Month: August 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Jacksonville, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Mikah Nathaniel Strickland (27, Live Oak) has pleaded guilty to stealing cash deposits from the mail. Strickland faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.

According to the plea agreement, from October 25, 2021, to March 2, 2022, Strickland worked as a city carrier for the Live Oak Post Office. He was assigned to the delivery route that picked up outgoing mail from the Verizon Wireless store located in Live Oak. During this time, the United States Postal Service – Office of Inspector General had received a complaint that Verizon Wireless cash vault deposits, which were picked up from the Live Oak store and scanned, were missing.  After investigating the complaint, agents discovered that Strickland was stealing the deposits, and that he had taken 19 Verizon Wireless deposits totaling more than $23,000. During an interview with agents, Strickland admitted to stealing all 19 of the Verizon Wireless deposits from the store in Live Oak.  

This case was investigated by United States Postal Service – Office of Inspector General. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kirwinn Mike.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

          SANTA ANA, California – A New Jersey man was sentenced today to 36 months in federal prison for posing as a former player for the New England Patriots, which allowed him to purchase family versions of the team’s 2016 Super Bowl championship ring – supposedly as gifts to relatives of quarterback Tom Brady – one of which was sold at auction for more than $337,000.

          Scott V. Spina Jr., 25, of Roseland, New Jersey, was sentenced by United States District Judge David O. Carter, who also ordered Spina to pay $63,000 in restitution to the former Patriots player who sold him his Super Bowl ring and other memorabilia.

          On February 1, Spina pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud, three counts of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.

          The scheme began in 2017, when Spina purchased a Super Bowl LI ring awarded to a Patriots player who subsequently left the team. Spina, who bilked the former player by paying for the ring with at least one bad check, sold the ring soon after for $63,000 to a well-known broker of championship rings.

          When Spina obtained the player ring, he also received the information that allowed the former player to purchase Super Bowl rings for family and friends that are slightly smaller than the player rings.

          “Spina then called the Ring Company, fraudulently identified himself as [the former player], and started ordering three family and friend Super Bowl LI rings with the name ‘Brady’ engraved on each one, which he falsely represented were gifts for the baby of quarterback Tom Brady,” according to court documents. “The rings were at no time authorized by Tom Brady. Defendant Spina intended to obtain the three rings by fraud and to sell them at a substantial profit.”

          Spina entered into an agreement with the Orange County man who purchased the player’s Super Bowl ring to sell him the three family rings that Spina now claimed Brady had given to his nephews. After agreeing to buy the three rings for $81,500 – nearly three times what Spina paid for the rings – the buyer started to believe that Brady did not have nephews, and he tried to withdraw from the deal.

          The same day that the buyer tried to back out, and the same day that Spina received the rings in November 2017, Spina immediately sold them to an auction house for $100,000. During an auction in February 2018, one of the family rings was sold for $337,219.

          Spina admitted in his plea agreement that he defrauded the Orange County ring broker when he falsely claimed that the rings “were ordered for Tom Brady directly from [the Ring Company] for select family members.” Spina also admitted that he defrauded this victim in relation to three wire transfers for the deposit on the family rings. Spina further admitted he committed identity theft when he posed as the former Patriot to purchase the rings.

          The FBI’s Art Crime Team investigated this matter.

          Assistant United States Attorney Erik M. Silber of the Environmental and Community Safety Crimes Section prosecuted this case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – A District of Columbia man was sentenced today to 55 months in prison on a felony charge stemming from his actions during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential election.

            Joshua Pruitt, 40, formerly of Washington, D.C., was sentenced in the District of Columbia.

            According to court documents, on Jan. 6, 2021, Pruitt, who was in the process of joining the Proud Boys, attended a rally with members of the group, which describes itself as a “pro-Western fraternal organization for men who refuse to apologize for creating the modern world; aka Western Chauvinists.” At approximately 12:30 p.m., he began marching from the area of the rally to the Capitol. At about 2:10 p.m., he was illegally on the restricted grounds of the Northwest Lawn. He was wearing a tactical glove with knuckle pads. He saw rioters push through a line of law enforcement officers and advance up the stairs to the Upper West Terrace. Pruitt followed them, using a piece of fencing as a makeshift ladder to climb on onto the stairs.

            Pruitt advanced up the stairs and toward the Capitol building. He leapt over a railing before entering the Capitol through the Senate Wing Door at approximately 2:14 p.m. He threw a wooden sign, and he was one of the first rioters to enter the Crypt.  After rioters breached the police line in the Crypt, Pruitt moved toward the Capitol Visitor’s Center. There, he picked up a chair and tossed it. He then continued in the direction of the Senate subway. Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer and his security detail – who had evacuated from the Senate Chamber — walked up a ramp toward the elevators in the northern part of the Visitor’s Center. A member of the security detail saw Pruitt approaching.  As a result, Senator Schumer and his security detail reversed course, running away from the elevator and back down the ramp. 

            Pruitt climbed out a window to leave the building at approximately 2:52 p.m. He was arrested the night of Jan. 6 for violating a curfew in place in Washington, and federal charges were filed against him the next day.

            Pruitt pleaded guilty on June 3, 2022, to a charge of obstruction of an official proceeding. Following his prison term, he will be placed on three years of supervised release. He also must pay $2,000 in restitution.

            The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.

            The case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.

            In the 19 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 860 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including over 260 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing. 

            Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.– A Staunton, Virginia man, who attempted to run over law enforcement officers serving arrest warrants, was sentenced last week to 57 months in federal prison.

Richard Lee Knight, 39, pled guilty in June 2022 to one count of assault on a federal officer.

According to court documents, the United States Marshals Service Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force (CARFTF) discovered that Knight, who was wanted on several fugitive warrants out of various jurisdictions in Virginia, was staying at a motel in the Charlottesville area.

Local law enforcement, in conjunction with CARFTF, located Knight in a Walmart parking lot on the morning of November 29, 2021 near his Mercedes Benz vehicle.  When a law enforcement officer moved in to arrest him by issuing an order to “show me your hands, don’t move,” Knight refused the order and entered his car instead.  Knight drove his Mercedes in reverse, striking both a CARFTF officer and a police vehicle, then drove forward, ramming into a second police vehicle.

After fleeing the scene, Knight led law enforcement officers on a high-speed chase through Albemarle County, Virginia before being apprehended after crashing his vehicle on Interstate 64.

As a result of Knight’s actions, a CARFTF officer suffered cuts, bruises, back injuries, and a concussion.

United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh of the Western District of Virginia and United States Marshal Thomas L. Foster of the Western District of Virginia made the announcement.

The United States Marshals Service Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force and the Albemarle County Police Department investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ronald M. Huber and Jordan E. McKay prosecuted the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle M. Baeppler announced that Steven Saris, 47, of Canton, Ohio, was charged in an indictment with operating an illegal gambling business.

The indictment alleges that from 2012 through 2018, the defendant, and others known and unknown to the Grand Jury, owned and operated Café 62, an illegal gambling business involving slot machines, in the Canton area.

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

If convicted, a sentence will be determined by the court after a review of factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offenses and the characteristics of the violation.  In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum; in most cases, it will be less than the maximum.

The investigation preceding the indictment was conducted by IRS Criminal Investigation (CI), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Ohio Casino and Gaming Commission and the Stark County Prosecutor’s Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys David M. Toepfer and Robert J. Patton.