Month: July 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

OKLAHOMA CITY – Yesterday, SEAN ROBERT TYSON, 32, of Wayne, Oklahoma, was sentenced to serve 84 months in federal prison for a Purcell, Oklahoma, robbery involving an Uzi-style airsoft gun, announced U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester. 

Public records reflect that Tyson was initially charged and sentenced in the District Court of McClain County, Oklahoma.   That conviction was dismissed based on the United States Supreme Court ruling in McGirt v. Oklahoma.   On June 28, 2021, a one-count Information was filed in federal court against Tyson that charged him with Robbery in Indian Country.  On July 15, 2021, Tyson pleaded guilty to the Information.  According to court records, Tyson asked to borrow the victim’s phone while at Star Travel Plaza in Purcell. When the call concluded, Tyson pointed what looked like a real Uzi firearm at the victim and a two-year-old child held by the victim, saying to the victim that the phone now belonged to Tyson.  He then fled in a vehicle with the victim’s phone.   

At the sentencing hearing yesterday, U.S. District Court Judge Patrick Wyrick sentenced Tyson to serve 84 months in federal prison.  In support of his sentence, Judge Wyrick cited, among other things, the serious nature of the offense, Tyson’s criminal history, and the impact of the robbery on the victim family.  Judge Wyrick also ordered that upon release from prison, Tyson must serve three years of supervised release.  Tyson has been in federal custody since his arrest on May 28, 2021. Tyson is an admitted member of the Universal Aryan Brotherhood.

This case was the result of an investigation by the FBI Oklahoma City Field Office and the Purcell Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Gridley, Jr. prosecuted the case.

Reference is made to public filings for more information.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

INDIANAPOLIS – Deandra Lee, 28, of Indianapolis, was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. 

According to court documents, on July 1, 2021, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) responded to a domestic disturbance call at an Exxon gas station on East 21^st Street involving Lee and a woman. Responding officers learned that there were active warrants for Lee’s arrest. Lee fled when officers attempted to arrest him and was apprehended a short time later. Officers located a loaded rifle in the backseat of the vehicle in which Lee was riding that Lee admitted to handling. As a convicted felon, Lee was legally prohibited from possessing any firearms.

Four months earlier, in March 2021, Lee was convicted in state court of domestic battery and strangulation of the same woman involved in the incident that led to his July 2021 arrest. Lee was also convicted of violating a no-contact order while the domestic violence case was pending.

Zachary A. Myers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana; Daryl S. McCormick, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) Columbus Field Division; and IMPD Chief Randal Taylor made the announcement.

ATF and the IMPD investigated the case. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge James R. Sweeney II. As part of the sentence, Judge Sweeney ordered that Lee be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for three years following his release from federal prison. Actual sentences are determined by a federal district court judge and are typically less than the maximum penalties.

U.S. Attorney Myers thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Jayson W. McGrath who prosecuted this case.

This case was brought as part of the LEATH Initiative (Law Enforcement Action to Halt Domestic Violence), named in honor of Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) Officer Breann Leath, who was killed in the line of duty while responding to a domestic disturbance call. A partnership among the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), the IMPD, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana, the LEATH Initiative focuses federal, state, and local law enforcement resources on domestic violence offenders who illegally possess firearms.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Honored for The Investigation and Prosecution of Nxivm Leader Keith Raniere and Co-Conspirators Who Victimized Women Through Sex Trafficking and Other Crimes

Source: United States Department of Justice News

BOSTON – A former employee of the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for receiving illegal gratuity.

Kevin Richards, 52, of Hanover, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV to four months in prison and one year of supervised release. Richards was also ordered to pay a fine of $7,500 and forfeiture of $10,250. On March 29, 2022, Richards pleaded guilty to one count of receiving an illegal gratuity as a public official and two counts of making false statements to a federal agency.

Richards was employed as the Leasing Director for the New England Region of the Public Buildings Service, a division of GSA. Starting in 2017, Richards also worked as a licensed real estate agent for a Duxbury real estate company owned by Individual A, from whom he received real estate commissions in 2017 and 2018. Richards was permitted to have a job outside GSA provided that he disclosed it, and whether or not he received any compensation, in an annual financial disclosure report required by GSA’s ethics office.

In November 2019, GSA posted a job announcement “Realty Specialist (Lease Contracting Officer)” opening in Richards’s office for which he would be the hiring manager. In April 2020, Richards emailed Individual A about the job posting, substantively edited Individual A’s resume and gave Individual A confidential GSA interview questions, all without telling GSA. Individual A applied and was selected by Richards for the position over 65 qualifying individuals who had also applied for the job. Richards then successfully sought authorization for Individual A to receive an above-normal salary – $102,517 instead of $85,428 – and an above-normal accrual rate for annual leave. Richards did not disclose his financial relationship with Individual A with GSA officials.

Shortly after Individual A started at GSA and almost two years after Richards had earned a commission from the Duxbury real estate company, Richards texted Individual A, “If you need any help on your new listing let me know.” A few days later Individual A advertised Richards as a listing agent for a $1.1 million property in Duxbury. Individual A paid Richards a $10,250 commission when the second property sold.

In his GSA financial disclosure report for 2020, Richards falsely stated that he had not held any positions outside GSA that year. On Feb. 22, 2021, a GSA ethics official emailed Richards, asking whether he still had the position with the Duxbury real estate company that he had reported having in 2019. Richards falsely replied, “I did not work for them last year. I did not do any outside business last year.” In fact, Richards had done work for the Duxbury real estate company in 2020 and later filed a federal tax return in which he reported a net loss of $14,592 working for that company in 2020.

United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins and Joseph Dattoria, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. General Services Administration, Office of Inspector General, Boston Field Investigations Office made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christine Wichers and Dustin Chao of Rollins’ Public Corruption & Special Prosecutions Unit prosecuted the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

PORTLAND, Maine: A Woolwich man was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Portland today for possessing child sexual abuse materials, U.S. Attorney Darcie N. McElwee announced.

U.S. District Judge George Z. Singal sentenced Clifton Given, 33, to nine years in prison and five years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay a special assessment of $100 as well as $11,000 in restitution. Given pleaded guilty on September 9, 2021.

According to court records, on June 18, 2020, investigators with Homeland Security Investigations executed a search warrant at Given’s residence. In an interview with investigators, Given admitted using his cell phone to view images of children engaged in sex. Investigators later found several images and videos depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct on his cell phone. 

Homeland Security Investigations and the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.

To report an incident involving the possession, distribution, receipt or production of child pornography: “Child pornography” captures the sexual abuse and exploitation of children. These images document victims’ exploitation and abuse, and they suffer re-victimization each time the images are viewed. File a report with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at www.cybertipline.com or 1-800-843-5678. Your report will be forwarded to a law enforcement agency for investigation and action. If you have an emergency that requires an immediate law enforcement response, call 911 or contact your local police or sheriff’s department.

Project Safe Childhood: This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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.

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