Month: June 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

A Euless woman pleaded guilty on Friday to embezzling more than $2.6 million from her former employer, an international global logistics and freight forwarding company, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham.

Vika Latai Moa, 36, was charged via felony information on March 17 and pleaded guilty to wire fraud before U.S. Magistrate Judge Irma Ramirez on March 27.

In court documents, Ms. Moa admitted that between June 2016 and October 2019, she was employed as an operations manager at Savino Del Bene USA, Inc. (Savino USA) in the Dallas area.

Savino USA, headquartered in New Jersey, is the American subsidiary of Savino Del Bene S.p.A., a global logistics and freight forwarding company based in Florence, Italy. Among other things, Savino USA provides transportation services to its customers in the United States by subcontracting local deliveries to third-party trucking companies.

In her role at Savino USA, Ms. Moa was responsible for selecting and paying these local subcontractors.

Between June 2016, and October 2019, Ms. Moa falsely represented to Savino USA employees that invoices for trucking services were owed, which caused Savino USA to pay more than $2.6 million to a bank account to which she had access.

For instance, as part of her scheme to misappropriate funds from Savino USA, Ms. Moa misrepresented to Savino USA employees that a fictitious business was an actual transportation company. She created fraudulent invoices for trucking services that the fictitious business purportedly provided to Savino USA.

Ms. Moa then directed Savino USA to pay the fictitious business based on these false invoices, knowing full well that the company did not perform any services for Savino USA, as it was not a real business and did not have any operations

Ms. Moa faces up to 20 years in federal prison. As part of the plea agreement, she also agreed to pay restitution in the amount of $2,623,888.44.  Her sentencing is scheduled for September 22 before U.S. District Court Judge Karen Gren Scholer.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field office conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Fabio Leonardi is prosecuting the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Earlier today, in federal court in Central Islip, Jonathan Hernandez, a member of the Sailors Locos Salvatruchas Westside (Sailors) clique of La Mara Salvatrucha, also known as the MS-13, a transnational criminal organization, pleaded guilty to racketeering charges in connection with his participation in the January 28, 2016 murder of Michael Johnson, the April 29, 2016 murder of Oscar Acosta, an attempted murder on August 10, 2016, and a conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana.  The proceeding was held before United States Magistrate Judge Anne Y. Shields.  

Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Michael J. Driscoll, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), and Rodney K. Harrison, Commissioner, Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD), announced the guilty plea.

“In service to a violent gang and without regard for human life, the defendant and his MS-13 cohorts murdered two people, attempted to murder a third victim, and distributed dangerous narcotics,” stated United States Attorney Peace.  “With today’s guilty plea, this Office and our law enforcement partners continue to dismantle MS-13, gang member by gang member, bringing them to justice for their horrendous crimes and we will not rest until our communities are safe from gang violence.  Furthermore, it is our hope that the families of the victims find some consolation that Hernandez has been held to account for his crimes.”

“It is evident by these incomprehensible crimes, that MS-13 members have zero regard for human life and their violence has no limits,” Suffolk County Police Commissioner Harrison said. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to decimate this transnational gang and I thank those involved in this case for their tireless efforts to hold this individual accountable for his heinous actions.”

According to prior court filings and statements by the defendant at the guilty plea proceeding, on January 28, 2016, a Sailors clique leader and other MS-13 members and associates were present at the Jocorena Deli in Brentwood, where they saw 29-year-old Michael Johnson, and claimed to recognize him as a member of the rival Bloods street gang.  At that point, Johnson was marked as their “food,” meaning they were going to kill him.  After receiving the requisite approval from the New York leader of the Sailors clique to commit this murder, Hernandez and several other MS-13 members were contacted, informed of the plan to kill Johnson, and instructed to bring weapons, including a machete and a baseball bat, to a wooded area near Second Avenue in Brentwood.  Johnson was lured to the secluded meeting location where MS-13 members and associates, including Hernandez, struck Johnson with the baseball bat, stabbed him with a knife, and took turns hacking him with a machete.  Johnson’s body was recovered by the SCPD on February 2, 2016. 

In early 2016, Hernandez and his fellow Sailors clique members decided to kill 19-year-old Oscar Acosta because they suspected that he was associating with the rival 18th Street gang.  The Sailors clique leader assigned roles as to which members would take the lead in planning and carrying out the murder.  On April 29, 2016, several MS-13 members encountered Acosta in a wooded area near an elementary school in Brentwood, where he had been lured under the guise of smoking marijuana.  They beat Acosta with tree limbs, knocking him unconscious.  They then bound Acosta’s hands and feet, wrapped an article of clothing around his mouth to prevent him from making noise, and summoned other MS-13 members, including Hernandez.  The MS-13 members loaded Acosta into the trunk of a car and drove to a more secluded area in Brentwood, near an abandoned psychiatric hospital.  They took Acosta, who was still alive, out of the car and carried him into the woods, where they all took turns hacking him to death with a machete.  The MS-13 members then buried Acosta’s body in a shallow grave.  Acosta’s body was discovered by law enforcement on September 16, 2016.

On August 10, 2016, Hernandez and other MS-13 members attempted to kill suspected rival gang members in Brentwood.  Hernandez and another MS-13 member, both armed with handguns, approached a house on Lukens Avenue, where the suspected rival gang members were standing outside, and fired numerous shots in their direction.  No one was struck, but a stray bullet entered a neighbor’s house and struck the headboard of a bed in which the neighbor was sleeping.  Hernandez also pleaded guilty to participating in a drug distribution conspiracy, admitting that between April 2016 and October 2017, he and other members of the Sailors clique conspired to distribute cocaine and marijuana for the financial benefit of the MS-13.

