Month: August 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

SHREVEPORT, La. – A Vivian man has been sentenced for assaulting a postal carrier, announced United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown.  Derrick J. Thomas, 28, of Vivian, Louisiana, was sentenced by Chief United States District Judge S. Maurice Hicks, Jr. to 137 months (11 years, 5 months) in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release.

A federal grand jury returned an indictment in September 2021 charging Thomas with assault with a deadly weapon and he pleaded guilty to the charge on March 22, 2022. According to information presented to the court, on August 12, 2021, a rural carrier associate working at the Vivian Post Office began servicing her mail route in Vivian which she had been doing for two years. Shortly after starting the route that morning, the rural postal carrier passed Thomas sitting outside his residence (which was an abandoned residence) and parked nearby to begin to deliver mail to the street.

Soon after, the postal carrier got back into her vehicle and began driving but stopped after being flagged down by Thomas. Thomas had a 10” butcher knife hidden on his person and stabbed the postal carrier, who was 5 months pregnant at the time, in the right front shoulder. The carrier hit the accelerator and fled the scene before Thomas could stab a second time. The incident was reported to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and after an investigation, Thomas was charged with assault with a deadly weapon.

“Our federal employees and contractors must feel safe while in the course and scope of their employment,” stated U.S. Attorney Brandon B. Brown. “This is especially true when our employees are working in rural areas where law enforcement resources are limited.  This defendant, without provocation, committed a violent, inexcusable crime and deserves every day in the jail that the court gave him.  We will continue to prosecute those who commit such heinous acts against federal workers.”

The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Louisiana State Police, and the Vivian Police Department, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cytheria D. Jernigan.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

ALEXANDRIA, La. – United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown announced that Lisa G. Cooper, 55, of Cottonport, Louisiana, has pleaded guilty to federal program theft. The hearing was held today before United States District Judge Dee D. Drell.

According to evidence presented to the court, Cooper was employed by, and an agent of, the Cottonport Housing Authority (“CHA”), which is a local government agency that provides subsidized housing to low income individuals. The CHA received more than $10,000 per year in 2017, 2018 and 2019 from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) in the form of capital funds and operating subsidies.

In 2019, a routine financial audit was conducted, and it revealed some accounting discrepancies at the CHA, specifically, that from 2017 through 2019, tenant payments were being diverted from the CHA. Further investigation revealed that Cooper had been embezzling funds from the CHA.  While acting as an agent of the CHA, Cooper had been collecting rental payments on behalf of the agency from the CHA’s tenants in the form of money orders, with the payee and payor sections of the money orders left blank. Cooper would then enter her name as the payee and deposit the money orders into her personal bank accounts. The investigation revealed that approximately $30,079.05 in money orders was deposited into her personal bank accounts from 2017 through 2019.

Cooper admitted at today’s hearing that she acted as an agent of the CHA and embezzled and stole property from the CHA which she was not entitled to receive. She faces a sentence of not more than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. 

“This local government agency was there to assist low income individuals and this defendant’s choice to steal these funds for her own personal benefit is appalling,” stated U.S. Attorney Brandon B. Brown. “These types of crimes are ones that we will continue to pursue and prosecute.”

“This investigation represents our continuing resolve to address instances of fraud involving HUD programs,” said Bertrand Nelson, Special Agent in Charge, HUD, Office of Inspector General.  “We will continue to work diligently with the U.S. Attorney’s Office to protect the integrity of our programs and take swift action against those who embezzle funds intended for those most vulnerable in our communities.”

The case was investigated by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Daniel Siefker.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

LAKE CHARLES, La. – United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown announced that James J. Julian, 37, of Lake Charles, Louisiana, was sentenced today by United States District Judge James D. Cain, Jr. for illegal possession of a firearm.  Julian was sentenced to 84 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release.

