Month: April 2022

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Security News: Convicted Arsonist Is Sentenced To Prison For Mailing Threatening Letters to A Witness

Source: United States Department of Justice News

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Clinton Douglas Cole, 55, of Caroleen, N.C., was sentenced to 24 months in prison and three years of supervised release today, for mailing threatening letters to a witness, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Chief U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger presided over the sentencing hearing.

U.S. Attorney King is joined in making today’s announcement by Tommy D. Coke, Inspector in Charge of the Atlanta Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), which oversees Charlotte.

According to filed documents and court proceedings, in October 2015, an individual witnessed the defendant set fire to a residence in Rutherford County. The defendant was convicted of state charges related to the arson and was sentenced to prison. Court documents show that in January 2020, while Cole was still serving time in prison for the state conviction, he mailed two threatening letters to the witness. In one letter, Cole reminded the witness of a previous threat he made to burn down the witness’s house. In a second letter, Cole wrote to the witness, “You are going to wish that you would not have stuck your nose were [sic] it did’nt [sic] belong,” and threatened to physically harm the witness and the witness’s child. On December 22, 2021, Cole pleaded guilty to mailing threatening communications.

The investigation was handled by USPIS. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexis Solheim, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville, prosecuted the case.

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Security News: Union City Resident Sentenced to Over 11 Years in Federal Prison for Illegally Possessing a Firearm

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Jackson, TN- Hunter Brett Wherry, 26, of Union City, Tennessee, has been sentenced to 140 months in federal prison for being a convicted felon-in-possession of a firearm. Joseph C. Murphy, Jr., United States Attorney, announced the sentence today.

According to information presented in court, on February 27, 2021, an officer with the Weakley County Sheriff’s Department responded to a report of a residential burglary in Sharon, Tennessee. Upon arrival, the officer spoke with the homeowner, Billy Finney, who reported that his home had been burglarized and several items were missing. Witnesses observed a maroon Nissan Altima with two subjects at the home between 10:00 and 11:00 a.m. that day with the trunk open. Mr. Finney later provided law enforcement with a list of 11 firearms that were stolen from his home during the burglary.

On March 3, 2021, officers with the Obion County Sheriff’s Department conducted a traffic stop on a male subject and recovered an AR-15 rifle that matched the description of one of the firearms stolen from Mr. Finney’s residence. Photos of the firearm were shown to Mr. Finney, and he confirmed that the firearm was the AR-15 Bump Stock, Red Dot Sight that he reported stolen. Officers then interviewed the male subject, and he said the defendant, Hunter Brett Wherry, gave him the AR-15 “to hold onto.” The male subject also said Wherry had given him additional firearms that were now at his residence in Trenton, Tennessee. After receiving permission to search and recover the firearms from the male subject’s residence, officers recovered three additional firearms that were reported stolen from Mr. Finney’s residence.

The male subject agreed to work with the officers to recover additional firearms from Wherry. He made a recorded phone call to Wherry and told Wherry that he had a buyer for the remaining guns. Wherry told the male subject to meet him at an address on Vine Street in Union City, Tennessee. An undercover Union City police officer and the male subject then met with Wherry at the designated area. Wherry instructed the undercover officer and the male subject to follow him to a residence in Union City, where the firearms were located. Once there, the pair purchased several firearms from Wherry, including a High Standard Sentinel .22-caliber revolver. During the purchase, one officer left to obtain a search warrant for the residence and vehicles on the property, while the rest continued surveillance of the residence. Before the officer could return with the warrant, Wherry and two other individuals left the residence in a brown Cadillac.

A traffic stop was then conducted on the vehicle. When officers approached the vehicle, they observed Wherry in the right rear passenger seat leaning forward as if he was placing something under the seat. Wherry was ultimately removed from the vehicle, and a search of his person revealed a black fanny pack containing 22 grams of methamphetamine, 21 grams of marijuana, 3 syringes (one was filled with an undisclosed substance), and digital scales. Officers also located a Galesi Brescia .32-caliber ACP pistol (serial no 202520) under the seat where Wherry had been seen reaching.

