Month: March 2023

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Defendant Accused of Assaulting Officer

            WASHINGTON — A Massachusetts man and former Boston Police Department Officer has been arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges, including assaulting a law enforcement officer and civil disorder, for his actions during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential election.

            Joseph Robert Fisher, 52, of Plymouth, Massachusetts, is charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with the felony offenses of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers, and obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder, and the misdemeanor offenses of: entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, acts of physical violence the Capitol grounds or building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.

            Joseph Robert Fisher was arrested this morning in Plymouth, MA. He is expected to make his initial appearance later today in the District of Massachusetts.

            Fisher entered the U.S. Capitol Building at approximately 2:24 P.M. on January 6, 2021 via the Senate Wing Door on the North side of the U.S. Capitol. At approximately 2:38 P.M., Fisher was in the Capitol Visitor Center’s Orientation Lobby where an altercation began between a U.S. Capitol Police Officer and other rioters. As a U.S. Capitol Police Officer pursued a rioter who had deployed pepper spray, Fisher pushed a chair into the Capitol Police Officer. Fisher then engaged in a physical altercation with the Capitol Police Officer. Shortly afterwards, Fisher exited the U.S. Capitol Building.

            This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.

            The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Boston Field Office and the FBI’s Washington Field Office. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.

            In the 26 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,000 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including over 320 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing. 

            Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.

            A complaint is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today the unsealing of charges against DIONISIO FIGUEROA, a/k/a “Dionicio,” an employee of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (“the SDNY District Court”), and TELESFORO DEL VALLE, JR., a/k/a “Ted,” a criminal defense attorney practicing in the SDNY District Court and elsewhere, for their participation in a scheme in which FIGUEROA referred criminal defendants to DEL VALLE and encouraged those defendants to retain DEL VALLE as counsel in exchange for cash payments from DEL VALLE to FIGUEROA.  FIGUEROA was arrested, and DEL VALLE surrendered earlier today, and both will be presented before United States Magistrate Judge Andrew E. Krause in the SDNY District courthouse in White Plains, New York.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “The public, the Court, and the bar all rely on the integrity and honesty of the professionals who work for the Court and the lawyers who appear there.  For years, Figueroa and Del Valle allegedly violated their duties and undermined the fair administration of justice, all for their personal gain.  This Office will do its part to uphold the high standards of conduct expected of all those who play a role in the criminal justice process.”

According to the allegations in the Indictment:[1]

As a clerk in the SDNY Magistrate Clerk’s Office since in or about 2002, FIGUEROA was responsible for performing duties that included, among other things, making data entries regarding official case events in criminal cases; making summary entries of documents and proceedings on case dockets; and performing inquiries and furnishing information, either in person or by correspondence, regarding the status of cases.  FIGUEROA also played a role with respect to the intake of criminal cases, including by preparing appearance bonds, advising defendants and their family members about the conditions of the bonds, and ensuring that appearance bonds were signed by all parties prior to a defendant’s release. 

SDNY District Court personnel policies prohibited FIGUEROA from having outside employment that would pose a conflict of interest; receiving payments, gifts, or other benefits from persons having business before the SDNY District Court; and recommending particular attorneys to members of the public.  FIGUEROA also was subject to the United States Courts’ Code of Conduct for Judicial Employees (the “Code of Conduct”), which cautioned judicial employees that “[a] number of criminal statutes of general applicability govern federal employees’ performance of official duties.  These include: 18 U.S.C. § 201 (bribery of public officials and witnesses) ….”  The Code of Conduct likewise admonished, among other things, that “[a] judicial employee should never influence or attempt to influence the assignment of cases, or perform any discretionary or ministerial function of the court in a manner that improperly favors any litigant or attorney, nor should a judicial employee imply that he or she is in a position to do so.” 

DEL VALLE is a private attorney who has appeared in numerous federal criminal cases pending before the SDNY District Court.

Between at least 2011 and 2022, FIGUEROA and DEL VALLE engaged in a scheme whereby FIGUEROA used his position as an employee of the SDNY District Court to encourage criminal defendants to retain DEL VALLE to represent them in pending criminal cases.  In return, DEL VALLE paid FIGUEROA a portion of the fees clients paid to DEL VALLE.  Over the course of more than a decade, FIGUEROA referred at least 45 SDNY criminal defendants to DEL VALLE, and DEL VALLE paid FIGUEROA tens of thousands of dollars in referral fees.  DEL VALLE paid FIGUEROA directly and through an intermediary, who would pick up envelopes of cash for FIGUEROA from DEL VALLE’s law office. 

Many of the clients who ended up retaining and paying DEL VALLE were assigned free, court-appointed counsel.  Nevertheless, FIGUEROA encouraged those individuals to change counsel, including by vouching for DEL VALLE’s abilities as a lawyer.  For example, in July 2018, FIGUEROA told family members of one defendant (“Defendant-1”), in substance, that FIGUEROA knew a good attorney who was a specialist in similar cases and could get
Defendant-1 out of trouble.  He then provided FIGUEROA’s contact information to
Defendant-1’s relative.  Similarly, in February 2020, FIGUEROA told a family member of another defendant (“Defendant-2”), in substance, that if anyone could help Defendant-2 in Defendant-2’s case, it was DEL VALLE.  At the time, Defendant-2 was represented by court-appointed counsel.

