Month: March 2023

Source: United States Department of Justice News

A federal grand jury in the Middle District of Florida returned a superseding indictment charging two additional Florida residents with federal crimes arising out of a series of targeted attacks on pregnancy resource facilities in the state. Caleb Freestone, 27, and Amber Smith-Stewart, 23, were previously charged with the same offenses in March.

According to the superseding indictment, Gabriella Oropesa and Annarella Rivera, along with Freestone and Smith-Stewart, engaged in a conspiracy to prevent employees of reproductive health services facilities from providing those services. As part of the conspiracy, the defendants allegedly targeted pregnancy resource facilities and vandalized those facilities with spray-painted threats. Some of the co-conspirators are alleged to have spray painted threats, including “If abortions aren’t safe than niether [sic] are you,” “YOUR TIME IS UP!!,” “WE’RE COMING for U,” and “We are everywhere,” on a reproductive health services facility in Winter Haven, Florida. Facilities in Hollywood, Florida, and Hialeah, Florida, were also allegedly targeted.

The superseding indictment also alleges that Rivera, along with Freestone and Smith-Stewart, violated the FACE Act by using threats of force to intimidate and interfere with the employees of a reproductive health services facility in Winter Haven because those employees were providing or seeking to provide reproductive health services. The superseding indictment further alleges that Rivera, along with Freestone and Smith-Stewart, violated the FACE Act by intentionally damaging and destroying the facility’s property because the facility provides reproductive health services. 

If convicted of the offenses, Rivera, Freestone and Smith-Stewart each face up to a maximum of 12 years in prison, three years of supervised release and fines of up to $350,000. Oropesa faces up to a maximum of 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg for the Middle District of Florida and Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division made the announcement.

The FBI Tampa Field Office investigated the case, with assistance from the FBI Miami Field Office, the Miami Police Department, the Hialeah Police Department and the Hollywood Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Thelwell for the Middle District of Florida and Trial Attorney Laura-Kate Bernstein of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section are prosecuting the case. 

Anyone who has information about incidents of violence, threats, and obstruction that target a patient or provider of reproductive health services or damage and destruction of reproductive health care facilities, should report that information to the FBI at www.tips.fbi.gov.

For more information about clinic violence, and the Department of Justice’s efforts to enforce FACE Act violations, please visit www.justice.gov/crt/national-task-force-violence-against-reproductive-health-care-providers.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

SAN ANTONIO – Five San Antonio men were arrested in San Antonio today on criminal charges related to their alleged roles in a drug trafficking organization.

According to court documents, Cesar Martinez aka Viejito, 66; Bruce Charles Morales, 51; Kelvin Sauls, 41; Juan Alberto Coronado aka Cacheton, 49; and Julio Rodriguez III, 39, were named in a six-count indictment issued by a grand jury earlier this month. 

Martinez is charged with all six counts in the indictment, to include conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine; conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine; conspiracy to commit money laundering; possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine; and two separate counts of possession with intent to distribute cocaine.  If convicted, Martinez faces punishments of at least 15 years in prison up to life imprisonment.

Morales is charged with one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, and one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine.  If convicted, Morales faces punishments of at least 10 years in prison up to life imprisonment.

Sauls is charged with five counts, to include conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine; conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine; conspiracy to commit money laundering; possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine; and one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine.  If convicted, Sauls faces punishments of at least 10 years in prison up to life imprisonment.

Coronado is charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine and conspiracy to commit money laundering.  If convicted, he faces punishment of at least five years up to 60 years in prison.  

Rodriguez is charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute detectable quantities of cocaine and conspiracy to commit money laundering.  If convicted, he faces punishment up to 40 years in prison. 

A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas and Special Agent in Charge Daniel Comeaux for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Houston Field Office made the announcement.

The DEA is investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Nowinski is prosecuting the case.

This operation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

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

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced Khary Owens, age 44, of Baltimore, Maryland, yesterday to five years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for possession with intent to distribute cocaine.  As part of Owens’ plea agreement, he admitted that he possessed a .45-caliber handgun, loaded with 11 rounds of ammunition, in furtherance of his drug trafficking.  

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; and Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department.

According to his guilty plea, in September and October 2020 Baltimore Police Department (“BPD”) detectives conducted covert surveillance on a residence in the 500 block of Sheridan Avenue in Baltimore after receiving information that the house was used for drug distribution.  Detectives saw Owens on the front porch of the residence and on the sidewalk in front of the house.  During their surveillance, detectives saw Owens supply drugs by engaging in hand-to-hand drug transactions.

