Month: August 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Tampa, Florida –United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the unsealing of an indictment charging Arnulfo Rodriguez-Munoz, (41, Fort Worth, TX), Enrique Velasquez (43, Dallas, TX), Heriberto Castillo, (44, Denton, TX), and David Ceballos (27, Alvarado, TX) with conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and fentanyl. If convicted on all counts, each faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, and up to, life in federal prison. The indictment also notifies that the United States intends to any assets which are alleged to be traceable to proceeds of the offense. 

According to the indictment, from at least April 2021 through October 2021, the individuals conspired to distribute cocaine and fentanyl throughout the Middle District of Florida.  

This case is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), which identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Michael R. Kenneth and Diego F. Novaes.

Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

MADISON, WIS. – A Madison, Wisconsin man has been convicted of conspiring to transport and transporting stolen goods worth in excess of $5,000 across state lines. Ahmeeshadye Curtis, 36, was convicted following a four-day trial in federal court in Madison.  The jury reached a verdict yesterday evening after approximately nine hours of deliberation.  The guilty verdict is announced by Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

WILLIAMSPORT – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that on August 4, 2022, Jessika Ann Sanders, age 34, of New York, was sentenced to three and a half months’ imprisonment to be followed by a two-year term of supervised release by Chief United States District Court Judge Matthew W. Brann, for providing contraband in prison.

According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, Tyrone Wayne Meachem was an inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution, Allenwood (FCI Allenwood), in White Deer, Pennsylvania.  On April 7, 2018, Sanders visited Meachem and gave him a sandwich containing three balloons filled with 68 strips of Suboxone.  Suboxone contains buprenorphine, a controlled substance.  Meachem recruited Sanders to smuggle the Suboxone so Meachem could pay off a debt to another inmate.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Drew O. Inman and Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey W. MacArthur prosecuted the case.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

Jacksonville, Florida –United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Raul Solis has pleaded guilty to conspiring defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and to unlawfully employ workers who were neither lawfully admitted to, nor authorized to be employed in, the United States.  His son, Raul Solis-Martinez pleaded guilty to the same charge on July 27, 2022.  Both face a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.

According to their plea agreements, Solis and Solis-Martinez owned and operated Solis Brothers Company, LLC and Duval Framing, LLC, which are construction subcontracting companies in Jacksonville, Florida.  To illicitly lower labor costs, they conspired with each other (and the owner of another contractor, H&S Framing, LLC) to pay their employees partially “off the books.”  By paying employees with a mix of checks and cash, the conspirators avoided withholding the full amount of payroll taxes owed to the IRS.  Between 2014 and 2019, Solis and Solis-Martinez’s workers received approximately $22,186,096.35 in wages that were never reported to the IRS and from which no taxes were withheld.  This practice led to a loss to the U.S. Treasury of approximately $5,613,082.38.

Further, by misrepresenting how much their employees were working, Solis and Solis-Martinez also defrauded the company that managed their payroll functions, as well as their workers compensation insurer, both of which relied on the conspirators’ false payroll reporting to calculate the cost of their services.  In addition, Solis and Solis-Martinez knew that many of their employees had emigrated to the United States illegally or were otherwise not authorized to work here.  Some workers had been previously deported from the United States, only to return and work for Solis and Solis-Martinez. 

Both have agreed pay restitution to the IRS in the amount of $5,613,082.38.

This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General, and the Florida Department of Financial Services.  It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael J. Coolican.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

BOISE – A Nampa man was sentenced to 126 months in federal prison for distribution of methamphetamine.

According to court records, on June 9, 2021, Jason Paul Janes, 45, of Nampa, Idaho, distributed more than two pounds of methamphetamine for $3,800 to another person.

Janes has criminal history spanning nearly three decades, and includes convictions for burglary, forgery, and possession of a controlled substance.

U.S. District Judge Scott W. Skavdahl, from the District of Wyoming, sitting by designation, also ordered Janes to pay a $250 fine and to serve 5 years of supervised release following his prison sentence. Janes pleaded guilty to the charge on February 16, 2022

U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit, of the District of Idaho made the announcement and commended the efforts of Treasure Valley Metro Violent Crime Task Force, which led to charges.

This case was prosecuted by the Special Assistant U.S. Attorney hired by the Treasure Valley Partnership and the State of Idaho to address gang crimes. The Treasure Valley Partnership is comprised of a group of elected officials in southwest Idaho dedicated to regional coordination, cooperation, and collaboration on creating coherent regional growth. For more information, visit www.treasurevalleypartners.org.

This case was investigated by Treasure Valley Metro Violent Crime Task Force. The Task Force is comprised of federal, state, and local agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Ada County Sheriff’s Office; Boise Police Department; Caldwell Police Department; Canyon County Sheriff’s Office; Meridian Police Department; Nampa Police Department; and Idaho Department of Correction.

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