Month: June 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark W. Pletcher (619) 546-9714, Michelle Wasserman (619) 546-8431, Valerie Chu (619) 546-6750, and David Chu (619) 546-8266

NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – June 29, 2022

SAN DIEGO – Former U.S. Navy Captains David Newland, James Dolan and David Lausman and former Commander Mario Herrera – all of whom once served in the Navy’s Seventh Fleet – were convicted on all counts by a federal jury today of accepting bribes from foreign defense contractor Leonard Francis. The jury did not reach a verdict on the charges against Rear Admiral Bruce Loveless.

Nine members of the U.S. Navy’s Seventh Fleet – including the four defendants convicted today – were indicted by a federal grand jury in March 2017.  Four other defendants pleaded guilty before trial.

During the trial, three U.S. Navy officials – Commander Stephen Shedd, former Lieutenant Commander Edmond A. Aruffo, and U.S. Navy Captain Jesus Vasquez Cantu – and former Lieutenant Commander Alexander Bryan Gillett of the Royal Australian Navy, testified about the alleged bribery scheme.

This long-running fraud and bribery investigation has resulted in federal criminal charges against 34 U.S. Navy officials, defense contractors and the GDMA corporation. Twenty-nine previously pleaded guilty. With today’s four convictions, 33 defendants have now been convicted of various fraud and corruption offenses.

U.S. District Judge Janis L. Sammartino set a status hearing for July 21, 2022, at 2 p.m. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for October 11, 2022, at 9 a.m.

DEFENDANTS                  Case Number: 17CR0623-JLS

Captain David Newland                                 Age 60                        San Antonio, Texas

Chief of Staff to the Commander of the Seventh Fleet

Captain James Dolan                                      Age 58                        Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Assistant Chief of Staff for Logistics for the Seventh Fleet

Captain David Lausman                                 Age 62                        The Villages, Florida

Commanding Officer of U.S.S. Blue Ridge; Commanding Officer of U.S.S. George Washington

Commander Mario Herrera                            Age 48                        Helotes, Texas

Fleet Operations and Schedules Officer for the Seventh Fleet

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Conspiracy to Commit Bribery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371

Maximum Penalty: Five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or twice the gross pecuniary gain or twice the gross pecuniary loss, whichever is greater

*All defendants

Bribery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 201

Maximum Penalty: Fifteen years in prison, a $250,000 fine or twice the gross pecuniary gain or gross pecuniary loss from the offense, or three times the monetary equivalent of the thing of value, whichever is greater

*All defendants

Obstruction of Justice, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1519

Maximum Penalty: Twenty years in prison, a $250,000 fine

*Lausman

Conspiracy to Commit Honest Services Wire Fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1349, 1346, 1343

Maximum Penalty: Twenty years in prison, a $250,000 fine

*All defendants

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Defense Criminal Investigative Service

Naval Criminal Investigative Service

Defense Contract Audit Agency

Source: United States Department of Justice News

PHOENIX, Ariz. – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona announced today that the following individuals are in custody following the return of a 70-count indictment by a federal grand jury against 22 Arizonans, including:

• Marcus Wayne Wesley, 35, of Phoenix, Arizona
• Jesus Salazar, 24, of Avondale, Arizona
• Philip Nathaneal Austin, 42, of Phoenix, Arizona
• Alfred Wayne Wesley, 61, of Phoenix, Arizona
• Lequisha Shantai Jack, 36, of Phoenix, Arizona
• Rayvontae Virshon Hampton, 28, of Phoenix, Arizona
• Edward Jewel Norwood, 28, of Phoenix, Arizona
• Michael Dewanz Gibson, 26, of Florence, Arizona
• Joshua Jordaun Jackson, 31, of Buckeye, Arizona
• David Andrew Connelly, 59, of Phoenix, Arizona
• Terry Lee King II, 40, of Phoenix, Arizona
• Lancer Edward Williams Jr., 36, of Phoenix, Arizona
• Tyrell Ann Gray, 53, of Phoenix, Arizona
• Donald Eugene Reed, 60, of Phoenix, Arizona
• Quincy Lamar Davis, 38, of  Phoenix, Arizona
• Joseph Kizzee, 36, of Phoenix, Arizona
• Christopher Duane Guy, 30, of Phoenix, Arizona
• James Donald Estell, 41, of Phoenix, Arizona
• Terry Lee King, Sr., 62, of Phoenix, Arizona
• Christopher Marcus Mitchell, 35, of Goodyear, Arizona
   

Each of the above individuals was charged with either conspiracy to distribute cocaine, conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, or both. A number of the defendants are also charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl. Furthermore, Marcus Wesley, Hampton, Williams, Austin, Davis, Guy, Estell, and King Sr. are charged with being felons in possession of a firearm. Finally, Hampton, Wesley, and Gray face additional charges for carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime, and Hampton faces additional charges for transferring or possessing a machinegun.   

According to the criminal complaints filed last week, in January 2020, the Arizona Department of Public Safety (“DPS”) began an investigation targeting a drug and firearms supplier in South Phoenix. In February 2021, in conjunction with the DPS investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (“FBI”) Violent Street Gang Task Force began investigating the Lindo Park Crips (“LPC”), a criminal street gang operating in South Phoenix. The investigation targeted numerous LPC members and associates, as well as their drug suppliers. Over the course of the investigation, law enforcement officers seized over 2,430 grams of cocaine, 35,000 counterfeit M30 pills suspected to contain fentanyl, 26 grams of methamphetamine, 4.5 grams of crack cocaine, 32 doses of MDMA, 8 Glock Conversion devices, and 17 firearms. In connection with the investigation, the FBI also executed over a dozen search warrants on June 23, 2022, leading to the additional seizure of ammunition, narcotics, and 62 firearms.

