Month: June 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            CONCORD – Jaimour Anderson, 36, formerly of Vermont, pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of attempted escape from custody, United States Attorney Jane E. Young announced today.

            According to court documents and statements made in court, Anderson was sentenced to 139 months on drug charges in November 2012 in the District of Vermont.  On or about November 16, 2021, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) transferred Anderson from a correctional facility in Louisiana to a half-way house located in Manchester, New Hampshire to start his pre-release programming in advance of his then-projected release date of May 9, 2022. 

            Following some infractions at the half-way house, the BOP decided to bring Anderson back into custody.  On December 31, 2021, a deputy U.S. Marshal and two sheriffs arrived at the half-way house to take custody of Anderson.  As Anderson came into the front desk area on the first floor, he proceeded to move quickly past the deputy marshal and out the front door.  Anderson made it onto the street where he was then restrained by the deputy marshal and taken into custody. 

            Anderson is scheduled to be sentenced on September 18, 2022.

            This matter was investigated by the United States Marshals Office.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Rombeau.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

ABINGDON, Va. – A Southwest Virginia man who conspired with at least thirty others in a scheme to defraud the government of more than $499,000 in pandemic unemployment benefits was sentenced today to nearly five years in federal prison.

Wesley William Hickman, 25, of Big Stone Gap, was convicted along with co-defendant Marissa Kiser, 28, of Castlewood, following a jury trial in March 2022. The jury found each guilty of conspiracy to defraud the United States, fraud in connection with emergency benefits, conspiracy to commit mail fraud, mail fraud in connection with emergency benefits, and aggravated identity theft.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Hickman and Kiser conspired with Leelynn Danielle Chytka, Gregory Marcus Elmer Tackett, Jeffery Ryan Tackett, and others to commit fraud against the United States in connection with the filing of fraudulent claims for pandemic unemployment benefits.  At the time of his involvement in the scheme, Hickman was incarcerated at the Southwest Virginia Regional Jail and was not entitled to pandemic unemployment assistance.  However, Hickman and other jail inmates provided their personal information to Jeffrey Tackett for the purpose of filing fraudulent claims.  Kiser provided her personal information to her friend Chytka, the ringleader of this widespread conspiracy, for the purpose of filing a fraudulent claim on her behalf.

Over the course of nine months, members of the conspiracy filed fraudulent claims with the Virginia Employment Commission on behalf of at least 37 individuals, with a total actual loss to the United States of at least $499,000. 

United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh of the Western District of Virginia,  Syreeta Scott, Special Agent-in-Charge, Philadelphia Region, U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, and Special Agent in Charge Darrell J. Waldon of the Internal Revenue Service- Criminal Investigation, Washington D.C. made the announcement.

The Department of Labor – Office of the Inspector General, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Washington, D.C., Field Office, the Norton Police Department, and the Russell County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.

Assistant United States Attorneys Daniel J. Murphy and Michael Baudinet prosecuted the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

The Department of Justice announced today that it has reached a settlement agreement with Sutherland Management Company d/b/a McDonald’s, a California-based franchisee operating four McDonald’s locations in the San Diego area. The settlement resolves claims that the company discriminated against non-U.S. citizens when checking their permission to work in the United States. 

“Under federal law, employers may not discriminate by asking workers for more documents than necessary, or specific documents, to prove their permission to work because of their citizenship status, immigration status or national origin,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Civil Rights Division. “Employees have the right — U.S. citizens and non-U.S. citizens alike — to choose which valid, acceptable documentation they wish to present to prove their permission to work. The Civil Rights Division will continue to fight unlawful workplace discrimination on the basis of citizenship, immigration status and national origin. We look forward to working with Sutherland Management Company to secure compliance with this settlement and applicable federal law.”

The department’s investigation began after a non-U.S. citizen complained that Sutherland Management Company refused to accept his valid documentation proving his permission to work and demanded a different document from him. The department’s investigation revealed that the company routinely discriminated against non-U.S. citizens, primarily lawful permanent residents, by asking them to present specific, Department of Homeland Security-issued documents to prove their permission to work in the United States. The investigation also revealed that Sutherland Management Company refused to allow the worker who complained to begin working until he presented the unnecessary documentation. Under federal law, all employees have the right to choose which valid documentation they wish to present when demonstrating that they have permission to work in the United States.

The Immigration and Nationality Act’s (INA) anti-discrimination provision prohibits employers from asking for more documents than necessary — or specifying the type of documentation a worker should present — to prove their permission to work, because of a worker’s citizenship, immigration status or national origin.

