Month: December 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that CARY YAN, a/k/a “Hong Hui Yan,” a/k/a “Chen Hong,” and GINA ZHOU, a/k/a “Chaoting Zhou,” a/k/a “Angel Zhou,” pled guilty to conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) in connection with a multi-year scheme to bribe government officials in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (the “RMI”) to pass legislation that would benefit the business interests of YAN, ZHOU, and their associates.  Both defendants pled guilty before District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “As they have now admitted, the defendants sought to undermine the democratic processes of the Republic of the Marshall Islands through bribery in order to advance their own financial interests.  I commend the career prosecutors of this Office and our law enforcement partners for bringing this corruption to light and ensuring that justice is done.”

According to the Indictment filed in the case and publicly available information:

Beginning at least in 2016, YAN and ZHOU began communicating and meeting with RMI officials in both New York City and the RMI concerning the development of a semi-autonomous region within a part of the RMI known as the Rongelap Atoll.  The creation of the proposed semi-autonomous region was intended by YAN, ZHOU, and those associated with them to obtain business by, among other things, allowing YAN and ZHOU to attract investors to participate in economic and social development projects that YAN, ZHOU, and others promised would occur in the semi-autonomous region.

As proposed by YAN and ZHOU, the so-called Rongelap Atoll Special Administrative Region (the “RASAR”) would be created by legislation (the “RASAR Bill”) that, if enacted by the RMI legislature, would significantly change the laws on the Rongelap Atoll to attract foreign businesses and investors, such as by lowering or eliminating taxation and relaxing immigration regulations.  In or about mid-August 2018, certain RMI legislators officially introduced the RASAR Bill.  Starting before that date, and continuing until at least on or about November 1, 2018, YAN and ZHOU offered and provided a series of cash bribes and other incentives to obtain the support of RMI legislators for the RASAR Bill.

On or about November 18, 2019, the RMI held elections for the legislature.  As a result of these elections, on or about January 13, 2020, the then-President of the RMI left office.  Shortly thereafter, YAN and ZHOU began emailing and meeting with certain RMI officials to continue their plan to create the RASAR.  In or about late February 2020, the RMI legislature began considering a resolution that would endorse the concept of the RASAR (the “RASAR Resolution”), a preliminary step that would allow the RMI legislature to enact the more detailed RASAR Bill at a later date. 

On or about March 7, 2020, YAN and ZHOU met with a close relative of a member of the RMI legislature in the RMI.  During the meeting, YAN and ZHOU gave the relative $7,000 in cash to pass on to the official, specifying that this money would be used to induce and influence other RMI legislators to support the RASAR Resolution.  YAN and ZHOU further stated, in sum, that they knew that the official needed more than $7,000 for this purpose and that YAN and ZHOU would soon obtain additional cash for the official.  YAN and ZHOU also discussed having previously brought larger sums of cash into the RMI through the United States and that they planned to do so again in the future.  On or about March 20, 2020, the RMI legislature passed the RASAR Resolution with the support of legislators to whom ZHOU and YAN had provided bribes and other incentives.

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YAN, 51, and ZHOU, 35, both of whom have traveled on passports issued by the RMI, pled guilty to one count of conspiring to violate the FCPA, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.    

The maximum potential sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge. 

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 

The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Public Corruption Unit and the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Hagan Scotten, Lara Pomerantz, and Derek Wikstrom are in charge of the prosecution.  Trial Attorneys Gerald Moody and Anthony Scarpelli were also assigned to the prosecution.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Jose Gonzalez-Valencia, aka Chepa, pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia today to international cocaine trafficking.

In December 2017, Brazilian authorities arrested Gonzalez-Valencia, 47, at the request of the United States. He was extradited from Brazil to the United States in November 2021.

According to court documents, between 2006 and October 2016, Gonzalez-Valencia was a leader of the Los Cuinis, an international drug trafficking organization (DTO) responsible for importing large quantities of cocaine from Mexico, Colombia, Guatemala, and elsewhere into the United States.