A conviction for conspiracy to distribute or possessing with intent to sell the amounts of cocaine charged carries a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison and a $5,000,000 fine. A conviction for conspiracy to distribute or possessing with intent to sell the amounts of fentanyl charged in the complaint carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and a $10,000,000 fine. A conviction for illegally possessing a firearm carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. A conviction for carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and a mandatory penalty of 5 years imprisonment, and a conviction for transferring or possessing a machinegun carries a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.

An indictment is simply a method by which a person is charged with criminal activity and raises no inference of guilt. An individual is presumed innocent until evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

The FBI, Phoenix Police Department, and DPS led the investigation, with significant contributions from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, and the United States Marshals Service. The United States Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, Phoenix, is handling the prosecution.

CASE NUMBER:            CR-22-725-PHX-DLR
RELEASE NUMBER:    2022-101_Wesley, et al.

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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 Criminal Division

Thank you so much to U.S. Attorney Young, specifically to you and to your entire staff for the wonderful welcome and the warm hospitality on our visit.

I’m proud to be here in Concord, where I have the distinct honor of announcing the formation of the Department of Justice’s New England Prescription Opioid (NEPO) Strike Force.

Now, as we all know, the opioid epidemic continues to plague many areas of our nation. In the last year alone, more than 75,000 people across this country lost their lives due to opioid overdose.

And be clear, its effect cannot be measured solely by the tragic sum of lives lost. You see, everyday millions of people struggle with the painful repercussions of their addiction. And millions of families, including many of our own families, are living with the heartache of those consequences.

This is an epidemic that has many causes. And we must continue to be just as expansive in our response. Prevention, intervention, treatment, and counseling all are critical tools, and our enforcement efforts must include combating gangs and violent crime as well as illegal drug production and trafficking, both domestically and abroad.

But the NEPO Strike Force will help to address one of those root causes: the unlawful prescription and diversion of opioids.

Now, I make today’s announcement just over three years after the creation of the department’s Appalachian Regional Prescription Opioid (ARPO) Strike Force. When I began as the head of the Criminal Division, I asked our Fraud Section to identify the data, study the data, and identify where we should replicate our strike force model. Today, we are gathered here because the New England area was the clear answer.

We are expanding our efforts here because these communities have been particularly devastated by this epidemic. In recent years, some of the greatest spikes in overdoses, overdose deaths, and aberrant opioid prescriptions have all occurred here in the New England area.

The NEPO Strike Force will build on our past success, bringing together the resources and expertise of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, along with our U.S. Attorneys’ Offices in New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont, and our law enforcement partners in FBI, DEA, and HHS-OIG, along with our state and local law enforcement partners.  

NEPO will combat illegal prescription opioids and health care fraud by holding accountable corrupt medical professionals who seek to peddle opioids for profit, often at the expense of the lives of the women and men here in the New England area.

And let me be clear, I know that there are many medical professionals who are diligent. They are law-abiding, and they do their very best for their communities and for their patients, including the appropriate use of prescription drugs for pain management. To those health care professionals: you have my thanks, and we welcome your partnership.

But our focus is on those medical professionals who violate their oath to do no harm and exploit vulnerable patients who are struggling with addiction. We are focused on those who seek to profit from patient addiction and are contributing to the plague of opioid abuse and overdose, too often with deadly results. To those rogue actors: the NEPO Strike Force is here to ensure that your criminal conduct comes to an end. And by doing so, we seek to attain our ultimate goal of reducing addiction and saving lives here in New England.

Thank you all for being here, and I’ll now turn the podium over to our U.S. Attorney from Maine, Darcie McElwee.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

United States Attorney Richard G. Frohling announced that on June 28, 2022, Chief United States District Judge Pamela Pepper sentenced Darrell Chambliss (age: 31) to 72 months’ imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for arson.  

According to court records, Chambliss purposefully started a fire in the upper-unit of a duplex in Milwaukee on February 6, 2021. Chambliss had lived in that residence with a former romantic partner, whom he abused. When that victim did not return to the residence on February 6, 2021, Chambliss threatened her and recorded himself placing a mattress pad on top of their stove. Law enforcement ultimately found three separate locations where fires had been intentionally ignited within the residence. Both units in the duplex were rendered uninhabitable, displacing both the woman Chambliss had abused and the family that lived in the unit below.

At the time of the arson, Chambliss was a convicted sex offender with prior convictions for, among other things, first-degree sexual assault of a child, battery, and criminal trespass to a dwelling. He had also previously threatened to commit other arsons in connection with earlier domestic violence incidents.

Mr. Chambliss’s deliberate and violent acts sought to terrorize his intended victim and endangered the lives of the victim’s neighbors and first responders.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to working with our federal, state, and local partners to prosecute these types of violent offenders, and I commend the excellent work of the Milwaukee Police Department, the Milwaukee Fire Department, and ATF in seeking to protect the community and bring Mr. Chambliss to justice.

“Offenders are often willing to use whatever tools available, including arson, to inflict harm onto their victims,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Field Division Kristen deTineo. “In partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s office, the Milwaukee Police Department and Milwaukee Fire Department, we were able to hold accountable this defendant for committing this arson.”

This matter was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Milwaukee Police Department, the Milwaukee Fire Department and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Katherine Halopka-Ivery, with assistance from Kevin Clancy, an intern with the United States Attorney’s Office.

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For Additional Information Contact:

Public Information Officer Kenneth.Gales@usdoj.gov

414-297-1700

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

Acquisition Would Eliminate Competition Between the Only Two Competitors for Critical National Security Support Services