Month: January 2023

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Jean Pierre Njock, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, today announced that HAMILTON CLARK SMITH, 57, of Milford, was arrested yesterday on a federal criminal complaint charging him with threatening a federal law enforcement officer.

Following his arrest, Smith appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert M. Spector in New Haven and was ordered detained pending a bond hearing that is scheduled for January 18.

As alleged in court documents and statements made in court, on January 10 and 11, 2023, Smith sent a series of threatening text messages to a Deputy U.S. Marshal, including threats to harm and kill the Deputy U.S. Marshal, and to harm the Deputy U.S. Marshal’s family.  In addition, on January 11, 2023, Smith called the U.S. Marshals Service Communications Center in Virginia and made a statement threatening to kill the Deputy U.S. Marshal.

The complaint charges Smith with making interstate threats, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years, and with threatening a federal law enforcement officer, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.

U.S. Attorney Avery stressed that a criminal complaint is not evidence of guilt.  Charges are only allegations, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren C. Clark.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson scheduled sentencing for April 19, 2023, at 9:30 a.m.  Aguilar faces a maximum penalty of 5 years in federal prison. 

“My office is committed to partnering with the Department of Labor to protect the rights of all workers,” said U.S. Attorney O’Shea.  “We will work with our federal colleagues to bring to justice those who seek to exploit vulnerable workers.”

“Alfredo Aguilar conspired with others to abuse the H-2B program by making false statements to the U.S. Department of Labor and by failing to provide foreign workers with the wages and benefits they were entitled to receive. We will continue to work with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division to vigorously pursue those who commit fraud involving foreign labor certification programs,” said Irene Lindow, Special Agent-in-Charge, Chicago Region, U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General.

The investigation in this matter was conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General and Wage and Hour Division, with assistance from the U.S. Department of State and the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation.  U.S. Attorney O’Shea is handling the prosecution. 

Source: United States Department of Justice News

HOUSTON – A 27-year-old security guard working at a downtown Houston nightclub has been sent to prison following his conviction of a violent armed robbery in 2019, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

A federal jury sitting in Houston convicted Hakeem Alexander Coles for interference with commerce by robbery and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence June 6, 2022, following a five-day trial.

Today, U.S. District Ewing Werlein Jr. handed Coles a 240-month term of imprisonment for the robbery. He also received another 240 months for the firearms charge which must be served consecutively to the other sentence imposed. The total 40-year prison term will run consecutively to a 17-year sentence he received in Minnesota for another robbery and assaulting a federal agent.

Coles, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, used a false identity to get hired as a security guard for Cle Nightclub. He worked there for about two weeks. On Sept. 7, 2019, after the business closed, he robbed the employees at gunpoint and demanded $20,000 cash.

At trial, the jury heard from witnesses who described how Coles was hired as a security guard using someone else’s identity. They also heard from employees at Cle who described how he had robbed them at gunpoint and discharged his firearm toward them as he fled the scene.

The investigation led to Coles’ arrest in Louisiana. At that time, he was found in possession of a loaded firearm and the false identification he used to gain employment at Cle. Law enforcement was soon able to uncover his true identity.

The jury also heard evidence of another robbery Coles had committed in Minneapolis three weeks prior to the Cle robbery. In that case, Coles was working as a security guard at Cowboy Jacks Bar and Restaurant and robbed the employees during closed hours as well. Coles pleaded guilty in 2020 and received 17 years in federal prison on that case.

The defense attempted to convince the jury in this case that Coles did not commit the crime and it was, in fact, the individual whose identity he had stolen. The jury did not believe those claims and found him guilty as charged.

Coles will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

The FBI conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office; Gretna Police Department in Louisiana and Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Britni Cooper and Luis Batarse prosecuted the case.

This is an example of coordination between law enforcement who are part of the Houston Law Enforcement Violent Crime Initiative which combines personnel and resources from numerous federal, state and local agencies. The goal is to proactively fight and reduce violent crime across the Greater Houston area by targeting the region’s most violent offenders, augmenting investigative and prosecutorial efforts and enhancing training, public awareness and education. It stems from the Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program. 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.

In May 2021, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland announced a new effort to reduce violent crime, including the gun violence that is often at its core. Integral to that effort was the reinvigoration of PSN, a two-decade old, evidence-based and community-oriented program focused on reducing violent crime. The updated PSN approach, outlined in the department’s Comprehensive Strategy for Reducing Violent Crime is guided by four key principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities and measuring the results of our efforts. The fundamental goal is to reduce violent crime, not simply to increase the number of arrests or prosecutions.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

MIAMI – Four South Florida residents have been sentenced to prison for participating in a conspiracy to defraud the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) out of loan proceeds. These loans are guaranteed by the Small Business Administration under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.