Officers returned with the search warrant and executed it at the Washington Street residence. A search of the Cadillac and the residence, along with the firearms collected from the male subject that assisted the officers in this investigation resulted in the seizure of the following firearms, many of which were stolen during the burglary of Mr. Finney’s home:

• Browning 22 Take-Down, .22 caliber long rifle.

• Stevens 311 Double Barrel shotgun.

• W&C Scott and Sons 12-gauge double barrel shotgun.

• High Standard Sentinel, .22-caliber revolver (serial no. 1468971).

• Galesi Brescia .32-caliber ACP pistol (serial no 202520).

• AR-15 Bump Stock, Red Dot Sight, serial # unknown.

• Remington 12-gauge, 870 Express Wood Sock, serial # unknown.

• Remington 12-gauge Shotgun, serial # unknown.

• Savage Model 308, serial # unknown.

• Savage Model 7 Mag Nightcon Scope, serial # unknown.

• Remington 30-06, Simmons Scope Wood Stock, serial # unknown.

• .22 Auto black synthetic stock, serial # unknown.

Wherry waived his Miranda rights and admitted to breaking into Mr. Finney’s residence with his girlfriend and stealing several items. After the couple left the residence, they discovered they had stolen a key to a firearm’s safe. They decided to return to the residence and steal the firearms from the safe. Wherry further admitted that he had asked the male subject who assisted the police to help him sell the four firearms that the officers had recovered from the male subject’s home earlier that day.

Wherry pled guilty to two counts of being a convicted felon-in-possession of a firearm on December 17, 2021.

This case was investigated by the Weakley County Sheriff’s Office, Obion County Sheriff’s Office, Union City Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

On April 15, 2022, United States Chief Judge S. Thomas Anderson sentenced Wherry to 140 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by two years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

Assistant United States Attorney Josh Morrow prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

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Security News: Owners Of Behavioral Health Companies Sentenced For Medicaid Fraud

Source: United States Department of Justice News

LAS VEGAS – The owners of two behavioral health companies in Las Vegas were sentenced yesterday to three years’ probation for their roles in defrauding the Medicaid health care benefit program of thousands of dollars.

Erica Goodley (37) and Billy Kirby (38), both of Georgia, each pleaded guilty in January 2022 to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of health care fraud. In addition to the three-year term of probation, U.S. District Judge Andrew P. Gordon ordered the forfeiture of $499,440.70 from the defendants.

According to court documents, Goodley and Kirby were the owners of Endeavor Behavioral Health and International Behavioral Health. From June 2016 to February 2018, Goodley and Kirby conspired to provide false representations and omissions on applications to enroll the companies as medical providers with Medicaid. On the applications, they omitted Kirby’s 2005 gross misdemeanor conviction.

It was further part of the conspiracy that the companies fraudulently billed Nevada Medicaid for 24 hours of counseling services by a single counselor in one day and for counselors who did not exist or did not work at the companies at the time of the services. As a result of the false billing, Goodley and Kirby caused a loss of thousands of dollars from Medicaid.

Acting U.S. Attorney Christopher Chiou for the District of Nevada, Special Agent in Charge Albert Childress for the IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and Nevada Attorney General Aaron D. Ford made the announcement.

This case was investigated by IRS-CI and the Nevada Attorney General’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Burton and Steven Myhre prosecuted the case.

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Security News: Federal Inmate Convicted by Jury of Assault on Fellow Prisoner at FDC

Source: United States Department of Justice News

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams announced that Robert Smith, 49, of Philadelphia, PA, was convicted today after trial of one count of assault with a dangerous weapon with intent to do bodily harm, and one count of possession of contraband in prison stemming from a violent incident in which he was involved while in federal prison.

In December 2020, while the defendant was incarcerated at the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia, he was involved in a physical altercation with another incarcerated individual in the same unit. Officers separated them and took them both for medical assessment, where it was discovered that the other individual had a wound consistent with being stabbed. Video footage of the fight showed Smith striking the individual with a stabbing motion, then passing an unknown item under a door to another individual, who discarded the item in a trash can. Officers searched the trash can several minutes later and found a seven-inch-long piece of metal fashioned into a knife. 

“One goal of incarceration is to deter future criminal conduct,” said U.S. Attorney Williams. “But instead of learning from previous mistakes, this defendant engaged in a violent assault on a fellow inmate. The U.S. Attorney’s Office will not tolerate this kind of lawless behavior.”