As detailed in his plea agreement, detectives obtained a search warrant for the residence and for Owens’ person, which was executed on October 7, 2020.  Detectives saw Owens arrive at the residence, then hang his vest and backpack on the front porch.  When Owens saw the detectives approaching the residence, he ran inside the house and up the stairs, where he threw a package of 58 vials of cocaine out a second story window into the backyard.  The package was retrieved by waiting BPD detectives. Officers entered the residence and placed Owens under arrest.  From the backpack Owens left on the front porch, law enforcement recovered a .45-caliber firearm, loaded with 11 rounds of ammunition, a medicine bottle filled with a suspected cutting agent to mix with controlled substances, and drug packaging materials.  Owens admitted that he intended to distribute the cocaine and that he possessed the firearm in furtherance of his drug trafficking.

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 and the Baltimore Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan Tsuei, 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-psn and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

A federal jury in the Northern District of Georgia convicted three military contractors today on one count of conspiring to defraud the United States and two counts of major fraud.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, former Envistacom LLC President and co-founder Alan Carson, former Envistacom Vice President Valerie Hayes, and the owner of another company, Philip Flores, conspired to defraud the United States at least from September 2014 through November 2016, by preparing and procuring sham quotes for government contracts totaling over $7.8 million. Carson, Hayes, and Flores also fraudulently prepared “independent” government cost estimates and other procurement documents for the award of these contracts and made false statements, representations, and material omissions to federal government contracting officials regarding these estimates being legitimate independent cost estimates and the sham quotes being “competitive.”

“Today, a jury returned a verdict to hold accountable these defendants who defrauded the federal government,” said Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “The Division and its law enforcement partners will continue to prosecute individuals who undermine the integrity of government procurement systems at American taxpayers’ expense.”

“Contractors are an integral part of our well-functioning government, and we expect them to be honest and forthright,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan for the Northern District of Georgia. “The evidence at trial and the jury’s verdict show that these defendants placed their own benefit above honest dealing with the government.”

“The convictions of these individuals ensure the integrity of the contracting system that supports our nation’s warfighters,” said Special Agent in Charge Darrin K. Jones of the Southeast Field Office of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General’s Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS). “Companies that circumvent the contracting process for personal gain will be thoroughly investigated and held accountable for their fraudulent actions.”

“As this case demonstrates, those who attempt to defraud the government will be held accountable,” said Special Agent in Charge Scott Moreland of the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division (Army CID) Major Procurement Fraud Field Office. “Army CID and our law enforcement partners will vigorously enforce laws that protect our government from fraud.”

Carson, Hayes, and Flores were convicted of conspiracy to defraud the United States and major fraud. The individuals each face a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000, or twice the pecuniary gain or loss, for conspiracy to defraud the United States. The maximum penalty for major fraud is 10 years in prison and a fine of $1 million, or, if the gross loss to the government or the gross gain to a defendant is $500,000 or greater, a fine of $5 million. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other relevant factors.

The Antitrust Division’s Washington Criminal II Section, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia, Army CID, and DCIS investigated the case.

Trial Attorney Brittany E. McClure of the Antitrust Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Huber for the Northern District of Georgia prosecuted the case.

Anyone with information in connection with this investigation should contact the Antitrust Division’s Complaint Center at 888-647-3258, or visit www.justice.gov/atr/report-violations.

In November 2019, the Department of Justice created the Procurement Collusion Strike Force, 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.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            CONCORD – William Mejia, 19, of Lawrence, pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiring to steal firearms from federal firearms licensees, United States Attorney Jane E. Young announced today.

            According to court documents and statements made in court, between August 29, 2021, and October 4, 2021, Mejia conspired with others to steal firearms from three New Hampshire Federal Firearms Licensees.  During the course of the conspiracy, more than 40 firearms were stolen from Milford Firearms in Milford, Second Amendment Arms in Windham, and MacPhearson Firearms in Brentwood. Mejia’s fingerprints were found on one of the stolen firearms that was later recovered from a co-conspirator’s residence. Evidence recovered from a co-conspirator’s phone included pictures of Mejia holding stolen firearms as well admissions of his involvement in the conspiracy.

            Mejia is scheduled to be sentenced on July 7, 2023.

            The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, with assistance from the Andover Police Department, the Brentwood Police Department, the Haverhill Police Department, the Lawrence Police Department, the Massachusetts State Police, the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office, the Salem (NH) Police Department, the Somersworth Police Department, the Saugus Police Department, the Wellesley Police Department, and the Windham Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anna Z. Krasinski,  John J. Kennedy and Geoffrey W.R.Ward.

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