Month: July 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

CAMDEN, N.J. – An Atlantic City, New Jersey, man today admitted escaping from federal custody and engaging in a scheme to defraud women over telephone dating services, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.

Patrick Giblin, 57, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler in Camden federal court to an information charging him with one count of escape from the custody of the Attorney General and one count of wire fraud.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

On July 23, 2020, Giblin escaped from the custody of the Attorney General while traveling from a federal prison in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, to a residential living facility in Newark, where he had been directed to serve the remainder of a federal prison sentence. At the time, Giblin was serving a sentence imposed in 2017 for traveling interstate and using an interstate facility to promote unlawful activity in connection with a scheme to defraud multiple women. Giblin’s 2017 sentence followed an earlier sentence of 115 months in prison for a 2007 wire fraud conviction for a similar fraud scheme. Members of the U.S. Marshals Service located and arrested Giblin in Atlantic City on March 10, 2021.

From April 2019 through March 2021 – including during the time period when he was a fugitive – Giblin posted advertisements and messages on telephone dating services. Giblin cultivated a rapport with the women he spoke to on these services, falsely claimed that he would be relocating to the woman’s geographic area, and falsely represented that he wished to pursue a committed, romantic relationship with each woman. Giblin received money from the women he spoke to on the dating services via interstate wire services such as Western Union and MoneyGram.

The charge of escape carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense, whichever is greatest. The charge of wire fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense, whichever is greatest. Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 16, 2022.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited members of the U.S. Marshals Service, District of New Jersey, under the direction of U.S. Marshal Juan Matos Jr., and special agents of the FBI, Atlantic City Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jesse Levine in Newark, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel A. Friedman of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Criminal Division in Camden.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

CAMDEN, N.J. – A Cumberland County, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 151 months for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.

Joan Benitez, 41, of Millville, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler to an information charging him with one count  of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute over 50 grams of methamphetamine. Judge Kugler imposed the sentence today in Camden federal court.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

From Jan. 22, 2020, to Sept. 9, 2020, Benitez sold crystalized methamphetamine, also called “ice,” on behalf of a conspiracy to distribute those drugs. Benitez distributed 1.57 kilograms of methamphetamine.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Kugler sentenced Benitez to five years of supervised release.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the FBI, Atlantic City Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jesse Levine in Newark, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing. He also thanked the New Jersey State Police, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office, the Atlantic County Sheriff’s Office, the Pleasantville Police Department, and the Atlantic City Police Department, for their assistance.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Johns of the Criminal Division in Camden.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that an East Windsor man has admitted his role in a scheme to acquire and distribute oxycodone obtained through fraudulent prescriptions.  On July 5, 2022, JAYSON KEMP, 45, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in Bridgeport to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, oxycodone.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Kemp obtained blank prescription paper from employees of various Connecticut medical practices.  He kept some of the prescription paper for himself and also sold some of the prescription paper, for thousands of dollars, to other individuals, including Oral Welborn, who resided in Hartford.  Kemp, Welborn and another co-conspirator then recruited “runners,” who typically were individuals who received Medicaid and Medicare benefits, to fill fraudulent prescriptions at various pharmacies.  Kemp, Welborn and the other co-conspirator filled out each prescription with the runner’s identifying information and forged a doctor’s signature on the prescription.  The runner then filled the fraudulent prescription at a pharmacy, generally using their Medicaid or Medicare benefits, and provided the pills to Kemp, Welborn and their co-conspirator in exchange for approximately $50 per prescription.  Kemp, Welborn and their co-conspirator then sold the pills to individuals suffering from opioid addictions.

Kemp, Welborn and their co-conspirator were responsible for filling at least 150 fraudulent prescriptions for oxycodone, almost all of which were for 150 30-mg oxycodone pills.

Kemp was arrested on August 2, 2019.  He is released on a $150,000 pending sentencing, which is not scheduled.

Welborn pleaded guilty to the same charge on March 10, 2020, and awaits sentencing.  Kemp and Welborn’s co-conspirator was charged and convicted in state court.

This matter was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Haven Tactical Diversion Squad, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General, and the Vernon Police Department.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John T. Pierpont, Jr.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Today, U.S. Attorney Dena J. King swore in Annabelle Chambers as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (SAUSA) for the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Criminal Division in Asheville. Ms. Chambers is a state prosecutor with North Carolina’s 43^rd Prosecutorial District which serves the Counties of Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Macon, Swain, Haywood and Jackson, under the leadership of District Attorney Ashley Welch.

