Month: October 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

LEXINGTON, Ky. – A Lexington woman, Jyoti Agrawal, 51, was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison on Friday, by Chief U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves, for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering.

According to evidence at her trial, Agrawal was a co-owner of the company ScienceTomorrow, with Subhadarshi Nayak. In December 2013, Agrawal agreed with Nayak to electronically submit a proposal containing a fabricated letter of support from a key subcontractor, in order to increase their chances of receiving a Phase II SBIR grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), in the amount of $999,266, to research and develop a scanning electron microscope detector.  Agrawal knew the fake letter inflated the budget an out-of-state university had provisionally authorized in support of the project.

In 2014, the DOE awarded the Phase II grant to ScienceTomorrow, in part relying on this misrepresentation. Agrawal ultimately received more than a million dollars for the electron detector project from the DOE, and $500,000 from Kentucky’s state matching funds program, which depends on the lawful receipt of a federal grant award.

The evidence further showed that Agrawal had controlled the money and that Nayak left the project early on.  Ultimately, the out-of-state university did not work on the project, as proposed, and received no payments.    Bank records established Agrawal had personally accumulated over $440,000 of DOE grant funds during the two-year performance period.  Agrawal also spent an additional $146,000 of the DOE Phase II funds on an Executive MBA degree in Chicago, during this time, partially supporting her money laundering conviction.  Subsequently, Agrawal submitted false certifications to the DOE, stating all funds had been expended in accordance with the DOE’s terms and conditions; however, the evidence at trial revealed she hadunlawfully retained over $300,000 of the DOE funds she certified she had spent on the project.

A federal jury convicted Agrawal in April 2022.  Nayak was sentenced in December 2021.

“When grants are fraudulently obtained and their funding is misappropriated, it is more than just a theft of money,” said Carlton S. Shier, IV, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky.  “The loss of taxpayer money is bad enough; but worthy applicants are also deprived of fair opportunities and the fundamental goals of the important programs are frustrated.  It causes real damage and, as this prosecution and sentence confirm, can have real consequences.”

“Protecting the integrity of the Small Business Innovation Research and other grant programs is a priority for the EPA Office of Inspector General,” said Environmental Protection Agency Inspector General Sean O’Donnell. “We take seriously our responsibility to identify and investigate attempts by grantees to defraud the federal government and taxpayers.”

“This sentencing demonstrates the ongoing commitment of the Department of Energy Office of Inspector General to protect the DOE from fraud, waste and abuse. False claims and other misrepresentations related to Department grants will not be tolerated, whether in the SBIR program or any other,” said Department of Energy Inspector General Teri L. Donaldson, “I would like to thank our investigators and forensic accountants as well as the EPA OIG and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for their excellent work on this joint investigation.”

As part of her sentencing, Agrawal was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,048,255.00 to U.S. Department of Energy and $500,000.00 to the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, Office of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Innovation (SBIR state matching funds program).

Under federal law, Agrawal must serve 85 percent of her prison sentence; and upon her release from prison, she will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for three years.

United States Attorney Shier; Inspector General O’Donnell; Inspector General Donaldson and Cynthia Bruce, Special Agent in Charge, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, U.S. Department of Defense, jointly announced the sentence.

The investigation was conducted by the EPA-OIG, DOE-OIG, and DOD DCIS.  The United States was represented by Assistant United States Attorney Tashena A. Fannin.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Last week, a federal judge sentenced a Birmingham teacher for transferring obscene material to a minor, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona and FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Felix A. Rivera-Esparra.

U.S. District Court Judge Madeline H. Haikala sentenced Richard Pope, 57, of Birmingham, to 54 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. As a condition of his supervised release, Pope must register as a sex offender in accordance with the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). Pope previously pleaded guilty to three counts of transmission of obscene material to a minor. 

According to the plea agreement, Richard Pope was a graphics art teacher and baseball coach at G.W. Carver High School in Birmingham. In March 2020, Pope messaged a minor on Facebook. During the chats, Pope engaged the minor in sexually explicit conversations and sent the minor obscene images.

“This sentence sends a strong message that those who abuse their positions of trust with our children will be prosecuted and punished,” U.S Attorney Escalona said. “My office, along with our law enforcement partners, will work to ensure that our schools are always safe for our children.”

“Pope betrayed the trust granted to him in his position as a teacher and now will pay the consequences for his actions,” SAC Rivera said. “The public can rest assured that the FBI will always be vigilant in pursuing those who choose to prey on our most vulnerable, especially our children. I am proud of the work done by the FBI Birmingham Child Exploitation Human Trafficking Task Force and our partners at ALEA for bringing Pope to justice.”

FBI Birmingham’s Child Exploitation Human Trafficking Task Force investigated the case along with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency. Assistant U.S. Attorneys John M. Hundscheid and R. Leann White prosecuted the case.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  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, and to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Ryan Berte, age 33, of Eaton, New York, was indicted on September 29, 2022, for receiving and possessing child pornography and for delay of mail while previously serving as a rural mail carrier for the United States Postal Service.

The announcement was made by United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Matthew Modafferi, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Postal Service-Office of Inspector General (USPS-OIG), Northeast Area Field Office.

The charges in the indictment are merely accusations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The charges filed against Berte carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a mandatory minimum term of 5 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of between 5 years and life. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.

Berte was arraigned yesterday in Syracuse, New York, before United States Magistrate Judge Andrew T. Baxter, and was detained pending further proceedings.

This case was investigated by the USPS-OIG and the New York State Police, Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), Computer Crimes Unit (CCU).  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Adrian S. LaRochelle as part of Project Safe Childhood.

Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is led by United States Attorney’s 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 https://www.justice.gov/psc.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

PROVIDENCE – Appearing before a federal judge today, a Pawtucket man has admitted that he trafficked crack and powder cocaine while on federal supervised release, having completed a term of incarceration on federal gun and drug charges, announced United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha.

According to charging documents, during an ongoing drug trafficking investigation in March 2022, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents and Pawtucket Police detectives witnessed Estefano J. Lobo, 30, make a hand-to-hand crack cocaine delivery to another person. Estefano was arrested a short time later and was found to be carrying 1.35 grams of crack cocaine and $580 in cash. A court-authorized search of his residence resulted in the seizure of 98.45 grams of cocaine powder, 19.44 grams of crack cocaine, $7,652 in cash, and, among other items, tools associated with processing cocaine powder into cocaine base. Following his arrest, Lobo admitted to agents that for the previous several months he had been processing cocaine powder into crack cocaine and distributing it. At the time, Lobo was serving a four-year term of supervised release as a result of a prior conviction in the District of Rhode Island.

Estefano, detained in federal custody since his arrest on March 16, 2022, was charged by indictment with possessing cocaine base with intent to distribute and possessing cocaine with intent to distribute; he pleaded guilty today to both of those charges. He is scheduled to be sentenced on January 5, 2023. Each count is punishable by statutory penalties of up to 20 years of incarceration to be followed by a life term of federal supervised.  The defendant’s sentence will be determined by a federal district judge after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Milind M. Shah.

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