Month: December 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Joleen D. Simpson, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in New England, today announced that MARK CARBUTTI, 48, of Wallingford, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge Sarala V. Nagala in Hartford to tax evasion.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Carbutti is an attorney specializing in personal injury law.  For the 2013 through 2017 tax years, Carbutti reported approximately $585,025 in income taxes owed to the Internal Revenue Service as a result of his legal practice and certain rental income.  During that time period and thereafter, Carbutti made only limited payments of his taxes due and owing, and interest and penalties accrued as a result of his non-payment.

Between December 2014 and May 2019, Carbutti received at least 12 notices from the IRS advising him of his tax amounts due and instructions on how to pay his overdue taxes.  When the IRS levied certain personal bank accounts used by Carbutti, he closed those accounts and evaded the payment of taxes, interest, and penalties by writing checks from his law firm’s operating account payable to his paralegal, which subsequently were converted to cash and deposited into the bank accounts of limited liability companies (“LLCs”) that Carbutti had created in association with his real estate holdings.  Carbutti also took substantial additional cash withdrawals from his law firm bank accounts and redeposited the monies in the LLCs bank accounts.  Between approximately 2013 and 2019, Carbutti paid approximately $600,000 in personal expenses from the LLCs bank accounts, including expenditures for gambling at casinos, restaurants, vacations and the purchase of a BMW automobile.

Carbutti pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years.  Judge Nagala scheduled sentencing for March 2.

Carbutti has agreed to pay the IRS $750,180 in back taxes, interest and penalties.

This investigation has been conducted by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher W. Schmeisser.

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 a federal jury returned a guilty verdict on Rafael Columbie on Dec. 1. The jury convicted Columbie, 53, of Albuquerque, on one count each of conspiracy, possession with intent to distribute 50 grams and more of methamphetamine, and possession with intent to distribute 100 grams and more of heroin.

The case against Columbie was part of a long-term investigation into a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. On July 18, 2018, Columbie was traveling east on Interstate 40 when a New Mexico State Police Officer stopped Columbie for speeding. During a consensual search of the vehicle, officers found over 2.5 kilograms of methamphetamine and over 200 grams of heroin in bundles within a Coca-Cola soda box behind the driver seat.

Columbie will remain in custody pending sentencing, which has not been scheduled. He faces a minimum of 10 years and up to life in prison.

The Drug Enforcement Administration investigated this case with assistance from the New Mexico State Police. Assistant United States Attorneys Peter J. Eicker and David B. Hirsch are prosecuting the case.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

LAS VEGAS – A Las Vegas man was sentenced on Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Jennifer A. Dorsey to 92 months in prison followed by four years of supervised release for possession with intent to distribute heroin and methamphetamine.

Kiefe Martel Boyce (43), also known as “69,” pleaded guilty in January 2022 to possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute heroin, possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and felon in possession of a firearm.

According to court documents, on January 25, 2021, a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officer stopped Boyce who was driving a car with stolen license plates. As officers searched Boyce’s car, they found 2.6 grams of heroin, 105.3 grams of methamphetamine, and a .38 caliber revolver. Boyce is prohibited by law from possessing firearms and ammunition due to prior felony convictions, including possession of a stolen vehicle; possession of controlled substance; attempt pandering; attempt possessing, receiving or withholding stolen goods; attempt burglary; and unlawful possession of a controlled substance not for purpose of sale (Marijuana), all in Clark County, Nev.

U.S. Attorney Jason M. Frierson for the District of Nevada and Acting Special Agent in Charge Christopher M. Miller of HSI Las Vegas made the announcement.

HSI Las Vegas and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dan Cowhig prosecuted the case.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

LAS VEGAS — A Las Vegas man was sentenced on Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Andrew P. Gordon to 10 years in prison for distributing counterfeit pills that contained fentanyl – a powerful synthetic opioid – that resulted in the overdose death of another person.

Daniel Anguiano (43) pleaded guilty in June 2021, to distribution of a controlled substance, specifically fentanyl and acetyl fentanyl.

According to court documents, Anguiano distributed counterfeit oxycodone pills — containing fentanyl and acetyl fentanyl — to an individual who died after consuming the counterfeit pills.

Fentanyl is classified as Schedule II controlled substances, and acetyl fentanyl is classified as a Schedule I controlled substance. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid drug that is approximately 80-100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin. A few milligrams of fentanyl, which is equivalent to a few grains of table salt, may be deadly. Acetyl fentanyl is an analog of fentanyl that is 10-15 times more potent than morphine.

U.S. Attorney Jason M. Frierson for the District of Nevada and Assistant Special Agent in Charge Kevin Adams for the DEA made the announcement.

The DEA investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Sokolich prosecuted the case.

According to the CDC, 107,622 Americans died of drug poisoning in 2021, with 66 percent of those deaths involving synthetic opioids like fentanyl. 

In November, DEA issued a Public Safety Alert of a sharp nationwide increase in the lethality of fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills. The DEA Laboratory has found that, of the fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills analyzed in 2022, six out of ten now contain a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl. Through its One Pill Can Kill campaign, the DEA is working to alert the American public of the dangers of fake prescription pills. The only safe medications are ones prescribed by a trusted medical professional and dispensed by a licensed pharmacist. Any pills that do not meet this standard are unsafe and potentially deadly.

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Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

The former Director of Operations of the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command (MSC) Office in Busan, South Korea, was sentenced today to five years in prison for his role in a bribery conspiracy and lying to federal investigators. 

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Xavier Fernando Monroy, 65, of Brentwood, New York, engaged in a conspiracy to commit bribery with the owner of DK Marine, a South Korea-based company that provided services to the U.S. Navy, as well as with a former MSC captain, to steer U.S. Navy business to DK Marine. From 2011 to 2014, Monroy used his position of influence as a public official to benefit his co-conspirator, including by steering over $3.3 million in husbanding services contracts for U.S. military ships to DK Marine. Husbanding service providers supply items or services for ships such as water ferry and taxi services, ground transportation and other logistical requirements.

Evidence at trial also proved that Monroy provided a co-conspirator with confidential and other proprietary internal U.S. Navy information. In exchange for these benefits, the co-conspirator paid bribes to Monroy, including thousands of dollars in cash, personal travel expenses, meals and alcoholic beverages, and prostitution services. Additionally, during a voluntary interview in July 2019, Monroy repeatedly lied to special agents of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) and Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) when they confronted him about his illegal conduct. 

In August 2022, a federal jury in the District of Columbia convicted Monroy of conspiracy to commit bribery, bribery, and making false statements.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Special Agent in Charge Peter Tolentino of the NCIS Economic Crimes Field Office made the announcement.

The DCIS and NCIS investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Sara Hallmark and Amanda Fretto Lingwood of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case.