FIGUEROA and DEL VALLE are also charged with making false statements to law enforcement during the investigation.  In November 2022, federal law enforcement agents separately interviewed both FIGUEROA and DEL VALLE.  After advising each that lying to federal law enforcement agents is a federal crime, FIGUEROA and DEL VALLE each made materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statements and representations in response to the agents’ questions.  In particular, FIGUEROA denied making any referrals to DEL VALLE, except on a small number of occasions concerning close relations or friends, and further denied ever having received payments from DEL VALLE for referrals.  As to DEL VALLE, upon being served with a federal grand jury subpoena requiring the production of records from his law firm, DEL VALLE denied having any records reflecting client referrals from, or payments to, FIGUEROA or anyone else.

*                *                *

FIGUEROA, 66, of New York, New York, and DEL VALLE, 65, of Leonia, New Jersey, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to bribe a federal employee and pay illegal compensation to a judicial employee, which carries a maximum potential sentence of five years in prison; one count of bribery of a federal employee, which carries a maximum potential sentence of 15 years in prison; one count of illegal compensation to a judicial employee, which carries a maximum potential sentence of five years in prison; and one count of false statements, which carries a maximum potential sentence of five years in prison.

The maximum potential sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by a judge.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the Special Agents from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Public Corruption Unit.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Frank Balsamello, Andrew Rohrbach, and Jarrod L. Schaeffer are in charge of the prosecution.

The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

MIDLAND, Texas – An Odessa woman was sentenced in a federal court in Midland Wednesday to 18 months in prison for providing false statements during purchases of firearms.

According to court documents, Delma Vitela, 45, purchased at least six firearms between December 2020 and March 2022 from various gun stores in the Midland/Odessa area for her then-boyfriend, a Mexican national.  Vitela’s then-boyfriend was prohibited from possessing firearms based on his immigration status.  By representing on the purchase forms that she was the intended buyer of the guns, Vitela knowingly made false or fictitious written declarations when purchasing the firearms.

In March 2022, an individual was stopped by law enforcement in Laredo, Texas while attempting to cross into Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.  This individual had in his possession two firearms that Vitela had straw purchased, one of which she’d purchased less than two weeks prior.

Vitela was arrested by federal authorities on Oct. 21, 2022 and was released on bond on Oct. 26.

“This defendant’s conduct posed a serious threat to the safety and security of people in our communities on both sides of the U.S./Mexico border,” said U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas. “I am thankful our law enforcement partners were able to locate and recover some of the firearms before they reached Mexico.”

“Straw purchasing is not an act of love; it is an act that fuels violence across our country and our neighbors,” said Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey C. Boshek II for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Dallas Field Division.  “ATF and our partners in the Permian Basin are steadfast in our fight to keep firearms out of the hands of those that shouldn’t have them. Ms. Vitela thought she was being a good girlfriend when she was actually helping to arm vicious Mexican drug cartels. I hope that others don’t make this same mistake.”

ATF investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Mahoney prosecuted the case.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

BAY CITY – A Tuscola County man, who went by the online moniker “thefundad,” was sentenced this week to 27 years in prison for sexually exploiting two 13-year-old girls, United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison announced today.

Ison was joined in the announcement by Angie M. Salazar, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations, Detroit Field Office.

Brian Siwka, age 39, of Reese, Michigan, was sentenced by United States District Judge Thomas L. Ludington. Siwka sexually exploited two 13-year-old girls that he found through the “Kik” social media application. He engaged in sexual chats with both girls and made them take sexually explicit photographs of themselves and send them to him over the internet via Kik. Siwka further admitted that he had produced nearly two dozen recordings of other minors online, whom he had also made engage in sexually explicit conduct for him. At the time of his arrest in September 2020, Siwka was in possession of 178 images of child pornography and 21 videos of children engaging in sexually explicit conduct at the urging of Siwka on his laptop.   

“This defendant repeatedly sought out, groomed, and sexually exploited multiple children whom he met online,” U.S. Attorney Ison said. “Our work rooting out these online sexual predators seems never-ending, but my office will not stop bringing online sexual predators and all who prey on our children to justice.”

“Our agents and partners will continue to identify and apprehend these predators within our communities and work to bring them to justice,” said Angie M. Salazar, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations, Detroit Field Office. “It is my hope that this sentencing brings some measure of peace to these victims and deters others from targeting children online.”

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ann Nee.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

CINCINNATI – A federal jury has convicted a Cincinnati man of one drug and two firearms crimes. The defendant was found guilty on all counts as charged.

Ieben Ewing, 39, is convicted of possessing with the intent to distribute controlled substances, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense and illegally possessing firearms as a previously convicted felon. He will face a mandatory minimum of five years and up to 40 years in prison.

The verdict was announced on March 29 following a trial that began on March 27 before Senior U.S. District Judge Michael R. Barrett.

According to court documents and trial testimony, Ewing distributed bulk amounts of narcotics from his residence on Betts Avenue in Cincinnati.

While executing a search warrant at Ewing’s home in March 2022, investigators discovered 770 grams of powder cocaine, 100 grams of crack cocaine, $75,000 in cash and various firearms. The firearms included an AK-style gun with a 100 round “drum” style magazine attached.

“The residents of the North College Hill community should not have to tolerate the illegal activities of Ieben Ewing in their neighborhood. Now he is looking at a lengthy prison sentence,” said U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker.

As a previously convicted felon, Ewing is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition.

Ewing was indicted by a federal grand jury in September 2022.

Congress sets the minimum and maximum statutory sentences. Sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the Court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors at a future sentencing hearing.

Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Hamilton County Charmaine McGuffey and members of the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office Regional Narcotics Unit announced the guilty verdicts. Assistant United States Attorneys David P. Dornette and Timothy D. Oakley are representing the United States in this case.

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