Marcgenson Marc, 37, of Coconut Creek, Fla., was sentenced today to 15 months in prison. Previously, Wally Dorlus, 41, of Margate, Fla., was sentenced to 48 months in prison; Edward Moise, 45, of Coral Springs, Fla., was sentenced to 18 months in prison; and Roberto Geronimo, 40, of Miami Gardens, Fla., was sentenced to 70 months in prison, to run concurrently with his sentence for drug conspiracy charges.

According to facts admitted by the defendants as part of their guilty pleas, Dorlus was a tax preparer who—in exchange for kickbacks—filed approximately 170 fraudulent PPP loan applications. These applications misrepresented the number of employees, payroll expenses, and gross revenues to qualify for the loans seeking more than $28 million on behalf of companies he controlled and more than 100 other ones. Of those loans, approximately 33 were funded to the tune of $5.5 million. Dorlus’ kickbacks ranged from 12.5 to 25 percent of the PPP loan proceeds.

Marc was a recruiter for Dorlus who shared in and facilitated the payments of kickbacks to Dorlus. Marc, in turn, recruited Moise to apply for fraudulent PPP loans run through Dorlus and to recruit additional applicants.

One of Moise’s recruits was Geronimo, who at that time was on bond pending trial on federal drug conspiracy charges in Case No. 20-CR-20066. As an individual subject to federal indictment, Geronimo was prohibited from applying for a PPP loan on behalf of any entities he controlled. Despite that, he applied for and received a fraudulent PPP loan for approximately $250,000 for a liquor store business under his control based on falsified payroll tax documentation submitted by Dorlus. Geronimo paid 25% of the loan proceeds as a kickback shared between Dorlus and Marc. It was Geronimo’s PPP loan on the liquor store that tipped law enforcement off and led to the broader investigation into Dorlus’ fraudulent PPP loan scheme and recruitment structure.

In addition to prison time, Dorlus will have two years of supervised release and must pay $5.6 million in restitution. Marc will have two years of supervised release and must pay $886,809 in restitution. Moise will have three years of supervised release and must pay approximately $860,000 in restitution. Geronimo will have five years of supervised release and must pay approximately $262,000 in restitution, as well as forfeit more than $86,000 from the sale of his liquor store through which he received the PPP loan. 

U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe of the Southern District of Florida; Special Agent in Charge Matthew D. Line, IRS Criminal Investigation, Miami Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Deanne L. Reuter, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Miami Field Division, made the announcement.

 IRS Criminal Investigation, Miami Field Office, and DEA, Miami Field Division, investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Hauser prosecuted it and Assistant U.S. Attorney Annika Miranda handled asset forfeiture. Assistant U.S. Attorney Monique Botero prosecuted Geronimo in case number 20-CR-20066.

You may find related court documents and information on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case numbers 21-CR-60119 (Dorlus and Geronimo), 21-CR-60199 (Marc), and 21-CR-60293 (Moise).

Source: United States Department of Justice News

SAVANNAH, GA: Nine defendants are among those facing federal charges including illegal possession of firearms after separate indictments by a grand jury in the Southern District of Georgia, while recent actions in U.S. District Court include guilty pleas and criminal sentences related to illegal gun possession. 

The indicted cases are being investigated as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods in collaboration with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the FBI, to reduce violent crime with measures that include targeting convicted felons who illegally carry guns.

“Convicted felons illegally carrying firearms are significantly involved in violent crime plaguing our communities,” said David H. Estes, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. “With our law enforcement partners, we will continue to make our streets safer by putting such people behind bars.”   

In the past four years, more than 800 defendants have been federally charged in the Southern District of Georgia for illegal firearms offenses – most often for possessing a firearm after conviction for a previous felony. Recent federal legislation increases the maximum penalty for illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon to 15 years, up from 10, for those found in possession after June 25, 2022.

Defendants named in federal indictments from the January 2023 term of the U.S. District Court grand jury include:

• Akeem Ajmia Lanier, 34, of Metter, Ga., charged with Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon; Possession with Intent to Distribute Marijuana; and Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime;
• Dexcadrick Graddy, 25, of Dublin, Ga., charged with Distribution of Fentanyl; Distribution of Methamphetamine and Fentanyl; Possession with Intent to Distribute Metonitazine (a fentanyl analog), and Eutylone (bath salts); Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine; Possession with Intent to Distribute Fentanyl and Metonitazine; and Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime;
• Milton Parker III, 36, of Savannah, charged with Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon;
• Michael Floyd, 30, of Savannah, charged with Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon;
• Reginald General Jackson, 36, of Savannah, charged with Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon;
• Tyrique Marquez Mills, 25, of Waycross, Ga., charged with Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon;
• Robert Sanders, 65, of Augusta, charged with Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon;
• Tony Lavardo Blount Jr., 32, of Augusta, charged with Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon; and,
• Terrance Webster Dunn, 32, of Augusta, charged with Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. 

