Month: June 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

BOSTON – A Plainville man was sentenced yesterday on child exploitation charges arising from his transfer of obscene photos of himself to someone he believed to be a 13-year-old girl and possession of child pornography.

David Cerasuolo, 49, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Patti B. Saris to eight years in prison and five years of supervised release. On March 4, 2022, Cerasuolo pleaded guilty to one count of attempted transfer of obscene material to a minor and one count of possession of child pornography.

Starting in June 2020, Cerasuolo used chat applications to engage in conversations with an individual he believed to be a 13-year-old girl named “Amy,” but who was actually an undercover federal agent. Over the course of nearly six weeks, Cerasuolo sent over 1,000 text messages to “Amy,” including one that contained a photograph displaying his genitalia. He also attempted to persuade “Amy” to take and send photos and/or videos of herself to him and attempted to entice her to meet in person for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity. Additionally, during a search of his residence, Cerasuolo was found in possession of child pornography on his cell phone, including images depicting children between the ages of six and 10 engaged in sexual conduct.

United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins and Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement. The Plainville, Arlington, Boston and Newton Police Departments and Massachusetts Department of Correction provided assistance with the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Deitch of Rollins’s Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.

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.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, Dilkhayot Kasimov, a citizen of Uzbekistan and resident of Brooklyn, was sentenced by United States District Judge William F. Kuntz, II to 15 years in prison for conspiring and attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).  Kasimov was convicted of both counts following a one-week trial in September 2019.

Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Matthew Olsen, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s National Security Division; Michael J. Driscoll, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI); and Keechant L. Sewell, Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD), announced the sentence.

“Today’s sentence demonstrates the significant consequences for those who help terrorist groups, including by facilitating travel of others to join ISIS,” stated United States Attorney Peace.  “Kasimov was part of a group of individuals who sought to travel to Syria to join ISIS or to fund others who sought to become foreign fighters for ISIS.  The Department of Justice and our law enforcement partners will continue working relentlessly to protect our country from terrorists and those who would provide support to them.”

“Kasimov is an ISIS supporter who collected and gave money to another individual to fund his travel to join the terrorist group. With this sentence, Kasimov is being held accountable for his crimes,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew G. Olsen. “The National Security Division is committed to identifying and holding accountable those who seek to provide material support to foreign terrorist organizations. I would like to thank all of the agents, analysts, and prosecutors who are responsible for this case.”

“Providing financial support to potential ISIS-inspired foreign fighters comes with a stiff penalty. As Kasimov learned today, his actions will cost him 15 years behind bars. The FBI continues to make every effort to protect Americans at home and abroad and to bring other like-minded criminals to justice,” stated Assistant Director-in-Charge Driscoll.

“This sentence serves as a warning to anyone who seeks to fund or carry out acts of terror,” stated NYPD Commissioner Sewell. “The NYPD’s Intelligence Bureau and the Joint Terrorism Task Force will remain vigilant in our efforts to stem the flow of fighters and disrupt and dismantle the networks that support them, both here and abroad.”

According to court filings, in 2015, Kasimov’s co-consiprators Abdurasul Juraboev and Akhror Saidakhmetov planned to travel to Syria to fight on behalf of ISIS.  Kasimov provided money – his own and cash collected by others – to help fund Saidakhmetov’s travel and expenses.  On the evening of Saidakhmetov’s scheduled departure in February 2015, Kasimov drove to John F. Kennedy International Airport, met Saidakhmetov at Terminal 7 and handed him $1,600 in cash on behalf of himself, co-conspirator Abror Habibov and others. 

Co-defendants Juraboev and Saidakahmetov were each sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment, while co-defendant Azizjon Rakhmatov was sentenced to 12.5 years’ imprisonment.  Habibov and co-defendant Akmal Zakirov are awaiting sentencing. A seventh co-conspirator, Dilshod Khusanov, who was charged in a separate indictment, pled guilty to conspiracy to provide material support to designated foreign terrorist organizations and is scheduled to be sentenced on July 5, 2022.

The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s National Security & Cybercrime Section.  Assistant United States Attorneys Douglas M. Pravda, David K. Kessler and J. Matthew Haggans are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance provided by Trial Attorney Steven Ward of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.

