Month: February 2023

Source: United States Department of Justice News

DENVER—The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announced that it has resolved a complaint under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) made by a Wells Fargo customer who is hard of hearing relating to accessing Wells Fargo’s banking services via telephone.  In the resolution, Wells Fargo has adopted changes to its companywide ADA policy for communications with customers with disabilities and agreed to provide training to its call center representatives on the new policy.

The complainant, who has difficulty hearing and speaking on the telephone, attempted to use her caregiver to relay information on her behalf on telephone calls with Wells Fargo customer service representatives.  The complainant was a consumer banking and credit card customer with Wells Fargo, and some of her telephone inquiries related to fraudulent charges that had been made using her credit card.  The complainant alleged that Wells Fargo refused to permit the caregiver to assist the complainant, which prevented her from receiving services over the telephone.  This refusal forced the complainant to visit Wells Fargo bank branches in-person during the COVID-19 pandemic in the summer and fall of 2020. 

The ADA requires that places of public accommodation allow individuals with disabilities to use appropriate auxiliary aids and services, including by allowing others to communicate on their behalf, in order to ensure effective communication so that they can receive equal service from businesses and other public accommodations.

To resolve the complaint, Wells Fargo agreed to pay the complainant $10,000.  In addition, Wells Fargo made changes to its companywide ADA policy to clarify that companions of individuals with disabilities may provide communication assistance.  Wells Fargo also agreed to train call center employees and other customer service representatives on the policy.   Wells Fargo also agreed to reach out to other customers who had made complaints about the same issue and notify them of the policy change.  These companywide changes and efforts may affect numerous individuals nationwide, as Wells Fargo serves approximately one in three households in the United States, with approximately 4,700 banking locations across the country. 

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to ensuring that customers with hearing disabilities can access the same customer services that are offered to other customers,” said U.S. Attorney Cole Finegan.  “We applaud Wells Fargo’s cooperation in adopting companywide policy changes and providing training to ensure that its customer service representatives provide equal access for customers with disabilities.” 

Additional information about the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s civil rights enforcement program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/usao-co/civil-rights-enforcement.

This case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Zeyen Wu.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Kansas City, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for ramming into two law enforcement vehicles while attempting to flee while in possession of methamphetamine and firearms.

Anthony M. Quinones, also known as “Droopy,” 50, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to 19 years in federal prison without parole. The court sentenced Quinones to 17 years in prison for the charges on which he was convicted, plus an additional two years in prison for violating the terms of his supervised release in an earlier, unrelated federal case.

On Feb. 3, 2022, Quinones pleaded guilty to one count of forcibly resisting a federal law enforcement officer, one count of possessing methamphetamine to distribute, and one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.

U.S. Marshals Service deputies tracked Quinones, who was being sought for absconding from federal supervision, to a Quality Inn on Nov. 13, 2018. Quinones left the hotel with two females. As he approached his vehicle, deputies used their vehicles to attempt to pin in Quinones’s vehicle. Quinones hopped in the driver’s seat of the vehicle and attempted to flee from the parking lot. Quinones accelerated his vehicle and crashed into the two vehicles occupied by deputies, causing significant damage. Quinones fled and eventually crashed through a gas meter and into a light pole. He got out of the vehicle and attempted to flee on foot. As he fled, he pulled a loaded Smith and Wesson .40-caliber pistol from his waistband just before he was tackled to the ground. Quinones continued to struggle with the deputies but was successfully taken into custody.

Deputies found approximately one ounce of methamphetamine and $3,500 in Quinones’s jacket pockets. Deputies searched Quinones’s vehicle and found 10 ounces of methamphetamine hidden in a stereo box on the front passenger floorboard of the vehicle. Deputies interviewed the two women who left the hotel with Quinones, who told them he was up in a hotel room using methamphetamine with them. They also said Quinones left a gun in the hotel room. The gun, a Taurus 9mm pistol, was recovered by law enforcement officers.

At the time of his arrest, Quinones was on federal supervised release following his 2004 conviction and incarceration for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. According to court documents, Quinones is a longtime gang member and drug trafficker with violent tendencies. While in custody in this case, he participated in fights and was caught with homemade weapons.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Q. McCarther. It was investigated by the U.S. Marshals Service, the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Source: United States Department of Justice 2

Two Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) employees pleaded guilty on Feb. 9 to conspiring with another individual to engage in fraud on MTA excess vehicle auctions.  

According to two plea agreements filed on Feb. 9 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in New York City, MTA employees Dzmitry Yaniuk and Marina Yaniuk engaged in a conspiracy with a third co-conspirator, Timour Abramov, to thwart the competitive bidding process on numerous excess vehicle auctions conducted by the MTA to ensure that a company controlled by the co-conspirators submitted the winning bid and would be awarded the contract. As part of the conspiracy, Marina Yaniuk, an MTA sales specialist, provided Dzmitry Yaniuk and Abramov confidential pricing information in violation of MTA rules. Abramov previously pleaded guilty to one count of fraud conspiracy on Jan. 30.

“The MTA’s riders and New York’s taxpayers trust government employees to put public service first,” said Director Daniel Glad of the Justice Department’s Procurement Collusion Strike Force (PCSF). “When public servants abuse their positions and cheat for personal gain, the Antitrust Division and its PCSF partners will hold them accountable.”

“Our office remains grateful for the diligence and commitment from our law enforcement partners at the Department of Justice, who continue to work to ensure that individuals attempting to defraud the MTA are held fully responsible for their actions and whose behavior should not unfairly reflect on tens of thousands of honest, hardworking MTA employees,” said Acting MTA Inspector General Elizabeth Keating.

Dzmitry Yaniuk and Marina Yaniuk each pleaded guilty to one count of fraud conspiracy that carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. The fines may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victim of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine. A federal district court judge will determine the defendants’ sentences after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The guilty pleas are the result of an investigation conducted by the Antitrust Division’s New York Office, the Office of the MTA Inspector General, and the FBI New York Field Office. Acting Assistant Chief Steven Tugander and Trial Attorneys Milosz Gudzowski, Dina Hoffer, and Richard Samboy are prosecuting the case.

In November 2019, the Department of Justice created the PCSF, a joint law enforcement effort to combat antitrust crimes and related fraudulent schemes that impact government procurement, grant, and program funding at all levels of government – federal, state and local. For more information, visit https://www.justice.gov/procurement-collusion-strike-force.