Under the settlement, Sutherland Management Company will pay $40,000 in civil penalties to the United States, pay backpay for lost wages to the worker who complained, review and revise their employment policies to comply with the anti-discrimination provision of the INA, and train its employees who are responsible for verifying workers’ permission to work in the United States. 

The Civil Rights Division’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER) is responsible for enforcing the anti-discrimination provision of the INA. The statute prohibits discrimination based on citizenship status and national origin in hiring, firing or recruitment or referral for a fee; unfair documentary practices; and retaliation and intimidation. 

Learn more about IER’s work and how to get assistance through this brief video. Find more information on how employers can avoid citizenship status discrimination on IER’s website. Applicants or employees who believe they were discriminated against based on their citizenship, immigration status or national origin in hiring, firing, recruitment or during the employment eligibility verification process (Form I-9 and E-Verify); or subjected to retaliation, may file a charge. The public can also call IER’s worker hotline at 1-800-255-7688 (1-800-237-2515, TTY for hearing impaired); call IER’s employer hotline at 1-800-255-8155 (1-800-237-2515, TTY for hearing impaired); email IER@usdoj.gov; sign up for a free webinar; or visit IER’s English and Spanish websites. Subscribe to GovDelivery to receive updates from IER. View the Spanish translation of this press release here.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Two St. Joseph, Mo., men have pleaded guilty to their roles in a conspiracy to distribute heroin and to illegally possessing firearms.

Franklin T. Hicks Jr., also known as “Frankie,” 41, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to participating in a conspiracy to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin and to possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime. Co-defendant Roderick A. Hughes, 48, pleaded guilty on Friday, May 27, to his role in the drug-trafficking conspiracy and to one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.

Hicks and Hughes admitted they participated in the heroin conspiracy from Sept. 1, 2019, to March 26, 2021.

Hicks was arrested outside of a hotel in St. Joseph on Jan. 22, 2021. He was in possession of 35.8 grams of heroin and $2,687 in cash. Officers also found a loaded Rock Island Armory .380-caliber handgun under the driver’s seat of his car and a Ruger 9mm handgun in the glovebox.

Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Hughes’s apartment on Feb. 23, 2021, with both Hicks and Hughes present. They found a silver revolver on the kitchen table. They also found a loaded Glock 9mm handgun on a nightstand in the bedroom, a Stoeger 9mm handgun and a Jennings Bryco 9mm handgun on a shelf in the bedroom, and a black safe under the bed that contained 23.4 grams of heroin and $4,703 in cash. Officers also searched the garage and found three plastic bags with a total of 96.3 grams of heroin hidden in the rafters.

Co-defendant Harvey E. Johnson, 48, of Kansas City, Mo., pleaded guilty on Aug. 4, 2021, to participating in the conspiracy to distribute heroin. Johnson, who was in possession of approximately 51 grams of heroin at the time of his arrest, admitted that the drug-trafficking conspiracy involved at least two kilograms of heroin.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Byron H. Black. It was investigated by the St. Joseph, Mo., Police Department, the Buchanan County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  

Source: United States Department of Justice News

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Springfield, Mo., man who was identified when his photo was broadcast by local TV stations pleaded guilty in federal court today to bank robbery.

Charles Edgar King Jr., 57, pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to one count of bank robbery.

By pleading guilty today, King admitted that he used a note to steal $8,815 from Guaranty Bank, 2109 N. Glenstone Ave., in Springfield, on July 10, 2021.

King entered the bank at about 10:30 a.m. and went straight to a teller counter, where he handed the teller a handwritten note that read, “I have a gun this is a robbery.” The teller handed over cash and King left the bank and walked away through a parking lot.

Surveillance cameras in the bank captured good quality video, which show King, who was not wearing a mask, and images of his bare hands that show a tattoo of a cross on the back of his right middle finger. On the same day as the robbery, July 10, 2021, the FBI released one of the surveillance images to the media and requested assistance from the public in identifying the bank robber. King’s former probation officer saw the media coverage and contacted the FBI the same day and identified King.

On July 19, 2021, an anonymous source contacted law enforcement with a tip that King was staying at the Springfield Inn near Kearney and North Glenstone in Springfield. Springfield police detectives and FBI agents conducted surveillance on the hotel and saw King leave the hotel driving a purple Scion Cube with no license plate. Springfield police officers conducted a car stop and detained King on an investigative arrest for robbery.

King told an FBI agent that he used the stolen money to buy the used Scion Cube for $2,400, and that he gave some of the money away and spent the rest.

Under federal statutes, King is subject to a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Carney. It was investigated by the Springfield, Mo., Police Department and the FBI.