Month: December 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

A Tulsa man has been charged in federal court for leaving a voicemail threatening to “murder people” at the Ernest Childers Outpatient Clinic in Tulsa then showing up to the clinic the same day with a loaded firearm, announced U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson. The facility serves veterans and is run by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Zachariah Kade McGuire, 31, was charged by Criminal Complaint with possession of a firearm in a federal facility. McGuire made an initial appearance Thursday in federal court and is scheduled for preliminary and detention hearings on Jan. 5, 2023, at 2 pm.

According to court documents, on Nov. 14, 2022, the defendant’s mother called to schedule an appointment for him at the clinic, which was set for Dec. 13, 2022.

Shortly after, McGuire called back and allegedly left the threatening voicemail message, which was reported to the Veterans Affairs Police.

McGuire stated, in part, “You will make me an appointment and prescribe me my meds, or I will murder you. You have 30 minutes to do so, or I will be coming up there and start to murder people.”  He also referenced a doctor he had a grievance with.

At approximately 12:30 pm the same day, McGuire showed up at the clinic. Soon after, officers made contact with McGuire and asked if he had a weapon. He responded yes, and officers retrieved a.357 magnum revolver from McGuire’s jacket pocket. The firearm was loaded with six rounds of ammunition. Officers also recovered seven plastic zip ties from McGuire.

During a later interview with special agents from the Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, McGuire claimed that he didn’t remember making the call but admitted that he did bring the firearm to the outpatient clinic. He explained that he looked for his primary care provider, but didn’t see him, then was taken into custody by officers.

The Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, Department of Veterans Affairs Police, Tulsa Police Department, and FBI are the investigative agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert T. Raley is prosecuting the case. AUSA Raley is the National Security Anti-Terrorism (ATAC) Prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Oklahoma.

This matter will proceed in United States District Court in Tulsa, where the Complaint is currently pending. A Complaint is a temporary charge alleging a violation of law. For the case to proceed to trial, the United States must present the charge to a federal Grand Jury within 30 days. Once a Grand Jury returns an Indictment, a defendant has a right to a jury trial at which the United States would have the burden of proving the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Source: United States Department of Justice 2

A federal court in the Eastern District of Michigan has permanently enjoined two Detroit, Michigan-area tax return preparers and their Detroit-based business from preparing returns for others and from owning or operating any tax return preparation business in the future.

The civil complaint filed in the case alleged that Latavia Garrett, Latrina Hall, and their tax return preparation company, Detroit Tax Solution LLC, prepared fraudulent federal income tax returns. According to the complaint, defendants filed fraudulent federal tax returns that included the following schemes: reporting false income and expenses from fictious businesses; falsely claiming eligibility for child tax credits and education credits; falsely claiming dependents to increase the amount of earned income tax credits; utilizing falsely-reported prior year earned income to make customers eligible for tax credits; underreporting wage income; and, as to defendant Hall, often acting as a “ghost preparer” – that is, failing to sign the tax returns she prepared and failing to identify herself in any way on the returns. As alleged in the complaint, the IRS has conservatively estimated that defendants’ fraudulent return preparation activities have caused a combined loss to the United States for tax years 2019 and 2020 exceeding $1.2 million.

According to the court’s order, defendants consented to entry of the injunction, which permits the United States to conduct post-judgment discovery to monitor compliance. The order requires that defendants (1) send notice of the injunction to each person for whom they and their company prepared federal tax returns, amended tax returns, or claims for refund after January 1, 2019, and (2) post an electronic copy of the injunction on any business social media profile currently maintained or created over the next five years.

Deputy Assistant Attorney General David A. Hubbert of the Justice Department’s Tax Division made the announcement.

Taxpayers seeking a return preparer should remain vigilant against unscrupulous tax preparers. The IRS has information on its website for choosing a tax return preparer and has launched a free directory of federal tax preparers. The IRS also offers 10 tips to avoid tax season fraud and ways to safeguard their personal information.

In the past decade, the Department of Justice Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of unscrupulous tax preparers. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department’s website. An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found on this page. If you believe that one of the enjoined persons or businesses may be violating an injunction, please contact the Tax Division with details.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Barry Croft Jr., 47, of Bear, Delaware, was sentenced today to 235 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for conspiracy to kidnap the Governor of Michigan, conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction against persons or property, and knowingly possessing an unregistered destructive device, which was a commercial firework refashioned with shrapnel to serve as a hand-grenade.

Croft was convicted by a federal jury in August 2022 during an 11-day retrial. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Croft and others intended to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer from her vacation cottage near Elk Rapids, Michigan, and use the destructive devices to facilitate their plot by harming and hindering the governor’s security detail and any responding law enforcement officers. They specifically explored placing a bomb under an interstate overpass near a pedestrian boardwalk. A jury in an earlier trial was unable to reach a verdict.

