Month: February 2023

Source: United States Department of Justice News

EAST ST. LOUIS – A U.S. District Court judge sentenced a Lebanon man on Tuesday to more than 16 years in federal prison for his involvement in distributing methamphetamine in St. Clair County.

Michael P. O’Leary, 48, pled guilty to one count of methamphetamine distribution, one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and one count of felon in possession of a firearm. In addition to his prison sentence, he received five years of supervised release.

“The defendant was responsible for distributing large amounts of methamphetamine throughout the Metro East,” said U.S. Attorney Rachelle Aud Crowe. “Illegal, dangerous drugs have no place in downstate Illinois communities, and the U.S. Attorney Office will continue to work with the DEA to remove individuals responsible for infecting families and loved ones.”

“Drug traffickers engage in their illicit activities for a specific reason: to make money,” said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Sean Vickers, head of Drug Enforcement Administration operations in southern Illinois. “Unfortunately, some of them use firearms to commit their criminal acts. This 16-year sentence demonstrates that DEA and its local and federal partners are dedicated to taking illegally possessed firearms off the street and putting these criminals out of business.”

According to court documents, an undercover DEA agent purchased 55 grams of methamphetamine from O’Leary in December 2020. In January 2021, the DEA executed a search warrant of his Lebanon residence and recovered 467 grams of methamphetamine.

During the search, DEA agents also located a handgun in O’Leary’s closet and was informed he owned several other firearms. The defendant is a convicted felon from a methamphetamine distribution charge in March 2015 and thus unable to legally possess firearms.

DEA led the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Dan Carraway prosecuted the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

The Justice Department announced today that it has reached a settlement agreement with Amiga Informatics (Amiga), a New York IT staffing company. The settlement resolves the department’s determination that Amiga violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by posting discriminatory job advertisements that solicited applications only from individuals with specific citizenship or immigration statuses.

“Employers have a responsibility to ensure that their job advertisements and hiring processes do not unlawfully exclude individuals because of their citizenship or immigration status,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Civil Rights Division is committed to knocking down unnecessary barriers that deny people job opportunities.”

The department’s investigation determined that Amiga posted at least six facially discriminatory job advertisements in 2021. Four of these advertisements sought only U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, thereby deterring others with permission to work in the United States without sponsorship, including asylees and refugees, from applying and receiving fair consideration for the employment opportunities. In addition, two advertisements sought only applicants with Optional Practical Training status, a temporary work authorization status given to certain non-U.S. citizen students in the United States. The advertisements thus unlawfully excluded asylees, refugees, lawful permanent residents and U.S. citizens and nationals. The INA’s anti-discrimination provision generally prohibits employers from recruiting or refusing to hire workers based on their citizenship or immigration status.

Under the agreement, Amiga will pay $24,864 in civil penalties to the United States. The agreement also requires Amiga to train its recruiters on the INA’s requirements, revise its employment policies and be subject to departmental monitoring and reporting requirements.

The Civil Rights Division’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER) is responsible for enforcing the anti-discrimination provision of the INA. The statute prohibits discrimination based on citizenship status and national origin in hiring, firing or recruitment or referral for a fee; unfair documentary practices; and retaliation and intimidation. 

Learn more about IER’s work and how to get assistance through this brief video. Find more information on how employers can avoid discrimination when hiring and recruiting on IER’s website. Applicants or employees who believe they were discriminated against based on their citizenship, immigration status, or national origin in hiring, firing, recruitment, or during the employment eligibility verification process (Form I-9 and E-Verify); or subjected to retaliation, may file a charge. The public can also call IER’s worker hotline at 1-800-255-7688 (1-800-237-2515, TTY for hearing impaired); call IER’s employer hotline at 1-800-255-8155 (1-800-237-2515, TTY for hearing impaired); email IER@usdoj.gov; sign up for a free webinar; or visit IER’s English and Spanish websites. Subscribe to GovDelivery to receive updates from IER.

Spanish Version

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that RAYMOND WHITE, a/k/a “John Raymond Anthony White,” a/k/a “Raymond Alexander White,” pled guilty yesterday to a scheme in which he defrauded the government by submitting fraudulent documents and false information about himself, his company’s business, and his company’s finances in order to obtain a $4.8 million contract to build a munitions load crew training facility at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland (“Andrews Air Force Base”), and to obtain a bond guarantee from the United States Small Business Administration (“SBA”) in connection with the contract.  WHITE also committed aggravated identity theft by using another person’s signature and Social Security number.  WHITE pled guilty before United States District Judge Edgardo Ramos. 

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Despite a prior conviction by this Office, Raymond White continued to lie and fabricate information in order to line his own pockets.  This time, White defrauded the government, submitting fraudulent documents and false information to obtain a nearly $5 million construction contract and to obtain a bond guarantee from the SBA in connection with the contract.  This Office will continue to prosecute recidivist fraudsters until the message is clear and they have learned their lesson: committing financial fraud will lead to significant penalties.” 

