Month: November 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, announced that Maurice Lacey made an initial appearance on Oct. 31 in federal court on a criminal complaint charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. Lacey, 64, of Albuquerque, will remain in custody pending a detention hearing scheduled for Nov. 2.

As alleged in the complaint, on Oct. 21, Lacey shot a family member at the Walmart Neighborhood Market on Cutler Avenue NE in Albuquerque. Lacey allegedly walked into the breakroom, pulled a 9mm pistol from his waistband and shot the victim in the back of the head. Lacey then allegedly walked to the customer service area and placed the firearm on the counter.

Albuquerque Police officers responding to the scene took Lacey into custody without further incident. The victim was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment.

On Oct. 17, the victim had been granted a temporary restraining order against Lacey, who was served with a copy of the order on Oct. 18.

Previously, Lacey had been convicted of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and was twice convicted of trafficking controlled substances with intent to distribute. As a previously convicted felon, Lacey cannot possess a firearm or ammunition.

“Gun violence will not be tolerated in our community,” said U.S. Attorney Uballez. “Federal agents and prosecutors are working hand-in-hand and case-by-case with state prosecutors and local law enforcement to bring justice to those who resort to violence. Together, we will hold shooters and murderers responsible and restore safety to our streets.”

“ATF is committed to working with our federal, state and local partners to remove violent criminals from the general public and help make our communities a safer place to live and work,” said Brenden Iber, ATF Special Agent in Charge of the Phoenix Field Division. 

A complaint is only an allegation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted of this charge, Lacey faces up to 15 years in prison.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated this case with assistance from the Albuquerque Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Timothy D. Trembley is prosecuting the case.

Anyone experiencing domestic violence or who knows someone experiencing domestic violence can reach an advocate at the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or 1-800-787-3224 (TTY). In New Mexico, the Domestic Violence Resource Center is available by telephone at (505) 843-9123 or online at https://dvrcnm.org/.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

DAVENPORT, Iowa – Davenport man, George Winston Taylor, was sentenced on Wednesday, October 26, 2022, to 260 months in prison for Receiving Child Pornography. Taylor was also ordered to pay $48,000 in restitution. Following his imprisonment, Taylor was ordered to serve five years of supervised release.

According to court documents, George Winston Taylor, age 65, was identified by law enforcement through a cyber-tip from a social media platform stating that an image containing child pornography had been uploaded. The email associated with the cyber-tip was registered to Taylor. Following further investigation, officers executed a search warrant on Taylor’s residence in Davenport. Multiple electronic devices were seized. Forensic examination of the devices revealed approximately 3,000 images and over 400 videos containing child pornography. Taylor was previously convicted of Possession of Child Pornography in the Central District of Illinois in 1998.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The Davenport Police Department investigated the case.

This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa as part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Childhood” initiative, which was started in 2006 as a nation-wide effort to combine law enforcement investigations and prosecutions, community action, and public awareness in order to reduce the incidence of sexual exploitation of children. Any persons having knowledge of a child being sexually abused are encouraged to call the Iowa Sexual Abuse Hotline at 1-800-284-7821.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

HARRISBURG – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Dary T. Son, age 36, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Sylvia H. Rambo to failing to collect and pay over employment taxes to the Internal Revenue Service.

According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, from June 2015 through August 2019, Son, the owner of a Pennsylvania-based temporary staffing company, DS Agency, failed to collect and pay on behalf of her employees approximately $591,822.99 in taxes owed to the IRS.  She also failed to pay to the IRS an equivalent amount that she owed as their employer. 

From 2015 to 2019, DS Agency received and cashed checks from Son Associates for providing workers in the total amount of over $7.7 million.  Rather than depositing these payments in a bank account, Dary Son cashed these checks at a check cashing business in Harrisburg, from 2015 to mid-2017.  Starting in 2018, Dary Son regularly made trips to a check cashing business in Philadelphia, where Dary Son cashed about $3 million in checks in less than a year.

The workers employed by Dary Son and her family member’s companies, worked regularly at several food manufacturing facilities in and around the Middle District of Pennsylvania.  Several of them were transported to their work sites by Dary Son, and they were generally paid in cash. 

Dary Son never withheld any federal, Social Security, Medicare, or state taxes from her employees’ income.  She likewise did not pay her employer portion of these taxes.  As a result, she is responsible for $1,183,646.25 in unpaid federal taxes, which she has agreed to pay in restitution as part of her plea agreement.

The case was investigated by the IRS Criminal Investigations Division.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Ravi Romel Sharma is prosecuting the case.

The maximum penalty for this offense under federal law is five years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine of up to $250,000. A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA – Theodore L. Snow, III, age 39 of Council Bluffs, was sentenced on Friday, October 28, 2022, to 130 months in prison following his plea of guilty to Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine and Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime. Snow will be on supervised release for five years after his release from imprisonment.

On March 3, 2021, a Council Bluffs Police Officer stopped Snow’s car for numerous traffic violations. Snow consented to a search of the car. During the search, the officer located drug paraphernalia, methamphetamine, and shotgun shells, and located a loaded pistol in the waist band of Snow’s pants. Snow is prohibited from possessing firearms because of a prior felony conviction. Between the fall 2020 and spring 2021, Snow was distributing a large amount of methamphetamine in the Council Bluffs area.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The Council Bluffs Police Department, Southwest Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case.

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. In May 2021, the Department of Justice 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.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

DAVENPORT, Iowa – An Iowa City man and India native, Sameer Chandulal Patel, age 30, was sentenced on Friday, October 28, 2022, to 210 months in prison for receipt and distribution of child pornography. Following his imprisonment, Patel was ordered to serve five years of supervised release, unless he is deported from the United States.

According to court documents, a Cybertip was received from a social media application indicating that child pornography had been uploaded to their site. Further investigation revealed that Patel, while living in Iowa City, had distributed, received, and possessed over 18,000 images and 14,000 videos containing child pornography from 2016 to 2021. On June 17, 2022, Patel plead guilty to the charge.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the University of Iowa Department of Public Safety investigated the case.

This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa as part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Childhood” initiative, which was started in 2006 as a nationwide effort to combine law enforcement investigations and prosecutions, community action, and public awareness in order to reduce the incidence of sexual exploitation of children. Any persons having knowledge of a child being sexually abused are encouraged to call the Iowa Sexual Abuse Hotline at 1-800-284-7821.