Month: July 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

COEUR D’ALENE – Bradley Loewen, 51, of Genesee, was sentenced to 97 months in federal prison for possession of child pornography.

According to court records, the investigation began after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) determined that a Kik Messenger account, later identified as belonging to Loewen, had been used to distribute child pornography. The FBI obtained a federal search warrant for Loewen’s Kik Messenger account and located over 600 images of child pornography.

The FBI subsequently obtained a federal search warrant for Loewen’s Genesee residence and seized his cellphone. During an examination of the cellphone, the FBI located evidence that Kik Messenger had been installed on the cellphone but had been deleted shortly before the cellphone was seized. During an interview, Loewen admitted to using Kik Messenger to trade files of child pornography and to engage in sexual conversations about children.  

Senior Ninth Circuit Judge Richard Tallman, sitting as a U.S. District Court judge, also ordered Loewen to serve 15 years of supervised release following his prison sentence, to forfeit the cellphone that was used to commit the offense, and to pay $9,000 in restitution to the victims in the images he possessed. As a result of the conviction, Loewen will be required to register as a sex offender.

U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit, of the District of Idaho made the announcement and commended the cooperative efforts of the FBI, the Idaho State Police, the Latah County Sheriff’s Office, and the Moscow Police Department which led to charges.

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. As part of Project Safe Childhood, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho and the Idaho Attorney General’s Office partner to marshal 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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Source: United States Department of Justice News

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that attorney STUART FINKELSTEIN pled guilty to mail fraud in connection with his filing of fraudulent lawsuits pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”)

According to the Indictment and statements made in court filings:

FINKELSTEIN is a lawyer who has filed, or has caused to be filed, over 300 lawsuits pursuant to the ADA on behalf of purported plaintiffs, including Victim-1 and Victim-2.  These lawsuits were filed in the United States District Courts for the Southern District of Florida, the Southern District of New York and the Eastern District of New York against various public establishments (the “Victim Public Establishments”).  Each of these lawsuits made representations that Victim-1 and Victim-2 were represented by FINKELSTEIN or an associate.  Furthermore, each of these lawsuits alleged that Victim-1 and Victim-2 had standing to sue under the ADA.  The lawsuits sought attorney’s fees and injunctive relief to address the alleged noncompliance with the ADA.

FINKELSTEIN’s lawsuits on behalf of Victim-1 and Victim-2, however, were fraudulent.  Victim-1 and Victim-2 neither retained nor authorized FINKELSTEIN to file ADA lawsuits on their behalf.  Instead, FINKELSTEIN stole the identities of Victim-1 and Victim-2, made numerous false representations to the Victim Public Establishments and the courts, obstructed official judicial proceedings, and then settled these fake lawsuits in order to collect approximately $900,000 in attorney’s fees.  

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FINKELSTEIN, 67, of Davie, Florida, pled guilty to one count of mail fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. 

The maximum potential sentence is prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as the sentence will be determined by the court. 

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of Special Agents from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

The prosecution of this case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit.  Assistant United States Attorney Rushmi Bhaskaran is in charge of the prosecution.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

RALEIGH, N.C. – Today, U.S. Attorney Michael Easley, along with federal and local law enforcement, announced ongoing and coordinated efforts to address violent crime in Raleigh and surrounding areas. The Violent Crime Action Plan (VCAP) is a collaboration of the U.S. Attorney’s Office with the Raleigh Police Department (RPD), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Wake County District Attorney’s Office, and the United States Marshals Service (USMS). A primary objective of the VCAP is to identify and systematically investigate and prosecute individuals contributing to crime in the city of Raleigh and surrounding areas.

In late June, 27 individuals were indicted by grand juries for federal and state charges and 26 are currently in custody. As part of the initiative, six kilograms of cocaine, 600 bindles of heroin, more than 296 grams of crack, and 15 grams of fentanyl have been seized. In addition, more than $41,000, 26 firearms and more than 200 rounds of ammunition were seized. The gun seizures include a polymer 80 ghost gun.

