Month: April 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

A former car dealership sales associate alleged to have been responsible for more than $ 1 million in fraudulent vehicle sales pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court, announced U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson.

William Ray Turner, 31, of Tulsa, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.

“William Turner exploited his position when he stole an identity and used it to submit a false loan application for the purchase of a vehicle. He then illegally profited from the crime by receiving a commission and selling the SUV to a personal acquaintance,” said U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson. “This U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to fully prosecuting white collar criminals, like Turner, who defraud employers and the banking system.”

In his plea agreement, the former sales associate stated that on Sept. 14, 2020, he knowingly used identification belonging to another individual to submit a false loan application to Ally Bank for the purchase of a 2019 KIA Sorento in the approximate amount of $32,917 from Patriot Chevrolet. Turner stated that he received a commission for the purported sale of the vehicle, and after the sale was approved, he caused the Kia Sorrento to be transferred to an acquaintance who subsequently made payments to Turner via CashApp for the vehicle. Turner admitted that he acted with the intent to defraud the dealership.

According to the indictment initially filed in the case, from March 2019 to October 2021, Turner was employed at Patriot Chevrolet in Bartlesville. Turner sold cars, assisted customers in obtaining financing for the purchase of vehicles, and received commission payments for his sales. Starting in May 2020, Turner devised and carried out a scheme where he used stolen identities to purchase vehicles in those individuals’ names and sometimes sold the vehicles to other people for cash. The vehicles would then leave the dealership’s lot, and Turner would receive the commissions.

The U.S. Secret Service, IRS-Criminal Investigation, and Bartlesville Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Richard M. Cella and Melody Noble Nelson are prosecuting the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Gulfport, Mississippi – A Florida man was sentenced to 62 months in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, announced U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca and Special Agent in Charge Jermicha Fomby of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Mississippi.  

Ross Alger Medlin, 30, was sentenced in U.S. District Court today after having previously pled guilty to the offense.   

According to information presented to the Court, on February 24, 2021, law enforcement officers stopped a vehicle driven by Vincente Aguirre in Jackson County, Mississippi.  Ross Alger Medlin was a passenger in the vehicle.  The vehicle was stopped for following too closely. A subsequent search of the vehicle led to the discovery of over 400 grams of suspected methamphetamine.  Aguirre and Medlin were taken into custody. 

The FBI’s investigation revealed that Aguirre and Medlin had traveled to Texas from Florida to obtain the methamphetamine and were returning to Florida at the time of the traffic stop. The suspected methamphetamine was sent to the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Lab for analysis.  The analysis indicated that the substance was in fact methamphetamine.

Vincent Aguirre was sentenced on February 4, 2022, to 107 months in prison for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

The FBI and Ocean Springs Police Department investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Buckner prosecuted the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams announced that Frances Marie Eddings, 68, of Orlando, FL, and Jude Denis, 54, of Wyncote, PA, were convicted after trial in the Allentown Federal Courthouse of accessing a computer system without authorization for pecuniary gain from a non-profit charity organization.

In September 2019, the defendants were charged with one count of conspiracy, three counts of unauthorized access to a computer, and aiding and abetting, stemming from their scheme to receive a payment of money from the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF), Denis’ former employer. In support of that scheme, they accessed internal documents obtained via unauthorized access to the computer system of PCF and threatened to release them to the public. Denis was hired by PCF in August 2014 but left her position shortly thereafter.

Evidence presented at trial showed that on several occasions over the course of several days after Denis left her employment, PCF computers were accessed, and documents were downloaded to her laptop and emailed to Eddings. In a series of emails sent by Eddings to PCF, the defendants demanded a payment of $150,000 in lost wages for Denis, as well as a $37,500 payment for Eddings for acting on Denis’ behalf. In those emails, Eddings threatened to release the documents to the public if their demands were not met. When their demands were ultimately not met, Eddings sent a series of emails to the PCF Board, PCF donors, and members of the media, sharing her previous correspondence and attaching the documents.

“Cyber-intrusion is a threat to all types of businesses, including non-profits,” said U.S. Attorney Williams. “Individuals who take advantage of a company’s vulnerability like these defendants did shows how easily sensitive information can be compromised. However, the defendants didn’t count on how decisively our Office would respond by holding them accountable for their illegal actions.”

“It should go without saying that committing cyber intrusions to settle a score is an incredibly bad idea,” said Jacqueline Maguire, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “Denis wanted payback from the nonprofit for its perceived unfairness and her friend Eddings was on board to help. Their short-sighted scheme has brought serious consequences, as evidenced by these convictions. The FBI is committed to tracking down and holding accountable cyber criminals, whatever their motivation for willfully breaking the law.”

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Alison Kehner and Kishan Nair.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Springfield, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for his role in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

Darrell Lynn Ferguson, 57, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 13 years and one month in federal prison without parole.

On Oct. 6, 2021, Ferguson pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine from March 12 to June 6, 2018. According to court documents, the conspiracy was responsible for distributing at least 32 pounds (14.15 kilograms) of methamphetamine.

Ferguson was arrested on June 6, 2018, in Apache County, Arizona. Ferguson was transporting approximately three pounds of methamphetamine and one pound of marijuana from California to Missouri. Ferguson was convicted in state court in Arizona and incarcerated for almost 31 months until he was transferred to federal custody in this case.

On April 12, 2018, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at the residence of co-defendant Donnie Ray Overton, 60, of Springfield. Officers found approximately 646 grams of pure methamphetamine. Overton admitted that he originally purchased two pounds of methamphetamine from Ferguson and had sold half a pound. The methamphetamine had been delivered to him by co-defendant Laurita Jane Simmons, 37, of Springfield.

Overton and Simmons each have pleaded guilty to their roles in the drug-trafficking conspiracy and await sentencing.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica R. Eatmon. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Springfield, Mo., Police Department and the Apache County, Arizona, Sheriff’s Department.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Craig Orndoff, of Martinsburg, West Virginia, has admitted to a drug charge, United States Attorney William Ihlenfeld announced.

Orndoff, 35, pleaded guilty today to one count of “Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute and to Distribute Eutylone.” Orndoff admitted to working with others to distribute Eutylone from June 2019 to December 2020 in Berkeley and Jefferson Counties and elsewhere.

Orndoff faces up to 20 years of incarceration and a fine of up to $1,000,000. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Omps-Botteicher is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The FBI; U.S. Marshals Service; Homeland Security Investigations; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, & Explosives; the West Virginia Air National Guard; the Eastern Panhandle Drug Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative; the West Virginia State Police; the Harpers Ferry Police Department; and the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, D.C. investigated. The EPDTF consists of the West Virginia State Police, Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Ranson Police Department, the Charles Town Police Department, and the Martinsburg Police Department.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert W. Trumble presided.