Croft is the final defendant to be sentenced for his role in the plot.

Co-defendant Adam Fox, 39, of Wyoming, Michigan, was sentenced yesterday to 16 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release for his role in the conspiracy. Ty Garbin, 27, of Hartland, Michigan, pleaded guilty in January 2021 and initially received a sentence of 75 months, or over six years, in prison. The district court later reduced that sentence to a term of 30 months, or two and a half years in prison, after fully considering his cooperation at both trials. Kaleb Franks, 28, of Waterford, Michigan, received a term of four years in prison after pleading guilty and testifying at both trials. Co-defendants Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta were acquitted at the first trial in April 2022.

Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, Former U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge for the Western District of Michigan, appointed to oversee the trial, Assistant Director Robert R. Wells of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division and Special Agent in Charge James A. Tarasca of the FBI Detroit Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI’s Detroit Field Office investigated the case with valuable assistance provided by the FBI’s Baltimore Field Office and the Joint Terrorism Task Force, including Michigan State Police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan charged the case and conducted the trials, with valuable assistance provided by the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that TAJH WILEY, also known as “Yung,” 27, of Norwalk, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to 144 months of imprisonment, followed by four years of supervised release, for drug trafficking offenses.

This matter stems from an investigation led by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Bridgeport High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force into a drug trafficking organization headed by Wiley.  The investigation, which included a court-authorized wiretap of Wiley’s phone, revealed that Wiley conspired to distribute large quantities of fentanyl, cocaine and marijuana and distributed drugs throughout Connecticut and elsewhere with the assistance of several associates.

Wiley was arrested on June 9, 2021.  In association with his arrest and the arrest of seven of his co-conspirators investigators executed multiple search warrants and seized approximately a kilogram of fentanyl, a kilogram of cocaine, approximately 83 grams of crack cocaine, more than 12 pounds of marijuana, two press machines and other items and materials used by Wiley and his co-conspirators to process and package illegal drugs.  Investigators also seized from Wiley jewelry valued at more than $100,000, and a 2021 Mercedes-Benz valued at approximately $146,000.

On July 25, 2022, a jury found Wiley guilty of one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, 500 grams or more of cocaine, and marijuana, and one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine base (“crack cocaine”).

Wiley has been detained since his arrest.

This investigation was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Bridgeport High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bridgeport Police Department, Fairfield Police Department, Norwalk Police Department, Stamford Police Department, Stratford Police Department, Yonkers (New York) Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Service.  The HIDTA Task Force includes personnel from the DEA Bridgeport Resident Office, the Connecticut State Police, and the Bridgeport, Norwalk, Stamford, Stratford, Milford and Danbury Police Departments.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patrick J. Doherty, Robert S. Dearington, Margaret M. Donovan and Elena L. Coronado through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Program.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts and dismantles drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs and transnational criminal organizations through a prosecutor-led and intelligence-driven approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.  Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

          GRAND RAPIDS – Barry Croft Jr., 47, of Bear, Delaware, was sentenced today to 235 months (19 years 7 months) in prison followed by five years of supervised release for conspiracy to kidnap the Governor of Michigan, conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction against persons or property, and knowingly possessing an unregistered destructive device, which was a commercial firework refashioned with shrapnel to serve as a hand-grenade.

          Croft was convicted by a federal jury in August 2022 during an 11-day retrial. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Croft and others intended to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer from her vacation cottage near Elk Rapids, Michigan, and use the destructive devices to facilitate their plot by harming and hindering the governor’s security detail and any responding law enforcement officers. They specifically explored placing a bomb under an interstate overpass near a pedestrian boardwalk. A jury in an earlier trial was unable to reach a verdict.

          Croft is the final defendant to be sentenced for his role in the plot.

          Co-defendant Adam Fox, 39, of Wyoming, Michigan, was sentenced yesterday to 16 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release for his role in the conspiracy. Ty Garbin, 27, of Hartland, Michigan, pleaded guilty in January 2021 and initially received a sentence of 75 months, or over six years, in prison. The district court later reduced that sentence to a term of 30 months, or two and a half years in prison, after fully considering his cooperation at both trials. Kaleb Franks, 28, of Waterford, Michigan, received a term of four years in prison after pleading guilty and testifying at both trials. Co-defendants Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta were acquitted at the first trial in April 2022.

          Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, Former U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge for the Western District of Michigan, appointed to oversee the trial, and Assistant Director Robert R. Wells of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division made the announcement.

          The FBI’s Detroit Field Office investigated the case with valuable assistance provided by the FBI’s Baltimore Field Office and the Joint Terrorism Task Force, including Michigan State Police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

          The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan charged the case and conducted the trials, with valuable assistance provided by the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.

###