Month: September 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

PITTSBURGH – A resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to 12½ years (152 months) of imprisonment on his conviction of federal narcotics and firearms violations, United States Attorney Cindy K. Chung announced today.

Chief United States District Judge Mark Hornack imposed the sentence yesterday on James W. Johnson, age 37, formerly of the City’s Glen Hazel section.

According to information presented to the court and at the trial, on Dec. 30, 2016, Johnson was observed by Pittsburgh Bureau of Police officers selling fentanyl to an individual out of an abandoned residence on Renova Street in the Hazelwood section of Pittsburgh. Johnson is associated with the Hazelwood Mob gang that operates in that area. The law enforcement officers stopped the purchaser after the sale and recovered the purchased drugs. The individual identified the defendant as the seller of those drugs. Based on that information and other evidence, law enforcement obtained a search warrant for the abandoned Renova Street residence, which was executed on Jan. 2, 2017. When law enforcement executed the search warrant, they encountered the defendant leaving the abandoned residence and he had a key for the residence and two cellular telephones. A search of the residence revealed distribution quantities of fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine, along with a loaded and stolen handgun, a ballistic vest, and other evidence of drug trafficking. A search of the cellular telephones associated with the defendant revealed communications associated with drug trafficking and communications with the individual who purchased fentanyl on Dec. 30, 2016.

The defendant has a lengthy criminal history, including multiple felony convictions for prior drug trafficking and illegal gun possession. He was therefore precluded for possession of firearms or ammunition under federal law.

Assistant United States Attorney Brendan T. Conway prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

United States Attorney Chung commended the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Johnson.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

NEWARK, N.J. – Two Brooklyn, New York men are charged with three gunpoint robberies of check cashing locations in different parts of New Jersey in 2021 and 2022 and with conspiracy to commit robberies in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.

Ramel Harris, 40, of Brooklyn, and Neville Brown, 38, of Brooklyn, are charged by complaint with one count of Conspiracy to Commit Hobbs Act Robbery, three counts of Hobbs Act Robbery, and one count of Using, Carrying, and Brandishing a Firearm During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence.  Harris and Brown each made their initial appearance on September 6, 2022 before U.S. Magistrate Judge James B. Clark, III in Newark federal court and were detained.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

On several dates between January 2021 and January 2022, two individuals, later identified as Harris and Brown, attempted to rob a check cashing location in Nanuet, New York, and thereafter successfully robbed three check cashing locations in different parts of New Jersey while brandishing a firearm and using zip ties to restrain female employees at each location.  During those robberies, Harris and Brown stole over $578,00.00.     

During the subsequent investigation, law enforcement learned that the conspirators surveilled check cashing locations in the following locations: Mount Kisco, New York, Allentown, Pennsylvania and West Chester, Pennsylvania.  Law enforcement collected an extensive amount of video surveillance footage that ultimately linked Harris and Brown to the robberies.    

The Hobbs Act Robbery and Conspiracy to Commit Hobbs Act Robbery counts each carry a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison.  The brandishing of a firearm during a crime of violence count carries a maximum potential penalty of life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in prison, which must run consecutive to any other term of imprisonment imposed.  Each count also carries a fine of up to $250,000 fine, or twice the gain or loss from the offenses, whichever is greatest.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited members of the FBI’s New Jersey field office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy; members of the FBI’s New York field office, under the leadership of Assistant Director In Charge Michael J. Driscoll; members of the FBI’s Philadelphia field office, under the leadership of Special Agent in Charge Jacqueline Maguire; members of the Hackettstown Police Department, under the direction of Police Chief James Macaulay; members of the Old Bridge Police Department, under the leadership of Acting Chief of Police Donald F. Fritz, Jr.; members of the Parsippany-Troy Hills Police Department, under the leadership of Police Chief Richard Pantina; members of the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office, under the leadership of Prosecutor Robert J. Carroll; members of the Clarkstown Police Department, under the leadership of Police Chief Jeffrey Wanamaker; members of the Westchester County (New York) Department of Public Safety; and members of the Borough of West Chester (Pennsylvania) Police Department, with the investigation leading to the charges.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Levin of the National Security Unit in Newark.