Julian was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and pleaded guilty to the charge on May 3, 2022. The charge stems from an incident that occurred on March 3, 2020 when Julian got into an altercation with a female at her residence in Lake Charles. During their argument, Julian produced a silver revolver and pointed it at the female. There were children present who witnessed the incident and one child intervened until Julian left the residence on foot with the firearm. Law enforcement officers were called to the residence, and they searched for Julian. Behind the victim’s residence was an abandoned dwelling and officers located a silver High Standard .22 caliber revolver pistol and the victim was able to identify the firearm as being the one that Julian had pointed at her. Julian admitted to law enforcement officers that he had the firearm in his possession. He has a prior felony conviction for distribution of cocaine in 2014 and knew that he was prohibited from possessing any firearm or ammunition.

The case was investigated by the ATF and Lake Charles Police Department and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig R. Bordelon.

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 make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. PSN is part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime. To learn more about Project Safe Neighborhoods, go to www.justice.gov/psn.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

Since the founding of our nation, the Bill of Rights to the United States Constitution has guaranteed that all people have a right to be secure in their homes, free from false warrants, unreasonable searches and the use of unjustifiable and excessive force by the police.

Breonna Taylor should have awakened in her home, as usual, on the morning of March 13, 2020. Tragically, she did not. She was just 26 years old. As Attorney General Garland just stated, today’s indictments allege that Louisville Police Detective Joshua Jaynes and Sergeant Kyle Meany drafted and approved what they knew was a false affidavit to support a search warrant for Ms. Taylor’s home. That false affidavit set in motion events that led to Ms. Taylor’s death when other LMPD officers executed that warrant.

The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution ensures that people are subject to searches only when there is probable cause supporting a search warrant. Falsified warrants create unnecessary hazards for the public and for the police, who rely on facts that fellow officers report in carrying out their public duties. 

As the Attorney General described, the indictment alleges that by preparing a false affidavit to secure a search warrant for Breonna Taylor’s home, defendants Jaynes and Meany willfully deprived Ms. Taylor of her constitutional right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, and we allege that Ms. Taylor’s death resulted from that violation.

In a separate indictment, the grand jury charges former LMPD Detective Brett Hankinson with using unconstitutionally excessive force during the raid on Ms. Taylor’s home. Without a lawful objective justifying the use of deadly force, defendant Hankinson traveled away from Ms. Taylor’s doorway to the side of the building and fired 10 shots into Ms. Taylor’s apartment through a bedroom window and a sliding glass door that were both covered with blinds and curtains.

Community safety dictates that police officers use their weapons only when necessary to defend their own lives or the lives of others, and even then, that they must do so with great care and caution. Today’s indictment alleges that Hankinson’s use of excessive force violated the rights of Ms. Taylor and her guest, and also of her neighbors, whose lives were endangered by bullets that penetrated into their apartment.

Attorney General Garland often underscores, that at the Justice Department, we are to follow the facts and law. Today, after a full and comprehensive investigation, the facts and law have brought us here, to these indictments.

I want to commend our team who spent hundreds of hours gathering the facts regarding this tragedy. No stone was left unturned. These indictments reflect the department’s commitment to preserving the integrity of the criminal justice system and to protecting the constitutional rights of every American.

Independent from these criminal charges, a separate team from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division is conducting a civil investigation into whether the LMPD is engaging in a pattern or practice of law enforcement misconduct. We’re looking at whether the LMPD uses excessive force or improper searches. That ongoing investigation is separate from today’s charges.

In closing, I extend condolences to Breonna Taylor’s family and loved ones. Today, we acknowledge the loss of her life, recognize her dignity, and recommit ourselves to the pursuit of justice.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Remarks as Delivered

Thank you for joining us today. I am happy to be here in San Antonio to highlight our team, our whole-of-government efforts in combatting human smuggling and the risk to life it poses. We are here to announce the unsealing of an indictment in a case charging four Guatemalan nationals with an international human smuggling conspiracy that caused the death of a young woman, an indigenous Guatemalan migrant. As you will read in the court filings, in the spring of 2021, the young woman died in the course of the dangerous journey these defendants, and others, used to smuggle her and others into the United States.

