Month: August 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Jackson, Miss. – A Pearl River woman was sentenced to 24 months in prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine on the Choctaw Indian Reservation, announced U.S. Attorney Darren LaMarca of the Southern District of Mississippi and Special Agent in Charge Brad Byerley of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

According to court documents, Winter Kate Lewis 32, of the Pearl River Community of the Choctaw Indian Reservation distributed methamphetamine on the Choctaw Indian Reservation from May 2019 to April of 2020.

A federal grand jury in July of 2021, indicted Lewis in a three-count indictment involving the possession and distribution of methamphetamine on the Choctaw Indian Reservation. On April 28, 2022, Lewis entered a plea of guilty to count one of the indictment charging conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine. As stated in court, Lewis admitted to her role in the conspiracy.

Lewis was sentenced to a prison term of 24 months, plus a fine of $1500, to be followed by a term of 5 years supervised release following release from prison. The sentencing took place in the Thad Cochran United States Courthouse in Jackson, Mississippi.

U.S. Attorney LaMarca commended the work of the members of the Choctaw Police Department of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, the U.S. Department of Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs, and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration who investigated the case. 

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kevin J. Payne and Special Assistant United States Attorney Brian Burns.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Defendant used a drone to fly marijuana and other contraband items over a fence into a prison facility

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Remarks as Delivered

Good morning everyone. Earlier today, I spoke with the family of Breonna Taylor.  This morning, they were informed that the Justice Department has charged four current and former Louisville Metro Police Department officers with federal crimes related to Ms. Taylor’s death.

Those alleged crimes include civil rights offenses, unlawful conspiracies, unconstitutional use of force, and obstruction offenses.

The four defendants were charged through two separate indictments and one information.

I am going to begin today by discussing the civil rights offenses that stem from the falsification of a search warrant. We allege that these offenses resulted in Ms. Taylor’s death.

These charges focus on the conduct of the Louisville Metro Police Department’s Place-Based Investigations Unit.

In the first indictment filed today, we allege that in early 2020, that unit was investigating suspected drug trafficking in the West End [area] of Louisville.

On March 12, 2020, officers from that unit sought 5 search warrants they claimed were related to the suspected drug trafficking.  Four of those warrants targeted properties in the West End where that activity was allegedly occurring.

A fifth search warrant was for Breonna Taylor’s home, which was approximately 10 miles away from the West End.

The federal charges announced today allege:

• that members of [LMPD’s] Place-Based Investigations Unit falsified the affidavit used to obtain the search warrant of Ms. Taylor’s home;
• that this act violated federal civil rights laws;
• and that those violations resulted in Ms. Taylor’s death.

Specifically, we allege that Ms. Taylor’s Fourth Amendment rights were violated when defendants Joshua Jaynes, Kyle Meany, and Kelly Goodlett sought a warrant to search Ms. Taylor’s home knowing that the officers lacked probable cause for the search.

We allege that the defendants knew the affidavit in support of that warrant contained false and misleading information and that it omitted material information.

Among other things, the affidavit falsely claimed that officers had verified that the target of the alleged drug trafficking operation had received packages at Ms. Taylor’s address. In fact, Defendants Jaynes and Goodlett knew that was not true.

We further allege that Defendants Jaynes and Meany knew the search warrant would be carried out by armed LMPD officers, and that conducting that search could create a dangerous situation for anyone who happened to be in Ms. Taylor’s home.

As outlined in the charging documents, the officers who ultimately carried out the search at Ms. Taylor’s apartment were not involved in the drafting of the warrant and were unaware of the false and misleading statements it contained.

When those officers executed the search warrant, Ms. Taylor was at home with another person who was in lawful possession of a handgun.

When officers broke down the door to Ms. Taylor’s apartment, that person — believing that intruders were breaking in — immediately fired one shot, hitting the first officer at the door.

Two officers immediately fired a total of 22 shots into the apartment. One of those shots hit Ms. Taylor in the chest and killed her.

We allege that the defendants knew their actions in falsifying the affidavit could create a dangerous situation. And we allege these unlawful acts resulted in Ms. Taylor’s death.

The charges announced today also allege that the officers responsible for falsifying the affidavit that led to the search took steps to cover up their unlawful conduct after Ms. Taylor was killed.

