Month: April 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that Logan Foster, 30, of Arlington, Vermont, has been indicted and arrested on two federal firearms offenses involving the alleged unlawful purchase and possession of a 9mm pistol in January 2021. On April 19, 2022, Foster appeared in U.S. District Court in Burlington for an arraignment and pleaded not guilty to the charges. U.S. Magistrate Judge Kevin J. Doyle granted the government’s motion for detention and ordered Foster detained until trial.

The indictment contains two counts. The first count alleges that on January 22, 2021, Foster filled out an ATF Form 4473 to purchase a SCCY 9mm pistol from a firearms dealer and falsely stated both that he was the actual purchaser of the firearm and that he was not an unlawful user of controlled substances. The second count alleges Foster then possessed this firearm while being an unlawful user of controlled substances. According to court records, the government also alleges that Foster exchanged the firearm for drugs with a Springfield, Massachusetts area drug dealer. The firearm was recovered from a crime scene in Holyoke, Massachusetts approximately six months after Foster’s transfer of it. 

The indictment is an accusation only and that the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. If convicted, Foster faces a maximum sentence of ten years imprisonment and three years of supervised release, which would follow any sentence of imprisonment. The actual sentence will be determined with reference to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. 

This case is being investigated by the Department of Homeland Security (Homeland Security Investigations), the Bennington Police Department, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The United States is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Perella.  Foster is represented by Peter Langrock, Esq.

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

The United States Attorney’s Office announced that William Kelly, 73, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and previously of Weston, Florida, was sentenced today to 18 months in prison by Chief Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford in United States District Court.  Chief Judge Crawford also ordered a three-year term of supervised release and ordered Kelly to pay $8,338,600.77 in restitution.  Today’s sentencing follows Kelly’s guilty plea in June 2021 to conspiring with co-defendants Ariel Quiros, Jong Weon (Alex) Choi, and William Stenger in a multi-year wire fraud scheme to defraud immigrant investors seeking green cards through the EB-5 program.  He also pleaded guilty to concealing material facts in a matter within the jurisdiction of a federal agency, namely United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which oversaw the EB-5 program. 

According to court records and proceedings, the AnC Vermont project was designed to raise $110 million from 220 immigrant investors in order to construct and operate a biotechnology facility in Newport, Vermont.  EB-5 investors could qualify for permanent resident status (commonly known as a green card) by investing $500,000 in a commercial enterprise approved by USCIS and the Vermont Regional Center (VRC), which had the authority to approve and monitor EB-5 projects in Vermont.  In order to obtain a green card, each investor needed to demonstrate to USCIS that his or her investment had created, or would create within a few years, ten jobs.  From 2012 to 2016, approximately 169 investors invested approximately $85 million in the AnC Vermont project, in addition to paying approximately $8 million in “administrative fees.”  Fundraising was never completed, and the AnC Vermont facility was never constructed.  

When he pleaded guilty, Kelly admitted that he and his co-conspirators misled AnC Vermont investors about how investor funds would be used, about how many jobs would be created by the project, and about the timeline for this job creation.  For example, Kelly and others knew that it was necessary to demonstrate a plan to create at least 2,200 jobs in order to obtain USCIS approval of the AnC Vermont project, and that USCIS approval and business revenues were both important to investors.  The jobs report for the project was directly based on hiring and financial projections generated by Kelly, Choi, and Stenger to justify the job creation number required for EB-5 approval.  Kelly knew that no one had assessed whether the purported financial projections in the project’s business plan were reasonable.  Between 2012 and 2016, Kelly and his co-conspirators maintained the jobs numbers in spite of the fact that no one associated with the AnC Vermont project was making progress toward identifying customers for clean room rentals, acquiring commercially viable stem cell products, or developing the potential artificial organs.

Kelly also admitted that between March 2013 and October 2014, he helped Quiros and Stenger pay over $47 million in AnC Vermont investor money to Jay Construction Management (JCM), a Quiros-controlled entity that was designated as a pass-through corporation for approximately $52 million that was to be paid to a Korean company created and controlled by Choi.  During this period, Kelly knew that Quiros forwarded less than $6 million from JCM to Choi’s company.  Kelly knew that Quiros used approximately $21 million of the AnC Vermont investor funds sent to JCM to pay off a Raymond James loan that was used for expenses unrelated to the AnC Vermont project.  In addition to the wire fraud conspiracy charge, Kelly admitted helping conceal from the VRC that Quiros had used the $21 million in AnC Vermont investor funds for purposes unrelated to the AnC Vermont project.

As part of his plea agreement, Kelly agreed to cooperate in the government’s ongoing matters related to this case.  The plea agreement signed by Kelly and the government capped Kelly’s potential jail sentence at 36 months, so long as he abided by the terms of the agreement.  In connection with Kelly’s sentencing proceeding, the government informed the Court that Kelly had abided by the agreement’s terms and would be called as a witness at any trial of Kelly’s co-defendants.

Co-defendant Quiros pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering, and concealment charges in August 2020 and is scheduled to be sentenced on April 29, 2022.  Co-defendant Stenger pleaded guilty to submitting false documents to the VRC and was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment and 3 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $250,000 in restitution, on April 14, 2022.  Co-defendant Choi remains at large.

Nikolas P. Kerest, United States Attorney, expresses his gratitude for the outstanding investigation assistance by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, IRS Criminal Investigation, the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations, and for the assistance of the Justice Department’s Fraud Section and Office of International Affairs.  The prosecutors handling the case are Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nicole Cate and Paul Van de Graaf.  William Kelly is represented by Robert Goldstein, Esq. and Mary Kehoe, Esq.  Ariel Quiros is represented by Neil Taylor, Esq. and Robert Katims, Esq.  William Stenger is represented by Brooks McArthur, Esq. and David Williams, Esq.  

