Month: August 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

A Florida man was sentenced to one year and one day in prison today for criminal contempt for continuing to prepare and file tax returns with the IRS in violation of a federal court order barring him from doing so.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Guy Telfort, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, previously owned and operated Tax Houses and Accounting Services, a Lauderdale Lakes tax preparation business. From approximately January 2015 through April 2019, Telfort and his employees prepared and filed tax returns for clients. In order to generate inflated IRS refunds for clients, some of these returns reported false items, including fictitious business income and losses and mileage deductions. On April 24, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida entered an injunction against Telfort in a civil proceeding, permanently barring Telfort from preparing federal tax returns for others.

Despite this court-ordered injunction, in 2020 and 2021, Telfort continued to prepare and file returns, working out of an Oakland Park, Florida, pawn shop. Telfort charged clients as much as $1,000 for each return filed with the IRS. Some of these tax returns reported false medical and dental expenses and charitable contributions, as well as fictitious businesses. To disguise his role in preparing these returns, Telfort used IRS Preparer Tax Identification Numbers belonging to other tax preparers. Over the two-year period, Telfort prepared nearly 1,200 tax returns for clients in willful violation of the permanent injunction.

In addition to the term of imprisonment, U.S. District Judge Federico A. Moreno ordered Telfort to serve three years of supervised release and pay $762,338.88 in restitution to the United States.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez for the Southern District of Florida made the announcement. They thanked Trial Attorneys John Nasta Jr., Huiwen Audrey Xi and Jikky Thankachan of the Tax Division’s Civil Trial Section for investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Ashley Stein and Casey Smith of the Tax Division’s Criminal Enforcement Section handled the criminal prosecution.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

A former senior executive for a defense contractor pleaded guilty today to tax evasion.

According to court documents and statements made in court, from 2013 through 2015, Zachary A. Friedman, of New York, New York, worked in the United Arab Emirates as a senior executive for a U.S. Department of Defense contracting company. From 2013 to 2015 Friedman evaded taxes he owed to the IRS by providing false information to his tax preparer that underreported the income he earned for each of those years. In total, Friedman concealed approximately $530,000 in income, causing a tax loss to the government of more than $207,000.

Friedman is the fourth defendant associated with the defense contracting company to plead guilty. Charles Squires (February 2022), James Robar (March 2022), and Ronald Thomas (April 2022) all pleaded guilty to tax evasion.

Friedman is scheduled to be sentenced at a later date. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for tax evasion. He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia made the announcement.

IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction are investigating the case.

Assistance was provided by the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement (J5), which brings together the taxing authorities of Australia, Canada, Netherlands, United Kingdom and the United States.

Senior Litigation Counsel Nanette Davis and Trial Attorneys Sarah Ranney and Ezra Spiro of the Tax Division, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Leslie Goemaat of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia are prosecuting the case.

 

Source: United States Department of Justice News

A woman was sentenced Thursday in federal court for robbing two Tulsa QuikTrips at gunpoint, announced U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson.

U.S. District Judge Claire V. Eagan sentenced Taylor Elise Vaught-Crysler, 19, of Tulsa, to 120 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release. Vaught-Crysler previously pleaded guilty to two counts of obstructing, delaying, and affecting commerce by robbery and one count of carrying, using, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

“Taylor Vaught-Crysler put lives in danger and terrorized QuikTrip employees when she pointed a gun during two robberies. I’m thankful no one was harmed,” said U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson. “As evidenced by today’s 10-year prison sentence, criminals who brandish firearms can expect federal prosecutors to be unrelenting in our pursuit for justice.”

On Jan. 15, 2021, Vaught-Crysler robbed a QuikTrip on Utica Avenue at 3:50 am. During the robbery, she pointed a gun at store employees and demanded money from the register and tobacco products. The employees complied. Vaught-Crysler left and arrived at a second QuikTrip on Peoria Avenue at 4:20 am, where she again pointed a firearm at the clerk and demanded money from the register. The clerk complied. She then demanded more money, so she was handed several rolls of Oklahoma lottery tickets.

In both robberies, Vaught-Cysler left in a black Jeep Cherokee Latitude. The store clerk from the second location, saw the numbers 906 on the vehicle’s tag as it drove away.

Later that day, between 11:29 am and 12:03 pm, the defendant traveled to three additional QuikTrip locations and cashed out a total of 16 of the lottery tickets. At each location the defendant arrived and left in a black Cherokee Latitude that matched the vehicle seen in the robberies. The vehicle’s tag also matched the numbers the clerk reported seeing in the second robbery.

