Month: September 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

BOSTON –A Pennsylvania man has been arrested for a child sexual exploitation offense.

David Tweed, 44, of Kulpmont, Penn., was indicted by a federal grand jury in Springfield on one count of sexual exploitation of a child. Tweed was arrested on Aug. 30, 2022 and was detained following an initial appearance in the Middle District of Pennsylvania. He will appear in federal court in Springfield, Mass. at a later date.

“As the chief federal law enforcement officer for our Commonwealth, there is no higher priority than ensuring the safety of our communities and specifically our children,” said United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins. “Mr. Tweed is alleged to have preyed on and taken advantage of a child – robbing them of their innocence for the depraved and illegal purpose of producing child sexual abuse material. The exploitation and sexualization of our children is a heinous crime that inflicts untold, long-lasting harm and trauma on its victims. My office and our law enforcement partners will continue to use every available resource to bring justice to victims by identifying and prosecuting predators who seek to do them harm.”

“Sexual exploitation of any person is a serious crime, but the sexual exploitation of child is always very deeply disturbing”, said Matthew B. Millhollin, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations, New England. “HSI New England is appreciative that the U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts, who recognizes the egregious impacts that child sexual exploitation crimes have on individuals and on our community, is committed to seeking justice for the offenses that the investigation of Tweed has uncovered.”

According to the indictment, on various dates between September 2021 and December 2021, Tweed allegedly employed, used, persuaded, induced, enticed and coerced a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing visual depictions of that conduct.

The charges of sexual exploitation a child and attempted sexual exploitation of a child provide for a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and up to 30 years in prison, a lifetime of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

U.S. Attorney Rollins and HSI SAC Millhollin made the announcement. Significant assistance was provided by the Monson Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine G. Curley of Rollins’ Springfield Branch Office is prosecuting the case.

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

The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

The Department of Justice, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) announced an agreement with the State of New Hampshire and the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. The agreement will require the Powder Mill State Fish Hatchery (the Hatchery) in New Durham, New Hampshire, the state’s largest fish hatchery, to take action to reduce phosphorus in its discharges to the Merrymeeting River, comply with a federal Clean Water Act permit and study downstream water quality.

The Hatchery is owned by the state and operated by the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. CLF sued officials of the Fish and Game Department in 2018 under the citizen-suit provisions of the Clean Water Act, alleging, among other claims, violations of the federal permit’s narrative prohibition against water quality violations caused by its phosphorus discharges and, in an amended complaint, violations of the reissued permit’s numeric phosphorus limits. The United States, on behalf of EPA, filed a motion to intervene in the CLF action, filed its own complaint against the State of New Hampshire and the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department and lodged a proposed consent decree signed by all parties. If entered by the court, the consent decree would resolve the claims of both the United States and CLF.

“This settlement demonstrates that the Department of Justice and Environmental Protection Agency are committed to addressing risks to water quality in our nation’s rivers and streams,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “This settlement will lead to significant reductions in phosphorus discharges to the Merrymeeting River and downstream ponds and help reduce risks to anyone fishing or coming into contact with these waters.”

“Harmful algal blooms in New England waters have been increasing in recent years and need to be addressed in order to protect human health and the environment,” said Regional Administrator David Cash of EPA’s New England Office. “This settlement not only requires the Powder Mill Hatchery to reduce phosphorus discharges that contribute to such blooms but also requires steps to be taken to address the phosphorus that has accumulated in downstream sediments over the years.”

Under the proposed settlement, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department must make upgrades to the Hatchery, including constructing new wastewater treatment systems and reconfiguring the facility’s tanks to promote the settling of solids containing phosphorus, in order to increase phosphorus removal and meet permit limits by Dec. 31, 2025. The Fish and Game Department will also continue to implement best management practices to reduce the phosphorus discharged from the Hatchery, including limiting the amount of fish on site and adding a neutralizing agent to the system.

In addition, the consent decree requires the Fish and Game Department to conduct a water quality assessment in downstream waters and study options for remediating the harmful effects of accumulated phosphorus pollution in the river and sediments. EPA, CLF and the Fish and Game Department will then enter into further negotiations on the implementation of any necessary remediation.

For more information:

The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            CONCORD –Michael Chick, 39, of Eliot, ME, was indicted by a federal grand jury on one count of cyberstalking, United States Attorney Jane E. Young announced today.

            Chick was arrested on a criminal complaint on August 5, 2022, following the execution of a search warrant at his residence.  He is being detained pending trial.

            Chick is accused of stalking and threatening a Greenland child who was on his bus route.  The indictment alleges that Chick provided cell phones to the child and used the cell phones to communicate with the child after being warned to cease all contact.  Chick is also alleged to have placed GPS tracking devices on the parents’ vehicles and to have walked around the outside of the child’s home at night on numerous occasions. 

            The charge in the indictment is only an allegation.  The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

            The case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Greenland Police Department.

            Anyone with information pertinent to this investigation is asked to call HSI’s tipline at 603-722-1751.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

BOSTON – A Lawrence woman pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Boston in connection with fraudulently using someone else’s Social Security number.

Mariana Rosmely Aguasviva, 39, pleaded guilty to one count of false representation of a Social Security number. U.S. Senior District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock scheduled sentencing for Jan. 9, 2023. Aguasviva was arrested and charged in February 2021.

Aguasviva fraudulently used a Social Security number that was assigned to someone else in an application at the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles in Boston in 2016. The application was to change information on Aguasviva’s driver’s license, which was in the name of the person whose Social Security number was misappropriated. Aguasviva began misusing the victim’s Social Security number to assume the victim’s identity in 2010, when she first obtained a Massachusetts driver’s license in the victim’s name from the RMV. Investigators discovered the driver’s license in the victim’s name in Aguasviva’s purse at the time of her arrest.

The charge of false representation of a Social Security number provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins; Matthew B. Millhollin, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; and Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division made the announcement. Valuable assistance was provided by the Massachusetts State Police; U.S. Department of State, Diplomatic Security Service; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General; the Billerica Police Department and the Lawrence Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred M. Wyshak, III of Rollins’ Criminal Division is prosecuting the case.

The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigation’s Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force (DBFTF), a specialized investigative group comprising personnel from various state, local, and federal agencies with expertise in detecting, deterring, and disrupting organizations and individuals involved in various types of document, identity, and benefit fraud schemes.