Month: January 2023

Source: United States Department of Justice News

MINNEAPOLIS – Two Cottonwood County men have been charged in a superseding indictment with conspiring to defraud grain purchasers out of more than $46,000,000 by selling non-GMO grains falsely labeled as organic, announced U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger.

According to court documents, between 2014 and 2021, James Clayton Wolf, 65, a certified organic farmer, engaged in a scheme to defraud grain purchasers by selling them non-GMO grains falsely represented as organic. The charges allege that as part of his scheme, Wolf also grew conventionally farmed crops using chemical fertilizers and pesticides, in violation of organic farming standards, and provided grain purchasers with copies of his National Organics Program certification but withheld that the grains were not organically farmed. The superseding indictment charges that after Wolf’s organic farming certification was revoked in 2020, Adam Clifford Olson, 45, also a certified organic farmer, helped Wolf sell non-GMO crops falsely described as organic.

The superseding indictment charges Wolf and Olson with three counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy. Wolf, who was charged in the first indictment, made his initial appearance on July 22, 2022, in U.S. District Court before Magistrate Judge David T. Schultz. Olson is scheduled to make his initial appearance on January 26, 2023, before Magistrate Judge John F. Docherty.

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of the Inspector General (USDA-OIG), the FBI, and the U.S. Marshals Service, with assistance from the Cottonwood County Sheriff’s Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert Lewis, Craig Baune, and Quinn Askew are prosecuting the case.

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

Source: United States Department of Justice News

NEW ORLEANS, LA – United States District Judge Susie Morgan sentenced Kareem Madison, 29, of New Orleans, Louisiana, on January 10, 2023 to thirty-seven months in the Bureau of Prisons for a violation of the Federal Gun Control Act, announced U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans.

MADISON had previously pled guilty to possession of a Schedule I Controlled Dangerous Substance in violation of La. R.S. 40:26:966(A) in the 24^th Judicial District Court in Jefferson Parish.

District Judge Morgan sentenced MADISON to the thirty-seven months to be followed by 3 years of supervised release.  She also ordered that he pay a mandatory $100.00 special assessment fee. 

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

Man Apprehended After Trading Child Sex Abuse Material in Internet Chat Rooms

            WASHINGTON – Ian Fried, 57, formerly of D.C., has been sentenced to seven years in prison for Conspiracy to Distribute and Receive Child Pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Acting Special Agent in Charge Derek W. Gordon of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C. Field Office. 

            Fried was arrested in Arizona on November 23, 2021, and he has remained in custody ever since.  He pled guilty on July 28, 2022, and was sentenced today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, by the Honorable Christopher R. Cooper.  Upon completion of his prison term, he will be placed on 10 years of supervised release.  He will also be required to register as a sex offender for 15 years following his release from prison.  Fried was ordered to pay restitution to the victims of his criminal offense. 

            According to the government’s evidence, in May of 2017, Homeland Security

            Investigations began investigating a group of individuals who were trading child pornography on an Internet-based client-server chatting protocol. Numerous individuals located across the country were using the targeted networks to discuss, view and trade child pornography and child exploitation files. Fried frequently used these chat networks between November 2018 through at least March 2020.  During these chat conversations, Fried shared links containing files depicting the sexual abuse of young children.  He also discussed with other offenders where to view and locate child pornography on the Internet.  On October 21, 2021, law enforcement obtained a warrant, authorizing the search of Fried’s residence.  Numerous electronic devices, including laptops, a tablet, and hard drives were recovered.  A forensic review of these devices revealed that they contained hundreds of images and videos depicting the sexual assault and exploitation of very young children.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves and Acting Special Agent in Charge Gordon, commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations.  They also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy E. Larson, who prosecuted the case.

            This case was brought as part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative. In February 2006, the Attorney General created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – CUONG NGUYEN, a resident of New Orleans, was sentenced on January 5, 2023 by U.S. District Court Judge Barry W. Ashe to ninety-three (93) months of incarceration after pleading guilty to a four-count indictment. Judge Ashe ordered that NGUYEN be placed on supervised release for a term of three (3) years following his release from imprisonment. NGUYEN was also ordered to pay a total mandatory special assessment fee of $400. 

Count 1 charged NGUYEN with possession with the intent to distribute controlled substances, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(C), and 841(b)(1)(D). Count 2 charged NGUYEN with possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c)(1)(A)(i). Count 3 charged NGUYEN with being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2). Count 4 charged NGUYEN with possession of an unregistered weapon, in violation of Title 26, United States Code, Sections 5861(d) and 5871.

According to public records, on November 30, 2021, NGUYEN was a passenger in a vehicle pulled over by the New Orleans Police Department at the intersection of Poland Avenue and North Robertson Street, in New Orleans. Near NGUYEN was a firearm and a backpack. A later search of the backpack led to the recovery of cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana. The firearm found near NGUYEN was equipped with a vertical fore grip, making it illegal to possesses without registration.  

NGUYEN was prohibited from possessing the firearm because he had previously been convicted of simple robbery and possession of a Schedule 2 Controlled Dangerous Substance.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of Federal Bureau of Investigation, Louisiana State Police, and the New Orleans Police Department in this matter. The case    was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mike Trummel of the Violent Crime Unit  of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

            Montgomery, Alabama – Today, Steven Michael Wehr, 33, from Montgomery, Alabama, was sentenced to 184 months in federal prison for carjacking and using a firearm during a federal crime of violence, announced United States Attorney Sandra J. Stewart. In addition to imposing a sentence of more than 15 years, the judge ordered Wehr to serve five years on supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

           According to the plea agreement and other court records, on the morning of February 8, 2022, an employee of the Jackson Hospital Urgent Care Clinic on Pine Street in Montgomery was arriving to work when an unknown individual, later identified as Wehr, approached her car. Wehr held a gun against the driver’s window and ordered the victim to open the door. The victim complied and attempted to flee. However, Wehr pushed the victim back into the car and began driving with her in the passenger seat. Soon thereafter, the victim managed to jump out of the moving car as it traveled down Mulberry Street, near the Interstate 85 overpass. The victim’s action caused Wehr drive off the road and strike a pillar supporting the overpass before continuing south bound. Luckily, the victim did not sustain any major injuries.

           Shortly after the carjacking, Montgomery Police officers located the stolen vehicle abandoned in the area of McGehee Road and Hermitage Drive. Fingerprints found in the vehicle were a positive match to Wehr. An arrest warrant was issued for Wehr on February 17, 2022, and he was taken into federal custody shortly thereafter. In September of 2022, Wehr pleaded guilty to carjacking and using a firearm to commit the crime.

           During Wehr’s sentencing hearing today, the judge noted that, at the time of the Jackson Hospital Clinic carjacking, Wehr was on probation from previous state convictions for the very same type of crime. Specifically, in 2016, Wehr was convicted in state court for committing two carjackings on the same day. During the commission of those crimes, Wehr shot into both vehicles with a firearm, striking one of the victims in the back.

           The FBI and the Montgomery Police Department investigated this case, with assistance from the United States Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force. Assistant United States Attorney Joel Feil prosecuted the case.