Month: September 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

GAINESVILLE, Ga. – Ralph Haywood Jones, Jr., has been sentenced after shooting two women on June 10, 2019, including his ex-girlfriend – the mother of his children – whom he shot, kidnapped, and drove to South Carolina where he abandoned her in a parking lot without seeking medical attention. Jones left the other woman, a friend of his ex-girlfriend, lying in a driveway in Winder, Georgia, and bleeding from a gunshot wound to the abdomen.

“Jones’s horrific violence resulted in significant trauma to his victims, their families, and his children,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan.  “Fortunately, the quick response of our local law enforcement partners prevented the victims’ deaths.  The intersection of domestic and firearms violence poses a serious risk to public safety and remains a top priority for our office and federal, state, and local law enforcement.”

“The only thing to be thankful for after Jones’s reign of terror is that no one was killed, even though he showed a disregard for human life,” said Keri Farley, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “Through the Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative, the FBI will continue to work with our partners to save lives and remove violent offenders from our streets.”

“This investigation represents a great example of several layers of agencies working together to help protect our citizens and help bring justice to victims of a terrible violent crime. Officers and medical responders of local agencies in Georgia initially responded and then collaborated with officers in South Carolina and helped get treatment for the injured and arrest Jones. During the investigation, federal authorities became involved to assist in the investigation and the US Attorney’s office persistently pursued a strong prosecution. A great team effort of multiple agencies. The Winder Police department appreciates the teamwork. Because of these efforts, a violent offender is taken off the streets,” said Chief Jim Fullington, Winder Police Department.

“Cooperation between law enforcement agencies is critical to citizen safety and the events of June 10th, 2019, demonstrates that,” according to Oconee County Sheriff Mike Crenshaw.  “After receiving information from the Winder Police Department that a suspect in a crime from their jurisdiction may be located in Oconee County, SC, we located the victim in a vehicle in the parking lot of the store in Fair Play.  Based on information we had obtained, Jones was located just down the road and was arrested and charged with a being a Fugitive from Justice in our County.  The Sheriff’s Office also assisted Winder Police with obtaining a search warrant for the vehicle.  The importance of cooperation between law enforcement agencies cannot be overstated and we are grateful that Jones is being held accountable for the crimes he has committed.”

According to U.S. Attorney Buchanan, the charges and other information presented in court: On June 10, 2019, Ralph Jones and his ex-girlfriend were scheduled to visit their children during a supervised visitation. His ex-girlfriend asked a friend to accompany them on the trip because she did not want to be left alone with Jones during the car ride.

As the trio prepared for the drive, Jones shot the friend of his ex-girlfriend in the abdomen and left her lying in a driveway in Winder, Georgia.  He also shot his ex-girlfriend in the back of the neck. Jones drove his ex-girlfriend to Fair Play, South Carolina, where he abandoned her, along with his car, in a store parking lot.  Officers found her bleeding and incoherent from the gunshot wound.  Jones was arrested hiding in bushes near the store.

Ralph Haywood Jones, Jr., 30, of Winder, Georgia, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release.  Jones pled guilty to kidnapping on April 18, 2022.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Winder Police Department, and the Oconee County, South Carolina Sheriff’s Office.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). In keeping with the Attorney General’s mission to reduce violent crime, the Northern District of Georgia’s PSN program focuses on prosecuting those individuals who most significantly drive violence in our communities, and supports and fosters partnerships between law enforcement and schools, the faith community, and local community leaders to prevent and deter future criminal conduct.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Keen prosecuted the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            CONCORD – Katie Ricker, 22, of Littleton, New Hampshire, and formerly of South Ryegate, Vermont, pleaded guilty in federal court to bank fraud, United States Attorney Jane E. Young announced today.

            According to court documents and statements made in court, between 2018 and October 2021, Ricker was employed in various positions by a company in Sugar Hill, New Hampshire.  In or about October 2021, Ricker stole blank checks belonging to the company. She wrote fraudulent checks addressed to herself, her co-defendant William Hill, and others to transfer funds from the company’s account to her joint bank account with Hill.  Ricker forged the signature of the employee authorized to sign on the company’s account.  The defendants were caught on camera cashing some of the fraudulent checks.  In total, Ricker stole $46,055.35 from the company.

            Ricker is scheduled to be sentenced on December 29, 2022.  Hill pled guilty on June 27, 2022.

            This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Sugar Hill Police Department and Lisbon Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander S. Chen.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

A federal jury convicted a Florida woman on September 13 of making a false statement to a government investigator related to her role in a clinical trial that studied the effectiveness of asthma drugs in children.

According to evidence presented at trial, Jessica Palacio, 36, of Miami, worked from 2013 to 2015 as a clinical research coordinator at a clinical trial firm in Miami called Unlimited Medical Research. Unlimited Medical Research was one of many companies hired to conduct a clinical trial designed to investigate the safety and efficacy of an asthma medication in children. The drug manufacturer identified issues in the trial performed by the company based on a review of data and notified the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

In May 2021, a grand jury in Miami returned a two-count indictment against Palacio alleging a scheme to falsify medical records to make it appear as though pediatric subjects made scheduled visits to Unlimited Medical Research, received physical exams from a clinical investigator, and took study drugs as required, when in fact these things had not occurred. The indictment alleged that when Palacio was confronted by an FDA regulatory investigator about her role in the clinical trial conducted by United Medical Research, she made a false statement by submitting a false affidavit claiming that she had performed a screening visit of a child subject when she had not.

Following trial, the jury found Palacio guilty of both conspiring to commit wire fraud and with making a false statement. U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles subsequently granted a defense motion for a judgment of acquittal on the conspiracy charge but denied a motion for judgment of acquittal as to the false statement charge.

“The safety of our nation’s prescription medications depends on the accuracy of the clinical studies reported to the FDA,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department will continue to work with its law enforcement partners to protect the integrity of this important process.”

“This announcement demonstrates that those who attempt to subvert the regulatory functions of the FDA by making false statements to the agency will be held accountable for their actions,” said Special Agent in Charge Justin C. Fielder of the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations Miami Field Office.  “We commend the efforts of the Department of Justice for vigorously pursuing the prosecution of this matter.”

Palacio is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 21, 2022.

The FDA Office of Criminal Investigations investigated the case.

The case was prosecuted by Senior Litigation Counsel David A. Frank and Trial Attorney Marilee L. Miller from the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch, with the assistance of Kyrsten Melander, Associate Chief for Enforcement at the FDA’s Office of Chief Counsel.