“It’s concerning when inmates serving time for past offenses continue to break the law, particularly with crimes of violence,” said Jacqueline Maguire, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “Both the federal inmates and BOP personnel at FDC Philadelphia deserve a safe environment in which to live and work, so violent behavior like Robert Smith’s cannot go unpunished. This conviction ensures he will spend even longer behind bars. We hope the extra time sends a message that it’s in his interests to do better going forward.”

The case was investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Christopher Diviny and Lauren Stram.

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Security News: Texas Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Months’ Long Cyberstalking Campaign Sparked by an Unrequited Love Interest

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Defendant Solicited a “Swatting” Attack at Victim 1’s Family Home as Part of His Cyberstalking Activities; Singh Also Targeted Victim 2, Who He Perceived to be a Romantic Rival

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced Desmond Babloo Singh, age 20, of Temple, Texas, late yesterday to 18 months in federal prison, followed by one year of home detention as part of three years of supervised release, for two counts of cyberstalking.   

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge James R. Mancuso of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore; and Chief Melissa R. Hyatt of the Baltimore County Police Department.

According to his guilty plea, from April 18, 2020, to November 24, 2020, Singh used more than 100 different social media accounts, phone accounts, and various electronic communication tools to send harassing messages to Victim 1. The hundreds of public social media posts, text messages, and private social media messages included threats of death, bodily injury, sexualized violence, and racial slurs.  Many of the accounts created and used by Singh incorporated Victim 1’s name, making it appear as if the accounts were owned and operated by her. 

In early 2020, Singh sent Victim 1 online communications expressing his romantic interest in her.  After Victim 1 rebuffed Singh’s advances and asked him not to contact her, Singh commenced a months’ long cyberstalking campaign against both Victim 1 and Victim 2, the latter of whom Singh viewed as a romantic rival.

Singh frequently used the fraudulent accounts he created to denigrate Victim 1’s character, appearance, and make the assertion that Victim 1 was “obsessed” with him. Singh’s harassing conduct included, among other things, numerous implied threats of bodily injury or death.  For instance, Singh used a fraudulent social media account to send Victim 1 an image in which the faces of her and her family members were superimposed on the faces of several individuals hanging from nooses.  In another edited picture, Singh superimposed Victim 1’s mother’s face on the body of a grieving woman at a grave site.

On or about July 19, 2020, Victim 1 received a “follow” request on a social media platform from an account that Singh created.  On this account, Singh had posted pictures of Victim 1 and her family home.  Additionally, Singh posted Victim 1’s parents’ address in Maryland and stated there would be a party there the following day.  The following day, July 20, 2020, a Baltimore County Police Department employee received an anonymous email telling law enforcement to investigate a possible bomb at the parents’ home.  Law enforcement officers responded to the residence only to learn that the bomb threat was a hoax.  The federal investigation into Singh’s conduct revealed that Singh had solicited another individual to make the anonymous claim, in order to provoke an emergency police response to Victim 1’s parents’ home, referred to as “swatting.”

In furtherance of his harassment campaign against Victim 1, Singh also posted Victim 1’s personal information online including her birthdate, name, personal phone number, school, social media identities, and other identifying information.  This form of online harassment is commonly referred to as “doxing”.

During the investigation of Singh’s harassment campaign, investigators discovered notes in Singh’s phone that documented his plans to harass Victim 1, including the plans to physically assault Victim 1’s family members, post over 10,000 messages relating to Victim 1’s friends, harass Victim 2, and take pictures of Victim 1 in real life.

Singh not only harassed Victim 1, but he also harassed Victim 2, whom he perceived to be a romantic rival.  As he had done with Victim 1, Singh created numerous social media accounts incorporating Victim 2’s real name and publicly posted his personal information.  Using an anonymous account, Singh posted a video of an unidentifiable person knocking on the door of Victim 2’s former residence with a caption telling Victim 2 to answer the door.  Singh later posted the same video on an online platform which included Victim 2’s name, the former address of Victim 2, and a statement stating that he went to Victim 2’s residence to fight Victim 2.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the HSI and the Baltimore County Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher M. Rigali, who prosecuted the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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