Month: March 2023

Source: United States Department of Justice News

BENTON, Ill. – In a U.S. District courtroom on Wednesday, a federal jury returned a guilty verdict after a three-day trial for an O’Fallon man charged with enticing a minor.

Eric Richardson, 40, was convicted of using his cellphone to persuade a minor to engage in sexual activity.

“We have a civic duty to protect children from sexual predators, and I’m reassured by the jury’s decision to convict the defendant of trying to persuade a minor into sexual acts with him,” said U.S. Attorney Rachelle Aud Crowe. “I appreciate the involved officers with the O’Fallon Police Department for their efforts to apprehend this offender.”

According to evidence presented at trial, Richardson used his cellphone to persuade a minor to engage in sexual activity upon his return from a trip to Florida in October 2019.

The term of imprisonment is a mandatory minimum of 10 years and up to life. Richardson’s sentencing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on June 15, 2023.

Officers Nicholas Schmidt, Nicholas Stewart and Adam Krack with the O’Fallon Police Department led the investigation with assistance from the U.S. Secret Service. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Karelia Rajagopal and Tom Leggans prosecuted the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            CONCORD – Tyler Ward, 36, of Dover, pleaded guilty in federal court today to two counts of distributing fentanyl and one count of possessing fentanyl with intent to distribute it, United States Attorney Jane E. Young announced.

            According to court documents and statements made in court, Mr. Ward distributed five grams of fentanyl in each of two separate hand-to-hand controlled transactions conducted at Mr. Ward’s apartment in Dover on February 2, 2022 and February 11, 2022.  On March 3, 2022, law enforcement executed a search warrant of Mr. Ward’s apartment and arrested Mr. Ward, who had approximately eight grams of fentanyl on his person at the time.  A search of the apartment revealed an additional 625 grams of fentanyl.  Mr. Ward subsequently admitted to law enforcement in a post-arrest interview that he had intended to sell the fentanyl recovered from his apartment.

            Ward is scheduled to be sentenced on June 13, 2023.

            This matter was investigated by the FBI in conjunction with the Strafford County Sheriff’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Gingrande.

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Source: United States Department of Justice

Two men from the Hawaiian island of Maui were sentenced in federal court for their racially motivated attack on C.K., a white man who was attempting to move into their neighborhood of Kahakuloa.

Kaulana Alo-Kaonohi, 33, was sentenced to 78 months in prison. Levi Aki Jr., 33, was sentenced to 50 months in prison.

“The defendants in this case nearly killed a man because they believed he did not belong in their neighborhood because of the color of his skin,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The law protects everyone in this country from racially motivated violence, and these sentences send a strong message that such violence will not be tolerated.”  

“No one should suffer the violence, cover up and injustice the defendants wrought in this case,” said U.S. Attorney Clare E. Connors for the District of Hawaii. “All persons have a right to freedom from violence motivated by racial hatred, and the Department is committed to ensuring that right is protected in a court of law.”

“This horrific violence was motived by nothing other than hate,” said Special Agent in Charge Steven Merrill of the FBI Honolulu Field Office. “The FBI is committed to ensuring those who perpetrate such injustices are held accountable and that civil rights are respected and protected for all.”

At trial, the evidence showed that the victim, C.K., purchased a house in Kahakuloa and decided to move there with his wife and three daughters after his wife was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and forced to retire. When C.K. arrived in Kahakuloa, he was harassed and threatened by various Kahakuloa residents who told him things like, “This is a Hawaiian village. The only thing coming from the outside is the electricity,” and “You don’t even belong in Hawaii.”

On Feb. 13, 2014, when C.K. was unpacking his belongings with his elderly uncle, the defendants, who had never met C.K. before, stormed onto his property and demanded that he pack his things and leave, threatening to “tie [him] up and drag [him]” and make him “go missing” if he did not comply. When C.K. replied that he owned the house, Alo-Kaonohi dragged his index finger along C.K.’s jaw and told him, “Your skin is the wrong f****** color.” Aki then picked up a roofing shovel and handed it to Alo-Kaonohi, who struck C.K. in the head with it, opening up a bloody wound on the back of C.K.’s head. Later on, after C.K. had already begun packing up his possessions, the defendants attacked him a second time. During that attack, Aki head butted C.K. and struck him in the face with the shovel a second time, giving C.K. a concussion and causing him to lose consciousness. When he came to, the defendants were kicking him in the side and broke two of his ribs. During the second attack, one of the defendants said, “no white man is ever going to live here.”

At the sentencing hearing, the government introduced evidence that just months after his unprovoked attack on C.K., Alo-Kaonohi committed a similar unprovoked attacked on a white-skinned man at the Steel Horse Saloon, a bar in Wailuku, Maui. In that attack, Alo-Kaonohi approached the victim from behind, tapped him on the shoulder and then punched him repeatedly in the head until he was unconscious. The victim sustained a large gash on his head that required seven staples to close and suffered permanent brain damage.

Assistant Attorney General Clarke, U.S. Attorney Connors and Special Agent in Charge Merrill made the announcement.

The FBI Honolulu Field Office conducted the investigation. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Thomas for the District of Hawaii and Special Litigation Counsel Christopher J. Perras and Trial Attorney Tara Allison of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section prosecuted the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that SAADAH MASOUD was sentenced today to 18 months in prison for his participation in a conspiracy to commit hate crimes in connection with MASOUD’s repeated physical attacks of Jewish victims in New York City between 2021 and 2022.  The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Denise L. Cote.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Saadah Masoud repeatedly attacked New Yorkers based on their religion and national origin.  The prosecution of this case and the sentence imposed today make clear that hate-fueled violence will not be tolerated in our community and that this Office will be unrelenting in our efforts to hold accountable those who perpetrate senseless crimes of hate.”    

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

From at least in or about May 2021 through at least in or about April 2022, MASOUD and others conspired to commit hate crime acts in the Southern District of New York and elsewhere.  In furtherance of the conspiracy, MASOUD assaulted at least three victims based upon the victims’ actual and perceived religion and national origin.  Specifically, the defendant admitted to committing the following acts of violence that were motivated by the victims’ Jewish or Israeli identity or perceived identity:

• On or about April 20, 2022, in Manhattan, MASOUD assaulted a victim who was wearing an Israeli flag;
• On or about June 2, 2021, in Brooklyn, MASOUD and a co-conspirator assaulted a victim who was wearing clothing traditionally associated with the Jewish religion, including a yarmulke, while the victim was sitting outside the victim’s own home; and
• On or about May 20, 2021, in Manhattan, MASOUD assaulted a victim who was wearing a Star of David necklace.

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In addition to his prison term, SAADAH MASOUD, 29, of Staten Island, New York, was sentenced to three years of supervised release.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the New York City Police Department’s Hate Crime Task Force and the Special Agents of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. 

The prosecution of this case is being handled by the Office’s Civil Rights Unit in the Criminal Division.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lindsey Keenan and Mitzi Steiner are charge of the prosecution.