Month: August 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA —A federal jury in Columbia convicted Gabriel L’Ambiance Ingram, a/k/a “Big Shot”, a/k/a “Big Shot Rock”, a/k/a “Rock”, 33, Darrell Larod Crockett, a/k/a “Unc”, a/k/a “Croc”, 50, and Carl Michael Mann, II, a/k/a “Pike”, 39, all of Rock Hill for multiple drug and gun charges relating to a multi-state drug operation out of the Rock Hill and Charlotte, North Carolina area.

Evidence presented during the seven-day trial  showed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and York County Multi-Jurisdictional Drug Enforcement Unit (DEU) began to investigate a group of defendants who were obtaining large amounts of cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, and marijuana from a distributor in Southern California.  Based upon the investigation, law enforcement was able to determine that members of the group were flying to California and having the drugs shipped back to the Rock Hill and Charlotte area.   After the drugs were shipped back to South Carolina, the group distributed the drugs to local dealers.  This group shipped more than 255 packages containing the drugs from California during a one-year time period and distributed more than five kilograms of cocaine, 280 grams or more of crack cocaine, 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, 400 grams or more of fentanyl, one kilogram or more of heroin, and more than a 1000 grams of marijuana. 

Testimony at the trial showed that the group used the fentanyl to make more than 1 million counterfeit Roxicodone pills, which were sold to users in Rock Hill, Greenville, Myrtle Beach, Charlotte, and Atlanta, Ga. Nineteen  defendants were charged in this case.  Sixteen defendants pled guilty to their involvement. 

More than 250 exhibits were entered into evidence during the trial, and more than two dozen witnesses travelled from California, Charlotte, New York, Georgia, and South Carolina to testify.

The jury ultimately convicted all of the defendants on all charges.  Ingram was convicted of being involved in the conspiracy with the others.  He was also convicted of possession with the intent to distribute a quantity of cocaine and heroin, possession with the intent to distribute heroin, possession with the intent to distribute marijuana, possession with the intent to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine, two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm, and three counts of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.  Crockett was convicted of being a member of the conspiracy along with possession with the intent to distribute 28 grams or more of cocaine base.  Mann was also convicted of being a member of the conspiracy along with possession with the intent to distribute crack cocaine.  All of the defendants are facing a maximum of life imprisonment for their involvement. 

United States District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis will sentence the defendants after receiving and reviewing a sentencing report prepared by the United States Probation Office.   There is no parole in the federal system.   

This case 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. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

This case was investigated by the FBI, York County DEU, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive (ATF), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Rock Hill Police Department, York County Sheriff’s Office, and Richland County Sheriff’s Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys William K. Witherspoon, Elliott B. Daniels, Elle E. Klein, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Lamar Fyall prosecuted the case.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

RALEIGH, N.C. – The United States Attorney announced that today in federal court, Levi Isidoro Velasco-Hernandez, age 40, born in Mexico and residing in Johnston County, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Terrence W. Boyle to six months in prison following a guilty plea to visa fraud.  Moreover, Velasco was judicially ordered to be removed from the U.S. following the sentence he is currently serving in prison for violations of state law.

According to court records, on February 3, 2017, Velasco fraudulently applied for and subsequently obtained an immigrant visa by making materially false statements under oath.  During the application process, Velasco claimed that he had never engaged in any kind of sexual contact with any person who was being forced or threatened.  This was not true because he had in fact taken indecent liberties with an 11-year-old child.    At the time Velasco sought the visa, immigration officials were unaware of his crimes because he had not yet been arrested or charged with them.

However, on March 4, 2021, in the Superior Court of North Carolina in Johnston County, Velasco was convicted of ten counts of indecent liberties with a child.  He was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of between 10 and 20 years and ordered to register as a sex offender.  According to the indictments to which he pled guilty, Velasco committed the crimes as early as January 1, 2017, which clearly preceded his visa application and thus displayed the falsity of his statements. 

Michael Easley, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement. ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations division conducted the investigation and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sebastian Kielmanovich and Lori Warlick prosecuted the case.

Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 5:22-cr-00016-1BO(1). 

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

INDIANAPOLIS – James Hoskins, 41, of Indianapolis, was indicted by a federal grand jury for the federal crime of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

According to court documents, on June 20, 2022, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) were dispatched to South Belmont Street on a report of a domestic disturbance. Upon arrival, officers learned that Hoskins and his wife had been arguing, and that during the argument, Hoskins had threatened, physically assaulted, and pointed a handgun at his wife. Police located the gun and arrested Hoskins.  

Hoskins is prohibited from possessing firearms due to his prior felony convictions. Hoskins was convicted of forgery and theft in 2012, escape and burglary in 2016, and synthetic identity deception in 2018, all felony convictions in Marion County, Indiana.

Hoskins made his initial court appearance yesterday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Tim A. Baker of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana and was ordered detained pending trial. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Zachary A. Myers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana and Daryl S. McCormick, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), Columbus Field Division made the announcement.

The ATF is investigating the case. IMPD provided valuable assistance.

