Month: November 2022

Three defendants were arrested today and made their initial court appearances in connection with an indictment, unsealed today, charging them for their roles in a conspiracy to provide material support or resources to a conspiracy to kidnap persons and use weapons of mass destruction in a foreign country.

Claude N. Chi, 40, of Lee’s Summit, Missouri; Francis Chenyi, 49, of St. Paul, Minnesota; and Lah Nestor Langmi, 46, of Buffalo, New York, all of whom are U.S. citizens of Cameroonian origin, are charged in a four-count indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Missouri, on Nov. 18, 2022. The indictment was unsealed and made public today following their arrests and initial court appearances.

The federal indictment alleges that Chi, Chenyi and Langmi have supported and raised funds for separatist fighters in Cameroon since Jan. 1, 2018. As alleged, they each held senior level positions within an organization that supported and directed the militant separatist group known as the Ambazonian Restoration Forces and other separatist fighters in Cameroon’s Northwest Region.

Chi, Chenyi and Langmi allegedly solicited and raised funds for equipment, supplies, weapons and explosive materials to be used in attacks against Cameroonian government personnel, security forces and property, along with other civilians believed to be enabling the government. These funds were raised through online chat applications and payment platforms from individuals located in the United States and abroad. The funds were then transferred from various financial and cryptocurrency accounts controlled by the defendants through intermediaries to the separatist fighters to support attacks in Cameroon.

In addition to more than $350,000 the defendants raised through voluntary donations, the indictment alleges Chi, Chenyi and Langmi conspired with others to kidnap civilians in Cameroon and hold them for ransom. In some instances, U.S. citizens were extorted for ransom payments to secure the release of their kidnapped relatives living in Cameroon. The ransom payments were subsequently transferred to the separatist fighters to fund their operations.

According to the indictment, the defendants authored a document that included a list of expenditures related to improvised explosive devices (IEDs), firearms and ammunition. Other expenditures included funds related to the kidnapping of Cardinal Christian Tumi and of a Cameroonian traditional leader named Sehm Mbinglo II on Nov. 5, 2020.

Chi, Chenyi and Langmi are charged with one count of conspiracy to provide material support or resources intended to be used to carry out a conspiracy to kill, kidnap and maim persons in a foreign country and one count of providing material support or resources intended to be used to carry out a conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction outside the United States. They are additionally charged with one count of receiving money from a ransom demand and one count of participating in a money laundering conspiracy. If convicted, the defendants face a maximum statutory penalty of up to 15 years in prison for the material support charges, up to three years in prison for the receiving money from a ransom demand charge and up to 20 years in prison for the money laundering conspiracy charge.

Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, U.S. Attorney Teresa A. Moore for the Western District of Missouri, FBI Assistant Director Robert R. Wells and Special Agent in Charge Charles A. Dayoub of the FBI Kansas City Field Office made the announcement.

This is an ongoing investigation. Anyone with information related to this investigation is asked to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or report a tip online at tips.fbi.gov. You can remain anonymous in reporting a tip.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Blackwood for the Western District of Missouri and Trial Attorney Dmitriy Slavin of the Justice Department’s National Security Division are prosecuting the case.

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge George L. Russell, III today sentenced Ryan Odell Oliver, a/k/a “Dre,” “Fame,” and “Foreign,” age 40, of Baltimore, Maryland, to 15 years in federal prison, followed by 15 years of supervised release, for sex trafficking at least three victims.    

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge James C. Harris of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore; and Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department.  

According to Oliver’s guilty plea, in December 2018 a female victim (Victim 1) texted a non-profit sex trafficking prevention agency that she was forced into prostitution and was being held against her will by Oliver.  An Alexandria, Virginia Police Department undercover detective followed up on the report and made a commercial sex date with Victim 1 in order to find her.  Officers located Victim 1 at the location given for the sex date.  Oliver was also at the location, but fled before he could be arrested.  A second female (Victim 2) was also found at that location.

During the investigation, law enforcement spoke with three women whom Oliver was trafficking or attempting to traffic.  Victim 1 and Victim 2 told law enforcement that they were trying to leave but Oliver refused to let them go.  The victims stated that Oliver had trafficked Victim 1 and a third woman, Victim 3, for his prostitution business and was attempting to sex traffic Victim 2.  Oliver physically and sexually assaulted Victim 1 and Victim 2.  Victim 1 and Victim 3 worked for Oliver in the Washington D.C. and Maryland area, including surrounding states.  Oliver advertised all three victims online for commercial sex dates and kept all of the money made by his victims on their commercial sex dates.  Oliver also arranged for a tattoo artist to tattoo his nicknames “Fame” and “Foreign” on one of his victims.

As detailed in his guilty plea, Oliver gave Victim 1 daily quotas for commercial sex dates and refused to provide for Victim 1 if she did not meet the quotas.  Oliver also made Victim 1 take pictures of other sex trafficking victims to advertise them for commercial sex dates.  Oliver used violence against Victim 1 when she did something he thought was wrong and Oliver told Victim 1 that she was his property.  Victim 3 advised that Oliver provided her with drugs, including heroin.

According to Oliver’s plea agreement, after meeting Victim 2 on a social media platform in December 2018, Oliver paid for a car to drive Victim 2 from Pennsylvania to his Baltimore residence.  There, Oliver forced Victim 2 to have sex with him and choked Victim 2 when she would not comply with his sexual demands.  After the assault, Victim 2 met one of Oliver’s co-conspirators, now deceased, who took her to a hotel, forced her to watch another sex trafficking victim conduct a sex date, and warned Victim 2 not to try to escape because Oliver would find her and that Oliver had a gun. 

Oliver was arrested on January 11, 2019, in Baltimore.  A search warrant executed at his residence recovered three cell phones, a hand-held recorder, a laptop, a ledger, a 9mm firearm, and ammunition.  Additionally, law enforcement discovered images of Victim 1 and Victim 3 on Oliver’s phone.

This case was investigated by law enforcement agencies that are members of the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force, formed in 2007 to discover and rescue victims of human trafficking while identifying and prosecuting offenders.  Members include federal, state, and local law enforcement, as well as victim service providers and local community members.  For more information about the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force, please visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/md/priorities_human.html.

Report suspected instances of human trafficking to HSI’s tip line at 866-DHS-2ICE (1-866-347-2423) or by completing its online tip form.  Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended HSI, the Baltimore Police Department, and the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen E. McGuinn, who prosecuted the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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