According to the Complaint, Superseding Indictment, public court filings, and statements made in court:

From in or about May 2019 through in or about September 2020, WHITE submitted a bid and related documents to the District of Columbia Army National Guard (“National Guard”) on a contract (the “Contract”) to build a munitions load crew training facility at Andrews Air Force Base.  Prior to obtaining the Contract, WHITE provided the National Guard with fraudulent documents about himself and his company, Kochendorfer Group USA Inc., (“Kochendorfer”).  WHITE submitted similar information to the SBA to obtain a guarantee from the SBA that was a requirement for obtaining the Contract.

The fraudulent documents that WHITE submitted to the National Guard and the SBA included a doctored bank account statement, fake reports from an accounting firm that WHITE had invented, and falsified financials.  These documents purported to show that Kochendorfer had significant cash assets.  In fact, Kochendorfer had virtually no money.  WHITE also submitted a false resume and firm dossier, which described fictitious construction jobs and provided fake references.  WHITE claimed, among other things, that he had overseen the construction of a World Cup soccer stadium in Brazil from 2012 to 2014 when in fact, WHITE was in federal prison during that time frame, serving a prison term on a prior fraud conviction.  WHITE also lied to the SBA by denying that he had any prior criminal convictions.  In furtherance of this fraud on the National Guard and the SBA, WHITE forged the signature of an attorney on a Kochendorfer letter and used another individual’s Social Security number on his SBA guarantee application. 

Based on WHITE’s misrepresentations, the National Guard awarded the Contract to Kochendorfer and the SBA issued a guarantee.  The National Guard terminated the Contract after discovering WHITE’s fraud, and no construction work was ever performed on the site.  As a result of the Contract’s termination, the SBA has fulfilled multiple claims pursuant to the guarantee provided by the SBA.

In 2011, WHITE was convicted following a jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York under the name “John Raymond Anthony White” for engaging in major fraud, mail fraud, false statements, and witness tampering.  United States v. John Raymond Anthony White, S1 10 Cr. 516 (SHS).  WHITE’s prior conviction arose out of his fraud in the procurement of four government contracts, for a scheme in which he falsely represented that he was a disabled veteran.  As a result of his 2011 federal conviction, WHITE and his prior construction company, Mitsubishi Construction Corporation, were excluded from government contracting for a period of five years.  The name that WHITE used in connection with the Contract — Raymond White — was different from the name he had used in connection with the government contracts at issue in his prior federal conviction. 

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WHITE, 58, of New York, New York, pled guilty to one count of major fraud against the United States, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison; two counts of wire fraud, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; two counts of false statements and false writings, each of which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; and one count of aggravated identity theft, which carries a consecutive mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison. 

The minimum and maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by a judge.  Sentencing is scheduled for May 23, 2023, at 11:00 a.m.

Mr. Williams praised the work of the Air Force Office of Procurement Fraud Investigations and Office of Special Investigations and the Army Major Procurement Fraud Unit in this investigation.

The case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Edward C. Robinson Jr., Jessica Greenwood, and Frank Balsamello are in charge of the prosecution, with the assistance of Paralegal Specialist Maria Gatica.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

RICHMOND, Va. – A Henrico County man was sentenced today to 110 months in prison for drug trafficking and possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking.   

According to court documents, Anthony Sylvester Gaines, 42, rented an extended stay hotel room in Henrico County where he was storing and preparing numerous types of drugs for distribution.  When the police searched the room pursuant to a search warrant, the police recovered approximately 132 grams of cocaine, 9 grams of heroin and fentanyl mix, 29 fake Oxycodone “M30” pills that contained fentanyl and 28 red and green tablets that contained methamphetamine. Additionally, the police seized a loaded 9mm semiautomatic pistol from the counter in the bathroom. Inside of Gaines’ vehicle which was parked in the parking lot of the hotel, the police recovered another loaded 9mm semiautomatic pistol along with two additional bags containing cocaine. Gaines was a convicted felon. Gaines was sentenced to 50 months of imprisonment on the drug distribution charge and 60 months consecutive on the firearm charge. 

Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Rick Edwards, Acting Chief of Richmond Police Department; and Jarod Forget, Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Washington Division, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge David J. Novak.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Olivia Norman prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), which is 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.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:22-cr-94.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that FATADE IDOWU OLAMILEKAN, a/k/a “Fatade Olamilekan Idowu,” a/k/a “Olamilekan Idowu Fatade,” a/k/a “Idowu Fatade,” a citizen of Nigeria, was sentenced to five years in prison in connection with a scheme to fraudulently obtain and attempt to obtain millions of dollars of medical equipment, laboratory products, computer equipment and hardware, and other merchandise from suppliers of such merchandise across the United States by impersonating, among other individuals, procurement officials of U.S. state and local governments and educational institutions.  OLAMILEKAN was arrested in Nigeria on October 1, 2021, and extradited from Nigeria to the United States on July 14, 2022, and he has been detained since his arrest.  The defendant previously pled guilty to wire fraud before U.S. District Judge Valerie E. Caproni, who imposed today’s sentence.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said:  “Fatade Idowu Olamilekan carried out a sprawling criminal scheme from Nigeria to fraudulently obtain medical equipment and other merchandise by impersonating government officials, including the Chief Procurement Officer for New York.  Olamilekan will now face substantial prison time for his criminal conduct.  This case demonstrates that we will go to great lengths to pursue defendants located abroad who seek to defraud American businesses and individuals.”

According to the allegations in the Indictment and other court documents:

From at least in or about 2018 through at least on or about September 14, 2020, OLAMILEKAN engaged in a scheme to fraudulently obtain and attempt to obtain millions of dollars of medical equipment, laboratory products, computer equipment and hardware, and other merchandise from suppliers of such merchandise across the United States by impersonating, among other individuals, procurement officials of U.S. state and local governments and educational institutions.  In particular, during the COVID-19 pandemic, OLAMILEKAN impersonated the Chief Procurement Officer of New York State in an effort to fraudulently obtain medical equipment, including defibrillators.  OLAMILEKAN engaged in the following conduct to carry out his criminal scheme:

First, OLAMILEKAN engaged in extensive research to identify specific procurement officials of U.S. state and local governments and educational institutions to impersonate and U.S. suppliers of medical, laboratory, and computer equipment to target as part of the scheme.  This research included obtaining information about the current suppliers to the state and local governments and educational institutions OLAMILEKAN sought to impersonate and targeting those suppliers in order to avoid arousing suspicion.  For example, OLAMILEKAN appears to have specifically targeted a medical supplier that was already providing medical equipment to New York State in or to avoid suspicion when OLAMILEKAN, who was impersonating the Chief Procurement Officer of New York State, contacted the supplier to obtain medical equipment.

Second, after OLAMILEKAN identified procurement officials to impersonate, he used aliases and a Lithuanian web hosting company to register email accounts with domains that had slight variations from the legitimate email accounts used by procurement officials in order to “spoof” or impersonate those officials’ email accounts (the “spoofed emailed accounts”).  The spoofed email accounts used by OLAMILEKAN usually had the same username as the procurement official’s email account but added an extra letter or common domain name to the domain of the email account.  These spoofed email accounts were therefore specifically designed to trick suppliers to impersonated procurement officials into thinking the spoofed email accounts were authentic.  In total, OLAMILEKAN registered and used spoofed email accounts impersonating at least (i) eight different procurement officials of state and local governments in California, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Vermont; and (ii) three procurement officials of educational institutions located in Georgia and New York.

Third, OLAMILEKAN used the spoofed email accounts to send emails impersonating the procurement official and seeking quotes for medical, laboratory, and computer equipment from targeted suppliers.  These emails typically indicated that the payment terms would be “net 30 days,” which is a standard term of trade credit for government and educational entities that only requires payment for the goods within 30 days of delivery.  OLAMILEKAN therefore impersonated the identities of procurement officials of government entities and educational institutions in order to exploit this industry standard and fraudulently obtain equipment without providing any advance payment information or deposit prior to delivery of the equipment.

Finally, once OLAMILEKAN received a response from a targeted supplier, he provided the supplier with a purchase order containing the forged signature of the impersonated procurement official and an address for a warehouse located in the United States for delivery and storage of the equipment purchased.  Once the purchased items shipped to the warehouse provided by OLAMILEKAN, he typically had the warehouse re-ship the items to another warehouse and, ultimately, from the United States to locations in Australia, the United Kingdom, and/or Nigeria.  OLAMILEKAN also coordinated with the warehouses receiving the shipments from the targeted suppliers using the stolen identity of at least one U.S. resident, thereby further concealing his own identity and avoiding detection of his criminal activity.  Because payment was not due to the suppliers until 30 days after delivery of the equipment, OLAMILEKAN was able to take possession of the equipment prior to detection of the fraud, which typically occurred after payment was not received by the supplier within the 30-day period.

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In addition to the prison sentence, OLAMILEKAN, 41, of Lagos, Nigeria, was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution and forfeiture of $306,852.18.

Mr. Williams praised the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Mr. Williams also thanked Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Justice, Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (“EFCC”), the Central Authority Unit of Nigeria’s Ministry of Justice, and the Attorney General of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for their assistance in the investigation.  The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs of the Department’s Criminal Division provided significant assistance in securing the defendant’s extradition from Nigeria.

This case is being handled by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Sagar K. Ravi is in charge of the prosecution.