“Last week, we saw five shooting deaths in Raleigh. Today, we want to put gun-carrying criminals on notice.  We are working with law enforcement at every level to get dangerous, illegal guns and drugs off the street and put gun and drug traffickers behind bars,” said U.S. Attorney Michael Easley. “We will use every tool available to keep our communities safe.”

“The Raleigh Police Department is proud to work alongside our federal partners to investigate and prosecute those who seek to harm our community,” stated Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson.  “The indictments in these cases are extremely impactful and will allow Raleigh residents to sleep better knowing guns, drugs, and violence are being removed from their neighborhoods.  Making Raleigh the safest city in the nation remains the top priority of the Raleigh Police Department.  We can only do so through collaboration with the community, local and state law enforcement, and our federal partners.”

“These indictments and seizures demonstrate the FBI’s overall strategy and relentless determination to eradicate the drug-fueled violence plaguing our community. We are proud to work side by side with our law enforcement partners to hold these individuals accountable,” said Robert R. Wells, FBI Charlotte Special Agent in Charge. 

“The United States Marshals Service is committed to working with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners to make our communities safer,” said U.S. Marshal Mike East. “This our second targeted operation to address gun violence in our neighborhoods, and we will conduct similar operations throughout the Eastern District of North Carolina in the future.”

ATF Special Agent in Charge Bennie Mims said, “ATF is proud to be a part of a focused, collaborative effort to remove these individuals from our streets and prevent them from harming our communities again.”

There are a wide range of charges on these subjects including felons in possession of firearms, possession with intent to possess/distribute narcotics, as well as possessing firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes.

The following individuals, all from Raleigh and surrounding areas, face federal prosecution for:

• Braxton Deangleo Benton, 38 (Unlicensed dealing of firearms; Possession of ammunition by felon)
• Elijah Jontay Cooper, 21 (Possession of a firearm by felon)
• Ahmad Rashad Davis, 41 (Possession of a firearm by felon)
• Kala Gail Durham, 28 (Possess with intent to distribute a quantity of heroin/fentanyl mixture; Possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime)
• William Foye, 38 (Possession of a firearm by felon; Possession with intent to distribute a quantity of fentanyl mixture; and Possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime)
• Aurel Hysa, 27 (Possession of a firearm by felon; Possession with intent to distribute quantities of fentanyl and methamphetamine; Possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime)
• Shawn Jabbar Jiles, 50 (Possession of a firearm by felon; Possess with intent to distribute a quantity of cocaine; Possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime)
• Donald Craig Melvin, 51 (Possession of a firearm by felon; Possess with intent to distribute a quantity of heroin/fentanyl mixture; Possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime)
• Bareatta Lamarr Milhouse, 22 (Possession of a firearm by felon; Possess with intent to distribute a quantity of cocaine base (crack); Possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime)
• Steven Antonio Peterson, 31 (Possession of a firearm by felon; Possession of ammunition by felon)
• Jerome Watkins, Jr., 30 (Possession of a firearm by felon)
• Takara Ane Wilson, 24 (False statement during the purchase of a firearm (two counts); Transfer of a firearm to a prohibited person; Unlicensed dealing of firearms)

The defendants below were part of a parallel, months-long Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) operation led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Raleigh Safe Streets Task Force. An OCDETF investigation is a coordinated federal, state, and local strategy to combat drug trafficking and organized crime, and it is the nation’s primary tool to disrupt and dismantle drug trafficking organizations. 

