Month: June 2022

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Security News: Liberty Man Sentenced for Trafficking Fentanyl Near High School

Source: United States Department of Justice News

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Liberty, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for distributing fentanyl from his apartment near Liberty High School and for illegally possessing a firearm.

Daniel I. Ramirez, 22, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner to 11 years in federal prison without parole.

On Oct. 19, 2021, Ramirez pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, one count of distributing fentanyl within 1,000 feet of a public school, and one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime. Co-defendant Valerie Rios, 23, also of Liberty, has pleaded guilty to the same charges and awaits sentencing.

Ramirez admitted that he participated in a conspiracy to distribute fentanyl from March 4 to April 30, 2021. According to court documents, Rios sold an undercover detective fentanyl on three occasions between March 4 and March 9, 2021.

Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Ramirez’s apartment on South Forrest Avenue in Liberty, which is near Liberty High School, on March 12, 2021. Officers found a plastic bag that contained 184 counterfeit oxycodone pills that were actually fentanyl, a Smith and Wesson .45-caliber handgun with a loaded magazine, four magazines and ammunition, and $12,340 in cash.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Byron H. Black. It was investigated by the Clay County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Liberty, Mo., Police Department, and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.  

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Security News: Bridgeport Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Gun Charge

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that LAMAIN HEARD, 31, of Bridgeport, pleaded guilty today in Hartford federal court to unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon.

According to court documents and statements made in court, June 15, 2021, law enforcement attempted to stop a car in which Heard was a passenger.  The car drove at police officers, crashed into multiple vehicles, and then crashed into a pole.  When the car stopped, Heard dropped a semiautomatic pistol in the car and then attempted to flee the scene before he was apprehended.  Subsequent forensic analysis of the firearm revealed that it contained Heard’s DNA.

Heard has previously been convicted of a felony offense and he attended a Project Safe Neighborhoods presentation at which he was informed that a felon caught with a firearm could be prosecuted in federal court.

Heard has been detained since his federal arrest on January 21, 2022.  Judge Underhill scheduled sentencing for August 24, at which time Heard faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.

This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Bridgeport Safe Streets Task Force and the Bridgeport Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rahul Kale.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), 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.

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Security News: North Dakota Man Convicted Of Laundering Over One Million Dollars From Schemes Targeting Victims Across The United States Perpetrated By Ghana-Based Criminal Enterprise

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Defendant Received Over $1 Million Dollars into Several Bank Accounts He Controlled and Through Coconspirator Cash Deliveries in the Bronx, New York, Which Primarily Consisted of Proceeds of Romance Schemes Targeting Elderly Victims

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that SADICK EDUSEI KISSI was convicted today of three criminal counts he was charged with for his participation in a conspiracy based in the Republic of Ghana (“Ghana”) involving the theft of more than one million dollars.  KISSI was convicted after a jury trial before U.S. District Judge Paul A. Crotty which lasted approximately one week.  KISSI was previously arrested on February 5, 2021.  

As reflected in the Indictment, public filings, and the evidence presented at trial:

From in or about 2014 through in or about February 2020, a criminal enterprise (the “Enterprise”) based in Ghana committed a series of romance scams against individuals and businesses located across the United States, including in the Southern District of New York.  The Enterprise conducted the romance scams by using electronic messages sent via email, text messaging, or online dating websites that deluded victims, many of whom were vulnerable older men and women who lived alone, into believing the victim was in a romantic relationship with a fake identity assumed by members of the Enterprise.  Once members of the Enterprise had gained the trust of the victims using the fake identity, they used false pretenses to cause the victims to wire money to bank accounts the victims believed were controlled by their romantic interests, when in fact the bank accounts were controlled by members of the Enterprise like KISSI. 

KISSI received money sent by victims of the Enterprise under false pretenses into personal bank accounts located in the Bronx, New York.  The defendant also received criminal proceeds from other U.S.-based members of the Enterprise by cash deliveries.  Once KISSI received these funds, he took out a percentage fee and then withdrew, transported, and laundered those criminal proceeds to other members of the Enterprise, in order to send those funds abroad to Ghana. 

From in or about 2015 through in or about 2020, KISSI controlled more than eight bank accounts that had deposits that totaled over approximately $1 million during that time period.  A substantial portion of the deposits consisted of large wire transfers and check or cash deposits from U.S.-based individuals and entities that were victims of schemes of the Enterprise.   

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KISSI, 25, of Dickinson, North Dakota, was convicted by a jury of one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; one count of receipt of stolen money, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison; and one count of conspiracy to receive stolen money, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.  KISSI was also acquitted of one count of conspiring to commit wire fraud.

KISSI will be sentenced before Judge Crotty at a later date.

The maximum potential sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI.

The prosecution of this case is being handled by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit.  Assistant United States Attorneys Katherine C. Reilly, Mitzi Steiner, and Sagar Ravi are in charge of the prosecution.