The charges and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

INDIANAPOLIS – Kenyasia Edmond, 20, of Indianapolis, was sentenced to eighty-five months in federal prison after pleading guilty to robbery, carjacking, and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

According to court documents, during October 2020, investigators with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation were investigating a string of armed robberies. The robberies were of Lyft drivers and were alleged to have been perpetrated by two young females. On October 22, 2020, Kenyasia Edmond, then 18 years old, and Taa’mya Alisa Womack, then 17 years old, of Indianapolis, hailed a Lyft to pick them up from the Glendale area of Indianapolis. When the Lyft arrived Edmond and Womack entered the back seat of the vehicle. During transit to their destination Edmond and Womack placed guns against the victim’s head and ordered her to stop the vehicle. Once the vehicle came to a stop, the victim and Edmond exited from the vehicle. Edmond pushed the victim to the ground, placed her foot on the victim’s back and ordered her not to move. Edmond and Womack then fled the area in the victim’s vehicle.

The victim ran to a nearby gas station and called the police. Later that evening investigators spotted a vehicle matching the description of the victim’s car. Investigators conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle, which was occupied by Edmond, Womack, and a juvenile who was not involved in the carjacking. After confirming that the vehicle was stolen, officers ordered the three occupants to exit the vehicle. While placing Edmond under arrest, investigators heard what they believed to be a metallic object fall to the ground. A subsequent search of the area revealed a 9mm semiautomatic pistol.

During a search of the vehicle, investigators located the victim’s cell phone and other items belonging to the victim. In addition to those items, investigators located clothing which matched the description of the clothing the victim said the robbers wore.

Edmond was taken to IMPD headquarters where she waived her rights and agreed to be interviewed. During the interview Edmond informed investigators that she hailed the Lyft for the purpose of robbing the driver. While Edmond admitted that a firearm was used during the commission of the robbery and carjacking, she stated that it was Womack who wielded the weapon. Womack was prosecuted as an adult in Marion County courts.

Zachary A. Myers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, and Herbert J. Stapleton, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Indianapolis Field Office, made the announcement.

FBI investigated the case and IMPD provided valuable assistance. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Chief Judge Tanya Walton Pratt. As part of the sentence, Judge Pratt ordered that Edmond be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for three years following her release from federal prison.

U.S. Attorney Myers thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence D. Hilton who prosecuted this case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

ASHLAND, Ky. – A Catlettsburg, Ky., man, Jonathan Lee Smithers, 41, pleaded guilty on Wednesday, before U.S. District Judge David Bunning, to a federal kidnapping charge.           

According to Smithers’ plea agreement, on May 1, 2022, Smithers physically assaulted a victim with whom he was in a romantic relationship.  Then, under threat of force and using a firearm, Smithers made the victim accompany him to a store, where he brandished the weapon, assaulted her with the weapon, and confined her in the vehicle.  Smithers then drove her to the Flatwoods area.  After again confining her in the vehicle, Smithers stopped the vehicle and forced her to exit.  Thereafter, still armed, he forced her to accompany him on foot, requiring her to climb fences, trespass on private property, and traverse random routes around the area for several hours.  She was eventually able to escape and hide from Smithers and law enforcement found her collapsed at a gas station.  Smithers remained in the area on foot, was spotted coming out of the woods, and law enforcement responded.  Upon being approached by law enforcement, Smithers shot the responding officer in the throat. The officer survived life-threatening injuries.

Pursuant to the plea agreement, Smithers faces a sentence of life imprisonment.                                   

Carlton S. Shier, IV, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Louisville Field Office; Col. Phillip Burnett, Commissioner, Kentucky State Police; Chief Todd Kelley, Ashland Police Department; Chief David Smith, Flatwoods Police Department; and Sheriff Matt Smith, Greenup County Sheriff’s Office, jointly announced the guilty plea.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI, KSP, Ashland Police Department, Flatwoods Police Department, and the Greenup County Sherriff’s Office.  The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Roth.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

Louisville, KY – A federal grand jury in Louisville, Kentucky, returned an indictment on September 21, 2022, charging a local man with illegally possessing a machine gun.

U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett of the Western District of Kentucky and ATF Special Agent in Charge Shawn Morrow of the Louisville Field Division made the announcement.

According to court documents, on September 6, 2022, Gregory Tolbert, 19, knowingly possessed a machine gun, a Glock switch bearing no serial number. Tolbert is currently in state custody at the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections and will be scheduled for his initial appearance before a U.S. Magistrate Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky once he is transferred to federal custody. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. There is no parole in the federal system.

The ATF and the Louisville Metro Police Department are investigating the case.

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (SAUSA) Emily Lantz is prosecuting the case. SAUSA Lantz is an Assistant Jefferson County Commonwealth’s Attorney sworn in as a SAUSA to prosecute firearms cases in federal court. She works closely with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to combat violent crime. Funding for SAUSA Lantz’s position comes from a grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, a component of the Justice Department’s Office of Justice Programs, to the office of Jefferson County Commonwealth’s Attorney Tom Wine.  

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

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

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