When sentenced, Hernandez faces a maximum term of life in prison.

Today’s conviction is the latest in a series of federal prosecutions by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York targeting members of the MS-13, a violent, transnational criminal organization.  The MS-13’s leadership is based in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico, but the gang has thousands of members across the United States.  With numerous branches, or “cliques,” the MS-13 is the most violent criminal organization on Long Island.  Since 2003, hundreds of MS-13 members, including dozens of clique leaders, have been convicted on federal felony charges in the Eastern District of New York.  A majority of those MS-13 members have been convicted on federal racketeering charges for participating in murders, attempted murders and assaults.  Since 2010, this Office has obtained indictments charging MS-13 members with carrying out more than 60 murders in the Eastern District of New York, resulting in the convictions of dozens of MS-13 leaders and members in connection with those murders.  These prosecutions are the product of investigations led by the FBI’s Long Island Gang Task Force, which is comprised of agents and officers of the FBI, SCPD, Nassau County Police Department, Nassau County Sheriff’s Department, Suffolk County Probation Office, Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office, the New York State Police, the Hempstead Police Department, the Rockville Centre Police Department and the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. 

The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Long Island Criminal Division.  Assistant United States Attorneys Paul G. Scotti, Justina L. Geraci and Megan E. Farrell are in charge of the prosecution.

The Defendant:

JONATHAN HERNANDEZ (also known as “Travieso,” and “Kraken”)
Age: 24
Brentwood, New York

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 16-CR-403 (GRB)

Source: United States Department of Justice News

ST. PAUL, Minn. – A St. Paul man was sentenced to 156 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for methamphetamine trafficking and firearms violations, announced United States Attorney Andrew M. Luger.

According to court documents, in May 2020, law enforcement began investigating Chue Xiong, 39, and his co-defendant Matthew Hines, 37, of Brooklyn Center. As part of a drug trafficking conspiracy, Xiong and Hines coordinated and facilitated the distribution of methamphetamine, as well as collected drug proceeds to send back to their supplier. On May 11, 2020, law enforcement observed Xiong leave Hines’s residence with a brown bag in his hand. Law enforcement conducted a traffic stop of Xiong’s vehicle and found approximately 1.4 kilograms of methamphetamine inside the brown bag, 614 grams of methamphetamine in the driver’s side door pocket, and a 9mm handgun underneath the floor mat on the driver’s side. Xiong was also wearing a holster.

On November 19, 2020, law enforcement agents arrested Xiong outside his apartment building pursuant to a warrant. During a subsequent search of Xiong’s apartment, agents recovered an AR 223 caliber rifle, nine loaded 223 magazines, two loaded Glock model 19 semiautomatic handguns, $7,691.00 in cash, and 643.9 grams of methamphetamine.

Xiong was sentenced on May 26, 2022, in U.S. District Court before Senior Judge Donovan W. Frank. On March 30, 2021, Xiong pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Hines pleaded guilty on May 6, 2021, and is scheduled to be sentenced on December 15, 2022.

This case was the result of an investigation conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Ramsey County Violent Crime Enforcement Team, and the Minnesota State Patrol.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Allen A. Slaughter is prosecuting the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Spokane, Washington – Senior United States District Judge Rosanna Malouf Peterson sentenced Kimberly Ann Brischle, 56, of Post Falls, Idaho, to 30 months in federal prison for stalking an ex-boyfriend across state lines via the Internet. Judge Peterson also ordered Brischle to pay more than $175,000 in restitution for the damages arising from a fire she started in her ex-boyfriend’s home. Brischle will also serve three years of federal supervised release after she gets out of prison. Brischle pleaded guilty in May 2022 and has been in federal custody since July 2021.

According to court documents, Brischle began sending her ex-boyfriend a series of threatening text messages in April 2021. The next day, Brischle broke into her ex-boyfriend’s home in Spokane, while her ex-boyfriend was away on business. Brischle damaged property in the home and started a fire in a bedroom closet. The Spokane Fire Department responded to extinguish the fire, and investigators determined that the fire had been set intentionally. For the next several months, Brischle used online applications to obscure her identity while she continued to send her ex-boyfriend threatening and harassing texts and emails. In one message, she claimed to have paid another person to torture and mutilate him and to kill his dog.

“In the information age, Internet stalking has become a significant problem that crosses state and international boundaries and subjects innocent people to serious harassment,” said Vanessa R. Waldref, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington. “As this case demonstrates, the line between online activity and real-world consequences can become blurry for some—and frankly, it is a miracle and a relief that no one was hurt by the fire in this case. Fortunately, through the collaborative work of ATF, the Spokane Police Department, the Spokane Fire Department, and the Kalispel Tribal authorities, law enforcement was able to hold the defendant accountable and prevent her from causing further damage and harassment. The United States Attorney’s Office is committed to protecting our communities from cybercrime and physical violence to keep Eastern Washington safe and strong.”

“Arson is a heinous crime that has broad impacts, not only on those who are directly affected, but because of the risk it presents to the community as a whole,” said ATF Seattle Field Division Special Agent in Charge Jonathan T. McPherson. “This sentence should deter anyone who contemplates engaging in the destructive, cowardly act of setting someone’s home on fire.”

This case was investigated by Spokane Resident Office of the ATF, with significant assistance from the Spokane Fire Department Special Investigations Unit, the Spokane Police Department, and the Kalispel Tribal Police. The case was prosecuted by Timothy J. Ohms, Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington.