Month: April 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Tampa, Florida –United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Elijah Howard (22, Tampa) has pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Howard faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

According to court documents, Howard, a multi-convicted felon, brandished a Glock 19 semi-automatic pistol with an extended magazine during an Instagram video on December 21, 2021. Later that same day, Tampa Police Department officers encountered Howard in possession of that same firearm during a traffic stop. Howard was detained and the firearm was recovered. Officers determined that the firearm was loaded with 34 rounds of ammunition, including a round in the chamber.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Tampa Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel J. Marcet.

This case is being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime.  Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.  As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

FORT WAYNE – Christina M. Morris, 50 years old, of Marion, Indiana, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Holly A. Brady on her plea of guilty to mail fraud, announced United States Attorney Clifford D. Johnson.

Morris was sentenced to 27 months in prison followed by 1 year of supervised release and was also ordered to pay $338,278.17 in restitution to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

According to documents in this case, beginning in 2007, Morris worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) at the VA Medical Center in Marion, Indiana. In February 2008, Morris suffered a fall while working. She then filed a worker’s compensation claim and began receiving benefits, including payment for medical care related to her injury and expenses. As late as  2018 and 2019, Morris was regularly submitting claims through the U.S. Mail for reimbursement alleging that she traveled roughly 200 miles roundtrip to a clinic for treatment six days per week and had incurred out of pocket expenses. Agents spoke with employees at the clinic who revealed that Morris had not received treatment at the clinic for years and that her claims and the receipts submitted to support them were fraudulent. The fraudulent claims began in January 2014 and continued until July 2019, when Morris was confronted by investigators and admitted that she had filed false claims for reimbursement for treatment, mileage and expenses. The investigation revealed that Morris had filed 670 fraudulent claims for a total of $338,278.17.

This case was investigated by the Department of Labor, Office of the Inspector General and the Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of the Inspector General. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sarah E. Nokes.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

United States Attorney Bob Murray announced today that GREGORY MICHAEL SAMUEL TOTH, age 40, was sentenced for assault with intent to commit a felony at a sentencing hearing held before Federal District Court Judge Nancy D. Freudenthal on April 18, 2022. He was sentenced to 44 months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release, to be served concurrently to a state sentence, and ordered to pay a $500 fine and a $100 assessment.

According to the indictment, on or about October 1, 2021, Toth unlawfully committed an assault with the intent to commit a kidnapping in Yellowstone National Park. Toth worked as a construction contractor in Yellowstone and was temporarily residing in a contractor trailer at the Fishing Bridge RV Park, where the assault took place. He was arrested on October 6, 2021, in Park County, Wyoming.

“Assault is a serious crime regardless of the location but when it occurs in a national park, it becomes a federal felony,” said United States Attorney Bob Murray. “This individual is now serving close to four years in federal prison due to an unnecessary assault on an innocent individual. This type of conviction would not have been possible without the collaborative efforts of our prosecuting attorney and the investigative work of the National Park Service.”

This crime was investigated National Park Service special agents and Yellowstone National Park law enforcement officers.  The case was prosecuted by Michael J. Elmore.

Case Number 0:21-cr-00131

For questions relating to Yellowstone National Park, please contact the Public Affairs Office at 307-344-2015 or yell_public_affairs@nps.gov.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that on April 14, 2022, Aron Lee Ethridge, 41, of Henderson, Nevada was indicted on charges of participating in a conspiracy resulting in the kidnapping of Gregory Davis, a resident of Danville, Vermont, on January 6, 2018. Ethridge had his initial appearance on this charge in the District of Vermont on April 20, 2022, and he has a detention hearing scheduled for April 25, 2022.

The indictment identifies Ethridge’s co-conspirator as Jerry Banks, who was indicted on April 14, 2022, in the District of Vermont on kidnapping charges. The indictment charging Ethridge explains how Banks communicated with Ethridge about the kidnapping and murder of Davis. 

The charges against Ethridge carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Any actual sentence will be determined with reference to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. The indictment charging Ethridge contains accusations only, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. 

The prosecutors are Assistant United States Attorneys Paul Van de Graaf and Jonathan Ophardt.  Mark A. Kaplan, Esq. represents Ethridge.

U.S. Attorney Nikolas P. Kerest commended the efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Vermont State Police in their collaborative investigation of Ethridge. 

This case is being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime.  Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.  As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime. https://www.justice.gov/psn

Source: United States Department of Justice News

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Charleston man pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Re’Shaun Lamonte Wilborne, 36, admitted he possessed a Jimenez Arms, model JA NINE, 9mm caliber handgun found by Charleston Police officers when they arrested him on July 20, 2021, for an active state warrant.

Wilborne knew he has prohibited from possessing a firearm because of his January 2004 conviction in Fayette County Circuit Court for second-degree sexual assault and his August 2017 conviction in United States District Court or the Southern District of West Virginia for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Federal law prohibits a person with a prior felony conviction from possessing a firearm or ammunition.

Wilborne is scheduled to be sentenced on July 14, 2022, and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.

United States Attorney Will Thompson made the announcement and commended the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Charleston Police Department for conducting the investigation.

United States District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin presided over the hearing.  Assistant United States Attorney Negar M. Kordestani is prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:21-cr-162.

 

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