Month: November 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

BOSTON – A Florida man pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Springfield to sending threatening communications to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Drummond Neil Smithson, 31, pleaded guilty to one count of use of interstate communications to transmit a threat to injure. U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni scheduled sentencing for Feb. 2, 2023 in federal court in Worcester. Smithson was indicted by a federal grand jury on May 12, 2022. 

On or about July 19, 2020, Smithson, an Army veteran, mailed a threatening communication from Ayer, Mass., to the Department of Veterans Affairs threatening to injure members of Moms Demand Action, a grassroots organization advocating for the end to gun violence. In the letter, Smithson threatened, among other things, “If you take my pension there is going to be retaliation,” and, “You take my pension and the second I get out of prison I will go to a Moms Demand Action meeting […] Try me.”

The charge of use of interstate communications to transmit a threat to injure provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins and Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement today.  Valuable assistance was provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Office of Inspector General; Federal Bureau of Investigations, Miami Field Office; and Federal Medical Center, Devens, Special Investigations Section. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen Noto of Rollins’ Worcester Branch Office is prosecuting the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

WILMINGTON, Del. – David C. Weiss, U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware, announced that on Monday, November 21, 2022, Third Circuit Judge Stephanos Bibas, sitting by designation in the District of Delaware, sentenced Omar Morales Colon to 45 years’ incarceration for conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to distribute cocaine, and various other drug and money laundering offenses.  The Court acknowledged that Colon was one of the biggest drug traffickers in the history of the State of Delaware, and that Colon stood ready to use violence if necessary to protect his drug business.

Mr. Colon, age 45, was convicted of the drug and money laundering offenses following a pair of jury trials in September 2021 and July 2022.  His wife, Shakira Martinez, age 44, was also convicted of the money laundering offenses in the July trial; her sentencing hearing is scheduled for February 2023. 

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, between 2009 and 2017, Colon and Martinez laundered over a million dollars in drug proceeds through the purchase of real estate properties in Delaware and Pennsylvania using their company, Zemi Property Management.  They deposited drug money into several different bank accounts – and asked their friends and family members to do the same – and then used those funds to buy cashier’s checks that funded the property purchases. 

Colon was arrested on May 6, 2017, shortly after giving his cocaine supplier $382,045 in cash in a hotel parking lot in Newark, Delaware.  The Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) subsequently discovered a secret underground bunker beneath Colon’s residence, accessed by a tunnel behind a false fireplace, in which Colon hid a marijuana grow operation.  

U.S. Attorney Weiss commented on the case, “Mr. Colon has received a serious sentence that properly reflects his decades of criminality.   As Judge Bibas acknowledged in his remarks, drug trafficking wreaks havoc on the community and on families.  Mr. Colon imported massive amounts of cocaine into Delaware for many years.  Those who aspire to a criminal lifestyle should take note that the resulting punishment may be decades behind bars.”

“IRS-Criminal Investigation is proud to have provided its financial expertise in this investigation,” said IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Yury Kruty.  “We, along with our law enforcement partners and the Department of Justice, are committed to aggressively investigating individuals who engage in money laundering, tax fraud, or other types of white-collar crimes.”

“Colon ran a sophisticated drug trafficking and money laundering operation that included a hidden underground bunker at his house to conceal a marijuana grow operation,” said Thomas Hodnett, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Philadelphia Field Division.  “Colon received a significant federal prison sentence that is commensurate with the magnitude of his drug-trafficking activities.” 

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer K. Welsh and Meredith C. Ruggles prosecuted the case.  This case was investigated by the DEA Philadelphia Division and the IRS-Criminal Investigation.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the District of Delaware or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:17-cr-00047-LPS.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

NEWARK, N.J. – A Morris County, New Jersey, man was arrested for distributing videos and images of child sexual abuse, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today.

William Harbeson, 82, of Boonton, New Jersey, is charged by complaint with one count of distribution of child pornography. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cathy L. Waldor in Newark federal court on Nov. 22, 2022, and was released on $100,000 unsecured bond.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

From May 2022 to September 2022, Harbeson distributed videos of child sexual abuse via a publicly available online peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing program. An undercover law enforcement officer conducted online sessions using the P2P program, during which a user shared hundreds of videos and images of child sexual abuse from an IP address traced to Harbeson’s address. Subsequent to a lawful search of his residence, law enforcement officers recovered at least 38 videos and 351 images of child sexual abuse on Harbeson’s hard drive.

The count of distribution of child pornography carries a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison, a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and a fine of $250,000.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, New Jersey Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel, with the investigation leading to the charges.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Farhana C. Melo of the General Crimes Unit in Newark.

The charges and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

RAPID CITY – United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. District Judge Jeffrey L. Viken has sentenced a Rapid City, South Dakota, man convicted of Possession of a Firearm by a Prohibited Person. The sentencing took place on November 22, 2022.

Brandon Tyon, 43, was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Tyon was indicted for Possession of a Firearm by a Prohibited Person by a federal grand jury in February of 2022. He pleaded guilty on August 1, 2022.

In January 2021, in Rapid City, Tyon, a previously convicted felon who is prohibited from possessing firearms, while using methamphetamine, possessed three firearms, including a Springfield Incorporated, Springfield Armory trademark, model M1A SOCOM 16, .308 Winchester caliber, semi-automatic rifle, a  Raven Arms, model P25 (2nd Generation), .25 AUTO, semi-automatic pistol, a Sturm, Ruger & Company Incorporated, model 10/22, .22 Long Rifle caliber, semi-automatic rifle, and a Smith & Wesson, model M&P Bodyguard 380, .380 AUTO caliber, semi-automatic pistol, which were found after Tyon came into contact with law enforcement.

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.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobaco, Firearms and Explosives, the South Dakota Highway Patrol, and the Rapid City Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Patterson prosecuted the case.

Tyon was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

PIERRE – United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that a Parmelee, South Dakota, man convicted of Abusive Sexual Contact with a Minor was sentenced on November 21, 2022, by Chief Judge Roberto A. Lange, U.S. District Court.

Hehaka Thunder Hawk, age 39, was sentenced to a total of 24 months in federal prison, including credit for 10 months already served, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Thunder Hawk was indicted by a federal grand jury in November of 2021. He pleaded guilty on August 19, 2022.

The conviction stemmed from conduct that occurred between September 1, 2020, and September 30, 2020, in Todd County, when Thunder Hawk engaged in sexual contact with the minor victim.

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 the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

This case was investigated by the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services and the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Abby Roesler prosecuted the case.

Thunder Hawk was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.