We allege that Defendants Jaynes and Goodlett conspired to knowingly falsify an investigative document that was created after Ms. Taylor’s death.

We also allege that they conspired to mislead federal, state, and local authorities who were investigating the incident. For example, we allege that in May 2020, those two defendants met in a garage where they agreed to tell investigators a false story.

The indictment separately alleges that Defendant Meany lied to the FBI during its investigation of this matter.

Another indictment filed today alleges that after Ms. Taylor was shot, another LMPD officer, Defendant Brett Hankison, moved from the doorway to the side of her apartment and fired 10 more shots through a window and a sliding glass door, both of which were covered with blinds and curtains.

Defendant Hankison has been charged with two civil rights offenses alleging that he willfully used unconstitutionally excessive force while acting in his official capacity as an officer.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke will speak more about that aspect of the case.

As in any case, the charges we announce today are allegations, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Before I close, I want to thank Assistant Attorney General Clarke, her team in the Civil Rights Division, and the case agents at the FBI for their tireless work on this case.

We share, but we cannot fully imagine, the grief felt by Breonna Taylor’s loved ones and all of those affected by the events of March 13th, 2020.

Breonna Taylor should be alive today.

The Justice Department is committed to defending and protecting the civil rights of every person in this country.  That was this Department’s founding purpose, and it remains our urgent mission.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

BC Flynn Contracting Corp. (BC Flynn) and Axion Specialty Contracting LLC (Axion) pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Connecticut for their roles in a conspiracy to rig bids on insulation contracts in Connecticut in violation of the antitrust laws and, as to BC Flynn, to engage in criminal fraud related to those insulation contracts.

According to plea agreements filed yesterday in the U.S. District Court in Bridgeport, BC Flynn and Axion conspired among themselves and other companies and individuals to rig bids on contracts for installing insulation around pipes and ducts on construction projects at universities, hospitals, and other public and private entities in Connecticut. The conspiracy ran for nearly seven years, beginning as early as June 2011 and continuing until as late as March 2018.  Four individuals and one company previously pleaded guilty to charges related to their role in this scheme and await sentencing.

“Construction and infrastructure projects — many of them funded in whole or part by taxpayers — deserve to have contracting processes that are fair and competitive,” said Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. “The division will work with our law enforcement partners to ensure that the individuals and corporations that defraud these projects are held fully responsible for their actions.”

“The plea agreements detail how the perpetrators submitted collusive bids and shared bid numbers with their competitors in an illegal effort to improve their companies’ bottom lines,” said U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery for the District of Connecticut. “I commend the FBI and DCIS for investigating this scheme that victimized hospitals, universities and businesses throughout Connecticut.”

“Free and open markets are the foundation of a vibrant economy,” said Special Agent in Charge David Sundberg of the FBI New Haven Field Office. “The FBI is committed to investigating perpetrators of antitrust and fraud crimes that corruptly limit competition in the construction sector.”

“The Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), the law enforcement arm of the Department of Defense (DoD) Office of Inspector General, is fully committed to protecting the integrity of the DoD procurement system,” said Special Agent in Charge Patrick J. Hegarty of the DCIS Northeast Field Office. “Anticompetitive and fraudulent practices undermine the legitimate procurement processes designed to ensure equity among parties that do business with the DoD. We will continue to partner with the Department of Justice and the FBI to ensure that the market for construction services provided to the U.S. military remains competitive.” 

The antitrust charges announced today carry a maximum penalty of a $100 million fine for each defendant corporation. The fraud conspiracy charge against BC Flynn carries a maximum penalty of a $500,000 fine. The fines for the antitrust and fraud conspiracy charges may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine. In addition, pursuant to the plea agreements, which are subject to the court’s final approval, BC Flynn and Axion have agreed to pay restitution to the victims.

This investigation is being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s New York Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut, the FBI’s New Haven Division, and the DCIS’s New Haven Resident Agency. 

In November 2019, the Department of Justice created the Procurement Collusion Strike Force, a joint law enforcement effort to combat antitrust crimes and related fraudulent schemes that impact government procurement, grant, and program funding at all levels of government — federal, state and local. To contact the Procurement Collusion Strike Force, or to report information on market allocation, price fixing, bid rigging and other anticompetitive conduct related to construction or infrastructure, go to https://www.justice.gov/procurement-collusion-strike-force.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

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.