• Akeem Netron Holder Evans, a/k/a “King,” 32 (Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, 280 grams or more of cocaine base (crack), and a quantity of fentanyl; Possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine; Distribution of a quantity of cocaine and fentanyl; Possess with intent to distribute 28 grams or more of cocaine base (crack); Maintaining a dwelling for the purpose of manufacturing, distributing, and storing any controlled substance; Possess with intent to distribute a quantity of marijuana; Possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; Possession of a firearm by a felon)
• Tray De’Vonta Evans a/k/a “Scrap,” 30 (Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, 280 grams or more of cocaine base (crack), and a quantity of fentanyl; Possession of a firearm by a felon; Distribution of a quantity of cocaine base (crack); Possess with intent to distribute 28 grams or more of cocaine base (crack) and marijuana; Maintaining a dwelling for the purpose of manufacturing, distributing, and storing any controlled substance; Possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime)
• William Henry Johnson, Jr., a/k/a “Coach,” 69 (Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine; Possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine)
• Kara Shontya Jones, 29 (Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute a quantity of cocaine and fentanyl; Possess with intent to distribute a quantity of cocaine and fentanyl)
• Charles Jermaine Muldrow, 45 (Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute a quantity of cocaine; Possess with intent to distribute a quantity of cocaine)
• Larry Marnecus Stanford, Jr., 40 (Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute a quantity of cocaine; Maintaining a dwelling for the purpose of manufacturing, distributing, and storing any controlled substance; Possess with intent to distribute a quantity of cocaine; Possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime)
• Anthony Edward Walton, 49 (Maintaining a dwelling for the purpose of manufacturing, distributing, and storing any controlled substance)
• Rasaun Iran Robinson Wright, a/k/a “Ran,” 39 (Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine)

In separate, unrelated cases, the following individuals, all from Raleigh and surrounding areas, also face state prosecution for:

• Timothy Autry, 44 (Possession of firearm by a felon; Alter/remove gun serial number; Interfere with emergency communication)
• Jamien Baptist, 22 (Possession of firearm by a felon; Assault by pointing a gun; Carrying concealed gun)
• Marcus Hopkins, 40 (Possession of firearm by a felon; Carrying a concealed gun; Possession of marijuana up to ½ oz; Resisting public officer)
• D’Mani Jeter, 22 (Possession of firearm by a felon, Trafficking fentanyl by possession (two counts); Possession with intent to sell or deliver schedule II-controlled substance)
• Donzell Jones, 23 (Possession of firearm by a felon; Carrying a concealed gun; Habitual felon)
• Sean Neal, 52 (Possession of firearm by a felon; Habitual felon)
• Antonio Townes, 29 (Possession of firearm by a felon; Possession of a stolen firearm; Possession with intent to sell or deliver marijuana; Possession with intent to sell or deliver schedule II-controlled substance; Possession with intent to sell or deliver methamphetamine; Possession of drug paraphernalia)

VCAP is an approach that draws on close partnerships among federal, state, and local law enforcement, as well as the community, to combat violence.  The initiative brings state and federal prosecutors together to prioritize the review of gun crime cases and identify and prosecute repeat offenders and criminal organizations as well as identifying and stopping the sources of guns.  Law enforcement partners use inter-agency coordination and intelligence-led policing, analyzing crime data to deploy resources where they are most needed and leveraging federal Task Force officers to bring federal technology to address local gun violence.

The VCAP initiative is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), which is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. 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.

Michael Easley, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement. RPD, ATF, FBI, the Wake County District Attorney’s Office, and the USMS are involved in the investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brandon Boykin and Robert Dodson are the lead prosecutors for the cases, with assistance from other criminal Assistant U.S. Attorneys in the office.

An indictment is merely an accusation. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. 

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Derek A. Mays, 32, a former Eastern Kentucky Correctional Center (EKCC) officer from Morehead, Kentucky, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge David Bunning, to four counts of obstruction of justice.  

According to his plea agreement, Mays admitted that on July 24, 2018, he witnessed three EKCC correctional officers assaulting an inmate, and then he falsified records in order to cover up that assault. Specifically, Mays wrote and signed an occurrence report falsely claiming that the inmate had been noncompliant. Mays also admitted to later lying to his supervisor, a Kentucky State Police (KSP) detective, and a Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet investigator, on three separate occasions, about the assault. Mays was indicted in July 2022.

Mason is scheduled to be sentenced on March 13, 2023. He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for each charge. However, any sentence will be imposed by the court, after its consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal sentencing statutes. 

