Month: April 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice

On April 25, 2022, President Joseph R. Biden signed an order designating Gary M. Restaino, the U.S. Attorney for Arizona, to serve as Acting Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The Presidential Order became effective upon the President’s submission to the U.S. Senate of the nomination of former U.S. Attorney Steve Dettlebach to serve as permanent ATF Director. Acting Director Restaino will continue to serve as U.S. Attorney while the Senate considers Mr. Dettlebach’s nomination.

“After three decades of dedicated service, Deputy Director Marvin Richardson stepped up to lead ATF when he was needed the most, and under his leadership the brave professionals of ATF have worked tirelessly to protect our communities from violent crime and the scourge of gun violence,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “We are extremely grateful that Marvin will continue his service to the Justice Department and our country as Deputy Director. We are also grateful for the leadership and commitment of Gary Restaino, a U.S. Attorney and career prosecutor who has served with the Department for nearly 20 years, as he takes on this new assignment as Acting Director of ATF.”

Deputy Director Richardson will work closely with Acting Director Restaino to ensure both an effective transition and continuity in executing ATF’s crucial public safety mission.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Assistant U. S. Attorney Joseph Orabona (619) 546-7951

NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – April 26, 2022

SAN DIEGO – Jonathan Madison of San Diego was sentenced in federal court yesterday to 100 months in prison for knowingly recruiting, advertising, and soliciting a teenage girl to engage in commercial sex acts.

Madison pleaded guilty in February 2021. In his plea agreement, Madison admitted that he transported underage girls and women and provided them to customers for commercial sex acts, which took place in California and Colorado from November 2017 through April 2020. During this time, Madison transported, provided, maintained, and obtained an underage girl (while she was 15 and 16 years old) for the purpose of her to engage in commercial sex acts, including in San Diego County. As part of his human trafficking activities, Madison caused online advertisements of the underage girls and women to be posted on various websites for customers to solicit them for commercial sex.

Madison also admitted that he videotaped himself having sexual intercourse with an underage girl and later transmitted the video to her by cell phone.

Madison, aka “Jay Jay,” “Boobutt,” and “JT,” was arrested in April 2020 on sex trafficking charges and ordered detained without bond by the Court. A federal grand jury returned an indictment in May 2020 against Madison charging him with sex trafficking of a minor.

“This is a fitting sentence for a man engaged in trafficking of children,” said U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman. “Our office will continue to seek justice when our community’s most vulnerable victims are subjected to these heinous crimes.” Grossman thanked the prosecution team and members of the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force for their excellent work on this case.

“Today’s sentence sends a strong message to those who intentionally target and victimize children,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Stacey Moy. “The FBI and our law enforcement partners on the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force will use all investigative resources to identify and prosecute those who prey on minors.”  

Madison has been detained in custody since his arrest in April 2020.

At the sentencing hearing today, U.S. District Judge Cynthia A. Bashant not only imposed the 100-month prison sentence, but also ordered Madison to serve a five-year term of supervised release and to pay a $5,000 mandatory penalty assessment pursuant to the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act. Madison will also be required to register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.

DEFENDANT                                   Case Numbers: 20CR1228-BAS

Jonathan Madison                               Age: 31           San Diego, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Sex Trafficking of a Minor, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1591

Maximum Penalties: 10-year mandatory minimum and a maximum of life in prison; mandatory Sex Offender Registration; a maximum term of supervised release of life; mandatory restitution to the victims.

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force, which consists of:

• Federal Bureau of Investigation
• California Department of Justice
• California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation – Parole
• California Highway Patrol
• ICE/Homeland Security Investigations
• National City Police Department
• San Diego City Attorney’s Office
• San Diego County District Attorney’s Office
• San Diego County Probation Department
• San Diego County Sheriff’s Department
• San Diego Police Department
• The United States Attorney’s Office, Southern District of California

Source: United States Department of Justice News

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Leon Lee Jones, 38, of Ganado, Arizona, was sentenced last week by U.S. District Judge Michael T. Liburdi to 18 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release. Jones previously pleaded guilty to Second Degree Murder.

