Month: September 2022

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Security News: Mexican National Sentenced To Nearly 20 Years For Trafficking Dozens Of Kilograms Of Methamphetamine And Possessing A Shotgun And Three Handguns

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Tampa, FL – U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday has sentenced Evaristo Marin-Dominguez (34, Michoacan, Mexico) to 19 years and 7 months in federal prison for conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.  Marin-Dominguez had pleaded guilty on April 26, 2022.

According to court documents, Marin-Dominguez sold a kilogram of methamphetamine to a law enforcement source in November 2020, after a broker in Mexico provided the source with Marin-Dominguez’s phone number. During a later meeting to pick up money from the source, Marin-Dominguez admitted to having just delivered 8 kilograms of methamphetamine and having another 16 kilograms available.

Marin-Dominguez was arrested in Highlands County, in the Southern District of Florida, the following year. During an execution of a search warrant at Marin-Dominguez’s residence, authorities seized almost four kilograms of methamphetamine, almost a quarter kilogram of heroin, a shotgun, a rifle, three pistols, and various drug paraphernalia.

This operation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office, the Hardee County Sheriff’s Office, the Pasco Sheriff’s Office, the Largo Police Department, the Plant City Police Department, the Winter Haven Police Department, and the University of South Florida Police Department. This case was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at www.justice.gov/OCDETF.  It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dan Baeza.

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Security News: Perpetrator Of Catfishing Scheme Charged With Extortion, Cyberstalking, And Interstate Threats

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 Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced the unsealing of a three-count Indictment charging defendant SAKOYA BLACKWOOD with interstate communications with the intent to extort, cyberstalking, and extortion.  The defendant was arrested yesterday and presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jennifer Willis in federal court in Manhattan.  The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said:  “No one should have to fear public humiliation and financial loss from the release of personal, private information.  As alleged, Sakoya Blackwood created that very fear and sought to capitalize on it for her own personal gain.  I commend the victim for reporting this alleged criminal activity and encourage anyone else who believes they may have been a victim of this scheme to contact the FBI.”    

FBI Assistant Director Michael J. Driscoll said:  “Most people hope for a personal human connection in life, and scam artists twist that desire into illicit schemes to steal more than hearts. We believe Blackwood used tactics we allege in this indictment to blackmail and extort money from other victims.  We are asking those people to contact us so we can help them but also to ensure no one else ever falls victim to Blackwood’s alleged deception.”

As alleged in the Indictment unsealed yesterday in Manhattan federal court and statements made in court:[1]

The defendant used multiple online identities to target wealthy and high-profile men in a catfishing and extortion scheme.  In particular, as alleged in Count One, BLACKWOOD made threats against the Chief Executive Officer of a publicly traded company, identified in the Indictment as “Victim-1,” and threatened to release sexually explicit photographs and communications involving Victim-1 with the intent to extort.  BLACKWOOD engaged in a campaign of harassment against Victim-1, sending numerous intimidating and threatening text messages.  BLACKWOOD also used threats of economic and reputational harm from the release of the sexually explicit communications and photographs in an attempt to obtain payments from Victim-1.  As indicated in the Indictment, BLACKWOOD targeted multiple other victims as part of this catfishing and extortion scheme.

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BLACKWOOD, 34, of the Bronx, New York, is charged with one count of making interstate communications with intent to extort, which carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison; one count of cyberstalking, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; and one count of extortion, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.

The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI.

This case is being handled by the Office’s Violent and Organized Crime Unit.  Assistant United States Attorneys Mollie Bracewell and Justin Rodriguez are in charge of the prosecution.

If you believe you are a victim of this offense, please contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL FBI, and reference this case.

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

 

[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Indictment constitutes only allegations, and every fact described herein should be treated as an allegation.

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Security News: Former CFO of Claddagh Irish Pubs Parent Company Charged with Defrauding States Out of More Than $1 Million in Sales Tax Revenue

Source: United States Department of Justice News

CLEVELAND – First Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle M. Baeppler announced that the former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of CDG Acquisition, LLC (CDG), a company registered in the State of Ohio, which owned “The Claddagh Irish Pubs” chain of restaurants, was charged with defrauding multiple states of sales tax revenue where the restaurant chain operated. 

Ciaran Dillon, 56, of Solon, Ohio, was named in the indictment and officially charged with two counts of wire fraud.

According to the indictment, from January 2010 through May 2018, the defendant, acting in his official capacity as CFO of CDG, directed a company accountant to pay certain states less sales tax than the true amount owed.  The indictment states that based on the defendant’s instruction, the accountant would edit the company’s sales and sales tax figures, file false tax returns and pay states the amount instructed by the defendant.

It is alleged that one common way to underpay sales tax was for the company to report and pay sales tax for four weeks during a five-week period, leading CDG to collect a week’s worth of sales taxes that were omitted from state sales tax filings.

In total, it is alleged that during this time, the defendant defrauded the States of Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin out of more than $1 million in sales tax revenue collected from CDG customers across fifteen restaurants.

