Month: July 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

A trio of defendants who played various roles in defrauding First State Bank of Commerce, Oklahoma, have been sentenced in federal court, announced U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson.

The check kiting scheme was carried out by two cattle dealers, John Theodore Linthicum, 53, and Douglas Todd Mayfield, 53, and a bank employee, Angela Gayle Asbell, 61, from October 2016 to January 2017. The bank lost approximately $1.2 million as a result of the scheme.

According to court documents, in the fall of 2016, Linthicum, experienced dwindling cash flow in his cattle business, so he had Mayfield write NSF checks that Linthicum deposited into his bank account. Mayfield provided numerous insufficiently funded checks from his accounts at another bank. Many times he provided signed blank checks, and Linthicum filled in the amounts payable to himself. The checks generally ranged between $100,000 and $375,000. Both men knew that Mayfield did not have sufficient funds to cover the checks.

Asbell was a cashier and branch manager at First State Bank but also maintained books and records for Linthicum’s cattle business. In her position at the bank, Asbell knowingly and improperly authorized immediate credit for the bogus checks and fraudulently authorized Linthicum to wire funds and buy cashier’s checks with the fictitious credit balances in his account even though she knew the money was not there.

The defendants were charged separately and all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

Linthicum was sentenced on Jan. 25, 2022, to 27 months in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release.

On June 29, 2022, Mayfield was sentenced to six months of home detention followed by three years of supervised release.

Finally, Asbell was sentenced on July 7, 2022, to five months in federal prison followed by five months of home detention and three years of supervised release.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)-Office of Inspector General and Federal Housing Finance Agency-Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kevin C. Leitch, Vani Singhal and David D. Whipple prosecuted the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

United States Attorney Clint Johnson today announced the results of the July 2022 Federal Grand Jury A.

The following individuals have been charged with violations of United States law in indictments returned by the Grand Jury. The return of an indictment is a method of informing a defendant of alleged violations of federal law, which must be proven in a court of law beyond a reasonable doubt to overcome a defendant’s presumption of innocence.

James Arthur Berry. Assault of a Spouse and Intimate/Dating Partner by Strangling in Indian Country. Berry, 30, of Tulsa, is charged with strangling an intimate partner on April 22, 2022. The FBI and Tulsa Police Department are the investigative agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam C. Bailey is prosecuting the case. 22-CR-159

Daniel Thomas Giraldi.  Possession of Oxycodone with Intent to Distribute (Count 1); Possession of Clonazepam with Intent to Distribute (Count 2); Use of a Communication Facility in the Commission of a Drug Trafficking Felony (Counts 3-12); Interstate Travel to Aid Racketeering (Count 13); Honest Services Fraud (Counts 14-17) (superseding). Giraldi, 44, of Joplin, allegedly possessed with intent to distribute Oxycodone and Clonazepam on April 19, 2022. Giraldi and a woman also allegedly engaged in a texting conversation about Giraldi providing the woman with Xanax on April 14, 2022. He is further charged with traveling from Missouri to Oklahoma to distribute Oxycodone and Clonazepam. Finally, he is charged with honest services fraud. According to the indictment, from February 2019 until April 20, 2022, Giraldi abused his official position as an Assistant District Attorney in the Ottawa County District Attorney’s Office when he secretly used his position to provide favorable official action related to certain defendants’ criminal cases in exchange for sexual acts. Official actions included dismissing criminal charges, reducing charges and/or offering favorable plea agreements; moving court dates; reducing bond amounts and dismissing or reducing traffic infractions. Prosecutors also alleged that Giraldi took steps to cover up his activity by communicating via untraceable physical notes, using secured messaging applications, communicating in coded language, and using the trappings of his office to perform official actions for his own gain. The FBI is the investigative agency. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle M. McWaters is prosecuting the case. 22-CR-143

