Month: September 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

INDIANAPOLIS – Marvin Smith, 37, of Indianapolis, was sentenced to 115 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to two counts of attempted interference with commerce by robbery and two counts of bank robbery.

According to court documents, on April 2, 2022, Smith entered a CVS on East Washington Street in Indianapolis. Smith approached a CVS pharmacy employee and handed her a note demanding 30mg of Oxycodone. The CVS employee entered a code into the lock safe and told Smith it’d take a predetermined amount of time before the safe would open. Smith left without obtaining the Oxycodone.

On that same day, Smith entered a Walgreens on East Eppler Avenue in Indianapolis. Smith approached a Walgreens pharmacy employee and handed her a note demanding 30mg of Oxycodone and demanded she hurry up. The Walgreens employee entered a code into the safe and told Smith the safe would not open for several minutes. Smith again left the pharmacy without obtaining Oxycodone. Smith was observed leaving the parking lot of the pharmacy in black four-door sedan with body damage to the vehicle. 

On April 2, 2022, Smith entered a PNC bank on South East Street in Indianapolis. Smith reached over the top of the teller’s window and handed her a plastic grocery style bag. Smith told the teller to fill it and to hurry up. The teller complied and handed the bag of money to Smith. Smith ran out of the bank. An audit of the teller’s drawer indicated a loss of $529.00.

On April 4, 2022, an IMPD officer spotted a black sedan with damage to the front driver’s side fender and a license plate matching the black sedan seen leaving Walgreens at a hotel on the west side of Indianapolis. A record check of the license plate on the black sedan revealed that the plate was registered to Smith.

On April 5, 2022, Smith drove to the area of a Fifth Third bank on East Southport Road in Indianapolis. Smith parked in a parking lot near the Fifth Third bank, walked across an adjoining park lot and entered the bank. Smith threw a robbery note over the counter to the teller demanding $10,000.00 Smith then threw a plastic bag over the counter and told the teller to hurry up. The teller placed the bag with the cash from her teller drawer onto the counter. Smith grabbed the bag, exited

the bank, began running toward his vehicle and drove away from the bank. After Smith turned onto Emerson Avenue, IMPD SWAT initiated a felony car stop disabling Smith’s vehicle. Smith fled the vehicle and ran for a short distance before giving up and lying face down on the ground. Officers approached Smith and confirmed his identity. Smith had $10,000 banded and stacked sitting in plain view on the front passenger floorboard of his vehicle. The stacks of money each had a Fifth Third bank stamp and were dated April 5, 2022. The money was seized by officers while Smith’s vehicle was secured and towed to IMPD facilities. An audit performed later by the bank of the Fifth Third teller’s drawer indicated a loss of $10,000.00.   

During Smith’s arrest, an officer observed that Smith’s cell phone was connected to the car’s stereo and IMPD’s dispatch radio traffic was playing through a scanner app over the car’s speakers. Smith was transported to IMPD for an interview where he admitted to the officers that he robbed the Fifth Third bank.

Smith was previously arrested and prosecuted in federal court, in 2016, for two counts of pharmacy robbery. Smith was under federal supervised release at the time of the new offenses.

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

FBI investigated the case in conjunction with IMPD. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge James Patrick Hanlon. As part of the sentence, Judge Hanlon ordered that Smith be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for three years following his release from federal prison.

U.S. Attorney Myers thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter A. Blackett who prosecuted this case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Jocelyn Strauber, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation (“DOI”), announced that WALTER MELNICK, a retired Inspector of the New York City Police Department and a disaster relief consultant, pled guilty to conspiring to commit federal program fraud in connection with his work for an Illinois-based consulting firm (“Company-1”) that provided Hurricane Sandy-related recovery services to the City of New York.  MELNICK surrendered today and pled guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Valerie Figueredo in federal court in Manhattan.  The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said:  “As New York City worked to recover from the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, Walter Melnick conspired to misuse funds that were allocated to heal the city in the wake of this disaster, instead attempting to use the funds for his own benefit.  I commend the Department of Investigation and this Office for holding to account those who conspire to defraud invaluable federal programs.”

