Month: April 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Felipe Fuentes, 62, of Nogales, Arizona, pleaded guilty last week for his role in a long-running bribery conspiracy that spanned much of his tenure as the elected County Assessor for Santa Cruz County. Fuentes pleaded guilty to a felony charge of Conspiracy to Commit Honest Services Wire Fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for August 2, 2022 before the Honorable Raner C. Collins, Senior United States District Judge.  

According to Fuentes’ admissions in connection with the plea hearing, Fuentes and other co-conspirators engaged in a multi-year bribery scheme in which Fuentes received cash payments from a large landowner in Santa Cruz County. Fuentes admitted that, in exchange for the cash payments, he took various official acts in his capacity as the County Assessor to benefit the landowner, including reducing assessed values for properties owned by him and his business entities. According to Fuentes’ plea agreement, in addition to the cash payments, the landowner also allowed Fuentes to use a 17-acre ranch owned by one of his business entities free of charge for multiple years during the course of the bribery conspiracy. 

“Property taxes pay for critical local government services that support our communities,” said United States Attorney Gary Restaino. “Fuentes abused the public trust when he reduced the assessed value of property, and by doing so diverted money away from Santa Cruz County in order to serve his own self-interest.”

“The citizens of Arizona deserve a government free of corruption. The FBI will not tolerate those who abuse their positions of authority and is committed to rooting out public corruption and civil rights violations at all levels,” said Sean Kaul, special agent in charge of the FBI Phoenix Field Office. “The FBI continues to investigate this case and encourages the public to come forward if they have any information.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Southern Arizona Corruption Task Force investigated the case. The Financial Crimes and Public Corruption section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, Tucson, handled the prosecution. 

CASE NUMBER:            CR-22-00824-TUC-RCC
RELEASE NUMBER:    2022-049_Fuentes

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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 News

A New York man was sentenced today to 18 months in prison for conspiring to defraud the United States.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Richard Barker, of Queens, owned and operated a tax return preparation business under the names Tax Depot Inc. and KPS Kampant, Parkinson, Sinclair & Co. Inc. From approximately 2012 through 2019, Barker conspired with other individuals to submit false tax returns to the IRS on behalf of clients. These tax returns included Forms 1099-OID that falsely reported financial institutions, creditors and other entities had withheld and paid taxes to the IRS on behalf of the clients, when in reality no such taxes had been withheld or paid. As a result of these fictitious withholdings, the IRS paid the clients refunds they were not entitled to receive. Barker also filed false returns for himself based on the same 1099-OID scheme and recruited at least one other individual to do the same. In total, Barker caused a tax loss to the IRS of more than $460,000.

In addition to the term of imprisonment, U.S. District Judge Eric R. Komitee ordered Barker to serve two years of supervised release and to pay approximately $464,252 in restitution to the IRS.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York made the announcement.

IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Ann M. Cherry and Mark Kotila of the Tax Division prosecuted the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

A former manager for a defense contractor pleaded guilty today to tax evasion.

According to court documents and statements made in court, from 2010 through 2016, Ronald L. Thomas, of Wellington, Florida, worked in Afghanistan, Oman and the United Arab Emirates for a U.S. Department of Defense contracting company as a project director and in other roles. In 2016 and 2017, Thomas served as a paid consultant for a Mexican oil and gas venture. From 2010 to 2017 Thomas evaded taxes owed to the IRS by underreporting to his tax preparer the salaries and bonuses he earned for each of those years. In total, Thomas did not report approximately $870,000 in compensation he earned from 2010 through 2017, causing a tax loss to the government of more than $227,000.

Thomas is the third defendant associated with the defense contracting company to plead guilty. Charles Squires pleaded guilty to tax evasion in February 2022, and James Robar pleaded guilty to tax evasion in March 2022.

Thomas is scheduled to be sentenced at a later date and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for tax evasion. He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia made the announcement.

IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction are investigating the case.

Assistance was provided by the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement (J5), which brings together the taxing authorities of Australia, Canada, Netherlands, United Kingdom and the United States.

Senior Litigation Counsel Nanette Davis and Trial Attorneys Brittney Campbell and Sarah Ranney of the Tax Division, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Leslie Goemaat of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia are prosecuting the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

The Justice Department today filed a lawsuit against the Town of Clarksville, Indiana, for violating Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, alleges that the Town’s police department unlawfully revoked a job offer to a qualified law enforcement officer based on his Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) diagnosis. The officer had been successfully working for the Town’s police department as a volunteer reserve officer for over a year and was fully qualified to work as a police officer.

“No qualified individual should lose a hard-earned career opportunity because of misguided views about their disability that are not supported by medicine or science,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This lawsuit reflects the Justice Department’s firm commitment to protecting qualified workers, including those with HIV, from unlawful employment discrimination.”

“Every day, we depend on law enforcement officers who put themselves in harm’s way to keep us safe,” said U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Myers for the Southern District of Indiana. “Those who are qualified and seek to serve their communities should not be subjected to unlawful discrimination. Individuals living with HIV are entitled to the full protection of our anti-discrimination laws. Our office will work closely with our partners in the Civil Rights Division to ensure that those who seek to serve the public are not unlawfully discriminated against.”  

Title I of the ADA prohibits employers from discriminating against qualified individuals on the basis of disability. Discrimination includes withdrawing a job offer to a qualified individual based on unsupported and stereotypical views of the applicant’s disability.

This case is being handled by the department’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana based on a referral from the Indianapolis District Office of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The department plays a central role in advancing the ADA’s goals of equal opportunity, full participation, independent living and economic self-sufficiency for people with disabilities.

For more information on the ADA, please call the department’s toll-free ADA information line at 800-514-0301 (TDD 800-514-0383) or visit www.ada.gov. For more information on the Civil Rights Division, please visit http://www.justice.gov/crt. Individuals who believe they may have been victims of discrimination may file a complaint at https://civilrights.justice.gov/. View the complaint here.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

For almost four years, the Department of Justice has responsibly used the authority Congress granted it in the Preventing Emerging Threats Act of 2018 to protect critical department missions and the public, such as high-profile sporting events like the Super Bowl and the World Series, from the threat posed by unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), commonly referred to as “drones.” The department uses the authority to keep our communities safe while ensuring full respect for the Constitution, privacy, civil rights and civil liberties, and the safety of the national airspace system. But the threat posed by the criminal use of drones is increasing and evolving, and department components cannot protect everyone, everywhere, all the time. 

The department strongly supports the Administration’s Counter-UAS National Action Plan and comprehensive legislative proposal transmitted to Congress on April 19 seeking the reauthorization of the department’s authority. Additionally, the department strongly supports the element of the National Action Plan incrementally extending relief from federal criminal laws to state, local, territorial and tribal (SLTT) law enforcement entities to use technology to detect, and in limited circumstances, mitigate UAS threats under appropriate controls and Federal oversight. A third critical component of the plan is endorsement of the department’s legislative proposal that would fill a gap in federal criminal laws to prosecute the most malicious and dangerous uses of drones.

The department is grateful to the Administration for recognizing the increasing risk and for involving federal departments and agencies in crafting a thoughtful approach. The Counter-UAS plan is a whole-of-government measured proposal that builds off existing authorities to address the threat that simultaneously protects privacy and civil liberties of the American people, the safety of the national airspace and the communications spectrum. 

In the coming weeks, the department and interagency will engage with the Congress and key stakeholders across the government, private sector, law enforcement and society on the plan and legislative proposal. 

A fact sheet about the C-UAS National Action Plan and legislative proposal can be found at the White House webpage at the following link: Counter-UAS National Action Plan Fact Sheet.