Samuel Goana-Gonzalez. Unlawful Reentry of a Removed Alien. Goana-Gonzalez, 37, a Mexican national, is charged with unlawfully being in the United States after having been removed on Sept. 9, 2008, near Hidalgo, Texas. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations and the U.S. Marshals Service are the investigative agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles M. McLoughlin is prosecuting the case. 22-CR-102

Imani Neiya Jones. Possession of Methamphetamine with Intent to Distribute; Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Distribute; Maintaining a Drug-Involved Premises; Possession of Firearms in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime. Jones, 26, of Tulsa, is charged with knowingly possessing with intent to distribute both methamphetamine and marijuana on July 29, 2018. She is further alleged to have maintained a residence for manufacturing, distributing and using the drugs and to have possessed firearms to further her drug trafficking crimes. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Tulsa Police Department are the investigative agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorney George Jiang is prosecuting the case. 22-CR-209

Michael Lee Knighten. Robbery in Indian Country; Assault with a Dangerous Weapon with Intent to do Bodily Harm in Indian Country; Assault with Intent to Commit a Felony in Indian Country; Carrying, Using, and Brandishing a Firearm During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence; Carjacking. Knighten, 35, of Tulsa, allegedly stole a leaf blower then pointed a firearm at the lawn maintenance worker who tried to pursue him. Knighten is further charged with pointing a firearm at a second victim when he stole the man’s Toyota Tundra pickup truck that contained numerous professional tools. Both alleged crimes occurred the morning of April 29, 2022. The Tulsa Police Department is the investigative agency. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gina S. Gilmore is prosecuting the case. 22-CR-204

Hector Prado-Jimenez. Receipt and Distribution of Child Pornography. Prado-Jimenez, 46, of Tulsa, is charged with knowingly receiving and distributing child sexual abuse material from June 1, 2020, through June 14, 2022. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Tulsa Police Department are the investigative agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Snow is prosecuting the case. 22-CR-210

Ruben Vega Escobar. Unlawful Reentry of a Removed Alien. Vega, 28, an El Salvador national, is charged with unlawfully residing in the United States after having been removed the from the country on Dec. 18, 2019, at or near Alexandria, Louisiana. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE-ERO) are the investigative agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric O. Johnston is prosecuting the case. 22-CR-203

Joseph Austin Wagener. Wagener, 32, of Tulsa, is charged with stealing a 2003 Acura sedan, worth over $1,000, on March 14, 2022. The Muscogee Nation Lighthorse Tribal Police Department is the investigative agency. Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam C. Bailey is prosecuting the case. 22-CR-205

Joshua Wayne Willis.  Kidnapping in Indian Country. Willis, 25, of Tulsa, allegedly held a woman hostage at her residence on June 12, 2022. The FBI and Tulsa Police Department are the investigative agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven J. Briden is prosecuting the case. 22-CR-206

Source: United States Department of Justice News

The Justice Department announced today that former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin, 46, was sentenced to serve 252 months in prison with credit for time served for depriving George Floyd Jr. and a then-14-year-old child of their constitutional rights.

On Dec. 15, 2021, Chauvin pleaded guilty in federal court to violating a federal criminal civil rights statute on two separate occasions. First, Chauvin pleaded guilty to willfully depriving Mr. Floyd of his constitutional right to be free from the use of unreasonable force by a police officer, resulting in Mr. Floyd’s bodily injury and death. In the plea documents, Chauvin agreed that the sentencing for this crime should be based on the sentence for second-degree murder because he acted willfully and in callous and wanton disregard of the consequences to Mr. Floyd’s life. 

Chauvin also pleaded guilty to willfully depriving a then-14-year-old child of his constitutional right to be free from the use of unreasonable force by a police officer, resulting in the child’s bodily injury.