The Defendant:

DILKHAYOT KASIMOV
Age:  34
Brooklyn, New York

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 15-CR-95 (S-3)(WFK)

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Two men who conspired to distribute heroin in Cedar Rapids pled guilty on June 2, 2022, in federal court in Cedar Rapids.

Thomas Nathaniel May, age 27, from Iowa City, Iowa, and Demico Demon Irvin, age 30, from Chicago, Illinois, were each convicted of one count of conspiring to distribute heroin.  May admitted to conspiring to distribute more than 100 grams of heroin.

Evidence at a prior hearing showed that, during an early 2021 wiretap investigation involving a large-scale heroin distributor in Cedar Rapids named Brian Dennis, May was identified as one of the top callers to Dennis’s phone.  May was typically purchasing at least 3.5 grams of heroin and upwards of 10.5 grams of heroin per day from Dennis and his associates, totaling well over 100 grams in a six-week period.  In April 2021, May was arrested after meeting with Dennis and found in possession of 7.39 grams of a substance containing heroin, fentanyl, and synthetic opioids acetyl fentanyl, parafluorofentanyl and metonitazene.

In a plea agreement, Irvin admitted that he conspired to distribute heroin with Dennis and others.  Irvin admitted that he obtained heroin from Dennis, which he then sold to various customers for multiple months in 2020.  In September 2020, Irvin’s apartment and vehicle were searched by Cedar Rapids police.  Irvin was found in possession of 32 baggies of purported heroin packaged for sale.  The substance was later determined to weigh 14.86 grams and found to contain fentanyl, and not heroin.  Irvin admitted to selling between 80 and 100 grams of heroin for Dennis.

Four other individuals, Cody Scott Deklotz, Andrew James Lehman, Jerry Dwayne Banghart, and Melinda Salvatora Werning, previously pled guilty to the heroin conspiracy and are awaiting sentencing.  Ryan Rick Schlitter was sentenced to 46 months’ imprisonment for his role in the conspiracy.  Four other individuals charged in the same indictment, including Dennis, are still pending trial.

Sentencings before United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams will be set after presentence reports are prepared.  May and Irvin remain in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing.  May faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of 40 years’ imprisonment, a $2,000,000 fine, and a lifetime term of supervised release following any imprisonment.  Irvin faces a possible maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment, a $1,000,000 fine, and a lifetime term of imprisonment following any imprisonment.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Task Force consisting of the DEA; the Linn County Sheriff’s Office; the Cedar Rapids Police Department; the Marion Police Department; and the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dan Chatham.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. 

The case file number is 21‑CR‑32‑CJW.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

A former police officer who sexually assaulted at least two teenage boys was sentenced this week to 20 years in federal prison, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham.

Delia Ruiz, an 31-year-old former officer with the Friona Police Department, pleaded guilty to enticement of a minor in January. She was sentenced on Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk.

In plea papers, Ms. Ruiz admitted that began having sexual intercourse with her 16-year-old victim, identified in court documents as John Doe 2, in fall 2020, and continued the relationship through spring 2021, when the boy turned 17.

She further admitted that she began having sexual intercourse with her 15-year-old victim, John Doe 1, in spring of 2021 after meeting him at John Doe 2’s home.

She sent the child flirtatious messages and arranged to meet him in a church parking lot for sex in her car on at least three occasions. She sent him sexually explicit photos and videos of herself and warned him not to tell anyone about what they did because she could get into “big trouble.”

She was arrested in October 2021 and later fired from the Fiona Police Department.

The Texas Rangers, Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office – Lubbock Resident Agency, and the Amarillo Police Department conducted the investigation with the complete cooperation of the Fiona Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Callie Woolam prosecuted the case with the help of Assistant U.S. Attorney Meredith Pinkham.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland hosted the European Union’s Commissioner for Justice and Consumer Affairs Didier Reynders in Washington, D.C. yesterday ahead of the U.S.-EU Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial, which will take place later this month. The two leaders discussed joint efforts underway to find, restrain, freeze, seize, and, where appropriate, confiscate or forfeit the assets of individuals and entities in connection with Russia’s unjust and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine. They also discussed how to best support ongoing war crimes investigations related to Russian aggression toward Ukraine. Attorney General Garland and Commissioner Reynders reaffirmed shared priorities in countering terrorism, violent extremism, and hate crimes and discussed opportunities to strengthen U.S.-EU cooperation in fighting environmental crime and protecting consumers.