Month: August 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Spokane, Washington – Vanessa R. Waldref, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, today announced $480,000 Department of Justice grant to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office Rapid DNA program. The grant will help law enforcement in Spokane County identify, arrest, and prosecute both violent crimes and prolific property crimes, with the goal of enhancing the Sheriff’s Office’s technical expertise, increasing the number of solved crimes in Spokane County, and reducing the number of crimes against persons and property.

The grant, which is administered by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs, was awarded on July 26, 2022. The funding will be used by the Forensic Unit of the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, which is an accredited lab covering various areas. The Rapid DNA program should accelerate the speed by which investigative leads can be developed, perpetrators identified, and innocent parties cleared. As a result, offenders will be more quickly apprehended.

In announcing the nearly $500,000 award, U.S. Attorney Waldref stated, “This grant is an example of the Justice Department’s commitment to devoting resources to our local law enforcement partners to ensure Eastern Washington remains Safe and Strong.” U.S. Attorney Waldref continued, “DNA testing is a critical tool for solving and prosecuting crime. In fact, DNA analysis has proven to be the difference in identifying, and in some cases exonerating, the accused. By devoting these additional resources in Spokane County, we are able to help law enforcement hold perpetrators accountable and deter others from committing criminal acts in Eastern Washington.”

More information about grants and funding through the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs is available at https://www.ojp.gov/.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Spokane, Washington – Vanessa R. Waldref, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced today that Esther Rae Tuller, age 41, of Moses Lake, Washington, was sentenced today in federal court in Spokane for tampering with morphine medication while working as a registered nurse. Chief United States District Judge Stanley A. Bastian sentenced Tuller to 18 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

According to court documents, between August 2019 and April 2020, Tuller was a Washington-licensed registered nurse employed at the Confluence Health Clinic in Moses Lake. Her position as a nurse provided her with access to medications, including opioid narcotics such as morphine, an opioid derivative commonly prescribed by hospitals and health care facilities to relieve pain.

While working at Confluence Health, Tuller used syringes to remove morphine from at least 17 vials, and then ingested that morphine as part of her own opioid addiction. She then replaced the morphine with a saline solution that was essentially salt dissolved in water, and attempted to glue the caps back onto the vials to make them appear intact. Before Tuller was apprehended by law enforcement, at least one Confluence Health patient who was prescribed morphine had to be rushed to the emergency room; that patient continued to be in excruciating pain after receiving only saline from what was supposed to be morphine vials. In sentencing Ms. Tuller, Chief Judge Bastian noted that Tuller’s conduct did not simply involve stealing medications, but putting patients at risk.

United States Attorney Vanessa R. Waldref emphasized that fostering safe and strong communities in Eastern Washington means addressing the opioid epidemic in all of its forms. “While Ms. Tuller’s addiction to opioids is both tragic and far too common, her decision to take advantage of her access to medical-grade morphine was an egregious breach of trust. It is deeply troubling that she compounded her misconduct by secretly replacing that morphine with saline in vials that she knew would be distributed to patients, recklessly endangering patients who rely on the integrity of our health care system every day.” United States Attorney Waldref continued: “I want to especially commend the stellar investigative work by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Diversion Group and the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to hold accountable those who abuse their position of trust and endanger patients.”

“Our DEA Diversion Investigators are another tool we are utilizing to address the opioid epidemic we are now facing,” said Jacob D. Galvan, Acting Special Agent in Charge, DEA Seattle Field Division. “Their actions and investigations helped remove an individual from a position of trust and stop any further harm from happening to vulnerable individuals.”

“The FDA oversees the U.S. drug supply to ensure that it is safe and effective, and those who knowingly tamper with medicines put patients’ health at risk,” said Special Agent in Charge Lisa L. Malinowski, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations Los Angeles Field Office. “We will continue to protect the public health and bring to justice health care professionals who take advantage of their unique position and compromise their patients’ health and comfort by tampering with needed drugs.”