On July 11, 2018, Jones shot and killed the victim, who was his intimate partner. The murder occurred near Klagetoh, Arizona, on the Navajo Nation. Jones is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, as was the victim.

The FBI and the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety conducted the investigation in this case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alexander Samuels and William Voit, District of Arizona, Phoenix, handled the prosecution.

CASE NUMBER:           CR-18-08369-PCT-MTL
RELEASE NUMBER:    2022-050_Jones

# # #

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 Criminal Division

Remarks as Prepared

Thank you, Karlo. And thank you to everyone who participated or who joined our audience to commemorate Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month and National Crime Victims’ Rights Week. It is so inspiring to hear everything that the Departments of Justice, Health and Human Services and Housing and Urban Development – not to mention our remarkable non-governmental partners – are doing to address and prevent sexual assault, misconduct and harassment, and to provide necessary services to survivors. All of us at OVW were excited to hear Assistant Attorney General Clarke announce the Civil Rights Division’s new Coordinating Committee to Combat Sexual Misconduct, and we cannot wait to see their innovative work in action.

Sexual violence – in all its forms – is an affront to our values, impacting the lives of everyone in our communities, not just those of us who are survivors. Sexual assault harms all of us in a workplace or a neighborhood or a family. It ripples out. And it demands a response from all of us in a workplace or a neighborhood or a family. I was inspired to hear today about the many ways our colleagues at DOJ’s Civil Rights Division are at the forefront of that multifaceted response, by enforcing federal civil and criminal rights statutes in the workplace, public education institutions, housing complexes, state-run jails and more.

Sexual violence is community violence. Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta captured this sentiment in a previous statement when she said: “the impact of sexual assault can reverberate throughout a community, and the response to sexual assault within a community…has a profound and lasting impact on the health and well-being of a sexual assault survivor.”

That response must be rooted in what survivors themselves tell us they need. We must hold survivors at the forefront of our efforts to repair and prevent harm in schools, homes and workplaces. We know that sexual violence can and does happen to anyone, in every walk of life, across the lifespan and gender continuum.

That’s why the Biden Administration is taking a whole-of-government approach to addressing gender-based violence and is centering the needs of historically marginalized survivors at the core of that response. To prevent and end sexual assault and harassment, we must meaningfully advance racial and gender equity, including equity for transgender individuals.

We heard our panelists today emphasize the need to fund culturally specific, community-based organizations and population-specific organizations – organizations that are by and for communities of color, tribes and underserved communities – because those organizations are more likely to understand the complex challenges survivors face when attempting to access services and attain justice, and are thus are more capable of addressing and responding to those challenges and meeting survivors where they are. Increasing funding for these organizations is one of OVW’s priorities, and is part of DOJ’s racial equity plan.

As you also heard from our panelists, housing for sexual assault survivors is of huge concern, particularly because they are underserved by traditional housing services. That’s why it is so important to ensure survivors have access to housing free from discrimination and why DOJ’s Civil Rights Division’s Sexual Harassment in Housing Initiative is so crucial. VAWA 2022 also expands housing stability for survivors by enhancing not just housing assistance but also legal aid that can help reduce the risk of homelessness for survivors. This includes access to comprehensive legal representation in eviction cases as well as post-conviction relief, both of which have huge impacts on survivors’ ability to maintain stable housing. VAWA 2022 also increases housing protections for survivors. When we keep people safe and housed, we impact entire families and communities – even generations.

We know many of you in the audience are on the front lines doing this life-changing work, and it is an honor to be with you today. Thank you for everything you do. You are key partners in combatting sexual violence. And to all survivors: please know that you are not alone. We see you. We hear you. We are with you. Together we can end sexual violence.

Thank you for joining us today.