Month: October 2022

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Security News: Former Texas State Representative Pleads Guilty to Tax Evasion

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Concealed Pension Checks and Other Assets from IRS to Avoid Paying Nearly $800,000 Tax Debt

A former member of the Texas House of Representatives pleaded guilty today to evading payment of outstanding taxes he owed to the IRS. The plea was entered before U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Hightower.

According to court documents and statements made in court, from approximately May 2011 through October 2019, Ronald Ray Wilson, formerly of Austin, willfully attempted to evade payment of income taxes he owed to the IRS. From 1977 through 2004 Wilson was an elected member of the Texas House of Representatives. In 1995, he also created a law firm, Ron Wilson & Associates. After leaving the Texas House of Representatives, Wilson earned a monthly pension from his service and continued to work as a lawyer.

In September 2008 and February 2011, Wilson agreed to two U.S. Tax Court decisions finding that he owed outstanding taxes to the IRS. After stipulating to these judicial decisions, Wilson took steps to conceal his income and assets from the IRS to avoid payment of the overdue taxes. Specifically, Wilson utilized his law firm’s trust account – which was limited to holding client funds – to conceal his personal assets by depositing his monthly salary into this account. Furthermore, to avoid an IRS levy placed on his personal bank account, Wilson ceased direct deposit of his monthly pension from the House of Representatives and instead ensured that he would receive physical checks. He deposited some of these checks into accounts belonging to a trust for which he served as trustee, then converted the deposited funds into cashier’s checks for his own use. In total, Wilson caused a tax loss to the IRS of approximately $794,632.

Wilson is scheduled to be sentenced at a later date and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison.  He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will first accept Wilson’s guilty plea and then determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division made the announcement.

IRS-Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Assistant Chief David Zisserson and Trial Attorney Ashley Stein of the Tax Division is prosecuting the case.

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Security News: Registered Sex Offender Sentenced for Transporting Child Sexual Abuse Material

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

An Oklahoma man was sentenced today to 40 years in prison for transporting child pornography that he produced of an 18-month-old infant and for being a person required to register as a sex offender who committed a felony offense involving a minor.

According to court documents, Matthew Alan McNair, 41, of Tulsa, was in Indiana in the summer of 2017 when he utilized an electronic device to take sexually explicit photographs of an 18-month-old infant. McNair took multiple sexually explicit photos of the infant on at least three different dates that summer. After taking those photographs, McNair transported the images on his phone back to Oklahoma, where he was living at the time, and uploaded them to his cloud account. At the time of this offense, McNair was required to register as a sex offender based upon his 1999 conviction in Illinois for attempted criminal sexual assault. 

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Clifford D. Johnson for the Northern District of Indiana made the announcement.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), along with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Tulsa Police Department Cyber Crimes Unit, investigated the case.

Trial Attorney Austin M. Berry of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Emily A. Morgan and Jennifer Chang for the Northern District of Indiana prosecuted the case.

This case is brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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.

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Security News: Providence Meth Dealer Sentenced to Federal Prison

Source: United States Department of Justice 2

PROVIDENCE –  A Providence man found by law enforcement to be in possession of more than 50 grams of crystal methamphetamine and two guns was sentenced today to five years in federal prison, announced United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha.

Sean M. Francis, 34, pleaded guilty on February 16, 2022, to possession with intent to distribute 5 grams or more of methamphetamine and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.

According to court documents, a Project Safe Neighborhoods investigation in November 2019 by members of the Rhode Island FBI Safe Streets Task Force, the Rhode Island State Police High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, and the Warwick Police Department determined that Francis regularly received packages containing pound-quantities of crystal methamphetamine shipped from Arizona. Francis stored the meth in his residence and distributed the drug to others.

On November 7, 2019, the FBI Task Force and other members of law enforcement executed a court-authorized search of Francis’ residence and found multiple packages of crystal meth, totaling 51 grams; items used in the distribution of methamphetamine; a handgun, a speed loader, and 14 rounds of .357 magnum ammunition; a revolver with no serial number; and dozens of crystal meth smoking pipes and needles.

At sentencing today, U.S. District Court Chief Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., sentenced Francis to 60 months in federal prison to be followed by four years of federal supervised release. The court ordered that Francis serve the first six months of his term of supervised release at a reentry facility.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sandra R. Hebert and Christine D. Lowell.