Source: United States Department of Justice News

BOSTON – A former associate of the New Bedford Chapter of the Massachusetts Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation (Latin Kings), and owner of multiple apartment buildings utilized by the Latin Kings, commonly referred to as “trap houses,” pleaded guilty yesterday to racketeering and drug charges.

Robert Avitabile, a/k/a “Bobby,” 41, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to conduct enterprise affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity, more commonly referred to as RICO conspiracy, and conspiracy to manufacture and distribute cocaine and cocaine base (crack cocaine). U.S. Senior District Court Judge Rya W. Zobel scheduled sentencing for Aug. 10, 2022.

The Latin Kings in New Bedford ran a vast cocaine base distribution network that used multi-unit apartment buildings known as “trap houses” to distribute narcotics. Members of the Latin Kings dealt drugs in the trap houses, obtaining their supply of crack cocaine from the Chapter leader, Jorge Rodriguez, a/k/a “King G.” As detailed in court filings in the case, evidence developed during the investigation included multiple recordings of Rodriguez cooking crack cocaine at the trap houses, directing violence against rival gang members, meting out discipline and handling firearms used to protect the Latin Kings’ drug distribution network.

Avitabile owned multiple apartment buildings in New Bedford referred to as a “trap houses” and rented them to the Latin Kings, knowing that they would be used by the gang as locations where drugs would be dealt, and otherwise serve as centers of power for the gang. Despite the fact that police searched the rental units controlled by the Latin Kings dozens of times, Avitabile continued to rent the units to the gang. Court documents also described recordings and interceptions made of Avitabile coordinating with Jorge Rodriguez on arrangements including payment of rent by Latin Kings members, placement of Latin Kings members in certain apartment units and investment of Rodriguez’s drug proceeds into real estate.

Avitabile rented the apartment units to Latin Kings members, knowing that they would be used to sell, store and manufacture drugs. Through Avitabile’s association with the Latin Kings and Rodriguez, the Latin Kings used the apartment buildings to facilitate their campaign of street violence, drug dealing and otherwise control the neighborhood.

Pursuant to the terms of the plea agreement, Avitabile has agreed to forfeit proceeds from the sale of three apartment buildings in New Bedford, which were historically used by the Latin Kings.

In December 2019, a federal grand jury returned an indictment alleging racketeering conspiracy, drug conspiracy and firearms charges against 62 leaders, members and associates of the Latin Kings. Avitabile is the 57^th defendant to plead guilty in the case.

The RICO conspiracy charge provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Depending on the drug quantity, the drug trafficking conspiracy and distribution charges provide for a sentence of up to 20 years, 40 years  or life in prison; a minimum of three, four or five years of supervised release; and fines of $1 million, $5 million and $10 million. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; Commissioner Carol Mici of the Massachusetts Department of Correction; and New Bedford Police Chief Joseph C. Cordeiro made the announcement. Valuable assistance was also provided by the FBI North Shore Gang Task Force and the Bristol County and Suffolk County District Attorney’s Offices. Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip A. Mallard of the Organized Crime & Gang Unit is prosecuting the case.

This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – After a two-day trial, a federal jury convicted an Ohio man of all four counts in a federal indictment charging him in connection with pipe bombs found on tugboats on the Ohio River.

Law enforcement officers recovered the destructive devices from two different tugboats moving barges on the Ohio River on October 21 and October 25, 2021. Evidence at trial revealed Nathaniel Blayn Becker, 42, of Marietta, Ohio, appeared on security video purchasing pipes and other relevant components of the devices from a Lowe’s store in Marietta on four separate occasions and close in time to when the devices were found. Around the time of the first incident, exterior security video from Lowe’s and the Walmart in Marietta showed Becker carrying pipe bomb components toward an Ohio River bridge. Investigators believe the destructive devices were dropped from the bridge.

Becker was found guilty of two counts of possession of an unregistered destructive device and two counts of placement of a destructive device on a vessel. He is scheduled to be sentenced on August 18, 2022, and faces up to 60 years in prison.

The jury also heard that similar devices were discovered on a third tugboat moving barges on the Ohio River on October 26, 2021. However, those devices were found to contain non-explosive septic tank cleaner and therefore Becker was not charged.

Becker was on probation at the time of the offense, following his August 2020 conviction in the Washington County, Ohio, Court of Common Pleas for failure to comply with an order or signal of a police officer. Becker had brandished a knife at an officer during a traffic stop and then led police on a car chase before barricading himself in his residence. Becker was arrested after a stand-off that ended when police forced entry into the home.

“We are fortunate that no one was injured. Such senseless potential for harm and destruction clearly required decisive action,” said United States Attorney Will Thompson in making the announcement. “The swift and successful investigation by the law enforcement agencies involved absolutely prevented this situation from becoming worse, and I commend them. I applaud Assistant United States Attorneys Joshua C. Hanks and Nick Miller, along with their trial team, for securing the guilty verdict.”

Thompson also thanked Lowe’s, Walmart and the tugboat owners – Crounse Corporation, Campbell Transportation Company and Marathon Petroleum Corp. – for their extensive cooperation in the case as well.

United States District Judge Irene C. Berger presided over the jury trial. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) conducted the investigation with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the West Virginia State Police, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Parkersburg Police Department, the Wood County Sheriff’s Department and the Washington County, Ohio, Sheriff’s Office.

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-00234.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

Defendant Convicted After a Three-Month Trial that Focused on Four Brutal Murders Committed by MS-13 in 2017, including Two Murders in Which the Defendant Personally Participated