Month: February 2023

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher sentenced David Banks, age 29, of Baltimore, Maryland, yesterday to 25 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for a carjacking and armed robbery conspiracy, including six armed robberies and a carjacking, during which three people were shot and two were killed.  

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Toni M. Crosby of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division; Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department; and Acting Chief Dennis J. Delp of the Baltimore County Police Department.

According to his guilty plea, Banks personally participated in a conspiracy to commit a series of carjackings and armed robberies.  In each of the robberies and carjackings a member of the conspiracy brandished a gun to threaten and intimidate the victims.  Two victims were shot and killed during a carjacking and robbery, respectively.  The conspirators would often use the stolen vehicles to commit additional criminal acts and they shared the proceeds of their exploits, with certain conspirators responsible for pawning any items recovered from the victims and the stolen vehicles.

Banks admitted that he personally participated in a carjacking on June 12, 2019, in which a victim was shot and killed, and that he intended to cause death or serious bodily injury to the victim.  Banks also participated in five armed robberies and an attempted robbery committed from July 7, 2019 to August 12, 2019.  As detailed in the plea agreement, a victim was shot during the attempted robbery on July 24, 2019, and another victim was shot and killed during an armed robbery committed four days later.

This case was made possible by investigative leads generated from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ (ATF) National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN).  NIBIN is the only national network that allows for the capture and comparison of ballistic evidence to aid in solving and preventing violent crimes involving firearms.  NIBIN is a proven investigative and intelligence tool that can link firearms from multiple crime scenes, allowing law enforcement to quickly disrupt shooting cycles.  For more information on NIBIN, visit https://www.atf.gov/firearms/national-integrated-ballistic-information-network-nibin.

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.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the ATF, the Baltimore Police Department, and the Baltimore County Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patricia C. McLane and Brandon K. Moore, who prosecuted the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-neighborhoods-psnexile and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A Jefferson City, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for illegally possessing a firearm.

Malik Rashod Miller, 25, was sentenced by U.S District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to 15 years and eight months in federal prison without parole. Miller was sentenced as an armed career criminal due to his prior felony convictions.

On Oct. 11, 2022, Miller pleaded guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Miller admitted that he was in possession of a loaded Charter Arms .38-special revolver on Oct. 20, 2021.

Miller was arrested when Jefferson City police officers contacted a vehicle that was parked in a local park shortly after midnight on Oct. 20, 2021, although the park was closed. Miller was a passenger in the vehicle. When Miller got out of the vehicle so that officers could search it, he left a black satchel that was later searched. Inside the satchel, officers found approximately 10.2 grams of suspected methamphetamine, as well as additional small rocks of suspected crack cocaine. Miller also had a golf-ball-sized lump of suspected methamphetamine in his pocket.

Officers searched the vehicle and found the revolver underneath the passenger’s seat where Miller had been sitting. The in-car video for the patrol car in which Miller was seated during the search began recording as Miller was being placed in the patrol car. The video depicts Miller leaning forward with interest and mumbling, “Don’t find the gun; please don’t find the gun,” and shortly afterward, “They found the gun.” He later shouted from the patrol car that he is “going away for a long time.”

Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Miller has two prior felony convictions for unlawful use of a weapon and a prior felony conviction for delivery of a controlled substance. For each of these state convictions, Miller received a suspended execution of sentence. Miller was on state supervision at the time of this offense.

According to court documents, Miller has a history of violent criminal behavior, including threats, stalking, and assaultive conduct. Almost all of his prior convictions involved a firearm.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren E. Kummerer. It was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Jefferson City, Mo., Police Department.

Project Safe Neighborhoods

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.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

ANCHORAGE – A Haines man was sentenced today to 20 years in prison for sexually exploiting minors.

According to court documents, Christopher Panagiotou-Scigliano, 41, pled guilty to one count of Production of Child Pornography, involving coercing a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing child pornography.

In 2015 Panagiotou-Scigliano moved to a farm in Haines. After his arrival, Panagiotou-Scigliano arranged for several children he had been grooming and abusing in another state to visit his farm in Haines multiple times. When the children arrived Panagiotou-Scigliano continued grooming and sexually exploiting them by taking numerous sexually explicit images and videos of the victims.

