Month: September 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

A federal jury convicted six Tennessee men Friday for racketeering conspiracy and other charges involving murder, kidnapping, drug trafficking, and other crimes, all stemming from their involvement with the Clarksville chapter of the Mongols Motorcycle Club (Clarksville Mongols).

A seventh man from Kentucky, who was not a member of the Mongols, was also convicted by the same jury of participating in a drug trafficking conspiracy with the Clarksville Mongols.

A federal jury convicted James Wesley Frazier, 34; Aelix Santiago, 34; Michael Forrester, 34; Jamie Hern, 43; William Boylston, 32; and Jason Meyerholz, 48, all of Clarksville, Tennessee, for charges including racketeering conspiracy. Also convicted was Derek Leighton Stanley, 48, of Owensboro, Kentucky, for engaging in a drug trafficking conspiracy.

“The Clarksville Mongols terrorized communities in Tennessee and Kentucky for far too long,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “These convictions underscore the Justice Department’s dedication to disrupting and dismantling violent criminal enterprises.”

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, the Clarksville Mongols were a violent motorcycle gang operating in and around the city of Clarksville. The Clarksville Mongols were a self-described “outlaw” motorcycle club with ties to Mongols chapters nationwide. Members and associates of the Clarksville Mongols engaged in a host of violent criminal activities, including murder, attempted murder, assault, kidnapping, robbery, extortion, witness tampering, money laundering, interstate travel in aid of racketeering, and large-scale drug trafficking.

In addition, the Clarksville Mongols engaged in widespread violence and, from spring 2015 to spring 2017, they distributed more than 50 pounds of nearly 100% pure methamphetamine, worth approximately $1 million, through their drug trafficking enterprise, in an effort to establish themselves as the area’s dominant motorcycle club.

Evidence at trial demonstrated that the Clarksville Mongols were responsible for the kidnapping and murder of Stephanie Bradley, as well as the separate kidnapping and murder of Stephen Cole. Prior to Bradley’s kidnapping and murder in May 2015, the Clarksville Mongols believed that she had information relating to stolen drugs, money, and guns, and had been disparaging the Clarksville Mongols. Members and associates of the Clarksville Mongols interrogated Bradley, threatening her and demanding that she should not mention the Mongols again. When the Clarksville Mongols learned that Bradley had failed to accede to their demands, she was kidnapped and murdered in the woods behind a cemetery in Bumpus Mills, Tennessee.

Then, in November 2017, Stephen Cole was kidnapped, brutally beaten, and murdered by the Clarksville Mongols. Cole, who had been a member of the Clarksville Mongols, was believed to have stolen motorcycles belonging to William Boylston, a fellow gang member. Boylston felt disrespected by Cole and was concerned about maintaining his standing and reputation among the Clarksville Mongols. Cole was kidnapped and transported to a shed in Trenton, Kentucky, where he was interrogated, tortured, and beaten for hours prior to being murdered.

“This verdict officially ends an era of drug-trafficking, violence, and intimidation inflicted on the people of Clarksville by the Clarksville Mongols,” said U.S. Attorney Mark H. Wildasin for the Middle District of Tennessee. “I commend the investigation and prosecution teams for the enormous amount of time and resources they dedicated during the past seven years to bring every member and associate of this ruthless gang to justice. We look forward to the sentencing phase and seeking lengthy and life sentences for these defendants convicted today.”

“The criminal activities and horrendous acts of violence are dangerous and damaging to everyone involved,” said Special Agent in Carge Mickey French of the ATF’s Nashville Field Division. “We will use all of ATF’s resources to disrupt the illegal possession of firearms, distribution of narcotics, and other violent crimes. We will continue to work tirelessly with our local, state, and federal partners to combat violent crime and maintain public safety within our communities.”