Criminal indictments contain only charges; defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Additional defendants recently have been adjudicated on federal charges that include illegal firearms possession:

• Raheem DaSheen Jackson, 31, of Savannah, was sentenced to 116 months in prison after his conviction at trial of Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. A jury convicted Jackson of the charge Aug. 17, 2022, where court testimony from Savannah Police officers described Jackson running from a January 2021 traffic stop and dropping a pistol as he fled. Jackson, who was adjudicated to be an Armed Career Criminal because of multiple prior felony convictions including illegal gun possession, faced a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison.
• Daquan Dwayne Young, 27, of Savannah, was sentenced to 100 months in prison after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Savannah Police officers arrested Young after a March 2022 traffic stop when they found a pistol in his waistband.
• James Wayne Cooper Jr., 37, of Waynesboro, Ga., was sentenced to 44 months in prison and fined $2,000 after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Burke County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Cooper in October 2020 after Cooper drove into a field and attempted to run away from a traffic stop. Deputies found a loaded pistol in Cooper’s vehicle.
• Cody Truitt Devore, 24, of Sylvania, Ga., was sentenced to 32 months in prison and fined $1,500 after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Devore was on federally supervised release from a prior firearms conviction in January 2022 when Columbia County Sheriff’s deputies conducted a traffic stop and found two rifles in his vehicle.
• Maurice Brown, 21, of Savannah, awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. In July 2022, Gray sped away from an attempted traffic stop in Savannah by a Georgia State Patrol trooper and later ran from the vehicle. Savannah Police officers found him hiding in a nearby home, and found a pistol under the driver’s seat of the vehicle Brown was driving.
• Christopher Donnell Crumbley, 34, of Waynesboro, awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Burke County sheriff’s deputies arrested Crumbley on outstanding criminal warrants in Dec. 2021 and found three pistols in his possession.  
• Dontrell Kydreek Mathis, 30, of Augusta, awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Richmond County Sheriff’s deputies found two pistols in Mathis’ vehicle after a traffic stop in Aug. 2022.
• Trevor Elijah Walker, 24, of Augusta, awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Richmond County Sheriff’s deputies were attempting to serve arrest warrants on Walker in November 2019 when he ran away, dropping a pistol as he fled.
• Windsor Hodge, 64, of Martinez, Ga., awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Columbia County Sheriff’s deputies searched Hodge’s residence on a warrant in January 2022 and found 13 firearms. Hodge previously was convicted of Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime, a felony.  
• Deontre Hubert, 28, of Augusta, awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Hubert had a pistol in his waistband in June 2022 when pulled over by Richmond County Sheriff’s deputies for a traffic violation. He previously was convicted in state court of Involuntary Manslaughter, a felony.
• Marshall Lee Cushman, 39, of Augusta, awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. A Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent retrieved a rifle from an Avera, Ga., residence in September 2021, and Cushman admitted leaving the gun there. Cushman has multiple prior felony convictions.
• Titus Nathaniel Travis, 23, of Augusta, awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Travis was on probation from a prior felony conviction in June 2022 when Richmond County Sheriff’s deputies, FBI agents and officers from the Georgia Department of Community Supervision searched Titus’ residence and found two pistols and a rifle. Travis is a member of a Bloods-affiliated criminal street gang.   
• David Alexander Harris, 42, of Augusta, awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to Possession with Intent to Distribute Eutylone and Cocaine, and Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Richmond County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Harris in March 2020 after finding him asleep at the wheel of his vehicle at a traffic light. A pistol was lying in Harris’ lap.

Agencies investigating these cases include the ATF, the FBI, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Savannah Police Department, the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, and the Georgia State Patrol.

The cases are being prosecuted for the United States by the Southern District of Georgia U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Under federal law, it is illegal for an individual to possess a firearm if he or she falls into one of nine prohibited categories including being a felon; illegal alien; or unlawful user of a controlled substance. Further, it is unlawful to possess a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense or violent crime. It is also illegal to purchase – or even to attempt to purchase – firearms if the buyer is a prohibited person or illegally purchasing a firearm on behalf of others. Lying on ATF Form 4473, which is used to lawfully purchase a firearm, also is a federal offense. 

For more information from the ATF on the lawful purchasing of firearms, please see: https://www.atf.gov/qa-category/atfw-form-4473