As noted in court documents, Los Cuinis is closely aligned with the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG), which is based in the State of Jalisco in Mexico. Together, Los Cuinis and CJNG form one of the largest, most dangerous, and prolific drug cartels in Mexico. They are responsible for trafficking significant quantities of illegal drugs into the United States and employing extreme violence to further that objective. Gonzalez-Valencia is the brother of Los Cuinis leaders Abigael Gonzalez-Valencia and Gerardo Gonzalez-Valencia, and the brother-in-law of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, aka Mencho, the leader of CJNG. 

“Gonzalez Valencia worked with Los Cuinis and the CJNG to bring thousands of kilos of drugs into the United States,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “This case sends a clear message that the Criminal Division is committed to protecting our communities, dismantling the drug trafficking organizations that prey on them for profit, and holding traffickers like Gonzalez Valencia accountable.”

“CJNG is responsible for vast quantities of deadly illegal drugs that are being distributed across the United States,” said Administrator Anne Milgram of the DEA. “Today’s guilty plea reflects the men and women of the DEA’s unwavering commitment to hold all drug traffickers accountable that seek to profit from CJNG’s violent and deadly drug trafficking network.”

Gonzalez-Valencia pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, knowing and intending that it would be imported into the United States. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 7, 2023 and faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. 

This case is supported by the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). 

The DEA Los Angeles Field Division is investigating the case.

Acting Assistant Deputy Chief Kaitlin Sahni and Trial Attorneys Kate Naseef and Kirk Handrich of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section are prosecuting the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance.  

The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs thanks Brazilian authorities for their assistance in securing the arrest and extradition of Gonzalez-Valencia.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Good morning. I am very pleased to join you at this year’s Tribal Nations Summit. 

I want to thank President Biden for bringing us together today, as well as Secretary Haaland for hosting us. Secretary Haaland has been an indispensable partner to the Justice Department, and I am so grateful for her leadership. I am honored to serve alongside her.

I’m also grateful to the Tribal leaders who have traveled from near and far to attend this Summit.

I deeply appreciate this opportunity to reaffirm the Justice Department’s commitment to honoring and strengthening our nation-to-nation partnerships, and to working together to keep Tribal communities safe. 

And I want to reiterate the Justice Department’s intention to approach that work with respect, humility, and sincerity. 

At the Justice Department, we know that open and honest dialogue is essential to fulfilling our shared goals.

We welcome opportunities to hear directly from Tribal leaders. We also appreciate the diversity of thought and perspectives among sovereign Tribal nations.

That is why the Department takes seriously our duty to consult with Tribes, and we are committed to making those consultations as productive as possible.

This year, we held six formal consultations, including our 17th Annual Consultation on Violence Against Women. Hosted for the very first time in Alaska, this consultation has had a record number of participants and Tribal leader testimonies.

We also conducted sessions to receive feedback on improving the Department’s longstanding consultation policy. 

These discussions produced recommendations for improvement, all of which were accepted and incorporated into an updated Tribal Consultation Policy that I am proud to announce today. This marks the first update to the Consultation Policy since 2013. 

We have revised the Policy to explicitly state that consultations need not be limited to one session, or even one concentrated block of sessions. We heard from you that sometimes a more iterative process is needed, and we listened. 

We also heard feedback that Tribal leaders may wish to delegate representation for formal consultations or expand representation to include subject matter experts. We have revised the Policy to establish a process for such representations.

I am grateful to the more than 100 Tribal governments that aided our work to update the Consultation Policy. 

I am confident that these and other revisions to the Policy will lead to better consultations, to the benefit of Tribal communities everywhere.

Establishing and maintaining strong lines of communication is essential, and it is critical to our shared efforts to address disproportionate rates of violence in Tribal communities.

Native American families and communities have endured persistently high levels of violence. 

Women and girls have borne the brunt of that violence. 

And the crisis of missing or murdered Indigenous People has shattered the lives of victims, their families, and entire Tribal communities.

This is unacceptable. 

The Justice Department is committed to partnering with Tribal communities, governments, courts, and law enforcement agencies to help reduce crime and support victims.

