Month: November 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

CAMDEN, N.J. – A Camden County, New Jersey, woman was sentenced today to 159 months in prison for her role in a scheme to obtain money through fraudulently obtained refund checks issued by the U.S. Treasury,  U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.    ​

​Awilda Henriquez, 36, of Clementon, New Jersey, was convicted on Dec. 9, 2021, of one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States government and steal United States mail, 13 counts of theft of government money, and 13 counts of aggravated identity theft, following a 10-day trial before Senior U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler. Judge Kugler imposed the sentence today in Camden federal court.

​According to documents filed in this case and the evidence at trial:

Stolen Identity Refund Fraud (SIRF) is a common type of fraud committed against the United States government that involves the use of stolen identities to commit tax refund fraud. The investigation revealed that for the 2013 tax year more than 3,300 SIRF tax returns were filed using the names and Social Security numbers of residents of Puerto Rico and the refunds were directed to be mailed to a small section of Pennsauken, New Jersey.

Henriquez and her conspirators recruited mail carriers from the U.S. Postal Service as part of the scheme to steal the tax refund checks from the mail. The mail carriers were paid for every U.S Treasury check that was stolen. Henriquez and her conspirators recruited and paid “check couriers” to cash the tax refund checks in a variety of ways, including at check cashing businesses in New Jersey, where Henriquez paid the tellers to also participate in the scheme. The check couriers presented fraudulent identifications at the check cashing businesses matching the names on the tax refund checks in order to cash the checks, which the tellers cashed because they were paid by Henriquez to do so. In total, the scheme caused $565,091 in losses to the U.S. Treasury.  

In addition to the prison term, Judge Kugler sentenced Henriquez to three years of supervised release and ordered her to pay restitution of $565,091.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Tammy Tomlins in Newark and Special Agent in Charge Yury Kruty in Philadelphia; and special agents of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, Northeast Area Field Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Matthew Modafferi, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing. He also thanked the U.S. Postal Inspection Service for its assistance.

The government is represented by Jason M. Richardson, Attorney in Charge of the Camden Office, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Christina O. Hud of the Criminal Division.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – Cecil Smith, 29, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 10 years and nine months in prison for fatally shooting a man last year in Southeast Washington, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Robert J. Contee III, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). 

            Smith pleaded guilty on April 1, 2022, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, to a charge of voluntary manslaughter while armed. The plea, which was contingent upon the Court’s approval, called for the sentence of 10 years and nine months in prison. The Honorable Milton C. Lee, Jr. accepted the plea and sentenced Smith accordingly. Following his prison term, Smith will be placed on five years of supervised release.

            According to the government’s evidence, on Aug. 23, 2021, at approximately 11 p.m., Smith was standing immediately adjacent to a parking lot in the 3900 block of South Capitol Street SE, next to a vehicle along with Harold Castle. Mr. Castle then grabbed a bottle that Smith placed on the hood of the vehicle. Mr. Castle held the bottle in the air and looked at the contents of the bottle. He poured a portion of the remaining contents into his cup, then handed the bottle to the Smith. Smith reached towards his right pocket, turned away from Mr. Castle, and fired a gun towards him. Mr. Castle, 29, struck by the bullet, turned and ran towards the parking lot, where he collapsed and died from a gunshot wound to the chest.

            Smith was arrested on Sept. 1, 2021. He has been in custody ever since. 

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves and Chief Contee commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Criminal Investigations Division Homicide Branch of the Metropolitan Police Department. They acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialist Lashone Samuels, former Victim/ Witness Specialist Marcia Rinker, Victim/Witness Advocate Latrice Washington-Williams, and Investigative Analyst Zachary McMenamin.

            Finally, they commended the efforts of Assistant U.S. Attorney Shehzad Akhtar, who investigated and prosecuted the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

PROVIDENCE –  A Providence man with nine previous criminal convictions, including convictions on firearms, fraud, aggravated identity theft, and domestic assault charges, was sentenced today to nearly five years in federal prison for robbing a downtown Providence bank in April 2021 while on federal supervised release, announced United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha.

