Month: December 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

DETROIT – A Macomb County federally licensed firearms dealer was charged in an indictment with illegally importing Glock conversion devices from Russia and failing to keep proper records, United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison announced today.

Ison was joined in the announcement by Assistant Special Agent in Charge Craig Kailimai of the Detroit Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Chase Farmer, 23, of St. Clair Shores, illegally imported Glock conversion devices and drop-in auto sears using a Russian website from November 2020 to March 2021.  Glock conversion devices and drop-in auto sears are used to convert standard firearms into machineguns that allow the firearms to fire multiple rounds at once, and, thus, are highly dangerous devices.  Farmer, owner of the federally licensed firearms dealer, Shall Not Be Infringed, LLC, based in Clinton Township, was licensed to deal in firearms, but he was not licensed to import firearms, including these dangerous Glock conversion devices, into the United States.  Farmer attempted to hide his purchase from authorities—including by making the orders under an alias and falsifying the details in his PayPal payments to Russia—but ATF agents were able to detect the purchases and recover evidence of Farmer’s crimes, which also included his failure to keep proper records as licensed firearms dealer.

This case has been assigned to United States District Judge Gershwin A. Drain. The defendant could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

An indictment is only a formal charging document and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane Princ.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

A Michigan man was sentenced today to 16 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release for conspiracy to kidnap the Governor of Michigan and conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction against persons or property.

Adam Fox, 39, of Wyoming, Michigan, and co-conspirator Barry Croft Jr., 47, of Bear, Delaware, were convicted by a federal jury in August 2022 during an 11-day retrial. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Fox and Croft 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. Croft was also convicted of possessing an improvised explosive device, which was a commercial firework refashioned with shrapnel to serve as a hand-grenade. A jury in an earlier trial was unable to reach a verdict.

“Mr. Fox, and his confederate Mr. Croft, were convicted by a jury of masterminding a plot to kidnap the Governor of Michigan and to use weapons of mass destruction against responding law enforcement,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “Today’s sentence reflects the Department of Justice’s unwavering commitment to protecting our elected officials, law enforcement officers, and dedicated public servants from criminal threats and violence — and to holding the perpetrators of such acts fully accountable under the law.”

“Today, Mr. Fox learned his fate. For his role in the plot to kidnap the Governor and trigger further violence, he will serve a long term in prison,” said Former U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge for the Western District of Michigan, appointed to oversee the trial. “Responding to domestic terrorism has been a priority for the Department of Justice since its founding. Rest assured: we will spare no effort to disrupt plots like these and hold those responsible accountable to the law.”

Fox is the third to be sentenced of four conspirators convicted in the plot. Croft is scheduled to be sentenced tomorrow.

Co-defendant 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 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 August 2022.

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

Jacksonville, Florida –United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Curtis Brown (35, Raiford) has pleaded guilty to threatening to murder a federal judge in retaliation for performing his official duties and mailing a letter to a federal judge threatening to kill the judge and his family. Brown faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison on each count. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

According to court documents, Brown was in the Florida State Prison in Raiford serving a state sentence when he sent a letter dated November 30, 2021, to a federal judge’s chambers. The letter was handwritten, addressed to the judge from Brown, and indicated it was sent in retaliation. The letter stated that the judge’s “recent refusal to grant warranted relief” gave Brown no other choice but to use his federal stimulus money to pay for someone to kill the judge. Brown stated that if he could not get to the judge in time, he would settle for a member of the judge’s family.  The letter was signed by Brown and beneath his signature was a statement that the letter better stay between them, or it would get worse.

This case was investigated by the United States Marshals Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kirwinn Mike and Ashley Washington.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

PITTSBURGH – A former resident of Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on charges of Travel With Intent to Engage in Illicit Sexual Conduct, Transportation With Intent to Engage in Criminal Sexual Activity, and Receipt and Attempted Receipt of Material Depicting the Sexual Exploitation of a Minor, United States Attorney Cindy K. Chung announced today.

The three-count Indictment, returned on Dec. 13, 2022, named James Jordan, age 30, as the sole defendant.

According to the Indictment, from Jan. 11, 2022, until Jan. 12, 2022, Jordan traveled in interstate commerce to engage in any illicit sexual conduct a minor and also transported the minor from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to the State of West Virginia, with the intent that the minor engage in criminal sexual activity. Further, on Nov. 18, 2021, Jordan knowingly received and attempted to received visual depictions of a minor, via interstate commerce; namely, several digital files, the production of which involved the use of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct, and which depicted a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

The law provides for a maximum total sentence of life imprisonment, a fine of $750,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

Assistant United States Attorney Heidi M. Grogan is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.

The Department of Homeland Security—Pittsburgh, the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, the Pennsylvania State Police, the Waynesburg Police Department, and the Lewisburg (WV) Police Department conducted the investigation leading to the Indictment in this case.

An indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

PHOENIX, Ariz. – James Thomas Andrew McCarty, 22, of Charlotte, North Carolina, and formerly of Kayenta, Arizona, was arrested on Wednesday, December 14, 2022, following a federal grand jury indictment of 26 counts including Making False Statements, Cyberstalking, and Aggravated Identity Theft. A detention hearing was held on Tuesday, December 20, 2022, in Charlotte, North Carolina, at which point he was detained and remanded to the District of Arizona for further proceedings. McCarty is also pending federal charges in the Central District of California https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/grand-jury-indicts-2-swatting-scheme-took-over-ring-doorbells-across-us-livestream.

The indictment alleges that McCarty made 13 phone calls from Kayenta, Arizona, to police departments and schools in Georgia, New Jersey, Ohio, Indiana, and Oklahoma between January 17, 2021, and June 30, 2021, containing varying threats that he possessed bombs, propane bottles and tanks, and that he would shoot police if they responded. Two of the calls specifically threatened school shootings in Westfield, Indiana, and Vinita, Oklahoma. Seven calls involved identity theft because McCarty allegedly used the names of actual individuals purportedly making the phone calls associated with the locations of the false emergencies.

A conviction for False Statements about bombs and other explosives carries a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison, up to a $250,000 fine, or both.

A conviction for Cyberstalking, False Information and Hoaxes carries a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison, up to a $250,000 fine, or both.

Each count of Aggravated Identity Theft carries a maximum penalty of a mandatory two years’ consecutive imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, or both.

A criminal indictment is merely an allegation of criminal conduct, not evidence. An individual is presumed innocent until evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is conducting the investigation in this case. The United States Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, Phoenix, is handling the prosecution.

CASE NUMBER:            CR-22-08133-PCT
RELEASE NUMBER:    2022-231_McCarty

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For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/

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