“In no uncertain terms, George Floyd should be alive today,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Defendant Chauvin’s use of excessive force and his failure to provide medical care resulted in Mr. Floyd’s senseless murder. Chauvin’s unlawful actions in a separate incident also resulted in injury to a 14-year-old child. This sentence should send a strong message that the Justice Department stands ready to prosecute law enforcement officers who use deadly force without basis. While no amount of prison time can reverse the tragic consequences of Derek Chauvin’s violent actions, we hope that this sentence provides some small measure of justice for the families and communities impacted.”

“Derek Chauvin abandoned his sworn oath to uphold the sanctity of life when he callously took George Floyd’s life and when he violently assaulted a 14-year-old child,” said U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger for the District of Minnesota. “Chauvin’s actions constituted a grave abuse of police authority and a clear violation of these individuals’ civil rights. To the victims, their families, and to the broader community: although the harm that Chauvin caused will never be erased, today’s sentence of more than 20 years in prison represents a measure of justice and accountability.”

In the plea agreement, Chauvin admitted that on May 25, 2020, he willfully violated Mr. Floyd’s constitutional right to be free from an officer’s use of unreasonable force. Specifically, Chauvin admitted that he held his left knee across Mr. Floyd’s neck, back and shoulder and his right knee on Mr. Floyd’s back and arm. The plea agreement stated that Mr. Floyd remained restrained, prone and handcuffed on the ground for approximately 10 minutes. Chauvin further admitted that he continued to use force even though he was aware that Mr. Floyd had stopped resisting, talking and moving, and even though he was aware that Mr. Floyd had lost consciousness and a pulse. Chauvin admitted that Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) policy and training requires officers to stop using force when a subject is not resisting and to move an arrestee from the prone position into a side recovery or seated position because the prone position may make it more difficult to breathe. Chauvin admitted that his willful use of unreasonable force resulted in Mr. Floyd’s bodily injury and death because his actions impaired Mr. Floyd’s ability to obtain and maintain sufficient oxygen to sustain Mr. Floyd’s life. 

In the plea agreement, Chauvin also admitted that he willfully violated Mr. Floyd’s constitutional right not to be deprived of liberty without due process of law, which includes an arrestee’s right to be free from a police officer’s deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs. Specifically, Chauvin admitted that he failed to render medical aid to Mr. Floyd, although he saw that Mr. Floyd was lying on the ground, in serious medical need, and although he was aware that MPD policy required him to provide emergency medical aid, including CPR, to an arrestee who needs it. Chauvin admitted that his failure to render medical aid resulted in Mr. Floyd’s bodily injury and death. 

Additionally, according to the plea agreement, Chauvin admitted that on Sept. 4, 2017, he willfully violated the then-14-year-old child’s constitutional right to be free from an officer’s use of unreasonable force. Specifically, Chauvin admitted that he held the child by the throat and struck the child multiple times in the head with a flashlight, resulting in the child’s bodily injury. In the plea agreement, Chauvin also admitted that he held his knee on the child’s neck, shoulders and upper back for between 15 and 16 minutes, even though the child was face-down on the floor, handcuffed and not resisting. Chauvin admitted that these actions resulted in the child’s bodily injury. 

On Feb. 24, 2022, following a more than month-long trial, a federal jury convicted three other officers — former Minneapolis Police Officers Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas Kiernan Lane — of violating the same criminal civil rights statute. The jury found that Thao and Kueng both willfully deprived Mr. Floyd of his constitutional rights when they failed to intervene in Chauvin’s excessive force. The jury also found that Thao, Kueng and Lane willfully deprived Mr. Floyd of his right to be free from a police officer’s deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs, by seeing Mr. Floyd in clear need of medical care and willfully failing to aid him. The jury found that Thao, Kueng and Lane’s offenses resulted in Mr. Floyd’s bodily injury and death. Thao, Kueng and Lane will be sentenced separately at a future hearing.

This case was investigated by the FBI and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. It was prosecuted by Special Litigation Counsel Samantha Trepel and Trial Attorney Tara Allison of the Civil Rights Division, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Samantha Bates, LeeAnn Bell, Evan Gilead, Manda Sertich and Allen Slaughter for the District of Minnesota.  