Less than six months after his release from a twelve-year term of incarceration in federal prison, Roldy Francois, 38, brandished what appeared to be a firearm and threatened to “shoot this place up” as he robbed a downtown bank branch office. Providence Police located Francois using GPS trackers concealed in a stack of cash handed over to Francois, and he was arrested after a brief foot pursuit. Among the items dropped by Francois and recovered by police was a toy handgun.

Francois’ arrest followed a 144-month term of incarceration imposed for his 2011 conviction on four counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm; one count of possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number; four counts of making false statements to a federally licensed firearms dealer in acquisition of firearms; four counts of possession of an identification document with intent to defraud the United States; and four counts of aggravated identity theft. Although prohibited from acquiring firearms by his 2007 conviction of felony domestic assault for stabbing his girlfriend in the leg, Francois illegally purchased five handguns using a stolen identity.

At the time of his arrest on these earlier charges, Francois pointed a handgun at U.S Marshals, causing a six-hour standoff with law enforcement prior to his being taken into custody.

At sentencing today on a charge of bank robbery and for violating the terms of federal supervised release, U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith Sentenced Francois to fifty-seven months in federal prison to be followed by three years of federal supervised release – the first six months of supervised release to be served at a residential reentry center.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys G. Michael Seaman, Sandra R. Hebert, and Paul F. Daly, Jr. The matter was investigated by the Providence Police Department, with the assistance of the FBI.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

LEXINGTON, Ky. – A Lexington man, Shaan Ti Diyali, 37, was sentenced on Monday to six months in federal prison, by U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell, for wire fraud.

Evidence presented at trial established that Diyali’s personal information was used to apply for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) for an insurance business via an online portal.  Diyali received an EIDL of $49,000.  Once he received the funds, Diyali placed the funds in Robinhood, a stock exchange.  Ultimately, Diyali lost all of the money he received from the EIDL.  The evidence further established that the insurance business never conducted any business and never made income, rendering the income that was stated in the EIDL application false. 

Diyali testified that he had no intent to defraud the United States, that a friend, whom he trusted, told him that the money was “free money,” and that his friend used Diyali’s personal information to apply for the loan. However, Diyali also admitted that he actually received the funds into his personal bank account and placed the funds into his Robinhood account. 

Diyali was convicted in August 2022.

Under federal law, Diyali must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence.  He will also be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for two years after his release from prison.  Diyali is also required to pay restitution to the United States. 

Carlton S. Shier IV, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; and Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Louisville Field Office; and Daniel Cameron, Kentucky Attorney General, jointly announced the sentences.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI, the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office, and the United States Small Business Administration.  The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ken Taylor and Andrea Mattingly Williams. 

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

A Miami business owner pleaded guilty today to willfully failing to pay over employment taxes to the IRS. The proceeding was held before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lauren Louis. A sentencing date will be set by U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Ari Weingrad owned and operated two car rental companies, Rent Max Miami, Inc. and Rent Max North, Inc., both of which had locations throughout Florida. As the sole owner and CEO of Rent Max Miami, and as the co-owner and president of Rent Max North, Weingrad knew he was responsible for collecting, accounting for and paying over payroll taxes withheld from his employees’ wages to the IRS. Between 2011 and 2016, however, Weingrad withheld from his employees but did not pay over more than $850,000 in employment taxes owed to the IRS. Instead, he caused Rent Max Miami to spend corporate funds to pay discretionary expenses, including a $50,000 cashier’s check to himself, a $45,000 in cashier’s checks payable to his wife, and expenses related to a 55-foot yacht.

Weingrad is scheduled to be sentenced on XX. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for willful failure to pay over employment taxes. He also faces, as well as a period of supervised release restitution and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Tax Division,  and U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez for the Southern District of Florida, and Special Agent in Charge Matthew D. Line of IRS-Criminal Investigation Miami Field Office made the announcement.

IRS-Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorney Patrick Elwell of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Ana Maria Martinez of the Southern District of Florida are prosecuting the case.