Month: May 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Several violent offenders, all enrolled members of the Navajo Nation Tribe, were sentenced to prison in April for crimes they committed in and around Tuba City, Arizona. 

On April 7, 2022, Joshua June, 40, of Tuba City, Arizona, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John J. Tuchi to 54 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release. June attacked an elderly victim with a metal chair and broke numerous bones in her body. He pleaded guilty to Assault with a Dangerous Weapon. 

On April 13, 2022, Deon Manson, 45, of Page, Arizona, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Susan M. Brnovich to 46 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release. Manson attacked the victim with a shovel, causing several broken bones and two amputated fingers. He pleaded guilty to Assault with a Dangerous Weapon. 

On April 18, 2022, Lisa Benally, 42, of Tuba City, Arizona, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Steven P. Logan to 46 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release. Benally recruited another person to shoot the victim in retaliation for minor property damage. She pleaded guilty to Aiding and Abetting Assault with a Dangerous Weapon. 

On April 26, 2022, Zachary Smith, 27, of Shiprock, New Mexico, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Douglas L. Rayes to 27 months in prison, followed by lifetime supervised release. Smith had repeated sexual contact with the minor victim. He pleaded guilty to Sexual Abuse of a Minor. 

The Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety and the FBI conducted the investigations in these cases. The United States Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, Phoenix, handled the prosecutions.

CASE NUMBER:  CR-20-8090-PCT-JJT (June)
                           CR-21-8037-PCT-SMB (Manson)
                           CR-21-8038-PCT-SPL-002 (Benally)
                           CR-20-8121-PCT-DLR (Smith)

RELEASE NUMBER:    2022-058_Tuba City

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For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on Twitter @USAO_AZ for the latest news.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

ALEXANDRIA, La. – United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown announced that Dustin Thompson, 36, of Alexandria, Louisiana, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Dee D. Drell for his involvement in the trafficking of fentanyl and illegal possession of firearms. Thompson was sentenced to 270 months (22 years, 6 months) in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release.

Thompson was charged in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury with drug trafficking and firearms offenses. On October 4, 2021, Thompson pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking.

On March 12, 2018, Thompson distributed a controlled substance to an individual in Alexandria and represented to him that the substance was heroin, when in truth and in fact, it was fentanyl. After consuming what he thought to be heroin, the individual became unconscious and crashed his vehicle into the Alexandria, Louisiana Police Department.

Law enforcement officers administered NARCAN, a medicine that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose, in order to revive the victim and he was taken to a local hospital where a NARCAN drip was given to him for an extended period of time. Law enforcement officers later searched Thompson’s residence and found three loaded firearms, 54 grams of fentanyl, and a large sum of cash.

“In this case, a large amount of fentanyl was recovered.  However, let it be known that the Western District of Louisiana’s United States Attorney’s Office will aggressively prosecute all illegal fentanyl trafficking cases regardless of the quantity involved and we will seek stiff sentences of imprisonment.  This has become an epidemic throughout the southern part of the country and this district is no exception. These law enforcement officers are to be commended for their swift, heady action resulting in this victim’s life being spared.”

This case was investigated by the FBI, ATF and Alexandria Police Department and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Seth D. Reeg and J. Aaron Crawford.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced that a Rapid City, SD man  convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance was sentenced on May 2, 2022 by United States District Judge Jeffrey L. Viken.

Patrick Greenfield, age 32, was sentenced to 8 years in federal prison, followed by 4 years’ supervised release, and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Greenfield was indicted for Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance by a federal grand jury on September 17, 2020.  He pleaded guilty on December 6, 2021. Greenfield was responsible for distributing between 1.5 and 5 kilograms of methamphetamine in western South Dakota. Others charged in the conspiracy have been sentenced already and others have trial dates pending.

This case was investigated by the Unified Narcotics Enforcement Team (UNET), Drug Enforcement Agency, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. UNET is comprised of law enforcement from the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, the Rapid City Police Department, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, the South Dakota National Guard and the South Dakota Highway Patrol. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn N. Rich prosecuted the case.

Greenfield was immediately returned to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Today a federal jury convicted a Dutch woman on charges for her participation in a terrorist financing ring in support of the Somalia-based terrorist group al-Shabaab.

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Farhia Hassan, 38, was involved with a group of women from more than a dozen countries around the world who ran a fundraising ring to provide financial support to al-Shabaab from in or about February 2011 through in or about July 2014. Through conduits in Nairobi, Kenya, and Hargeisa, Somalia, the group of women funneled cash payments via money remitters directly to members of the terrorist group. According to members of the conspiracy, the money was used to fund safehouses and to purchase trucks and weaponry in support of al-Shabaab. The women coordinated the payments using online chatrooms.

Hassan, in particular, was involved in fundraising in the Netherlands under false pretenses by representing to donors that money was being collected to fund charitable ventures, such as schools for orphans, when it was in fact being funneled to terrorists. Two U.S.-based members of the fundraising ring, Muna Osman Jama, 41, of Reston, and Hinda Osman Dhirane, 51, of Kent, Washington, were convicted in 2016 for their participation and were sentenced to 12 and 11 years imprisonment, respectively.

Hassan was convicted of conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization. She faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison when sentenced on July 22. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Steven M. D’Antuono, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga accepted the verdict.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys James P. Gillis and Danya E. Atiyeh are prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:14-cr-230.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A 55-year-old Ennis resident has been ordered to federal prison following his conviction of possession with the intent to distribute kilograms of meth, announced U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery.

Enrique Perez pleaded guilty Feb. 8.

Today, U.S. District Judge Drew B. Tipton ordered Perez to serve 120 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by five years of supervised release.

On Dec. 1, 2021, Perez arrived at the Javier Vega Jr. Border Patrol (BP) checkpoint driving a maroon Chrysler sedan. Authorities believed he was carrying illegal narcotics and referred him to secondary inspection.

There, they discovered Zip-loc packages containing a crystal-like substance in the doors and trunk of the vehicle. It was later determined to be 17.659 kilograms of meth with an estimated street value of $529,770.

At the time of his plea, Perez admitted that he agreed to transport the drugs to Houston for $6,000.

Previously released on bond, Perez was taken into custody following the sentencing today where he will remain pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

The Drug Enforcement Administration conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Parker Gochenour prosecuted the case.