Month: December 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Two Kentucky real estate professionals pleaded guilty today for their roles in a conspiracy to rig bids at an estate auction for farmland and timber rights.

According to a plea agreement filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, Barry Dyer and Mackie Shelton pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to rig bids at a 2018 auction for hundreds of acres of farmland and a tract of timber rights. Dyer and Shelton demanded and accepted a $40,000 payoff from competing auction participants to stop bidding, artificially suppressing the sales price of the farmland.

“The farming industry is vital to the nation’s economy and relies on competitive pricing for the land where crops are grown. Today’s guilty pleas help ensure the integrity of farmland auctions,” said Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “With support from our law enforcement partners, the Antitrust Division will continue to hold accountable anyone who conspires to line their own pockets at the expense of this competitive process.” 

Dyer and Shelton were charged with a single-count violation of the Sherman Act. A criminal violation of the Sherman Act carries a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine. A federal district court judge will determine the defendants’ sentences after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The case was investigated and prosecuted by the Antitrust Division’s Washington Criminal I Section, with the assistance of the FBI’s International Corruption Unit and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Kentucky. Anyone with information in connection with this investigation should contact the Antitrust Division’s Complaint Center at 888-647-3258, or visit http://www.justice.gov/atr/report-violations.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

The United States and State of Wisconsin announced a settlement with Container Life Cycle Management LLC (CLCM) today that addresses Clean Air Act (CAA) and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) violations at the company’s container reconditioning facilities in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, area. The company will pay a $1.6 million civil penalty to be split evenly between the United States and the State.

In a complaint filed with the proposed settlement, the United States alleged violations of the CAA, most notably at CLCM’s St. Francis facility, for failure to control emissions of volatile organic compounds as required by the EPA-approved Wisconsin state implementation plan. The complaint also alleges RCRA violations related to storage and handling of hazardous waste at the company’s facilities in St. Francis and Oak Creek, Wisconsin and its then-operating facility in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

“Today’s settlement benefits public health and the environment by ensuring proper handling of hazardous wastes at Container Life Cycle Management’s container reconditioning facilities and will significantly limit harmful emissions of volatile organic compounds,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.

“Today’s settlement will help us protect nearby residents and improve the region’s air quality,” said Acting Assistant Administrator Larry Starfield of the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “This is a good example of EPA working cooperatively with our state partners to ensure environmental compliance and secure emissions reductions.”

Highlights of the settlement include:

• The company has installed and must continuously operate a regenerative thermal oxidizer to control air emissions of volatile organic compounds at the St. Francis facility. The company will also construct additional emissions capture systems within the facility and conduct performance testing.
• At the Oak Creek facility, the company must install and continuously operate a new digital data recorder to record the temperature of the drum reclamation furnace afterburner. The company must maintain the afterburner temperature at or above 1,650 degrees and conduct performance testing.
• The company must implement a container management plan, or CMP, for a two-year period established by the consent decree. The CMP provides for storage of heavy and non-empty containers in RCRA-compliant hazardous waste storage areas. Certain reporting requirements continue beyond the initial two-year period.

The proposed settlement is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval. To view the consent decree or to submit a comment, visit https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Charges were unsealed today against eight individuals for conspiring to defraud the Georgia Department of Labor of tens of millions of dollars in federal funds intended for unemployment benefits.

Seven defendants have been indicted and one defendant has already pleaded guilty for her role in the scheme.

According to court documents, Tyshion Nautese Hicks, 30, of Vienna, Georgia; Shatara Hubbard, 34, of Warner Robins, Georgia; Torella Wynn, 30, of Cordele, Georgia; Macovian Doston, 29, of Vienna; Kenya Whitehead, 35, of Cordele; A’Darrion Alexander, 27, of Warner Robins; Membrish Brown, 27, of Vienna; and Edith Nate Hicks, 45, of Atlanta, Georgia and others allegedly caused more than 5,000 fraudulent unemployment insurance (UI) claims to be filed with the Georgia Department of Labor (GaDOL), resulting in at least $30 million in stolen benefits meant to assist unemployed individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

To execute the scheme, the defendants and others allegedly created fictitious employers and fabricated lists of purported employees using stolen personally identifiable information (PII) from thousands of identity theft victims and filed fraudulent unemployment insurance claims on the GaDOL website. The defendants allegedly stole PII from a variety of sources, including by paying defendant Edith Nate Hicks, an employee of an Atlanta-area health care and hospital network, to unlawfully obtain patients’ PII from the hospital’s databases. The defendants also allegedly caused the stolen UI funds to be disbursed via prepaid debit cards mailed to addresses of their choice, many of which were in and around Cordele and Vienna.