During the investigation, agents learned that Vaught-Crysler obtained the firearm from codefendant Zachary Wayne Crew, 21, of Tulsa, and that she agreed to give him a portion of the proceeds from the robberies. They also learned that Crew acted as the get-away driver, using Vaught-Crysler’s vehicle.

Crew pleaded guilty to two counts of obstructing, delaying, and affecting commerce by robbery and one count of carrying, using, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. He was sentenced to 118 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release.

The FBI and Tulsa Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney David A. Nasar prosecuted the case

Source: United States Department of Justice News

MISSOULA — A Billings man who admitted to possessing images and videos of child pornography was sentenced today to three years in prison, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.

Robert Christopher Baenziger, 42, pleaded guilty in November 2021 to possession of child pornography.

U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen presided. Judge Christensen ordered $3,000 restitution. Baenziger was allowed to self-report to the Bureau of Prisons.

The government alleged in court documents that in February 2019, law enforcement was reviewing peer-to-peer platforms on the internet and observed a certain IP address, designed, in part, to provide for anonymous file sharing, requesting parts of files associated with child pornography. The system, by design, is complex and requires significant technical skill to operate. Law enforcement determined that Baenziger had requested the files of child pornography using this system. Officers served a search warrant on Baenziger’s residence and seized electronic media belonging to him. An examination of the electronic media located almost 500 images and four videos depicting child pornography on Baenziger’s computer hardware.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Zeno B. Baucus prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the FBI.

This case was initiated under the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative, which was launched in 2006 to combat the proliferation of technology-facilitated crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children. Through a network of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and advocacy organizations, Project Safe Childhood attempts to protect children by investigating and prosecuting offenders involved in child sexual exploitation. It is implemented through partnerships including the Montana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The ICAC Task Force Program was created to assist state and local law enforcement agencies by enhancing their investigative response to technology facilitated crimes against children.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – MI MEJOR ARMA ES AMAR, es el lema oficial de la campaña publicitaria de prevención de violencia y armas ilegales de la iniciativa Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), constituida por agencias federales, estatales y entidades comunitarias entre las que se encuentran la Fiscalía Federal, la Administración de Vivienda Pública, el Negociado de la Policía de Puerto Rico, Departamento de Vivienda y Desarrollo Urbano, Departamento de la Vivienda de Puerto Rico, Alianza para un Puerto Rico sin Drogas, Departamento de la Familia de PR, Departamento de Justicia de PR, Departamento de Recreación y Deportes y el Buró de Alcohol, Tabaco, Armas de Fuego y Explosivos.

“Con esta campaña de PSN buscamos unir las fuerzas del orden público federales, estatales y locales, junto con las estrategias de las organizaciones comunitarias que tienen un conocimiento vasto sobre lo que funciona, y más importante aún, lo que disuade y previene la violencia en sus comunidades,” dijo W. Stephen Muldrow, fiscal federal para el Distrito de Puerto Rico.  “Continuaremos llegando a nuestras comunidades junto con los demás grupos y agencias para buscar la manera de mantener nuestras comunidades seguras”.

“Nosotros, como sociedad, nos estamos acostumbrando a escuchar sobre tiroteos, asesinatos o conductas violentas. Las actividades delictivas no deben ser normalizadas. Es nuestra responsabilidad hacer un esfuerzo por promover espacios de paz y de seguridad por el bien de nuestra niñez y juventud”, afirmó la licenciada Katiana Pérez Torres, directora ejecutiva de la Alianza para un Puerto Rico sin Drogas, quienes colaboraron en la creación de los mensajes.

En 2001, se lanzó PSN para reducir la violencia con armas de fuego y los delitos violentos en los Estados Unidos. Es una iniciativa nacional que reúne a funcionarios encargados de hacer cumplir las leyes federales y estatales, fiscales, funcionarios gubernamentales, socios comunitarios y otras partes interesadas para identificar los problemas de delitos violentos más apremiantes en una comunidad y desarrollar soluciones para combatirlos.

A nivel local, la iniciativa está coordinada por las Fiscalías Federales en los 94 distritos en los 50 estados y territorios de los EE. UU. PSN utiliza la investigación, el análisis de datos y las lecciones aprendidas de otras iniciativas de reducción de delitos violentos, para informar la toma de decisiones sobre las estrategias de reducción de violencia más efectivas.

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