Month: August 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

PITTSBURGH – A former resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to 16 years’ incarceration followed by 10 years’ supervised release on his conviction of one count of production and attempted production of material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor, United States Attorney Cindy K. Chung announced today.

Senior United States District Judge Arthur J. Schwab imposed the sentence on Anthony Cerasi, age 47.

According to information previously presented to the court, on April 13, 2021, Cerasi employed and used a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a video recording of such conduct.

Assistant United States Attorney Heidi M. Grogan prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

United States Attorney Chung commended the FBI Pittsburgh Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Cerasi.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – José Bou-Santiago, 50, was charged via information and pleaded guilty today in Puerto Rico to engaging in a bribery scheme in which he provided a bribe in exchange for being awarded a future municipal construction service contract that benefited his maintenance service company.

In 2019, Bou-Santiago, the owner Bou Maintenance Service, secured municipal contracts in Cataño for green area maintenance, construction, and the purchase, sale, and rental of vehicles. In order to stay competitive with bidding for these types of municipal contracts, Bou-Santiago agreed to provide the former mayor of Cataño with a Rolex watch. In April 2019, Bou-Santiago met with the former mayor of Cataño at his home and provided him with the watch. The watch was a Rolex “Pepsi” Model #116719 purchased by Bou-Santiago for $33,000 and given to the former mayor of Cataño in exchange for the awarding of a future construction service contract to Bou Maintenance Service.

In June 2019, in exchange for the Rolex watch provided to the former mayor of Cataño, Bou Maintenance Service was awarded a Cataño municipal contract for construction services valued at approximately $190,000.00.

Bou-Santiago pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to engage in a bribery scheme.  He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, and Special Agent in Charge Joseph Gonzalez of the FBI’s San Juan Field Office made the announcement. 

The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s San Juan Field Office.

Trial Attorney Nicholas W. Cannon of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant United States Attorney Seth A. Erbe of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico are prosecuting the case.

This case is part of the Justice Department’s ongoing efforts to combat public corruption by municipal officials in Puerto Rico. In addition to the above matters, the Public Integrity Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico have recently obtained convictions against other former public officials and three contractors in the District of Puerto Rico for soliciting and accepting bribes related to municipal contracts. See United States v. Félix Delgado-Montalvo, 21-463 (RAM); United States v. Oscar Santamaria-Torres, 21-464 (RAM); United States v. United States v. Raymond Rodríguez, 21-465 (RAM); United States v. Mario Villegas, 21-468(FAB); United States v. Luis Arroyo-Chiques, 21-485 (SCC); United States v. Eduardo Cintron-Saurez, 22-151 (SCC); United States v. Ramon Conde-Melendez, 22-221 (PAD); United States v. Pedro Marrero-Miranda, 22-251 (RAM); and United States v. Jose Luis Cruz-Cruz, 22-276 (SCC).

Additionally, the department recently obtained indictments charging several former officials and contractors with bribery related to municipal contracts, and those cases are still pending.  See United States v. Ángel Pérez-Otero, 21-474 (ADC); United States v. Radamés Benítez-Cardona, 21-475 (PAD); United States v. Javier García-Pérez, 22-185 (ADC); and United States v. Reinaldo Vargas-Rodríguez, 22-186 (PAD).

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

SPARTANBURG, SOUTH CAROLINA — Sung Wook Kim, also known as Paul, 36, of Lexington, was sentenced to two years in federal prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud.

Evidence presented to the Court showed that Kim used a position of trust to defraud his employer, fabricating three contracts with one of the company’s clients and fraudulently signing documents related to those contracts.  Relying on Kim’s fraudulent contracts, his employer spent $2,918.962.48. Kim also made $139,250 in bonuses and increased pay as a result of the fraudulent contracts. Evidence additionally showed that Kim had falsely reported his qualifications when obtaining his employment.

United States District Judge Donald C. Coggins sentenced Kim to 24 months imprisonment, to be followed by a 3-year term of court-ordered supervision.  There is no parole in the federal system. The Court ordered Kim to pay $2,918.962.48 in restitution and entered a forfeiture judgment of $139,250.