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division; Acting U.S. Attorney Carlton S. Shier IV for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Special Agent in Charge Jodi Cohen of the FBI Louisville Field Office; and Colonel Phillip Burnett Jr. Commissioner, KSP, jointly announced the guilty plea.

The investigation was conducted by FBI, KSP and the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet. The U.S. Attorney’s Office was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zach Dembo and Mary Melton.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

A resident of St. James Parish, Jamaica, was extradited to the United States and made his initial appearance in federal court in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on charges relating to his participation in a phony sweepstakes scheme that targeted elderly victims in the United States, the Department of Justice and U.S. Postal Inspection Service announced today.

Damone D. Oakley, 40, of the Point District, St. James Parish, was charged in a 16-count indictment with mail and wire fraud. The indictment was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in June 2021 and was unsealed after the defendant’s extradition to the United States. 

According to the indictment, Oakley sought to unlawfully enrich himself through a fraudulent sweepstakes scheme targeting the elderly. Victims throughout the United States received mailings, text messages or phone calls in which they were falsely told that they had won millions of dollars and luxury vehicles in a sweepstakes, but first needed to pay taxes and fees in order to claim their winnings. The indictment alleges that Oakley, using a variety of names, including “Officer Alex Logan” and “Officer Stan Valentine,” instructed his victims on how to send their money (and to whom the funds should be sent), including through the use of wire transfers, direct bank deposits, the U.S. Postal Service and private commercial mail carriers. Victims were directed to send money directly to Oakley as well as to individuals in the United States and elsewhere who served as intermediaries and transmitted the money to Oakley. In addition to sending cash or wire transfers, the indictment alleges that victims were directed to purchase electronics, jewelry and clothing, and to then have the purchased items shipped to mail forwarding services in Florida. The victims never received any “winnings.”

“The Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection Branch is committed to pursuing criminals who defraud vulnerable U.S. consumers – both domestically and abroad – and to prosecuting them to the full extent of the law,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “This is the first extradition requested by the United States in accordance with the evidentiary rules contained in Jamaica’s recently revised Extradition Act, and we are encouraged by the streamlined extradition process that led to the defendant’s appearance in federal court to face these charges.”

“Scammers like these are targeting the most vulnerable people in our society,” said U.S. Attorney Gerard M. Karam for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. “In the Middle District of Pennsylvania, we are proud to prioritize and prosecute individuals who engage in such acts and commend our law enforcement partners who help make these results possible.”

“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is committed to investigating scammers, domestically and internationally, who use the U.S. mail to enrich themselves by targeting and financially exploiting the most vulnerable of American consumers – the elderly,” said Inspector in Charge Eric Shen of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Criminal Investigations Group. “Today’s extradition exemplifies the Postal Inspection Service’s efforts to collaborate with foreign and domestic law enforcement partners to bring these criminals to justice.”

The case is being prosecuted by Senior Litigation Counsel Linda I. Marks of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division, Consumer Protection Branch, along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Christian Haugsby for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s Lottery Scam Task Force and the Jamaica Fugitive Apprehension Team provided critical assistance. 

The department’s extensive and broad-based efforts to combat elder fraud seeks to halt the widespread losses seniors suffer from fraud schemes. The best method for prevention, however, is by sharing information about the various types of elder fraud schemes with relatives, friends, neighbors and other seniors who can use that information to protect themselves.

If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has been a victim of financial fraud, help is available at the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311). This Department of Justice hotline, managed by the Office for Victims of Crime, is staffed by experienced professionals who provide personalized support to callers by assessing the needs of the victim and identifying relevant next steps. Case managers will identify appropriate reporting agencies, provide information to callers to assist them in reporting, connect callers directly with appropriate agencies and provide resources and referrals, on a case-by-case basis. Reporting is the first step. Reporting can help authorities identify those who commit fraud, and reporting certain financial losses due to fraud as soon as possible can increase the likelihood of recovering losses. The hotline is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET. English, Spanish and other languages are available.

Additional information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts may be found at www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. Information about the Department of Justice’s Elder Fraud Initiative is available at www.justice.gov/elderjustice.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.