United States Attorney Cunha thanks the Providence Police Department for their assistance in the investigation of this matter.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

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Defense News: Long-time Navy and Marine Supporters Receive Fisher Humanitarian Award

Source: United States Navy

WASHINGTON (Oct. 27, 2022) — Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro presents the Zachary and Elizabeth Fisher Distinguished Civilian Humanitarian Award to Arthur P. Miller Jr and Marjorie Miller at the Pentagon Oct. 27, 2022. The award was established in 1996 to honor those with a commitment to patriotism and humanitarian concern for U.S. Armed Forces and their families. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialists 2nd Class T. Logan Keown)

“As someone who wore the uniform for 22 years while raising a family with my wife Betty, I am especially grateful for the work that people like Marjorie and Arthur do to take care of our military families,” said Secretary Del Toro. “Organizations like the Fisher House Foundation and the Lyman Trust are a lifeline and a blessing to our service members and their families.”

Since 1993, the Lyman Trust, named after Marjorie Miller’s late father and mother, have supported Sailors, Marines, and their families with more than $430,000 in financial aid to programs that enhance the quality of life for the military community, specifically for childcare and family wellness programs.

WASHINGTON (Oct. 27, 2022) — Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro presents the Zachary and Elizabeth Fisher Distinguished Civilian Humanitarian Award to Arthur P. Miller Jr and Marjorie Miller at the Pentagon Oct. 27, 2022. The award was established in 1996 to honor those with a commitment to patriotism and humanitarian concern for U.S. Armed Forces and their families. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialists 2nd Class T. Logan Keown)

“This [Trust] has been a very important part of our lives for a good number of years, so I was particularly honored to be nominated by the Navy and then to be selected for the award,” said Mrs. Miller. “The Fishers certainly have been an inspiration and their aspirations and what they considered priorities were very much similar to ours.”

The Trust’s mission is “to assist in the improvement and well-being of Navy and Marine Corps service members and families living on or near military bases, thereby encouraging them to remain committed to a life of military service, and to strengthen ties between the community and the military.” The family-run trust has been guided by four priorities for nearly 30 years:

1) Acclimating to high-stress demands of military life;

2) Programs to prevent and address destructive behavior;

3) Emergency family services; and

4) Recreational services.

Various grants have been given to programs all over the country and overseas. The first project provided respite care at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Many other programs were related to childcare and helping at-risk families. As issues for the Navy community evolved, so did the support from the Lyman Trust, but its trustees ensured all grants were within the scope of the original mission.

“From childcare, teen and youth centers to athletic fields, facilities, and counseling programs, the Millers, through the Lyman Trust have been there for Sailors and Marines,” said Dave Coker, president of Fisher House Foundation. “Zachary and Elizabeth believed that taking care of military families was the least we could do to honor our military men and women. The Millers have shown that they believe in this important mission, too. Zach and Elizabeth would be proud to know this award is going to another couple that share the same values that they did and demonstrate this not only in word, but also in deeds.”

The Zachary and Elizabeth Fisher Distinguished Civilian Humanitarian Award is a Department of Defense honor given to individuals and organizations that demonstrate the qualities of exceptional patriotism, generosity, and selfless dedication to members of the armed forces. Nominations are submitted through each branch of the military services and the final recipient is chosen from among all the services. The responsibility for presenting the award rotates between the Army, Navy, and Air Force each year.

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Security News: Former Investment Manager Sentenced in Multimillion-Dollar Scheme to Defraud Life Insurance Company

Source: United States Department of Justice News

A New York man was sentenced today to five years in prison for his participation in a scheme to defraud a North Carolina-based life insurance company that caused approximately $20 million in losses to the company and caused it to be ordered into liquidation.

According to court documents, Bradley C. Reifler, 62, of New York, was the CEO and founder of Forefront Capital Holdings and was responsible for investing approximately $34 million of the insurance company’s assets according to guidelines contained in a trust agreement and investment advisor agreement. Rather than investing the assets in secure investment vehicles as required by the agreements, Reifler misappropriated the funds for the benefit of his own companies and then used the funds for improper purposes, such as paying for overhead expenses and repaying prior investors to whom he owed money. Reifler also diverted other funds to risky investment vehicles that did not comply with the investment guidelines.

In addition, during internal and external audits performed in 2016, Reifler sent the life insurance company fabricated documentation for deals with individuals and entities that did not exist. As a result of Reifler’s fraud, the life insurance company was able to recoup only a portion of the approximately $34 million that it entrusted to Reifler and was ultimately ordered into liquidation. Reifler pleaded guilty in May 2022 to wire fraud.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Inspector in Charge Eric Shen of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) Criminal Investigations Group made the announcement.

The USPIS investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Tom Tynan and Michael McCarthy of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case.