This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamie Schoen prosecuted the case.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

Yesterday, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) traveled to Houston, Texas, to hear environmental justice concerns from organizations representing communities that have been historically underserved, overburdened and marginalized regarding environmental issues. They were joined by U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery for the Southern District of Texas; Acting Director Cynthia Ferguson of the Justice Department’s Office of Environmental Justice; and EPA Region 6 representatives James McGuire and Patricia Welton.

Assistant Attorney General Clarke opened the event by announcing that the listening session is a part of the department’s Comprehensive Environmental Justice Enforcement Strategy, and reaffirming the department’s deep commitment to meaningful engagement with impacted communities. She emphasized the need to conduct this outreach to identify areas of environmental justice concern that communities are facing in Houston, in other areas of the state of Texas and elsewhere in the United States. She also highlighted the department’s recent efforts to advance environmental justice through the enforcement of our nation’s federal civil rights laws.

Assistant Attorney General Kim spoke about ENRD’s efforts to bring enforcement cases against those who violate the country’s environmental, natural resources and workplace safety laws. He stressed the importance of ENRD’s role to ensure that communities of color, low-income communities and Tribal communities receive the services and support needed to address environmental injustices. He highlighted the department’s new Office of Environmental Justice, which will help coordinate environmental justice activities across the department by participating in inter-agency environmental justice efforts with federal, state, local and Tribal partners, and by encouraging and supporting outreach to overburdened and underserved communities. Finally, he highlighted examples of ENRD’s recent work, including judicial settlements addressing improper flaring events that often occur near environmental justice communities and reducing greenhouse gas pollution while improving air quality.

U.S. Attorney Lowery spoke about her office’s commitment to support the work of the Civil Rights Division and ENRD to address environmental justice issues in the Houston area, including the Title VI civil rights investigation into illegal dumping in the Houston area. She noted the critical role the U.S. Attorney’s Office has in the successful implementation of the department’s strategy given the local nature of most environmental justice issues. She echoed the hope that the session was an initial but important step in ensuring meaningful engagement with impacted communities, especially within Houston and the Southern District of Texas.

The listening session featured remarks from a number of local Houston environmental justice leaders on a variety of topics. Themes throughout the 90-minute discussion included how the Justice Department can best help its state and local partners address illegal dumping, air quality and pollution, transportation and infrastructure development, and language access, as well as further engage with the local community to address problems and seek solutions. The leaders emphasized the structural inequities driving these environmental justice concerns, the health risks from environmental burdens and the desire to improve the neighborhoods in which they live.

All of the department officials thanked those in attendance for their participation, including Texas Southern University Professor Robert Bullard and the University of Houston Law Center Professors Victor Flatt and Tracy Hester for hosting the listening session. 

Source: United States Department of Justice News

DETROIT – A registered nurse pled guilty in United States District Court to tampering with vials and syringes of liquid painkiller at the Detroit hospital where she worked, U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison announced today.    

Ison was joined in the announcement by Acting Special Agent in Charge Ronne G. Malham, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Office of Criminal Investigations Chicago Field Office.

According to court documents, Mary Cheatham, 42, of Ypsilanti, Michigan, a registered nurse who previously was employed in the critical care unit at a hospital in Detroit, Michigan, removed vials and syringes of injectable hydromorphone from the medication dispensing machines, by extracting the hydromorphone using syringes, and then replaced the saline filled vials and syringes into the unit’s medication dispensing machines. Cheatham’s tampering took place between March 2020 and August 2020. Cheatham knew the vials and syringes of hydromorphone were intended to be administered to patients for the purpose of pain relief in the critical care unit of the hospital.

“Patients entering a hospital must have confidence they will receive the treatment they are promised,” United States Attorney Ison, stated. “Cheatham violated that trust and potentially exposed patients to unnecessary pain and suffering and must be held accountable for her actions.”

“The FDA oversees the U.S. drug supply to ensure that it is safe and effective, and those who knowingly tamper with medicines put the health of patients at risk,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Ronne G. Malham. “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.”

Cheatham’s sentencing is scheduled for January 18, 2023.  Cheatham faces a maximum of 10 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000. The Court will determine the sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Regina R. McCullough. The case was investigated by special agents of the Food and Drug Administration.