Those convicted were:

Name	Age	Charges	Max Penalty
James Wesley Frazier	34	Racketeering conspiracy; conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine; money laundering conspiracy; kidnapping; kidnapping in aid of racketeering; the murder of Stephanie Bradley in aid of racketeering; firearm offenses; and interstate travel in aid of racketeering.	Life in prison, with a mandatory minimum sentence of: life in prison for murder; 10 years for drug conspiracy; and up to 10 years for the firearms offense to be served consecutive to all other sentences.
Aelix Santiago	34	Racketeering conspiracy; conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine; money laundering conspiracy; firearm offenses; and kidnapping.	Life in prison, with a mandatory minimum sentence of: life in prison for murder; and 10 years for the drug and firearm offenses to be served consecutive to all other sentences.
Michael Forrester	34	Racketeering conspiracy; conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine; money laundering conspiracy; assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering; conspiracy to commit robbery affecting interstate commerce and robbery affecting interstate commerce; kidnapping; and firearm offenses.	Life in prison, and up to seven years for the firearms offense to be served consecutive to all other sentences.
Jamie Hern	43	Racketeering conspiracy; conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine; money laundering conspiracy; assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering; firearm offenses; conspiracy to tamper with a witness and witness tampering; and kidnapping.	Life in prison with a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years for the drug offense and seven years for the firearms offense to be served consecutive to all other sentences
William Boylston	32	Racketeering conspiracy; assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering; kidnapping resulting in the death of Stephen Cole; kidnapping of Stephen Cole in aid of racketeering; and the murder of Stephen Cole in aid of racketeering.	Life in prison with a mandatory minimum sentence of life for kidnapping and murder, and seven years for the firearms offense to be served consecutive to all other sentences.
Jason Meyerholz	48	Racketeering conspiracy; assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering; kidnapping resulting in death of Stephen Cole.; kidnapping of Stephen Cole in aid of racketeering; and the murder of Stephen Cole in aid of racketeering	Life in prison with a mandatory minimum sentence of life for kidnapping and murder, and seven years for the firearms offense to be served consecutive to all other sentences.
Derek Leighton Stanley	48	Conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine; money laundering conspiracy; distribution of, or possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine; and interstate travel in aid of racketeering.	Life in prison with a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years for the drug offenses to be served consecutive to all other sentences.

A federal district court judge will separately determine each defendant’s sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. 

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Clarksville Police Department, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and the Kentucky State Police investigated the case.

Trial Attorney Matthew P. Mattis of the Justice Department’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kathryn Risinger and Chris Suedekum for the Middle District of Tennessee are prosecuting the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Homosassa, Florida man pleaded guilty in federal court today to his role in a $223,000 money-laundering conspiracy, which was part of an email hacking scheme that targeted a program at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., as well as victims in Tennessee and Idaho.

Franklin D. Huggins, 54, pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge  David P. Rush to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Huggins admitted that he participated in a money-laundering conspiracy related to a $223,427 wire fraud scheme from Jan. 1, 2017, to Jan. 28, 2019. Huggins’s co-conspirators targeted Fort Leonard Wood and two businesses through a business email compromise scheme. In a business email compromise scheme, conspirators hack into a business email account, then send an email from what appears to be an employee of the business, instructing that money be sent to certain bank accounts.

Conspirators sent emails to individuals associated with businesses in an attempt to gain unlawful access to business email accounts. After hacking the email accounts, conspirators then utilized the business email accounts to portray themselves as those businesses and individuals. Under such assumed identities, conspirators engaged in what seemed to be normal financial transactions with other victim businesses, individuals, and entities, requesting money for certain purposes. These victims, believing they were conducting business with the real individuals, sent money to the conspirators based upon those false representations.

Huggins received the victims’ money in one of his own bank accounts. He withdrew cash, used the proceeds for his own personal benefit, and transferred the money to other individuals or entities, for purposes other than what was represented to the victims.

Huggins and his co-conspirators stole $164,568 from the Fort Leonard Wood branch of the Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation. Conspirators hacked the email of an Illinois business that provided charter bus services then sent emails to Fort Leonard Wood purportedly from the business, which provides transportation for military service members during the winter holidays – including round-trip bus transportation to airports for military service members to be with their families during the holidays.

Huggins and his co-conspirators also stole $9,000 from an individual in Tennessee, and stole $49,859 from a business in Idaho.

Under the terms of today’s plea agreement, Huggins must forfeit to the government a money judgment of $223,427.