Tyshion Nautese Hicks, Hubbard, Wynn, Doston, Whitehead, Alexander, and Brown are each charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Tyshion Nautese Hicks and Doston are also charged with aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory two-year prison sentence that must be imposed consecutively with any other sentence. Alexander is also charged with money laundering, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Edith Nate Hicks was charged by criminal information with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and pleaded guilty to this offense on Nov. 15. According to her plea agreement, Hicks unlawfully used her employer’s patient databases to steal PII for the unemployment fraud scheme in exchange for payments via Chime, Venmo, and CashApp. She unlawfully accessed at least 1,600 Atlanta-area patients’ PII during the conspiracy. Hicks faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A sentencing date has not been scheduled.

As to all defendants, a federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.  

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary for the Middle District of Georgia; Special Agent in Charge Mathew Broadhurst of the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG), Atlanta Region; Inspector General Joseph V. Cuffari of the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (DHS-OIG); Resident Agent in Charge Clint Bush of the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) Albany, Georgia Office; Inspector in Charge Eric Shen of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) Criminal Investigations Group; Special Agent in Charge Katrina Berger of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Georgia; Special Agent in Charge Scott Pierce of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (USPS-OIG) Southern Area Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge James E. Dorsey of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) made the announcement.

The DOL-OIG, DHS-OIG, USSS, USPIS, HSI, USPS-OIG, and IRS-CI are investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Lyndie Freeman, Matt Kahn, and Siji Moore of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case, with valuable assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia.

If you believe you are a victim in this case, please contact the Fraud Section’s Victim Witness Unit toll-free at (888) 549-3945 or by email at victimassistance.fraud@usdoj.gov. You are also encouraged to visit our webpage for this case at http://www.justice.gov/criminal-vns/case/united-states-v-tyshion-nautese-hicks-et-al.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

A former agent with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) was charged in a superseding indictment, unsealed today, in the District of Arizona with three counts: a civil rights violation for sexually assaulting and kidnapping a minor victim, kidnapping a minor victim, and misleading state investigators.

According to the superseding indictment, on April 25, 2022, Aaron Mitchell, 27, was employed as a CBP agent. The alleged minor victim, referred to in the indictment as M.V., was 15-years-old when the defendant allegedly kidnapped and sexually assaulted them. Mitchell is also charged with making a misleading statement to investigators regarding his conduct related to the sexual assault and kidnapping. 

If convicted, Mitchell faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, a minimum of 20 years imprisonment, a minimum of five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. 

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney Gary M. Restaino for the District of Arizona, Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division and Special Agent in Charge Akil Davis of the FBI Phoenix Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI’s Sierra Vista resident agency investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Carin Duryee for the District of Arizona and Trial Attorney MarLa Duncan of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

LONDON, Ky. – A Nashville, Tenn., man, Marlon Jermaine Johnson, 39, was sentenced Tuesday to 25 years in federal prison, by U.S. District Judge Claria Horn Boom, for possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, and possession of a firearm as a convicted felon.           

According to evidence at trial, on November 18, 2019, Johnson led law enforcement officers with the Knox County Sheriff’s Department on a high-speed chase, through residential streets in Corbin, before crashing into a gate and a parked car.  Johnson then fled on foot, into a cemetery, where he was ultimately apprehended.  During a search of his vehicle, law enforcement located more than a kilogram of methamphetamine and a loaded firearm.

Johnson was convicted in July 2022.

Under federal law, Johnson must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence.  He will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for five years after his release from prison. 

Carlton S. Shier IV, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; J. Todd Scott, Special Agent in Charge, DEA Louisville Field Division; and Sheriff Mike Smith, Knox County Sherriff’s Office, jointly announced the sentence. 

The investigation was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, and Operation UNITE.  The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Trimble.

This case was prosecuted as part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Neighborhoods” Program (PSN), which is a nationwide, crime reduction strategy aimed at decreasing violent crime in communities.  It involves a comprehensive approach to public safety — one that includes investigating and prosecuting crimes, along with prevention and reentry efforts.  In the Eastern District of Kentucky, U.S. Attorney Shier coordinates PSN efforts in cooperation with various federal, state, and local law enforcement officials.

— END —