U.S. Attorney Myers thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy Fugate who is prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of the LEATH Initiative (Law Enforcement Action to Halt Domestic Violence), named in honor of Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Officer Breann Leath, who was killed in the line of duty while responding to a domestic disturbance call.  A partnership among the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the IMPD, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana, the LEATH Initiative focuses federal, state, and local law enforcement resources on domestic violence offenders who illegally possess firearms.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Michael J. Driscoll, Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced today the unsealing of a complaint charging RUSSELL DWAYNE LEWIS, a/k/a “Clifford Ari Getz,” a/k/a “Clifford Ari Getz Cohen,” a/k/a “Ari Getz,” a/k/a “Aryeh Getz,” with three counts of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft in connection with multiple schemes to defraud victims out of millions of dollars.  Over several years, LEWIS, who falsely claimed to be a billionaire, defrauded his friend and employee out of more than $3 million, money he falsely claimed was being used in business opportunities; defrauded an individual out of more than $500,000, which he falsely claimed was being directed to a real estate investment; and made a fraudulent offer to purchase a corporate entity for $290 million.  LEWIS was arrested last night in California and is expected to be presented today before a United States Magistrate Judge in the Central District of California.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said:  “As alleged, the defendant engaged in a pattern of serial fraud, lying repeatedly and blatantly to friends, associates, and a major corporation about his identity, wealth, and business activities.  He did so out of greed, and he now faces serious criminal charges for his alleged conduct.”

FBI Assistant Director Michael J. Driscoll said:  “As alleged, Mr. Lewis played on his victims’ misplaced trust and, through a series of deceptions, cheated them out of valuable resources and money.  His arrest today shows the FBI’s continued determination to hold impostors accountable and force them to deal with the repercussions of their illegal activities in court.”

According to the allegations in the Complaint unsealed today in Manhattan federal court:[1]

Between 2016 and 2020, RUSSELL DWAYNE LEWIS engaged in a series of brazen schemes to misrepresent his identity, his wealth, and his professional and personal background in order to defraud multiple individuals and at least one corporate entity.  For years, LEWIS lived under assumed names, using the birth date of a real individual with the name of one of his aliases, and utilizing the social security number of yet another individual.  As opportunities arose, LEWIS told increasingly outrageous lies to individuals around him, including a close friend of many years, an individual who turned to him for his claimed expertise in astrology, and representatives of a major company he falsely purported to intend to purchase.

In one scheme, LEWIS befriended an individual (“Victim-1”), claiming to Victim-1 that he was a billionaire businessman.  As part of their increasingly close friendship, and believing that LEWIS was a successful businessman, Victim-1 solicited professional and investment advice from LEWIS.  In response, and with greater frequency over time, LEWIS solicited “investments” from Victim-1 in the tens and then hundreds of thousands of dollars.  Eventually, Victim-1 went to work for LEWIS, working to explore opportunities in business and finance to assist LEWIS in identifying investment opportunities.  LEWIS continued to ask Victim-1 for money, which was characterized as investments and/or loans, and which Victim-1 routinely provided.  LEWIS had Victim-1 seek out investment opportunities, only to repeatedly back out of prospective deals at the last moment, claiming difficulties in accessing his vast wealth.  By 2020, Victim-1 had transferred more than $3 million of loan and/or investment funds to LEWIS in less than three years, virtually none of which was ever paid back.

In addition to his purported business activities, LEWIS also separately charged some individuals for astrological readings and analyses.  One such individual was a widow with four children who met LEWIS in or about 2018 (“Victim-2”).  Victim-2 continued to have contact with LEWIS in the coming years, including for astrological readings.  In 2020, over the course of several months, LEWIS defrauded Victim-2 out of approximately $555,000 by pressuring her into paying him money for a purported real estate investment opportunity.  In truth, there was no such investment opportunity, and LEWIS spent Victim-2’s money on personal expenses, including office supplies that facilitated and promoted LEWIS’s other schemes.  Victim-2 received back virtually none of her “investment.”

Finally, in August and September 2020, LEWIS fraudulently attempted to acquire a corporate entity in bankruptcy proceedings (“Corporation-1”).  LEWIS made a purported all‑cash offer to purchase Corporation-1 for $290 million, which resulted in weeks of due diligence processes, legal discussions, and negotiations—including through which Getz and others had access to certain of Corporation-1’s internal business records and materials.  Corporation-1 and its representatives dedicated significant time and resources to the purported offer, based on the false premise that LEWIS intended to, and could, pay hundreds of millions of dollars for Corporation‑1.  In fact, LEWIS had no intention or ability to purchase Corportion-1, and ultimately he backed out of the deal.

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LEWIS, 52, of Los Angeles, California, is charged with three counts of wire fraud, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; and one count of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory consecutive sentence of 24 months in prison.

The statutory maximum and mandatory penalties in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by a judge.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding work of the FBI, and thanked the Beverly Hills Police Department for its exceptional investigative assistance.

This case is being handled by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force.  Assistant United States Attorneys Alex Rossmiller and Matthew Podolsky are in charge of the prosecution.

The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.