Our deepest condolences go out to this young woman’s family, our team has been in contact with her family and they will continue to have our support. Ensuring that victims and their families remain at the center of our practice has been a priority for the Criminal Division during my time as Assistant Attorney General.

Among those indicted was the alleged leader of the organization, Felipe Diego Alonzo, also known as Siete or Seven. This case is the direct result of Attorney General Garland’s human smuggling and trafficking task force, Joint Task Force Alpha, led by prosecutors from the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section, or HRSP, and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas.

In addition to the unsealing of the indictment, I am pleased to report that just a couple days ago, on August 2nd, coordinated domestic and foreign law enforcement efforts over the past year culminated in a massive law enforcement takedown operation in Guatemala. That operation resulted in the arrest of Alonzo and his three alleged co-conspirators in the indictment, along with 15 other individuals on an array of foreign criminal charges who are alleged to be a part of this extensive human smuggling network. In addition to these arrests, dozens of search warrants were executed against the smuggling ring by Guatemalan authorities, and substantial assets were seized, including 10 high valued motor vehicles, firearms, and cash.

This latest indictment and historic international arrest operation are the latest example of the efforts undertaken by Joint Task Force Alpha since its inception in June 2021. By combining the efforts and resources of numerous Department of Justice prosecutors and law enforcement officials, particularly Homeland Security Investigations special agents, from across the country and overseas, cases and law enforcement actions like this one highlight the collective resolve and commitment we have dedicated to combatting human smuggling at its source. JTF Alpha’s dedicated personnel, along with our international law enforcement partners, are working tirelessly to disrupt and dismantle these harmful smuggling and trafficking networks.

Joint Task Force Alpha was created to investigate and prosecute the international networks responsible for dangerous and prolific human smuggling activities that exploit and victimize migrants. These indictments demonstrate the Department of Justice’s commitment to holding accountable criminal organizations that prey upon vulnerable people for profit.

The message to human smugglers should be crystal clear: you will be held accountable for your dangerous and often lethal, criminality. The combined might of U.S. law enforcement and its international partners will continue to aggressively target you and your illegal operations for disruption and dismantlement, both within the United States and south of the border, using every tool, technique, and resource at our disposal.

It’s important that I acknowledge and express my deep appreciation to our key partners in law enforcement involved in this case, who have worked on this matter in close coordination with Joint Task Force Alpha’s Criminal Division leadership team and prosecutors throughout the investigation.

This has been a truly international investigation led by agents from the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)’s Homeland Security Investigations. HSI Midland led the U.S. investigation, working in concert with HSI Guatemala, and the HSI Human Smuggling Unit in Washington, D.C.  HSI received substantial assistance from ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s National Targeting Center including Operation Sentinel; U.S. Border Patrol, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Odessa and Midland Police Departments; the Texas Department of Public Safety; and the Ector County, Midland County, and Crane County Sherriff’s Offices.

The work of the Criminal Division’s Office of Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training also deserves special acknowledgement for the support and assistance they provided in this matter. Their tremendous ongoing efforts at capacity-building and case mentoring with their Guatemalan counterparts are critical to laying the groundwork for significant law enforcement actions like those we’ve announced today, and to address the root causes of human smuggling.

The Department of Justice wants to express great thanks and is deeply appreciative of the efforts of Guatemalan law enforcement, who were instrumental in furthering this investigation and taking their own actions against this network.

Finally, I want to specifically recognize the team who are handling this case. The Joint Task Force Alpha Deputy Director James Hepburn of HRSP, AUSAs Adrian Gallegos and Jose Luis Acosta of the Western District of Texas and JTFA. AUSA John Fedock of the Western District of Texas and HRSP Historian/Latin America Specialist Joanna Crandall.

I know that together, JTF Alpha and our dedicated partners will continue to pursue our mission to disrupt and dismantle human smuggling and trafficking networks, including those that pose national security risks, have links to transnational organized crime, and most especially, those that abuse, exploit, or jeopardize the lives of those being smuggled.

And now it is my pleasure to turn it over to Executive U.S Attorney Kristy Callahan of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas.