Month: August 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

PITTSBURGH – A resident of Greene County, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to 37 months’ imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release on his convictions for cyberstalking and communication of threats to injure, United States Attorney Cindy K. Chung announced today.

United States District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan imposed the sentence yesterday on Kaleb Levicky, 23, formerly of Carmichaels, Pennsylvania.

According to information presented to the court, from Nov. 3, 2020 and continuing through Nov. 30, 2020, Levicky sent numerous messages via an Instagram account and multiple telephone numbers to Person 1, Person 1’s Friend, and Person 1’s Boyfriend. In these messages, Levicky threatened to cause serious bodily injury and death to Person 1. Subsequently, on Dec. 14, 2020, Levicky sent a text message to Person 2, threatening to “kill hundreds of innocent people” with firearms. Investigators with the Federal Bureau of investigation confirmed that Levicky previously purchased these firearms, and investigators ultimately seized these firearms from Levicky. Judge Ranjan referenced the seriousness of the offense.

Assistant United States Attorney Mark V. Gurzo prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

United States Attorney Chung commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Freeland Police Department, Pennsylvania State Police, Indiana University of Pennsylvania Police, Cumberland Township Police Department, and Arizona State University Police for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Levicky.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – An Ohio man pleaded guilty today to a felony charge of destruction of government property for 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.

            Troy Elbert Faulkner, 41, of Whitehall, Ohio, pleaded guilty in the District of Columbia. According to court documents, shortly after 2:30 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021, Faulkner was part of a large crowd illegally outside the U.S. Capitol. He jumped up onto a window ledge and used his left foot to kick in two lower panes, shattering them.

            On Jan. 13, 2021, on a recorded call to an FBI hotline, and in subsequent interviews with law enforcement officers, Faulkner admitted that he had kicked in the window. The Architect of the Capitol estimated the cost of the damage to the window is $10,560, making this a felony offense.

            Faulkner was arrested on Dec. 8, 2021, in Blanchester, Ohio. He is to be sentenced on Oct. 14, 2022. He faces a statutory maximum of 10 years in prison and potential financial penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

            The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Justice Department’s National Security Division are prosecuting the case, with valuable assistance provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio.

            The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Cincinnati Field Office and its Columbus Resident Agency, and the FBI’s Washington Field Office. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.

            In the 18 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 850 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

The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced that Addiel Santini, 20, of Springfield, Massachusetts, was sentenced today to serve 6 months in prison after his conviction for possessing with intent to distribute fentanyl, cocaine, and cocaine base. United States District Judge Christina Reiss also ordered Santini to serve a three-year term of supervised release after his incarceration.

As Santini admitted in his guilty plea hearing, the Lyndonville Police Department (LPD) entered an apartment on Center Street in Lyndon, Vermont on June 26, 2021. Santini was the only person found in the sole bedroom of the apartment. Later that same day, LPD obtained a search warrant for the apartment. According to court records, during execution of that search warrant, in the bedroom that Santini had been occupying, law enforcement found approximately 3,670 bags of fentanyl-laced heroin, 6.187 grams of cocaine base, 34.54 grams of cocaine, and $5,695 in U.S. currency.

United States Attorney Nikolas P. Kerest commended the collaborative investigative efforts of the Vermont Drug Task Force of the Vermont State Police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Lyndonville Police Department.  

Assistant United States Attorney Kimberly G. Ang handled the prosecution. Santini was represented by Assistant Federal Public Defender Steven Barth.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

PITTSBURGH – A resident of Washington and Duncansville, Pennsylvania, was sentenced in federal court for three counts of production and attempted production of material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor, United States Attorney Cindy K. Chung announced today.

United States District Judge Robert J. Colville sentenced Jacob Kolonis, age 29, to 240 months’ imprisonment (20 years) followed by 10 years of supervised release and ordered that he pay restitution totaling $9,000 to his minor victims.

During Kolonis’ plea hearing on February 9, 2022, Kolonis admitted to threatening seven minor females with the intent to extort them for nude and sexually explicit images. On three of these occasions, Kolonis threatened the minors to create and send videos of themselves engaged in sexually explicit conduct over Snapchat, as directed by Kolonis. Kolonis admitted to extorting the minors for his own sexual gratification.

Prior to imposing sentence, Judge Coleville acknowledged that Kolonis had engaged in exceptionally serious conduct and recognized the immense impact of Kolonis’ crime on his victims.

Assistant United States Attorney Heidi M. Grogan prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

United States Attorney Chung commended Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General–Child Predator Unit, the Bethel Park Police Department, the South Fayette Township Police Department, and the Stark County Sheriff’s Office (Ohio) for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Kolonis.

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 Attorneys’ 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.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

ABINGDON, Va.– A Georgia man, who was convicted in February 2022 for conspiring to traffic methamphetamine from Georgia into Southwest Virginia, was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison.

Jerada “Rod” Henderson, 40, of Locust Grove, Georgia, was convicted by a jury in February 2022 on one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and one count of possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, a Schedule II controlled substance.

Henderson was arrested by the Smyth County Sheriff’s Office in October 2018 after law enforcement executed a search warrant on a home in Saltville, Virginia.  Law enforcement found Henderson in the home, owned by Henderson’s co-conspirators, along with over 450 grams of crystal methamphetamine, a firearm, and ammunition. 

United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh of the Western District of Virginia and Charlie J. Patterson, Special Agent in Charge of ATF’s Washington Field Division announced the conviction today.

The investigation was conducted by the Smyth County Sheriff’s Office, the Virginia State Police, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel J. Murphy prosecuted the case.