Source: United States Department of Justice News

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The manager of a Birmingham grocery store pleaded guilty on Wednesday in federal court to wire and tax fraud for his unlawful manipulation of the Supplemental Nutrition Act Program totaling more than $4.6 million, announced United States Attorney Prim F. Escalona, U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General, Investigations, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Salina Walker, and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Assistant Special Agent in Charge Lisa Fontanette. 

OMAR MOTLEY, 42, of Birmingham, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Karon O. Bowdre to one count of tax fraud and one count of wire fraud.  Motley’s guilty plea will require him to repay restitution of $847,001.00 to the IRS and $3,815,599.98 to the USDA, which administers the food stamp program under the name Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Motley is scheduled for sentencing on November 8, 2022.

Motley was the manager of the Big B Food Mart located at 4012 24th Street North in Birmingham, Alabama, which was authorized by USDA to accept food stamp benefits.  A federal grand jury indicted Motley in March 2021.

SNAP benefits are provided to qualified recipients by the USDA on an electronic benefit transfer card (EBT), which functions like a debit card. Motley pleaded guilty to unlawfully redeeming EBT SNAP benefits for cash and ineligible items between November 2014 through March 2017. During this time, SNAP benefits redeemed at Big B Food Mart were 52 times greater than similarly sized stores in the area.  Motley’s manipulation of the SNAP program led to him withdrawing approximately $3.7 million of cash from the Big B Food Mart’s bank account.

Motley also pleaded guilty to tax fraud for under-reporting to the IRS his 2015 income received from redeeming SNAP benefits. According to evidence proffered by the United States at the hearing, Motley substantially overstated the amount of Big B Food Mart’s cost of goods sold on this return, resulting in a large deduction in the amount of his personal income tax liability. The tax loss to the IRS totals $847,001.00. The maximum penalty for the tax fraud is three years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for wire fraud is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

“The money allocated by Congress for the SNAP program funds critical USDA efforts to help families in need,” said U.S. Attorney Escalona, “I commend the efforts of our federal partners who worked to ensure that these public funds are used for their intended purposes.”

“The United States Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General – Investigations, actively investigates allegations of fraud in the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP).  This investigation and prosecution serve as a warning to all stores, that participate in the SNAP program as vendors, that fraud and trafficking (purchasing those benefits for cash) will be vigorously investigated and prosecuted by the USDA-OIG, the U. S. Attorney’s Office, and all of its federal, state, and local partners that have a stake in ensuring that fraud is eliminated from taxpayer-funded programs,” said Salina Walker, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge for USDA’s Office of Inspector General.

“The purpose of the SNAP program is to feed and nourish our community. Motley took advantage of that program,” said IRS-Criminal Investigation Assistant Special Agent in Charge Lisa Fontanette.  “Motley diverted funds from the program to ultimately benefit himself.  On top of that, he did not pay taxes; money which could have further helped our citizens.  Motley showed a blatant disregard for others, so today’s plea is a victory for our community.”

The USDA-OIG and IRS-CI investigated the case, which Assistant United States Attorney Catherine Crosby prosecuted.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Jackson, Miss. –  A Jackson man pled guilty to assault on a federal law enforcement officer, announced U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca and Special Agent in Charge Jermicha Fomby of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Mississippi.

According to court documents, on June 26, 2021, Demario Cotton, 39, was in a vehicle fleeing law enforcement when he stopped and fired a rifle multiple times at law enforcement vehicles, causing bodily injury to a federal law enforcement officer who was in the performance of his official duties.  Cotton was subsequently taken into custody and admitted to his illegal actions.

Cotton was charged with assault on a federal law enforcement officer, and he pled guilty on July 1, 2022. He is scheduled to be sentenced on September 29, 2022 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district judge will determine the sentence after considering the U.S. sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Jackson Police Department investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lynn Murray is prosecuting the case.