Panagiotou-Scigliano is also charged with the sexual abuse of multiple child victims in another state. That case is still pending.

“This office will continue to vigorously prosecute heinous predatory crimes such as this,” said S. Lane Tucker, United States Attorney for the District of Alaska. “Although no term of imprisonment can repair the harm caused to the victims, anyone engaging or thinking about engaging in grooming and sexual conduct with minors should take warning from this significant sentence.”

“In this unconscionable case, the defendant engaged in a years-long manipulation and grooming process to isolate and sexually abuse minors, all under the guise of being a trusted family friend,” said Special Agent in Charge Antony Jung of the FBI Anchorage Field Office. “The FBI and our law enforcement partners will continue to identify, aggressively pursue, and hold accountable those who commit these vile crimes against children.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force investigated the case. The Haines Police Department, the Bonner County, Idaho, Sheriff’s Office, the Bonner County Prosecutor’s Office and the Alaska State Troopers supported the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer Ivers and James Klugman prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, Project Safe Childhood combines federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

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usao/ak/23-07

Source: United States Department of Justice News

CONTACT:    Barbara Burns
PHONE:    (716) 843-5817
FAX #:    (716) 551-3051

BUFFALO, N.Y. – U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that Joseph Stevens, 58, of Olean, NY, pleaded guilty before Chief U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford to making a materially false statement to a probation officer, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron J. Mango, who is handling the case, stated that Stevens was convicted in Federal Court of bank fraud and tax evasion and sentenced to serve 33 months in prison in August 2018. In April 2020, Stevens began a period of supervised release, during which he was required to meet monthly with a U.S. Probation Officer and complete a monthly supervision report. Making a false statement on the monthly supervision report can result in the revocation of supervised release as well as additional prison time. In December 2020, and January and February 2021, Stevens failed to disclose the existence of a Wells Fargo checking account that he had opened in his name in October 2020. This account was subsequently used to receive fraudulently obtain unemployment insurance benefits.

The plea is the result of an investigation by the Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge John Pias and the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations – Labor Racketeering and Fraud, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Jonathan Mellone, New York Region. 

Sentencing is scheduled for June 27, 2023, at 11:30 a.m. before Judge Wolford.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

CONTACT:    Barbara Burns
PHONE:    (716) 843-5817
FAX #:    (716) 551-3051

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that Paul LaRocco, 60, of Ocala, Florida, who was convicted of mail fraud, was sentenced to serve 60 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci, Jr. LaRocco was also ordered to pay restitution totaling approximately $688,000. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan K. McGuire, who handled the case, stated that beginning in 2011, LaRocco was employed as a financial advisor by KE Smith Tax Advisory Group, Inc. d/b/a USA Tax & Financial Consultants, offering various financial planning services. In 2012, the business was purchased by Christopher Parris and reincorporated as Ocala Investment Services LLC d/b/a USA Tax & Financial Consultants (USA Tax). LaRocco continued to work for USA Tax through 2018, selling investments in various entities. LaRocco falsely represented to victims that they were investing in companies that sold medical devices and/or offered laboratory series. In actuality, these entities were not bona fide businesses. Victims invested approximately $688,000. 

Between March 28, 2016, and May 31, 2018, LaRocco transferred and/or withdrew all of the funds and used them to pay himself and his own personal expenses. None of the funds were actually invested in a legitimate business and none of the funds were ever returned to any of the victims. LaRocco specifically targeted victims who were of an advanced age and were therefore unusually vulnerable to investment fraud crimes.

Christopher Parris, who was previously convicted of conspiracy to commit mail fraud related to a Ponzi scheme, as well as to wire fraud involving the fraudulent sale of purported N95 masks during the pandemic, was recently sentenced to serve 244 months in prison. 

The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Inspector-in-Charge Ketty Larco-Ward of the Boston Division; the FBI, Buffalo Division, under the direction of Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Darren Cox, the IRS, Criminal Investigation Division, under the direction of Thomas Fattorusso, Special Agent-in-Charge; the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations – Labor Racketeering and Fraud, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge, New York Region, and the New York State Department of Financial Services, under the direction of Superintendent Adrienne A. Harris.

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