Month: August 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

PROVIDENCE – A Woonsocket man who admitted to being a “drug runner,” delivering crack cocaine at the direction of a person who took steps to disguise his own involvement in the trafficking conspiracy by having others deliver his drug orders, has been sentenced to five years in federal prison, announced United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha.

Michael Fernandes, 36 pleaded guilty on April 7, 2022, to conspiracy to distribute cocaine base and three counts of distribution of 28 grams or more of cocaine base, admitting that he delivered a total of 104.72 grams of crack cocaine at the direction of, Anthony Medeiros, 31, of Woonsocket.

According to charging documents, during an FBI Safe Streets Task Force Project Safe Neighborhoods investigation into the sale of crack cocaine in and around Woonsocket in early 2020, agents developed information that Medeiros arranged at least four sales of crack cocaine, utilizing text messaging, phone calls, and Snapchat. On each occasion, in an effort to insulate himself from responsibility for his role in trafficking crack cocaine, Medeiros utilized a “runners” to deliver the drugs that he sold. In at least three instances he used Fernandes to make deliveries; in another instance he allegedly had his girlfriend make a delivery.

 Anthony Medeiros pleaded guilty on May 6, 2021, to conspiracy to distribute cocaine base; distribution of cocaine base; and two counts of distribution of 28 grams or more of cocaine base. He was sentenced on August 1, 2022, by U.S. District Court Judge Mary S. McElroy to 60 months of incarceration to be followed by four years of federal supervised release.

Fernandes was sentenced today by District Court Judge McElroy to 60 months of incarceration to be followed by four years of federal supervised release – the first six months of supervised release to be served at the Neil J. Houston House, a residential reentry center located in Pawtucket.

Medeiros’s girlfriend, Mariah Raymond, 28, of Woonsocket, is awaiting trial on charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine base and distribution of cocaine base. A federal indictment is merely an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stacey P. Veroni.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

          LOS ANGELES – A San Fernando Valley man was sentenced today to 240 months in federal prison for distributing the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl that resulted in the overdose deaths of two people in July 2018.

          Trent Michael Tomasovich, 31, of Sherman Oaks, was sentenced by United States District Judge John F. Walter.

          Tomasovich pleaded guilty in September 2019 to one count of distribution of fentanyl resulting in death.

          According to court documents, on July 13, 2018, Tomasovich sold fentanyl to a 24-year-old woman who took the drug at a Woodland Hills apartment and died during the early morning hours the following day. The victim was visiting a friend, who found the woman unresponsive and then summoned paramedics.

          Several hours later, the boyfriend of the woman who lived in the Woodland Hills apartment found the narcotics that the deceased woman had purchased. Ignoring his girlfriend’s request to dispose of the drugs, the 38-year-old man consumed the fentanyl and suffered a fatal overdose.

          In his plea agreement, Tomasovich admitted that but for the use of the fentanyl that he distributed, the two victims would have lived.

          “In this case, [Tomasovich’s] conduct led to two peoples’ deaths and caused permanent, irreparable damage to the loved ones they left behind,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum.

          The investigation into Tomasovich was conducted by the HIDTA Fusion Task Force, which is part of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) task force and operates under the direction of the Drug Enforcement Administration. The Los Angeles Police Department (Van Nuys Homicide), the Glendale Police Department and the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office provided substantial assistance in this matter.

          Assistant United States Attorneys A. Carley Palmer of the General Crimes Section and Elia Herrera of the International Narcotics, Money Laundering, and Racketeering Section prosecuted this case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

POCATELLO – A Fort Hall man was sentenced to 38 months in federal prison for assault resulting in serious bodily injury.

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, on January 7, 2022, Evaristo Antonio Aguilar, 28, and the victim went to his residence on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation.  Once inside the house, Aguilar, who had been using heroin, barricaded the door so the victim could not leave the residence. Aguilar then hit the victim on the leg and in the face with a dog leash.  Aguilar slammed the victim’s face into a mirror and hit and kicked the victim over the next few hours, with the victim drifting in and out of consciousness. Late in the evening Aguilar dragged the victim down the hallway toward the bedroom and told her it was time to go to bed.   At around 10:00 pm Aguilar fell asleep, and the victim managed to leave the house and call police from a cell phone in her car.  Responding officers stated that the victim’s face was swollen, with black and bruised eyes and blood on the victim’s mouth and nose.  The victim was taken to the hospital and diagnosed with a collapsed lung, broken ribs, broken bones in her face and hand and extensive bruising over her body.  The victim has since recovered.