This investigation was conducted by the DEA’s Diversion Group in the Seattle Field Office, and the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations, Seattle Domicile. Assistant United States Attorneys Dan Fruchter and Tyler H.L. Tornabene prosecuted this matter on behalf of the United States.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Spokane, Washington – Vanessa R. Waldref, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced today that Tyrell Wade Nault, 22, of Havre, Montana was sentenced in federal court in Spokane for Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine and Unlawful Possession of a Firearm. Chief United States District Judge Stanley A. Bastian sentenced Nault to a total of 120 months in federal prison and ordered Nault to serve a three-year term of supervised release. Nault plead guilty on December 2, 2021.

According to court documents, the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office arrested Nault and his girlfriend on May 29, 2020, as they were about to get into their car in a hotel parking lot in Spokane Valley, Washington. At the time of their arrest, both Nault and his girlfriend had outstanding arrest warrants related to criminal proceedings in Montana. During the arrest, the Spokane County Sherriff’s Office found $1,355 in U.S. currency and, a baggie of approximately 32 Oxycodone pills, and a loaded 9mm semiautomatic pistol on Nault’s person. Subsequent investigation revealed that the 9mm firearm was stolen. During a search of Nault’s vehicle, law enforcement found, among other things, a digital scale, additional U.S. currency, and several baggies containing at total of 81 grams of actual (pure) methamphetamine. At the time of Nault’s arrest, he had multiple prior felony convictions.

Vanessa R. Waldref, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, commended the joint efforts of law enforcement for working together to keep the Spokane community safe: “These types of federal, state, and local partnerships, coupled with community engagement, are essential to prevent convicted felons from obtaining firearms and distributing poison in our  communities.” U.S. Attorney Waldref continued, “Today’s sentence removes Mr. Nault from our community for 10 years, sending an important signal that the U.S. Attorney’s Office continues to vigorously prosecute those who distribute deadly narcotics in Eastern Washington.”

“Hopefully this lengthy sentence will give Mr. Nault the opportunity to think about the harm he has done to the community, and when released change his life for the better,” said ATF Seattle Field Division Special Agent in Charge Jonathan T. McPherson. “We will continue to investigate and arrest those who, like Mr. Nault, act in ways that are against the law and harmful to our communities and nation.”

This case was prosecuted under the Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) program. PSN is a federal, state, and local law enforcement collaboration to identify, investigate, and prosecute individuals responsible for violent crimes in our neighborhoods. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is partnering with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement to specifically identify the criminals responsible for violent crime in the Eastern District of Washington and pursue criminal  prosecution.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force, and the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office. The case was prosecuted by Dominique Juliet Park, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

TERRE HAUTE – Adam Moore, 39, of Terre Haute, Indiana, was sentenced to twelve years in federal prison after pleading guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

According to court documents, on July 28, 2021, Vigo County Drug Task Force officers conducted a search of a residence where Moore was present. Officers found Moore in possession of over 100 grams of methamphetamine. Further investigation led officers to a camper belonging to Moore, where officers seized over 200 grams of methamphetamine and $10,690 in U.S. currency. Moore had previously been convicted of multiple felony offenses, including a 2011 conviction for dealing in methamphetamine, in Vigo County.

Zachary A. Myers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, and Terre Haute Police Department Chief Shawn Keen made the announcement.

The Terre Haute Police Department investigated the case. The Drug Enforcement Administration provided valuable assistance. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson. As part of the sentence, Judge Magnus-Stinson ordered that Moore be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for five years following his release from federal prison.

U.S. Attorney Myers thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Abhishek S. Kambli who prosecuted this case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Jackson, Miss. – A Jackson man was sentenced to 30  months in prison for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, announced U.S. Attorney Darren LaMarca and Special Agent in Charge Jermicha Fomby with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Jackson Field Office.   

James Lee Simmons, 50, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison followed by 3 years of supervised release and a $1500 fine.  

According to court documents, on July 6, 2020, a confidential source made prior arrangements with another individual for the purchase of a pound of methamphetamine.  The other individual, who is a codefendant in the case, directed the confidential source to pick up the methamphetamine from Simmons.  The confidential source met with and provided Simmons with $3,000 in exchange for the methamphetamine.  The substance was laboratory tested and confirmed to be methamphetamine hydrocholoride containing 369.4 grams of pure substance. 

The case is the result of an extensive investigation, dubbed “Hailstorm,” which began as an operation targeting illegal drug trafficking in the Jackson, Mississippi area. “Hailstorm” is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Jackson Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Keesha Middleton.