Our prosecutors and law enforcement components are an essential part of that work.

In July, the Deputy Attorney General directed every one of our U.S. Attorneys with Indian Country jurisdiction to more proactively address both existing and emerging public safety issues in those areas. 

As part of that effort, each U.S. Attorney’s Office with Indian Country jurisdiction is working to develop new updated operational plans that aim to better promote public safety in Tribal communities. 

This important work is being done alongside the ATF, DEA, FBI, and U.S. Marshals Service, as well as with state, local, Tribal, and territorial agencies. We expect the updated operational plans to be finalized by the end of this year.

Separately, and consistent with our obligations under Savanna’s Act, every U.S. Attorney’s office with Indian Country jurisdiction has developed regionally tailored guidelines specific to cases involving missing or murdered Indigenous People. 

Moving forward, these guidelines will be reviewed and updated annually to ensure that they meet the evolving needs of Tribes.

The Department also continues to break down barriers to criminal justice information that Tribes have faced for years.

We are expanding our Tribal Access Program for National Crime Information, or TAP.  This program allows Tribal governments to access, enter, and exchange data with national crime information systems, including those maintained by the FBI.

In September, we announced the selection of an additional 16 Tribes that will participate in TAP, bringing the total to 123. During this Administration, we have grown participation in TAP by 23 percent. 

And thanks to the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act earlier this year, TAP is now a permanent, required program.

This change will not just improve coordination with law enforcement at every level – it will help keep Tribal communities safe. 

Data entered under TAP has resulted in the registration of convicted sex offenders; the entry of domestic violence-related protection orders; the identification and arrest of fugitives; and the prevention of firearm purchases, to name just a few examples.

As the Department prioritizes preventing and disrupting violence in Tribal communities, we are simultaneously working to improve the assistance that victims and witnesses receive in the aftermath of a crime.

This year, our grant-making programs – including the Office on Violence Against Women, the Office of Justice Programs, and the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services – announced more than $246 million in grants that will support public safety efforts in American Indian and Alaska Native communities. 

This total – an increase from the last two years – includes more than $116 million awarded through the Tribal Victim Services Set-Aside Formula Program. These funds will be used to serve crime victims in almost 200 Tribes and villages. 

We also released the newest version of the Attorney General Guidelines for Victim and Witness Assistance – the first update in 10 years. 

Among other revisions, the new revisions provide additional guidance on how best to assist victims who are members of vulnerable populations. For the first time, this guideline specifically addresses victims from American Indian and Alaska Native communities.

In addition, Marlys Big Eagle, a long-time victims’ services provider in the district of South Dakota, is now serving as the Department’s first Native American Outreach Services Liaison.  

In that role, she will work to ensure that victims of crime have a voice during every step of the criminal justice process where the federal government has jurisdiction. 

The Justice Department recognizes that addressing the public safety challenges of this moment will require more than just strong partnerships with Tribes.  

It will also require greater coordination within the federal government.

We are grateful for our continued partnership with the Department of the Interior. As called for by Executive Order 14053, DOJ coordinated with DOI to develop a comprehensive strategy for preventing and responding to violence against Native Americans.

Now, we are executing that strategy. For example, just this week, the FBI and the Bureau of Indian Affairs entered into a Memorandum of Understanding that updates the operational agreements between these two agencies for the first time since 1993.

This MOU will strengthen information sharing processes and expand avenues for collaboration between the agencies during criminal investigations. 

The changes, which reflect Tribal feedback, will make our investigations both more efficient and more effective.

Finally, and in addition to meeting the public safety challenges facing Tribal communities, the Justice Department is ensuring that its civil rights work accounts for Tribal interests.

Protecting the civil rights of all individuals was a founding purpose of the Department. It remains an urgent priority. 

For example, earlier this Fall, the Department filed a lawsuit against the owners and operators of a hotel and bar in South Dakota for violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by discriminating against Native American customers.  

The Justice Department is working hard to make good on our commitment to improve the wellbeing of Tribal communities. In just a few minutes, you will hear even more about that from Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta, who has been integral to our efforts to support Tribes.  