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Security News: Mount Pleasant Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Child Pornography Charges

Source: United States Department of Justice News

DAVENPORT, Iowa – Victor Alberto Elias Rodriguez, age 40, of Mount Pleasant, was sentenced Wednesday, June 1, 2022, to 342 months in prison for Production of Child Pornography. Elias Rodriguez was also ordered to serve ten years of supervised release following his imprisonment and was assessed a $100 Special Assessment immediately payable to the Crime Victims Fund.

According to court documents, officers initiated an investigation into Elias Rodriguez after receiving information regarding his possible sexual abuse of a minor female. The investigation revealed that Elias Rodriguez had been sexually assaulting the minor victim from the age of five, up to this incident when the victim was seventeen years old. In addition, Elias Rodriguez took a video of the sexual assault with his cell phone. On January 21, 2022, Elias Rodriguez pleaded guilty to the one-count Indictment.

U.S. Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This case was investigated by the Homeland Security Investigations.

This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa as part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Childhood” initiative, which was started in 2006 as a nation-wide effort to combine law enforcement investigations and prosecutions, community action, and public awareness in order to reduce the incidence of sexual exploitation of children. Any persons having knowledge of a child being sexually abused are encouraged to call the Iowa Sexual Abuse Hotline at 1-800-284-7821.

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Security News: U.S. Attorney Charges New Jersey Registered Sex Offender With Attempted Sexual Enticement Of A Minor And Committing An Offense Against A Minor While A Registered Sex Offender

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today the arrest of BRIAN REED.  REED is charged with communicating online with an individual he believed to be a 13-year-old girl and attempting to meet the girl to engage in sexual activities and with engaging in that offense while a registered sex offender.  REED was presented today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew E. Krause in White Plains federal court and detained.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said:  “This case underlines the urgent need for law enforcement to continue its efforts to protect children from those who prey on them. As this arrest shows, we will use every tool available to law enforcement to investigate and prosecute those who sexually exploit children.” 

According to the allegations in the Complaint[1] filed on May 31, 2022 in White Plains federal court:

On May 25, 2022 and May 26, 2022, an investigator with the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office (“Investigator-1”), who was posing as a 13-year-old girl on various online social media platforms, communicated via text with BRIAN REED.  REED asked Investigator-1 for sexually explicit photos and indicated that he wanted to meet with her for the purpose of having sex.

During the communications with REED, Investigator-1 referred on multiple occasions to the fact that she was 13 years old and also told REED that “im a virgin still.” REED  responded, “Thats ok.”  REED told Investigator-1 that he wanted to speak by phone and Investigator-1 spoke to REED by phone on a number of occasions.  During their calls, REED and Investigator-1 discussed meeting in person and REED described in detail various sexual activities that he wanted to engage in with Investigator-1.   REED said he was excited to meet her and that he could “teach [her] some things.”  REED made a plan to meet Investigator-1 at a park in Rockland County, New York.

On May 26, 2022, at approximately 11:35 p.m., REED arrived at a parking lot near the agreed-upon meeting spot and parked his car. As he began to walk toward Investigator-1, who was waiting at the meeting spot, REED was arrested.  Following his arrest, REED was interviewed and he admitted, among other things, that he communicated with an individual he believed was 13 years old and made a plan to meet her so that he could have sex with her. In addition, REED stated that he had been convicted of a sex offense and was a registered sex offender.  On May 27, 2022, BRIAN REED, the defendant, was charged in Clarkstown Justice Court with Attempted Rape in the 2nd Degree and Disseminating Indecent material to minors.

On October 17, 2016, REED was convicted in Morris County Superior Court, New Jersey, of Endangering the Welfare of a Child Through Sexual Conduct and sentenced to three years in prison.  REED was required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison. 

There may be other victims of this alleged conduct.  If you have information to report, contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-800-CALL-FBI

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REED, 33 of Sussex, New Jersey is charged with one count of attempted enticement of a minor, which carries a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison, and one count of committing the offense of attempted enticement while a registered sex offender, which carries a minimum sentence of 10 years to be imposed consecutively to any sentence of imprisonment imposed for the attempted enticement.

The statutory minimum and maximum penalties are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.

Following today’s presentment, Judge Krause ordered that BRIAN REED be detained.

Mr. Williams praised the efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office, Rockland County District Attorney’s Office Special Investigations Unit, Rockland County District Attorney’s Office Special Victims Unit, Town of Clarkstown Police Department, and the Westchester County Safe Streets Task Force, which is comprised of special agents and task force officers from the FBI, U.S. Probation, New York State Police, New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, Westchester County DAs Office, Rockland County DAs Office, NYPD, Westchester County PD, and the Yonkers, New Rochelle, Mount Vernon, Greenburgh, White Plains, Peekskill, Ramapo, and Clarkstown Police Departments. He added that the investigation is ongoing.         

The prosecution is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division.  Assistant United States Attorneys Marcia S. Cohen is in charge of the prosecution.  

 

[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Complaint and the description of the Complaint set forth herein constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.