DOI Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber said:  “This defendant was hired to help New York City with Hurricane Sandy relief efforts; instead, he conspired to defraud the City’s Office of Management and Budget of almost three hundred and ninety thousand dollars in federal disaster recovery funds.  Today, he plead guilty to that conduct, and agreed to pay back those funds to the City.  DOI thanks the Office of Management and Budget for its assistance.  We will continue to work with our local and federal law enforcement partners to hold accountable those who would seek to defraud the public and to ensure that public funds are used for their intended purpose.” 

According to the allegations in the Information, court filings, and statements made in court:[1]

Beginning in or about 2013, in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, the City of New York received billions of dollars in federal money to fund Hurricane Sandy-related recovery efforts.  The City used certain of these funds to hire Company-1 to assist with Hurricane Sandy relief (the “Sandy Project”).  Company-1 hired MELNICK as an independent contractor to work on the Sandy Project.

Between in or about 2013 and in or about 2019, while working on the Sandy Project for Company-1, MELNICK participated in two schemes to defraud the New York City Office of Management and Budget (“NYC-OMB”).  First, between in or about January 2013 and in or about October 2017, MELNICK conspired with at least one other individual (“CC-1”) and submitted fraudulent documentation to NYC-OMB via Company-1, falsely claiming that he was renting and living in an apartment in New York in order to obtain lodging and travel reimbursements.  Upon learning that this first fraudulent scheme was under investigation, MELNICK told CC-1 to lie to law enforcement.  Second, between in or about 2017 and in or about 2019, while working on the Sandy Project, MELNICK conspired with at least two individuals, including another employee of Company-1 (“CC-2”) and a family member (“CC-3”), to purchase a property that CC-2 used to submit fraudulent reimbursement requests to NYC-OMB via Company-1 for lodging expenses to which CC-2 was not entitled.  CC-2 transferred the proceeds from this fraudulent scheme to CC-3, who used part of the proceeds to pay the mortgage and maintenance for the property and retained the rest.  In or about March 2022, MELNICK made false statements to the Government in connection with this second fraudulent scheme.

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WALTER MELNICK, 77, of Treasure Island, Florida, pled guilty to one count of conspiring to commit federal program fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.  Under the terms of his plea agreement, MELNICK agreed to forfeit $387,749 and to pay restitution to NYC-OMB in the amount of $387,749.

The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant would be determined by a judge.  MELNICK is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Marrero on January 20, 2023, at 10 a.m.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of DOI. 

This matter is being handled by the Office’s Public Corruption Unit.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jane Kim and Catherine Ghosh are in charge of the prosecution.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

This case was investigated by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Rhode Island State Police, with assistance from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kelly S. Karase and Kirwinn Mike.

This is another case 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

            CONCORD – Garrito “Tony” Fort, 38, of Randolph, Massachusetts was indicted by a federal grand jury on August 1, 2022, which charged him with one count of possession of a firearm and ammunition by a prohibited person, United States Attorney Jane E. Young announced today.

            Fort was arrested in Rhode Island on September 19, 2022, and he is scheduled to make an initial court appearance in the District of New Hampshire on September 20, 2022 at 4:45 pm.

            The indictment filed in court alleges that on November 1, 2021, Fort, who had previously been convicted of a felony offense, unlawfully possessed a Taurus 9mm caliber pistol and assorted 9mm ammunition. The alleged conduct occurred in Seabrook, New Hampshire.

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

            The case was investigated by the Seabrook Police Department, the New Hampshire State Police, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with assistance from Salisbury, Hampton, Hampton Falls, Portsmouth, and Exeter police departments.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

CLEVELAND – A federal grand jury has returned a two-count indictment charging Brandon Monteal Williams, 32, of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, with theft of mail by a postal employee and misappropriation of postal funds.

According to the indictment, from January to March 2022, Williams, a former mail processing clerk with the United States Postal Service and assigned to the Brooklyn, Ohio, branch,  allegedly stole numerous parcels from the U.S. mail, including 10 cell phones and five pairs of high-valued sneakers totaling over $8,700. 

Additionally, the indictment alleges that Williams stole not more than $1,000 in money and property from the Postal Service while employed with the agency.

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, the defendant’s 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 U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (USPS OIG) and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Isabella.