in need of medical services. Preferred Family Healthcare has acknowledged that its former employees engaged in criminal activity, and they are taking steps to make amends by forfeiting a sum of money to the federal government and paying restitution to the state of Arkansas.”
“The public should not suffer or be responsible for individuals who abuse their leadership positions out of greed for personal financial gain,” said Special Agent in Charge Charles Dayoub of the FBI’s Kansas City Field Office. “It is never acceptable to embezzle and misappropriate funds, especially those that directly impact our health care system. As today’s announcement underscores, although the individuals directly involved are no longer with Preferred Family Healthcare, this organization is accepting responsibility for its employees’ actions.”
“The misuse and misappropriation of millions of federally sourced funds, designated for employment training and behavioral healthcare services to the public, by former executives of Preferred Family Healthcare (PFH) is a gross abuse of the positions of trust they once held within the organization,” said Special Agent-in-Charge Steven Grell of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General. “These former executives failed the public and did a disservice to PFH employees by prioritizing their own personal benefit and financial gain over the public they served. Today’s agreement demonstrates PFH’s willingness to take corrective actions regarding the criminal actions of former executives of the organization.”
Preferred Family Healthcare provides services to individuals in Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Illinois, including mental and behavioral health treatment and counseling, substance abuse treatment and counseling, employment assistance, aid to individuals with developmental disabilities, and medical services. Most of the charity’s funding comes from federally appropriated funds – the largest portion being Medicaid reimbursement.
As a condition of this non-prosecution agreement, representatives of Preferred Family Healthcare admitted that former officers and employees of the charity engaged in a conspiracy to, amongst other criminal activity, embezzle funds from the charity and to bribe several elected state officials in the Arkansas House of Representatives and the Arkansas Senate. As a direct result of these actions, Preferred Family Healthcare realized a financial benefit. Although Preferred Family Healthcare’s board of directors through lack of proper oversight, allowed its officers and employees to violate federal law.
Under the terms of the non-prosecution agreement, Preferred Family Healthcare will forfeit more than $6.9 million to the federal government and pay more than $1.1 million in restitution to the state of Arkansas related to the misuse of funds from the state’s general improvement fund.
Several former executives from the charity, former members of the Arkansas state legislature, and others have pleaded guilty in federal court as part of the multi-jurisdiction, federal investigation, including the following:
As part of the federal investigation, the former chief operating officer and chief financial officer of the charity were indicted by a federal grand jury on March 29, 2019. They pleaded not guilty, and are awaiting trial, which is scheduled to begin on Oct. 3.
The separate criminal cases are being prosecuted by Senior Litigation Counsel Marco A. Palmieri and Trial Attorney Jacob Steiner of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section, Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall Eggert and Assistant U.S. Attorney Shannon T. Kempf of the Western District of Missouri, Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Mohlhenrich of the Western District of Arkansas, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Mazzanti of the Eastern District of Arkansas.
IRS-Criminal Investigation, FBI, and the Offices of the Inspectors General from the Departments of Justice, Labor, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) investigated the cases.
This is a combined investigation with the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section, the Western District of Missouri, the Western District of Arkansas, and the Eastern District of Arkansas.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
A former Puerto Rico legislator and two employees who worked in his office pleaded guilty this week to engaging in a bribery and kickback scheme.
According to court documents, Nelson Del Valle Colon, 56, of Dorado, Puerto Rico, pleaded guilty yesterday to one count of federal program bribery, and Mildred Estrada-Rojas, 55, of Bayamon, Puerto Rico, and her daughter, Nickolle Santos-Estrada, 32, also of Bayamon, each pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of federal program bribery.
Del Valle Colon was elected to the Puerto Rico House of Representatives in 2016 and hired Estrada and Santos to work in his legislative office. In exchange for their employment and their salaries, Estrada and Santos paid biweekly kickbacks to Del Valle Colon of between approximately $500 and $1,300 from early 2017 until July 2020.
According to admissions made in connection with their pleas, Del Valle Colon, Estrada, and Santos paid the kickbacks in a variety of ways. Estrada and Santos generally paid cash in an envelope that they provided to Del Valle Colon in an office in the Capitol Building in Old San Juan. Estrada also sometimes paid Del Valle Colon over ATH Móvil, a mobile phone cash transfer application. Another individual who worked for Del Valle Colon in his legislative office also agreed to pay Del Valle Colon biweekly cash kickbacks during that individual’s employment with Del Valle Colon.
Del Valle Colon is scheduled to be sentenced on June 30, and Estrada and Santos are scheduled to be sentenced on June 29. Each faces a maximum penalty of 10 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, U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow for the District of Puerto Rico, and Special Agent in Charge Joseph González of the FBI’s San Juan Field Office made the announcement.
The FBI’s San Juan Field Office is investigating the case.
Trial Attorney Jonathan E. Jacobson of the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Anderson from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico are prosecuting the case.