Month: October 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

ROCKFORD — A Rockford man has been sentenced to 13 years in federal prison for trafficking heroin and cocaine.

TERVARIE LOTTIE, 34, pleaded guilty earlier this year to conspiracy to distribute a kilogram or more of heroin, conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute, and possession of heroin and cocaine with intent to distribute.

U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey imposed the prison sentence on Sept. 29, 2022, after a hearing in federal court in Rockford.

The sentence was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Ashley T. Johnson, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI; Kristen de Tineo, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the ATF; Carla Redd, Chief of the Rockford Police Department; Gary Caruana, Winnebago County Sheriff; and J. Hanley, Winnebago County State’s Attorney.  The federal investigation was conducted by the FBI-led Rockford Area Violent Gang Task Force, which includes the above law enforcement agencies and the Loves Park and Freeport Police Departments.  The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Talia Bucci.

Lottie admitted in a plea agreement that he led a drug-trafficking organization that distributed heroin to other drug dealers and street-level customers in the Rockford area in 2017.  Lottie and co-defendant TYSHON WATSON, of Rockford, shared a cell phone that the organization’s street-level customers contacted to arrange to buy heroin.  On days when Watson had the phone, Watson sold heroin to those customers and provided proceeds to Lottie.  On days when Lottie had the cell phone, Lottie personally sold heroin to the street-level customers.  Lottie also personally sold larger quantities of heroin to other drug dealers in the Rockford area. 

Another member of the drug-trafficking organization – co-defendant JOHNIA WILSON, of Rockford – recruited certain individuals to buy heroin from the organization, with Wilson brokering transactions between Lottie and the buyers.  Wilson also helped Lottie collect drug-trafficking proceeds owed to the organization.  As part of the conspiracy, Lottie maintained an apartment in Rockford that he used as a “trap house” to store and package heroin for sale, distribute to customers, and meet with Watson and Wilson. 

Lottie separately conspired with another co-defendant – DEVONTE GORDON, of Rockford –to possess cocaine.  As part of that conspiracy, Lottie arranged for Gordon to purchase two kilograms of cocaine from one of Lottie’s narcotics suppliers in 2017.

The three co-defendants were previously sentenced to federal prison terms.  Gordon was sentenced to 87 months for conspiracy to distribute cocaine; Watson was sentenced to 57 months for conspiracy to distribute heroin; and Wilson was sentenced to 36 months for conspiracy to distribute heroin.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA –Jonathan High, 30, of Steinhatchee, Florida, has been convicted of two counts of use of a child to produce child pornography. The guilty verdict, returned yesterday, at the conclusion of a one-day bench trial, was announced by Jason R. Coody, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida. Prior to the trial, High pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography. 

In August 2021, law enforcement officers received a Cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that a user of a cloud storage account uploaded files constituting child pornography. An investigation revealed the account belonged to High. Law enforcement officers obtained a search warrant for High’s cell phones and desktop computer, and after an examination of their contents, confirmed that High was in possession of multiple child pornography images and videos that depicted prepubescent boys engaged in sex acts or exposing their genitals in a lascivious manner.  Further investigation revealed that some of these images and videos were produced by High personally; High produced separate video recordings of two young boys using the bathroom in a Perry, Florida church where High served as a deacon.

High’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for January 9, 2023, at 1:30 p.m., at the United States Courthouse in Tallahassee before United States District Judge Allen Winsor. High faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 15 years in prison and a combined maximum of 70 years in prison for all three counts.

This conviction was the result of a joint investigation conducted by Homeland Security Investigations, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the North Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Assistant United States Attorneys Justin M. Keen and Kaitlin Weiss prosecuted the case. 

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – A Quincy, Illinois, man, Marcus Moore, 35, formerly of the 2800 block of East Bluff Court, was sentenced on October 3, 2022 to 120 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by 60 months of supervised release, by United States District Judge Sue Myerscough for distributing over 200 grams of pure methamphetamine in Quincy.

At the sentencing hearing, Moore was held accountable for the following acts: on January 15, 2021, Moore distributed 54.3 grams of highly pure methamphetamine; on February 9, 2021, he distributed 55 grams; on March 18, 2021, he distributed 80.5 grams; and on August 17, 2021, he possessed with the intent to distribute 24.6 grams. Moore has been detained since his arrest in August of 2021.

The statutory penalties for distributing more than 50 grams of methamphetamine are a minimum of ten years and up to a life term of imprisonment, up to a $10,000,000 fine, and up to five years of supervised release.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, Illinois State Police West Central Illinois Task Force, Quincy Police Department, and Adams County States Attorney’s Office were involved in the investigation and prosecution of this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Seberger represented the government in the prosecution.

The case against Moore was brought as part of The Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative. The Department’s renewed commitment to Project Safe Neighborhoods establishes four fundamental principles to guide efforts to reduce violent crime: 1) build trust and legitimacy within communities; 2) invest in community-based prevention and intervention programs; 3) target enforcement and priorities to focus resources on identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the most significant drivers of gun violence and other violent crime; and, 4) measure results with the goal to reduce the level of violence in our communities and not to increase the number of arrests and prosecutions as if they were ends in themselves.