The SAUSA position is a reflection of the partnership between the 43^rd Prosecutorial District and the U.S. Attorney’s Office. State and federal authorities share concurrent jurisdiction over certain crimes. Concurrent jurisdiction allows for prosecution in either state or federal court. The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the District Attorney’s Office have established this formal partnership to ensure that the appropriate venue for prosecution is selected. The goal of this partnership is to make counties within the jurisdiction of the 43^rd Prosecutorial District safer through a coordinated enforcement effort.

In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney King said, “The SAUSA program is an important tool we can use to make communities safer by identifying and prosecuting cases in federal court that result in the greatest local impact. I want to thank District Attorney Welch for her continued support of the program and for her ongoing coordination and cooperation with our office in our shared goal to protect our communities.”

“Cooperation across all levels of government is one of the most effective weapons we have in combatting crime,” District Attorney Welch said. “The SAUSA program has proven an amazing tool for vigorous prosecution of criminal activity in the 43rd Prosecutorial District. This program demonstrates how a strong, successful and sustained federal and state partnership can help us safeguard our communities. I thank U.S. Attorney King for her continued support of SAUSA and anticipate additional initiatives involving her office and mine.”

As a dually-sworn state and federal prosecutor, Ms. Chambers will be primarily responsible for criminal cases arising out of the 43^rd Prosecutorial District involving the violation of federal criminal statutes. Ms. Chambers will remain on the staff of the District Attorney’s Office but will serve in all respects as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in charge of overseeing the progression of federal cases from the initiation of federal charges to disposition and sentencing. Ms. Chambers will collaborate with state, local and federal agencies to identify and prioritize cases originating in state court for federal indictment. Ms. Chambers will also be responsible for drafting charging documents, search and arrest warrants, complaints, motions and responses, presenting matters before the grand jury, representing the United States before all federal courts in the Western District of North Carolina, and other such duties necessary for the successful prosecution of these cases.

Prior to joining the District Attorney’s Office, Ms. Chambers was an Associate with Asheville Legal, Wimer Snider, P.C. Before that, Ms. Chambers was an Assistant State Attorney with Florida’s 18^th Judicial Circuit in Brevard County, where she prosecuted felony cases in Circuit Court. Ms. Chambers received her law degree from Stetson University College of Law and her undergraduate degree from Sewanee: The University of the South in Tennessee.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Today at the Judicial Studies Institute (JSI) in San Juan, Puerto Rico, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor addressed virtually 24 judges from Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, and Panama as part of a Department of Justice (DOJ) training program for Western Hemisphere judiciaries. Justice Sotomayor stressed the importance of their contributions to the rule of law in the Western Hemisphere and lauded them for their roles in transforming Latin American justice.   

With the support of Justice Sotomayor, and in partnership with the Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, the Justice Department’s Office of Prosecutorial Development, Assistance, and Training (OPDAT) launched JSI in 2012 as a response to the wave of justice sector reforms in Latin America, during which many countries transitioned from inquisitorial to adversarial systems of justice. Through Spanish instruction, practical exercises, and observations of courtroom proceedings, participating judges learned about evidentiary guidelines, the role of judges, courtroom management in an adversarial justice system, human smuggling, and judging without gender, among other important topics. 

This capacity building is critical to the region, as there are significant differences between the two systems. For example, in an inquisitorial system, judges investigate charges and determine guilt through written deliberations behind closed doors. In an adversarial system, the judge acts as an impartial referee responsible for weighing evidence and guaranteeing the rights of both the victim and the accused in an open courtroom setting. JSI offers judicial counterparts the opportunity to learn practical skills, encouraging JSI alumni to become agents of change within their judiciaries. Many DOJ-trained JSI alumni been able to go on to serve as force multipliers in the region, imparting their training within their own judiciary and for future OPDAT programs. 

Since establishing JSI in 2012, OPDAT and its partners at the University of Puerto Rico and Inter-American University law schools, the Puerto Rico State Judiciary, and the U.S. Federal Judiciary have trained over 1,000 Latin American judges. This year marks the 10-year anniversary of this important and sustainable project.

Please visit https://www.justice.gov/criminal-opdat for more information about OPDAT’s capacity-building efforts around the world.