Month: May 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Tampa, Florida –United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the return of an indictment charging Richard Allen Randolph (42, Youngstown, OH) with four counts of interference with commerce by robbery and attempted robbery, three counts of brandishing a firearm, and one count of discharging a firearm during the commission of one of the robberies. If convicted, Randolph faces up to 20 years in federal prison on each robbery count, a minimum mandatory of term of 7 years, up to life, in federal prison for each count of brandishing a firearm, and a minimum mandatory of 10 years, up to life, in federal prison for discharging a firearm during one of the robberies.

According to the indictment, during between January 27 and February 26, 2020, Randolph went into four commercial establishments in Tampa and robbed store employees at gunpoint.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

This case was investigated by the Strategic Pattern Armed Robbery Technical Apprehension (SPARTA) unit of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Tampa Police Department. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Maria Guzman.

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

MACON, Ga. – A Middle Georgia resident was sentenced to serve more than six years in prison for possessing child sexual assault material resulting from an ongoing Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) effort combatting child exploitation online.

John Wesley Mitchem, 31, of Thomaston, Georgia, was sentenced to serve 80 months in prison to be followed by ten years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Marc Treadwell on May 3, after he previously pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography. In addition, Mitchem will have to register as a sex offender upon his release from federal prison. There is no parole in the federal system.

“Our office will pursue federal prosecution against child predators who download, possess and share child sexual assault material,” said U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary. “HSI investigators are working around the clock, along with federal, state and local authorities across the state, to capture and bring to justice all those who lurk online, where children are harmed each and every time images of their assault and manipulation are downloaded and shared.”

“Finding, arresting and prosecuting those who create, share and or collect these horrific images of abuse and exploitation is one of our most important missions,” said Special Agent in Charge Katrina W. Berger, who oversees Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) operations in Georgia and Alabama. “HSI and its law enforcement partners will continue to work to protect our most vulnerable population from those looking to exploit them.”

According to court documents and evidence submitted in court, HSI’s Child Exploitation Investigation Group (HSI-CEIG) Atlanta, received information from HSI Detroit that an individual employing the Kik application was in contact with an undercover HSI agent and had sent the undercover agent three images that contained child sexual assault material. Mitchem was identified as the Kik user and agents executed a federal search warrant at his Thomaston residence on March 13, 2020. A forensic examination of Mitchem’s digital devices found six images and one video of child sexual exploitation material depicting infants and toddlers. Mitchem admitted that he shared the three images with the undercover agent using his cellular device from his residence.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the 

Department of Justice. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The case was investigated by HSI Atlanta, with assistance from HSI Detroit.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Kalim prosecuted the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Robert “Fat Head” Padilla, 45, and Gary Coca, 49, both of Albuquerque, were arraigned in federal court on April 27 on a four-count indictment charging them with retaliation against a witness. Padilla was further charged with one count of killing while engaged in drug trafficking, one count of using, carrying, brandishing, and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence or drug trafficking crime and causing death through use of the firearm, and one count of tampering with a witness, victim or informant by physical force or threat. Both defendants will remain in custody pending trial, which has not been scheduled.

A federal grand jury indicted Padilla and Coca on April 20. According to the indictment and other court records, from about Sept. 17, 2018, to Sept. 10, 2019, Padilla allegedly engaged in trafficking cocaine, cocaine base, heroin and fentanyl. On July 22, 2019, Padilla and Coca allegedly killed a man who was a former federal witness in Las Vegas, New Mexico, in retaliation for the victim providing information to law enforcement. Around Nov. 25, 2020, Padilla allegedly used physical force against John Doe in an attempt to influence, delay and prevent John Doe from communicating to law enforcement information relating to drug trafficking and the murder of a federal witness.

An indictment is only an allegation. A defendant is considered innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted, Padilla and Coca face up to life in prison or death.

The FBI investigated this case with assistance from the New Mexico State Police, New Mexico Corrections Department and Las Vegas Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys from the Las Cruces Branch Office are prosecuting this case as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force program, a nationwide Department of Justice program that combines the resources and unique expertise of federal agencies, along with their local counterparts, in a coordinated effort to disrupt and dismantle major drug trafficking organizations.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – ALONSO BONILLA, age 45, a citizen of El Salvador, pleaded guilty on May 3, 2022 to a one-count indictment for illegal reentry of a removed alien, in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Section 1326(a).

BONILLA faces a maximum term of imprisonment of two years, a maximum fine of up to $250,000, a maximum term of supervised release of one year, and a mandatory $100 special assessment fee.

U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the United States Department of Homeland Security in investigating this matter. Assistant U. S. Attorneys Rachal Cassagne and Spiro Latsis are in charge of the prosecution.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A federal jury returned a guilty verdict late yesterday against Kheungkham Vongphakdy, 47, of Charlotte, for unlawful procurement of citizenship, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell presided over the trial.

U.S. Attorney King is joined in making today’s announcement by Jarvis McMillar, Acting Field Office Director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE-ERO).

Vongphakdy was a native and citizen of Laos, but on August 3, 2011, he became a naturalized U.S. Citizen. According to filed documents, evidence presented at trial, and witness testimony, Vongphakdy obtained his U.S. citizenship fraudulently, by providing materially false information on his citizenship application. Trial evidence established that, during the naturalization process, Vongphakdy lied about his criminal history, and failed to admit that, on numerous occasions in November 2008 and October 2009, he had committed criminal sexual acts with a child victim under the age of 13. 

Specifically, on March 7, 2011, Vongphakdy submitted an Application for Naturalization (form N-400) to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS). He answered “No” to Question 15, “Have you ever committed a crime or offense for which you were not arrested?” On August 3, 2011, Vongphakdy appeared in person at the CIS office in Charlotte and participated in a naturalization ceremony. He was granted U.S. citizenship and received a Certificate of Naturalization. This occurred approximately three years after he sexually molested a child victim. At the time Vongphakdy was going through the naturalization process immigration officials were not aware of his crimes. Vongphakdy admitted to this criminal conduct on April 4, 2014, when he pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree sexual offense in the Superior Court of North Carolina in Mecklenburg County. He was ordered to serve 116 to 158 months in prison and to register as a sex offender.

Vongphakdy is currently in federal custody. The maximum penalties for the charge of unlawful procurement of citizenship are 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. A sentencing date has not been set.

In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney King thanked ICE-ERO for their investigation of the case and credited Operation False Haven which led to Vongphakdy’s conviction. False Haven is an initiative by ICE-ERO to identify child molesters and other egregious individuals who fraudulently obtained U.S. citizenship.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kenneth Smith and Katherine Armstrong of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte are in charge of the prosecution.