Month: July 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

PORTLAND, Ore.—A Provo, Utah man was sentenced to federal prison today for receiving child pornography.

Jeremy David Croskey, 48, was sentenced to 144 months in federal prison and 15 years’ supervised release.

According to court documents, in April 2019, special agents from FBI Portland’s Child Exploitation Task Force (CETF) began working with detectives from the Yamhill County Sheriff’s Office to investigate sexually explicit messages Croskey sent to a minor victim. FBI traced Croskey’s messages to his home in Provo where they executed a search warrant and seized digital devices containing child pornography.

In May 2020, Croskey was also charged in Utah County, Utah, with illegally possessing a firearm, controlled substance, and drug paraphernalia. In September 2020, Croskey was indicted in Yamhill County Circuit Court on six counts of first-degree sexual abuse.

On March 29, 2022, Croskey pleaded guilty in federal court to receipt of child pornography. Croskey’s plea was jointly negotiated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon, the Yamhill County District Attorney’s Office, and the Utah County Attorney’s Office, resolving all three of his criminal cases.

U.S. Attorney Scott Erik Asphaug of the District of Oregon made the announcement.

This case was investigated by the FBI with assistance from the Yamhill County Sheriff’s Office and the Provo Police Department.  It was prosecuted by Natalie K. Wight, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.

FBI Portland’s CETF conducts sexual exploitation investigations, many of them undercover, in coordination with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. CETF is committed to locating and arresting those who prey on children as well as recovering and assisting victims of sex trafficking and child exploitation.

Anyone who has information about the physical or online exploitation of children are encouraged to call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.

Federal law defines child pornography as any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a minor. Child sexual abuse material depicts actual crimes being committed against children. Not only do these images and videos document victims’ exploitation and abuse, but when shared across the internet, child victims suffer re-victimization each time the image of their abuse is viewed. To learn more, please visit the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s website at www.missingkids.org.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Justice Department to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

CHICAGO — A member of a violent Chicago street gang has been sentenced to more than 35 years in federal prison for engaging in a pattern of racketeering activity that included multiple murders, armed robberies, drug trafficking, and extortion.

TREMAYNE THOMPSON, 38, of Chicago, pleaded guilty last year to a racketeering conspiracy charge.  Thompson admitted in a plea agreement that he conspired with leadership of the Four Corner Hustlers street gang to engage in a pattern of racketeering activity that included using violence and intimidation to protect the gang’s drug dealing activities, primarily on the West Side of Chicago.  Thompson admitted participating in the April 2003 murders of George King and Willie Woods.  Thompson stated in his plea agreement that he shot the victims after receiving instructions to do so from a leader of the Four Corner Hustlers.  In addition to the murders, Thompson sold heroin and crack cocaine and committed multiple armed robberies to further the gang’s interests.

U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Durkin imposed the 427-month prison sentence after a hearing on July 6, 2022, in federal court in Chicago.

The sentence was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Emmerson Buie, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI; Kristen de Tineo, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and David Brown, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department.  

The investigation was led by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF).  OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles drug traffickers, money launderers, and other criminal offenders that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.  Substantial assistance was provided by the Chicago FBI’s Safe Street Task Force, the Chicago High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force (HIDTA), ATF’s Chicago Crime Gun Strike Force, and the Chicago Police Gang Investigations Division.  Additional assistance was provided by the Illinois Secretary of State Police Department, U.S. Bureau of Prisons, Illinois Department of Corrections, and Illinois State Police. 

“For nearly two decades, Tremayne Thompson terrorized the West Wide of Chicago as a member and enforcer for the Four Corner Hustlers street gang,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kavitha J. Babu and William Dunne argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum.  “The defendant, along with other members of the gang, peddled heroin and crack cocaine, robbed people at gunpoint, extorted others, and murdered men as they stood on city sidewalks.  Every year the defendant is incapacitated is a year that the people who live on the West Side of Chicago are safer.”

Thompson was indicted on the racketeering charge in 2017 along with eight other alleged members of the Four Corner Hustlers and two additional defendants.  Seven co-defendants pleaded guilty and one went to trial and was convicted.  Thompson is the fourth defendant to be sentenced.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

David Yager, 29, pleaded guilty today in federal court in the Eastern District of Texas to violating a detainee’s civil rights by using excessive force against him. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division; U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston for the Eastern District of Texas; Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI Criminal Investigative Division; and Special Agent in Charge Matthew DeSarno of the FBI Dallas Field Division made the announcement.

During the plea hearing, Yager admitted that on or about Feb. 28, 2021, while he was acting as a sergeant in the jail at the Van Zandt County Sheriff’s Office, he repeatedly punched a restrained detainee in the chest with a taser, which he also deployed on the detainee. Yager admitted that the detainee was confined to a restraint chair at the time. Yager also admitted that his acts caused bodily injury to the detainee, and that he used force on the detainee despite knowing that there was no legitimate, law enforcement need to use force. Yager admitted that he hit the detainee out of anger.

“Detention officers in correctional settings, especially those in leadership positions, must be held accountable when they violently assault detainees who are in their custody,” said Assistant Attorney General Clarke. “At the time of this assault, the detainee was locked into a restraint chair. When officials inside our jails and prisons betray the great trust placed in them by unlawfully assaulting people in their custody, the Department of Justice will vigorously prosecute them and hold them accountable.”

“Law enforcement officers who violate the law erode confidence in the rule that we hold so dear to our democratic way of life,” said U.S. Attorney Featherston. “Specifically, those officials who violate a citizen’s civil rights will be held accountable for their improper violent actions. We must expect and require officers to act professionally. Simply put, the failure to do so will not be tolerated.”

“The FBI is committed to investigating violations of civil rights, to include the use of excessive force in jails and prisons,” said Assistant Director Quesada. “This case serves as a reminder that any officer who violates the civil rights of detainees will be held accountable.”

With his guilty plea and pursuant to the terms of the plea agreement, the defendant faces a 42-month prison sentence.

A sentencing date will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office.

This case was investigated by the FBI Dallas Field Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracey Batson for the Eastern District of Texas and Trial Attorneys Kathryn E. Gilbert and Matthew Tannenbaum of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A Port Clinton, Ohio, woman was sentenced today to 15 years in prison for production and distribution of child sexual abuse material.

According to court documents, in 2020, Ashley Kolhoff, 22, produced sexually explicit images of the minor victim and posted them to a website dedicated to facilitating child exploitation. Over the course of multiple days, Kolhoff distributed the images of the victim to nine other members of the website while she engaged in a series of graphic conversations discussing the users’ desire to sexually abuse the victim.

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 Special Agent in Charge Raymond Villanueva of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C., made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema.

Trial Attorney Whitney Kramer of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth Schlessinger for the Eastern District of Virginia prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.