But we know that we cannot do this work without you.

As we fulfill our public safety obligations to Tribal communities, we promise to do so as partners.

This means establishing and maintaining strong lines of communication. 

This means listening to you, as leaders of your governments and representatives of your citizens. 

And it means incorporating your insights into our processes.

I am grateful for your partnership. I am humbled by your trust. And I am honored to work alongside you as we build a better future.

Thank you very much.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

On World AIDS Day 2022, the Justice Department reaffirms its commitment to protecting the rights of people living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Since passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) more than 30 years ago, the department has worked vigorously to protect and advance the rights of the more than one million Americans living with HIV and AIDS.

“The Department of Justice vigorously safeguards the rights of all Americans, including people living with HIV and AIDS,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “On World AIDS Day, we reaffirm our commitment to using civil rights laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, to address the unlawful treatment of people living with HIV and AIDS and stem the spread of stereotypes and misinformation about the disease.”

Over the past year, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has prioritized the enforcement of the ADA to seek equal opportunity for and combat discrimination against people living with HIV and AIDS.

• In October, the department issued a letter finding that a Pennsylvania county correctional facility violated the ADA by preventing an inmate from working in the facility’s kitchen because he has HIV. This exclusion deprived the inmate of benefits including monetary compensation, special housing, extra privileges and eligibility for sentence reduction. 
• In September, the department entered a consent decree resolving a lawsuit against the Town of Clarksville, Indiana. The lawsuit alleged that the Town’s police department prevented a qualified applicant from becoming a police officer based on his HIV diagnosis. The agreement requires Clarksville to pay monetary damages to the complainant, revise its policies and train its personnel.
• In September, the department secured a settlement agreement with an in-home caregiving agency to resolve allegations that the company refused to provide in-home services to an individual with HIV. The agreement requires the agency to pay monetary damages to the individual, adopt a non-discrimination policy and train its staff.
• In June and July, the department secured settlement agreements with two tattoo studios to resolve complaints that clients were refused services after informing the studios of their HIV-positive status. The agreements require the tattoo studios to pay monetary damages to the complainants, develop a non-discrimination policy, and train their employees. 
• In February, the department entered consent decrees resolving two cases alleging that doctors in California refused to provide routine medical care to a patient on the basis of her HIV status. One lawsuit alleged that when the patient tried to make an appointment, she was told that the doctor could not see her because she had HIV, and the second lawsuit alleged that another doctor denied the patient a Pap smear, a regular preventative procedure, because he deemed her a “high risk” patient. The consent decrees require each doctor to pay monetary damages to the complainant and a civil penalty to the United States, to receive training on the ADA and the care of patients with HIV, and to implement a non-discrimination policy.

In addition to its enforcement efforts, the department continues to engage in outreach to educate people living with HIV and AIDS, businesses, state and local governments, and other covered entities on their rights and responsibilities under the ADA. The department also provides technical assistance and responds to questions from individuals and covered entities through our ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 (voice) or 833-610-1264 (TTY).

To learn more about the Civil Rights Division’s work, please visit Civil Rights Division | Department of Justice and archive.ADA.gov/HIV Home Page.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

EUGENE, Ore.—A former employee of the Burns Paiute Tribe was sentenced to federal probation today after she stole and crashed a vehicle owned by the Tribe used to transport students to and from school events.

Sara Janeese Hawley, 37, a resident of Burns, Oregon, was sentenced to three years’ federal probation. Hawley was also ordered to pay restitution to the Burns Paiute Tribe.

According to court documents, Hawley used an employee access code to enter the Burns Paiute Tribe’s Tribal Housing Department building where she took the keys to and stole a Dodge Caravan minivan owned by the Tribe. Hawley, who had earlier used methamphetamine and inhalants, drove away in and later crashed and totaled the vehicle.

On April 21, 2022, a federal grand jury in Eugene returned an indictment charging Hawley with embezzlement and theft from an Indian Tribal Organization. On August 23, 2022, she pleaded guilty to the single charge.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the FBI. It was prosecuted by Jeffrey S. Sweet, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.