Month: June 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – A Massachusetts man pleaded guilty today to assaulting law enforcement officers during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His and others’ actions disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential election.

            Troy Sargent, 38, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty in the District of Columbia to all six counts of an indictment, including felony charges of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers and civil disorder, as well as four related misdemeanor offenses.

            According to court documents, Sargent was part of a crowd of rioters illegally on the Capitol grounds on Jan. 6. At approximately 2:30 p.m., he stepped forward from the crowd and swung his open hand towards a U.S. Capitol Police Officer, making contact with the officer. Immediately afterward, another officer instructed Sargent and others, “Do not start attacking people.” Thirty seconds later, at approximately 2:31 p.m., Sargent again advanced toward the front of the crowd and swung his open hand towards the same officer; this time, he made contact with someone else in the crowd. In this second incident, Sargent intended to make contact with the same officer. In a social media message later, he wrote to another person, “I got two hits in on the same rookie cop …”

            Sargent was arrested on March 9, 2021, in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. He is to be sentenced on Oct. 3, 2022. He faces a statutory maximum of eight years in prison on the charge of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers and up to five years in prison in prison on the civil disorder charge. He also faces a total of 3 ½ years in prison on the four misdemeanors. The charges also carry potential financial penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

            The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Justice Department’s National Security Division are prosecuting the case, with valuable assistance provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.

            The FBI’s Boston Field Office investigated the case, with valuable assistance from the FBI’s Washington Field Office, the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department

            In the 17 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 840 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including over 250 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing.  

            Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A Providence man who led a counterfeit check scheme that defrauded banks of tens of thousands of dollars has been sentenced to five years in federal prison, announced United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha.

Terrance Richardson, 30, pleaded guilty on March 24, 2022, to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and twelve counts of bank fraud.

At the time of his guilty plea, Richardson admitted that beginning in as early as April 2020, he conspired with others to create and deposit counterfeit checks drawn on the accounts of actual businesses. The counterfeit checks were typically deposited into the accounts of individuals who agreed to participate in the conspiracy in exchange for a cash payment. Many of those individuals were solicited through Facebook.

In many instances, soon after the counterfeit checks were deposited, the proceeds were quicky withdrawn from ATMs before banks could determine that the checks were fraudulent. Banks deemed some of the checks to be fraudulent prior to any money being withdrawn.

At sentencing on Friday, U.S. District Court Chief Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., sentenced Richardson to sixty months in federal prison to be followed by three years of federal supervised release. Ricardson was ordered to pay restitution to banks totaling $83,296.51, representing the actual loss to banks as a result of his criminal conduct.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ly T. Chin.

The matter was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service, with the assistance of  the FBI, United States Secret Service, Rhode Island State Police, and the Providence and Bethel CT, Police Departments.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA — A federal grand jury in Columbia returned a 3-count indictment against Darius Antonio Pugh, 35, of West Columbia, for felon in possession of firearms and ammunition, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, crack cocaine, and cocaine, and possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

The indictment alleges that on April 9, 2022, after a traffic stop by the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, Pugh was found in possession of firearms and drugs. 

Pugh faces a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment on the felon in possession of firearms charge, a maximum of 30 years on the drug charge, and a mandatory minimum of 5 years with maximum of life on the possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime charge. Pugh is currently detained pending trial.

This case is being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, 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.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and the Richland County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stacey D. Haynes is prosecuting the case. 

U.S. Attorney Corey F. Ellis stated that all charges in the indictment are merely accusations and that defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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Source: United States Department of Justice

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced today the seizure of six websites as part of ongoing efforts by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Department of Justice to combat copyright infringement.

According to court records, the United States obtained court authorization to seize six domain names pending forfeiture. Four of those domains – Corourbanos.com, Corourbano.com, Pautamp3.com, and SIMP3.com – were registered with a U.S.-based registry, while two domains – flowactivo.co and Mp3Teca.ws – were registered through a U.S.-based domain registrar. According to court documents, law enforcement identified these six domains as being used to distribute copyrighted material without the authorization of the copyright holders. A law enforcement investigation confirmed that copyright-protected music content was present and available for streaming or downloading on each of these six websites from the Eastern District of Virginia.

The seizure of these six domains by the government will prevent third parties from streaming and downloading copyright-protected content from these sites. Individuals visiting those sites now will see a message indicating that the site has been seized by the federal government, and visitors will be redirected to another site for additional information.

The seizure of the domain names was announced by Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Derek W. Gordon, Acting Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura D. Withers in these matters.

Operation 404.4 is the result of collaborative efforts between the U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern for the District of Virginia; the Government of Brazil Ministry of Justice and Public Security Cyber Laboratory; numerous Brazilian State police forces; HSI Washington DC; HSI Attaché Brasilia, Brazil; the Department of Justice’s International Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property Advisor and Agent in São Paulo, the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, and Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training; the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center; the UK Intellectual Property Office; and the City of London Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case Nos. 1:22-SW-330 and 1:22-SW-331.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Note: View the Government of Brazil’s announcement here.

The Justice Department announced today the seizure of six websites as part of ongoing efforts by the Department of Justice and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to combat copyright infringement.

According to court records, the United States obtained court authorization to seize six domain names pending forfeiture. Four of those domains – “Corourbanos.com,” “Corourbano.com,” “Pautamp3.com,” and “SIMP3.com” – were registered with a U.S.-based registry, while two domains – “flowactivo.co” and “Mp3Teca.ws” – were registered through a U.S.-based domain registrar. According to court documents, law enforcement identified these six domains as being used to distribute copyrighted material without the authorization of the copyright holders. A law enforcement investigation confirmed that copyright-protected music content was present and available for streaming or downloading on each of these six websites from the Eastern District of Virginia.

The seizure of these six domains by the government will prevent third parties from streaming and downloading copyright-protected content from these sites. Individuals visiting those sites now will see a message indicating that the site has been seized by the federal government, and visitors will be redirected to another site for additional information.

The seizure of the domain names was announced by Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Aber for the Eastern District of Virginia and Acting Special Agent in Charge Derek W. Gordon of HSI Washington, D.C.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura D. Withers in these matters.

Operation 404.4 is the result of collaborative efforts between the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia; the Government of Brazil Ministry of Justice and Public Security Cyber Laboratory; numerous Brazilian State police forces; HSI Washington, D.C.; HSI Attaché Brasilia, Brazil; the Department of Justice’s International Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property Advisor and Agent in São Paulo, the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training; the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center; the UK Intellectual Property Office; and the City of London Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit.