Month: January 2023

Source: United States Department of Justice News

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Kansas City, Mo., man who was involved in a shoot-out at a local gas station was sentenced in federal court today for illegally possessing a firearm.

Tirrell M. Thompson, 31, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to nine years in federal prison without parole.

On May 23, 2022, Thompson pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. Thompson admitted that he was involved in a shoot-out at a gas station near 45^th and The Paseo on May 6, 2020. A federal marshal witnessed the shooting, in which Thompson pulled a Taurus .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun from his waistband, ducked behind his car, and shot back at another individual who was shooting at him. The marshal also saw Thompson flee from the gas station in a silver vehicle.

A police helicopter identified the fleeing car, which slowed down as Thompson tossed the handgun out of the car near 58^th Terrace and Swope Parkway. Police officers arrested Thompson and found the handgun, which had blood on it, in the area where Thompson had tossed it.

Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Thompson has two prior felony convictions for resisting arrest and a prior felony conviction for unlawful use of a weapon.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean T. Foley. It was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department.

Project Safe Neighborhoods

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime.  Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.  As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime. 

Source: United States Department of Justice News

TRENTON, N.J. – A New York man was sentenced today to 84 months in prison for transporting multiple items of child sexual abuse into New Jersey, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.

Jesus Modesto Sanchez, 31, of New York, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi to an information charging him with one count of transporting of child pornography. Judge Quraishi imposed the sentence today in Trenton federal court.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

In October 2020, Modesto Sanchez began communicating with an undercover officer who he believed was a minor on a web-based application. On Oct. 17, 2020, Modesto Sanchez was arrested after traveling from New York to New Jersey to meet the undercover officer. Law enforcement officers subsequently discovered a significant collection of child pornography on Modesto Sanchez’s cellular telephone, including 72 videos and one image depicting the sexual abuse of minors.

In addition to the prison sentence, Judge Quraishi sentenced Modesto Sanchez to five years of supervised release.  

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents with the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James Dennehy in Newark, and members of the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor John P. McDonald, with the investigation leading to today’s sentence.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn Barnes of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

DETROIT – A former Wayne County Roads Division employee pleaded guilty today to conspiring to steal over $1.7 million in county funds, United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison and Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced.

Ison and Worthy were joined in the announcement by James A. Tarasca, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Detroit Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Wayne County Sheriff Raphael Washington.

Kevin Gunn, 64, of West Bloomfield, pleaded guilty to defrauding Wayne County out of nearly $2 million in taxpayer funds. Gunn, and fellow Wayne County employee John L. Gibson, 54, of Detroit engaged in a scheme to use taxpayer dollars to make unauthorized purchases of generators and other power equipment from retailers in southeast Michigan which they sold for personal profit. A federal grand jury indicted Gibson for these crimes in October 2022.

In March of 2021, the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department began an investigation into the misuse of taxpayer dollars. The Sheriff’s Department then solicited the assistance of the FBI to investigate the criminal actions of Gunn, Gibson, other employees of the Wayne County Roads Division, and vendors to Wayne County. At the beginning of the investigation, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office secured a search warrant which broke open the case and led to the uncovering of the embezzlement scheme. Investigators with the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office have played an ongoing and important role in the investigation.  

As part of the scheme to defraud, between January 2019, and August 2021, Gunn and Gibson solicited approved Wayne County vendors to purchase generators and other power equipment from local retailers on behalf of Wayne County. The vendors would then submit invoices for these items to Wayne County. In order to conceal the scheme to defraud, Gunn instructed the vendors to falsify the invoices they submitted to the Roads Division, and list items the vendors were authorized to sell to the county under their contracts, rather than the generators and power equipment they were unlawfully acquiring at Gunn’s and Gibson’s request. Roads Division employees would then approve and pay each vendor’s invoice with taxpayer funds. After these fraudulent purchases were verified and approved by Roads Division employees, Gibson took possession of the equipment, paid Gunn for the items, and resold the generators and other items for personal profit.

A review of invoices from Wayne County vendors revealed that between January 16, 2019, and August 3, 2021, Wayne County vendors purchased 596 generators, and a variety of other power equipment including lawnmowers, chainsaws, and backpack blowers. The purchase of these items was not authorized under any vendor contract with Wayne County nor were the items ever provided to or used by Wayne County. The total value of equipment purchased as part of the scheme was approximately $1.7 million in taxpayer funds.  Gibson and Gunn were arrested in May by FBI agents, Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office Investigators, and Wayne County Sheriff’s Deputies.

Pursuant to the terms of his plea agreement, Gunn faces a sentencing guideline range of 57-71 months in prison.  Sentencing has been set for May 31, 2023.

Conspiracy to commit federal program theft carries a maximum sentence of up to 5 years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000.  Federal program theft carries a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine of $250,000. 

United States Attorney Dawn Ison said, “Today’s guilty plea is the culmination of months of collaboration between our federal, state, and local law enforcement officers who worked together to seek justice for the citizens of the Eastern District of Michigan. We thank Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy and her uncompromising efforts to eliminate corrupt public officials who abuse their power and steal from the hardworking taxpayers of Wayne County.”      

“This is the one of the worst types of betrayal of the public trust. Wayne County remains committed to sussing out corruption where we find it – no matter who is involved. We continue this work today. I want to thank CEO Evans for his continued cooperation, my detectives, and especially the United States Attorney’s office for their successful prosecution of the defendant,” said Wayne County Prosecutor Kym L. Worthy.

“The actions of this individual are nothing short of disgraceful,” said Sheriff Raphael Washington. “To brazenly steal from hardworking taxpayers and fraudulently line his own pockets while holding positions of public trust make these crimes all the more deplorable.”

“Public officials are entrusted to use taxpayer money for its intended purpose, not for their personal benefit. Today, Mr. Gunn is being held accountable for violating that trust,” said James A. Tarasca, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office. “I would like to thank the Michigan Attorney General’s Office and the Wayne County Prosecutor, Wayne County Executive, and Wayne County Sheriff’s Office for their partnership on this investigation.”

The investigation of this case was conducted by the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department, the Michigan Attorney General’s Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eaton P. Brown.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

COVINGTON, Ky.— A Covington man, Anthony Michaelis, 34, and an Alexandria, Ky., man, Blake Barnes, 23, were sentenced to 258 months and 60 months in federal prison, respectively, on Tuesday, by U.S. District Judge David Bunning, for possession of controlled substances, including fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine, with intent to distribute them, and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of their drug trafficking.

According to Michaelis’ plea agreement, on January 16, 2022, individuals at a Circle K store in Dayton, Ky., approached police and told officers that two men, later identified as Michaelis and Barnes, had approached them at a gas pump and offered to sell them controlled substances.  During this encounter, Michaelis pulled out a handgun and pointed it at the group.  Law enforcement subsequently located Michaelis and Barnes and recovered the handgun.  Barnes was wearing a backpack that contained over 12 grams of fentanyl and over 3 grams of actual methamphetamine.  Officers located a bag of white powder containing over 23 grams of cocaine in the Michaelis’s pants pocket.  In 2021, Michaelis had previously been found with over 70 grams of cocaine and 346 grams of marijuana that he intended to distribute, as well as $5,320.00 in currency.  

Michaelis pleaded guilty to the charge in August 2022.  Barnes pleaded guilty in September 2022.  Michaelis has previous felony convictions for robbery, assaulting a police officer, and assaulting a prison inmate.

Under federal law, both must serve 85 percent of their prison sentences.  Upon their release from prison, Michaelis will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for six years, and Barnes will be under supervision for five years.           

Carlton S. Shier IV, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Shawn Morrow, Special Agent in Charge, ATF, Louisville Field Division; Chief David Halfhill, Dayton Police Department; and Chief Brian Valeni, Covington Police Department, jointly announced the sentence.

The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the Dayton Police Department; and the Covington Police Department.  The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tony Bracke.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ROBERT ECKERT, 56, of West Hartford, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to 66 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for distributing child pornography.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Eckert used multiple internet platforms, including MeWe and Kik, to solicit, receive and distribute images of child sexual abuse and to communicate with others about the distribution of child pornography.  He accessed the online platforms on his phone, at his residence, and at the Lutz Children’s Museum in Manchester where he was employed as its executive director.

On June 12, 2020, investigators seized Eckert’s cellphone.  Analysis of the cellphone revealed 1,837 image files and 73 videos depicting child sex abuse, including the abuse of prepubescent minors.

Eckert was arrested on April 8, 2021.  On September 1, 2022, he pleaded guilty to distribution of child pornography.

Eckert, who is released on a $100,000 bond, is required to report to prison on February 15.

This matter was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with the assistance of the Connecticut State Police and the Manchester Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nancy V. Gifford and Daniel Cummings.

This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.