Month: August 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced today that Aaron Richard Eubanks, age 32, of Tahlequah, Oklahoma, was found guilty by a federal jury of five counts of Aggravated Sexual Abuse in Indian Country.

The jury trial began with testimony on Tuesday, August 2, 2022, and concluded on Friday, August 5, 2022, with the guilty verdicts.

During the trial, the United States presented evidence that between January of 2020 and February of 2021, Aaron Richard Eubanks engaged in sexual acts with a minor victim, who had not reached 10 years of age, on at least five occasions. Further, the United States presented evidence that in February of 2021, Aaron Richard Eubanks engaged in sexual acts with a second minor victim, who had not reached the age of 11 at the time of the abuse.

The guilty verdicts were the result of an investigation by the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma prosecuted the case because the defendant in this case is a member of a federally recognized Indian tribe and the crimes occurred in Adair and Cherokee Counties, within the boundaries of the Cherokee Nation Reservation, and within the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

The Honorable Charles B. Goodwin, U.S. District Judge in the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, sitting in Oklahoma City, presided over the trial and ordered the completion of a presentence report. Sentencing will be scheduled following completion of the report. Eubanks was remanded to the custody of the United States Marshal pending the imposition of sentencing.

Assistant United States Attorneys Caila M. Cleary and Anthony C. Marek represented the United States.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Monday sentenced a man involved in two carjackings and the theft of a gun after a shooting to 15 years in prison.

Jeremiah Couch, 32, pleaded guilty in April to two carjacking charges, a charge of possession of a stolen firearm and a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Couch admitted stealing a Mini Draco AK-47-style pistol on Oct. 17, 2019 from a man who had just been shot in the 5500 block of South 37^th Street in St. Louis.

On Oct. 19, 2019, Couch and two others stole a 2020 Jeep Cherokee from outside a home located in the 4100 block of Camellia Avenue in St. Louis, as well as the driver’s phone.

Couch also admitted stealing a man’s 2007 Ford Edge and his money at gunpoint on Oct. 21, 2019 in the 4700 block of South Spring Avenue in St. Louis. 

Saint Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers spotted the stolen car less than two hours later. Couch sped off, but crashed while exiting Interstate 70 at West Florissant Avenue. He was caught a short distance away, and officers found a pistol and a shotgun behind the driver’s seat of the stolen car.

The case was investigated by the Saint Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark on Monday sentenced a man from Hannibal who was caught with stolen firearms to five years and three months in prison.

Hannibal police and the Ralls County Sheriff’s Office were investigating the theft of firearms when they located Ronald Allen on Dec. 24, 2020 in a home in Hannibal. Officers found three stolen semi-automatic pistols, drug paraphernalia, prescription pains and marijuana in the home, Allen’s plea agreement says.

Two of the guns were stolen the night before in Ralls County and the other was stolen from Jefferson City, court documents show.

Allen, 46, pleaded guilty in April to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The Hannibal Police Department, the Ralls County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kourtney Bell prosecuted the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – A Nigerian national pleaded guilty today to receipt of stolen money in connection with a fraud and money laundering scheme that defrauded at least 200 victims, many of whom are elderly, of at least $2.5 million.

According to court documents and statements made in court, John Nassy, 29, admitted to participating in the scheme from June 2018 until at least May 2019 while he attended college in Huntington. Other members of the conspiracy created online false personas and contacted victims via email, text messaging or online dating and social media websites. The conspirators sought to induce the victims into believing they were in a romantic relationship, friendship, or business relationship with various false personas. The victims were persuaded to send money for a variety of false and fraudulent reasons for the benefit of the false personas. Nassy admitted that he let victims transfer at least $148,000 to his bank accounts that he knew was from unlawful activity.

Nassy further admitted that after the victims’ funds were deposited in his accounts, he kept some of the money for himself and forwarded some of the money to his co-conspirators via the Zelle digital payments network. Nassy also transferred money to bank accounts located in Nigeria.

Nassy is among 10 men charged in four separate indictments with various fraud-related crimes in connection with the scheme. Six co-defendants have pleaded guilty. Charges remain pending against the other co-defendants. An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Nassy is scheduled to be sentenced on November 14, 2022, and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. Nassy also agrees that he owes $148,000 in restitution.

United States Attorney Will Thompson made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the United States Secret Service, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG), the West Virginia State Police and the South Charleston Police Department.

United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorney Kathleen Robeson is prosecuting the case.

The public is encouraged to report potential online fraud activity or scams at https://www.ic3.gov/.

If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has been a victim of financial fraud, help is standing by at the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311).  This U.S. 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 staffed 10am-6pm Eastern Time, Monday-Friday. English, Spanish, and other languages are available.  

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:21-cr-68.

 

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

The Justice Department today announced that two Virginia landlords have agreed to pay $225,000 to resolve allegations that they violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) by obtaining unlawful court judgments against military tenants at the Hideaway at Greenbrier Luxury Apartment Homes in Chesapeake, Virginia, and the Chase Arbor Apartments in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

“Eviction judgments seriously jeopardize servicemembers’ ability to find and obtain affordable housing and negatively impact the financial readiness of our armed forces,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The department will vigorously pursue any landlord that obtains eviction judgments against servicemembers by misrepresenting their military status to the court.”

“A servicemember’s military career is adversely affected by a judgment, which affects the military’s readiness,” said U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Aber for the Eastern District of Virginia. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to pursuing companies that obtain default judgments against servicemembers by misrepresenting a servicemember’s military status or by failing to file an affidavit of military service, as required by the SCRA.”

Under the SCRA, if a landlord files a civil lawsuit against a tenant and the tenant does not appear in court, the landlord must file an affidavit with the court stating whether the tenant is in the military before seeking a judgment. If the affidavit says that the tenant is in military service, the court cannot enter judgment until it appoints an attorney to represent the servicemember. The court must also postpone the case for at least 90 days. In a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, the department alleges that the owners of the Hideaway at Greenbrier and Chase Arbor Apartments filed false affidavits and failed to file affidavits of military service, as required by the SCRA, prior to obtaining default judgments against numerous servicemembers. The properties are affiliated with one another and used the same law firm to file eviction claims in Virginia state courts.

The department alleges that the properties’ owners knew or should have known that the affidavits that they filed were inaccurate, because their files contained information that would have allowed them to easily verify their tenants’ military status. Landlords and lenders can also verify an individual’s military status by searching the Defense Manpower Data Center’s free publicly available website and by reviewing their files to see if there are applications, military leave and earnings statements or military orders indicating military status.

Under the proposed consent order, which still must be approved by the court, the owners of the two properties will pay $162,971 to affected servicemembers and a $62,029 civil penalty to the United States. The order also requires the owners to vacate the eviction judgments, repair the servicemembers’ credit, provide SCRA training to their employees and develop new policies and procedures consistent with the SCRA. The owners must also reimburse affected servicemembers for any amounts collected pursuant to an unlawful judgment.

This matter was handled jointly by the Civil Rights Division’s Housing and Civil Enforcement Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Since 2011, the department has obtained over $476 million in monetary relief for over 121,000 servicemembers through its enforcement of the SCRA. For more information about the department’s SCRA enforcement efforts, please visit www.servicemembers.gov.

Servicemembers and their dependents who believe that their rights under the SCRA have been violated should contact the nearest Armed Forces Legal Assistance Program Office. Office locations may be found at http://legalassistance.law.af.mil.

The civil claims settled are allegations only; there has been no determination by a court of liability.