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

If convicted, a sentence will be determined by the court after a review of factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offenses and the characteristics of the violation.  In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum; in most cases, it will be less than the maximum.

This case was investigated by the Cleveland FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alejandro A. Abreu.  

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Defense News: New Friends Play Games, Sing Songs in Honiara

Source: United States Navy

During a visit to the school, U.S. Navy personnel struck up conversations, played games and sang songs, right in the middle of the campus.

“It was refreshing to see a hillside of Solomon Islands children welcoming us,” said Lt. Steven Szelmeczki, a chaplain assigned to Pacific Partnership 2022.

“Their smiles and laughter bridged our cultures and united our hearts.”

He and Lt. Luslaida Barbosa, director of the U.S. Pacific Fleet Band, led the some of the younger students in “If you’re happy and you know it,” one of their favorites.

“The smiles I saw in these children truly solidified why we’re here,” she said.

Now in its 17th year, Pacific Partnership is the largest annual multinational humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness mission conducted in the Indo-Pacific.

In Honiara, the Pacific Partnership 2022 team is comprised of representatives from Australia, Japan, and the United States. PP22 events are coordinated with the host nation and are planned based on the requirements and requests of Solomon Islands.

Engagements in Solomon Islands will include medical care and exchanges, engineering projects, discussions on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and community outreach events, including band concerts and sporting events.

“I can’t wait to bring the Pacific Fleet Band to Honiara so we can share the joy of music with the people of the Solomon Islands.”

The first public band concert takes place during the Pacific Partnership opening ceremony, Aug. 30, at 5 p.m., in Unity Square. In addition to the U.S. Pacific Fleet Band, local favorites, Unik 7 and Point of View, will perform with the PP22 musicians. The concert is free and open to the public.

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Defense News: USS Hershel “Woody” Williams Gold Crew awarded USCG Special Ops ribbon

Source: United States Navy

On April 1, HWW Gold Crew members, alongside their Marine Corps and Coast Guard tri-maritime service partners, boarded a Brazilian-flagged vessel and made what would turn out to be the second largest non-containerized trans-Atlantic drug bust in history.

The drug interdiction was obviously a big deal. Not only did the Chief of Naval Operations Tweet out a BZ to the HWW Gold crew, news outlets around the world reported about the exploits that included apprehending seven traffickers and seizing a staggering 13,228 pounds of cocaine worth an estimated $350 million street value.

Significant as it was, the ballyhooed bust was hardly the only measure behind the Hershel “Woody” Williams’ Gold Crew earning the special operations ribbon.

The award, presented on August 22 by Lunday, Commander, U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area, at United States Coast Guard Base Portsmouth, recognized HWW’s overall exceptional support of several tri-maritime service operations from February to April 2022. In addition to the counter-narcotics, additional efforts included maritime security operations (MSO) as well as the crew’s corporate energies put forth to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing off the west coast of Africa.

The ship also participated in Obangame Express 22. Taking place on West African seas, this year’s iteration was a six-day, 32-nation exercise – the largest ever multinational maritime exercise – designed to improve regional cooperation by focusing on maritime domain awareness, information-sharing, and tactical interdiction across all participant militaries.

Upon completion of the exercise, HWW Gold conducted MSO patrols off the coast of West Africa with African partner nations and interdicted a foreign-flagged vessel engaged in IUU fishing. As a result, $6 million in fines were issued.  

Gold Crew commanding officer, Capt. Michael Concannon, expressed excitement for his crew as he said the distinction is not often awarded to maritime units.

“The crew and I appreciate the Coast Guard’s recognition for the successful tri-maritime operations conducted off the coast of Africa,” Concannon said. “The successes from Obangame Express and the MSO patrols go a long way to show African partners that the U.S. is committed to regional stability assistance.”

Established on July 1, 1987, the United States Coast Guard Medals and Awards Manual says the SOS Ribbon is awarded to U.S. armed forces members who participated in a major Coast Guard operation of a special nature not involving combat.

To be eligible, SOS Ribbon nominees must be attached to a participating unit and have to be present no less than 21 non-consecutive days during the period the unit is engaged in the special operation. If the operation is less than 21 days, personnel must serve the entire duration. Additionally, the tactical commander within the appropriate area commander’s area of responsibility must specifically recommend SOS Ribbon candidates.

Expeditionary sea base ships are critical in supporting the deployment of forces and supplies to provide prepositioned equipment and sustainment with flexible distribution

As part of Expeditionary Strike Group 2, USS Hershel “Woody” Williams is the second Lewis B. Puller-class ESB and is currently forward deployed to Souda Bay, Greece. The first U.S. Navy ship assigned to the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) area of operations, HWW is a highly flexible platform that consists of both U.S. Navy Sailors and Military Sealift Command civilian mariners and may be used across a broad range of military operations supporting multiple operational phases.

For more information about Expeditionary Strike Group Two or USS Hershel “Woody” Williams please visit:  https://www.c2f.usff.navy.mil/Organization/Expeditionary-Strike-Group-ESG-2/