Chief U.S. District Judge David C. Nye also ordered Aguilar to serve three years of supervised release following his prison sentence.

U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit, of the District of Idaho, made the announcement and commended the cooperative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Fort Hall Police Department which led to the charges.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced that Matt “Mack” Jones, 39, of Bensalem, PA, was convicted at trial of multiple narcotics offenses including distribution of heroin and conspiracy to distribute heroin.

In January 2018, New Jersey State Police, the Philadelphia DEA, New Jersey (Camden) DEA, and the Philadelphia Police Department began a joint investigation of the defendant and other co-conspirators related to a drug trafficking operation. Investigators learned that the defendant was a supplier of heroin, and would use female associates as couriers to deliver bags of heroin to customers. Phone records, text messages, and physical surveillance confirmed the defendant’s participation in the conspiracy to distribute and deliver substantial amounts of heroin throughout the Philadelphia region.

The investigation progressed from controlled purchases of heroin from the defendant and his co-conspirators, to the eventual seizure of substantial amounts of fentanyl-laced heroin, narcotics adulterants, drug paraphernalia, and multiple stolen firearms from an apartment used by the defendant and his coconspirators to store and distribute drugs. All told, the narcotics conspiracy was responsible for distributing over a half kilogram of heroin and/or fentanyl.

“Drug addiction and the distribution operations that enable it are at epidemic levels in Philadelphia, and the federal government is aggressively prosecuting those responsible for the surge,” said U.S. Attorney Romero. “Jones and other members of this conspiracy pumped large quantities of narcotics into our communities, putting many people’s lives at risk. We want to thank our law enforcement partners in this case for their hard work and dedication.”

The case was investigated by Drug Enforcement Administration, the Philadelphia Police Department, New Jersey State Police, the Bensalem Township Police, and the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David Metcalf.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Baltimore, Maryland – Dennis James Harrison, age 40, of Rocky Ridge, Maryland, pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a child to produce child pornography, related to the sexual exploitation of two minors who were between the ages of 10 and 12 at the time of the abuse.  The guilty plea was entered on Friday, August 26, 2022.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge James C. Harris of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore; Frederick County Sheriff Charles A. “Chuck” Jenkins; and Frederick County State’s Attorney J. Charles Smith III.

According to his guilty plea, between 2018 and 2021, Harrison sexually exploited two minor girls beginning when the one victim was twelve years old and when another victim was 10 to 11 years old, to produce child pornography.  Specifically, from at least September 2020 through August 2021, Harrison engaged in sexual activity with Jane Doe 1, a 12-year-old girl who resided in Pennsylvania.  Harrison picked-up Jane Doe 1 from her residence and drove her to various location in Maryland, including Harrison’s residence, where he engaged in illegal sexual activity with Jane Doe 1.  Harrison produced images and videos of his sexual abuse of Jane Doe 1 and enticed Jane Doe 1 to send him sexually explicit photographs of herself.

As detailed in his plea agreement, Harrison also used a hidden camera and a mobile phone in 2018 to produce a series of images depicting Jane Doe 2, a 10-to-11-year-old girl, nude and partially nude in a bedroom and bathroom in Pennsylvania and in a bathroom in Maryland.  The images were taken without the knowledge of Jane Doe 2. 

On August 12, 2021, investigators executed a search warrant at Harrison’s residence and recovered a cellphone used by Harrison to film his sexual abuse of Jane Doe 1, as well as several digital devices.  A forensic examination of all the devices located files depicting the sexual abuse of children on each one, including depictions of infants and toddlers.  In total, over 14,000 files of child pornography were found on Harrison’s devices.  On August 12, 2009, Harrison was convicted of possession of child pornography related to the sexual abuse of a minor and was a registered sex offender at the time of his arrest in the federal case.

As stated in his plea agreement, upon his release from prison, Harrison must continue to register as a sex offender in the places where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (“SORNA”). 

Harrison faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in prison and a maximum of 50 years in prison.  Chief U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar has scheduled sentencing for January 23, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. 

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 growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.  For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc and click on the “Resources” tab on the left of the page.         

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended HSI, the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office, and the Frederick County State’s Attorney’s Office their work in the investigation and prosecution.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul E. Budlow and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Joyce King, who are prosecuting the federal case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-childhood and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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