By pleading guilty today, Huggins admitted that he conducted a financial transaction in excess of $10,000 in value, through a financial institution, that involved the proceeds of wire fraud, knowing that the transaction was designed in part to conceal the nature, location, source, ownership, and control of the proceeds. Huggins admitted that, while conducting the financial transaction, he knew the proceeds were of some form of unlawful activity.

Under federal statutes, Huggins is subject to a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. Sentencing hearings will be scheduled after the completion of presentence investigations by the United States Probation Office.

This case is part of the Department of Justice’s Money Mule Initiative. The Money Mule Initiative targets networks of individuals through which international fraudsters obtain proceeds of fraud schemes. These individuals, sometimes referred to as money mules, receive money from fraud victims and forward the illicit funds, often to overseas perpetrators. By receiving and transferring illicit funds, money mules facilitate a wide range of fraud schemes, including those that often predominately impact older Americans — like romance scams and lottery fraud — and those that target companies through business email compromise schemes.

More information about money mules is available at https://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch/money-mule-initiative.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Casey Clark. It was investigated by the Department of Defense, Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, the Citrus County, Fla., Sheriff’s Office, and the Belle Meade, Tenn., Police Department.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

HOUSTON – A 43 year-old Houston rapper has been ordered to federal prison following his conviction of conspiracy to distribute and distributing meth, cocaine and opioids, announced U.S. Attorney B. Lowery.

Jermaine West aka The Breadman pleaded guilty April 6 to 10 counts of drug trafficking in the Houston area.

Today, U.S. District Judge George Hanks ordered West to serve 280 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by six years of supervised release. At the hearing, the court heard additional argument that West had engaged in gang activity beyond his drug trafficking. In handing down the sentence, Judge Hanks noted that West “destroyed people’s lives.” The court further noted that “for 20 years [West] played a dangerous game,” and that he had “played the game and lost.”

West was part of the Hood Kat Music Group rap studio based in southeast Houston.

The investigation began in 2019 when law enforcement learned West was trafficking narcotics. The information regarding drug trafficking as well as West’s known position as an influential gang member in southeast Houston triggered the multi-agency investigation.

West has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

The FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration conducted the investigation with assistance of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Houston Police Department.

The plea is a result of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation dubbed Operation Bullet Trap. OCDETF identifies, disrupts and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States. It uses a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found on the Department of Justice’s OCDETF webpage.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Corley and Department of Justice Trial Attorney Devon Helfmeyer prosecuted the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

United States Attorney Ronald C. Gathe, Jr. announced that U.S. Chief Judge Shelly D. Dick sentenced Richard Culver, age 41, of Denham Springs, Louisiana, to 240 months in federal prison following his conviction for receipt of child pornography.  Following his term of imprisonment, Culver will have to serve six years of supervised release and register as a sex offender for life.  Chief Judge Dick also ordered Culver to pay restitution to his victims in the amount of $126,000.

According to admissions made during his plea, from June 6, 2019 to June 8, 2019, Culver posed as a 13-year-old girl and communicated with a 9 year-old girl via a social media application.  During those communications, Culver sent the minor victim at least 15 images of child pornography and requested the minor victim to take and send similar photographs of herself to him.  Based on Culver’s persuasion, the minor victim sent him images and video, which portrayed the minor victim engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Louisiana State Police and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jamie A. Flowers, Jr., who also serves as Chief of the Criminal Division.

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 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

FRANFORT, Ky. — A man residing in Frankfort, Kentucky, Marcus Tate, 39, was sentenced on Friday to 162 months in federal prison, by U.S. District Judge Gregory VanTatenhove, for the receipt of child pornography.

According to Tate’s plea agreement, on May 13, 2017, he knowingly received sexually explicit videos and/or images of minors, using a peer-to-per file sharing program. Tate admitted that he knowingly searched for and received these images, and he knew the content was produced using minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Tate pleaded guilty in February 2022.

Under federal law, Tate must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence.  Upon his release from prison, he will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for life.

Carlton S. Shier, IV, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Jerry Templet, Special Agent in Charge, Department of Homeland Security – Homeland Security Investigations; and Col. Phillip Burnett, Commissioner, Kentucky State Police, jointly announced the sentence.

The investigation was conducted by the Department of Homeland Security – Homeland Security Investigations and KSP.  The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Roth.

This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched by the Department of Justice.  Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

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