Month: April 2023

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON — A Florida man has been sentenced for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, which disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress that was in the process of ascertaining and counting the electoral votes related to the presidential election.

            Christian Matthew Manley, 27, of Fort Walton Beach, was sentenced to 50 months incarceration, 36 months supervised release, $2000 restitution and $100 special assessment fee.  The sentence is the result of a guilty plea from November 19, 2021, where Manley plead guilty to assaulting, resisting, and impeding law enforcement while using a dangerous weapon.

            According to the statements of facts, Manley was captured on video in the Lower West Terrace of the Capitol, wearing a flak jacket, armed with bear spray, a collapsible police baton, and handcuffs as he approached the archway entrance. At approximately 2:53 p.m., he can be seen spraying bear spray at officers from the U.S. Capitol Police and Metropolitan Police Department, who were defending the entrance. He threw the empty bear spray container at officers a few seconds later, then used a second cannister to again spray the officers. He then threw this cannister, too, at the officers. Then, at 2:55 p.m., he accepted a metal rod from another rioter and threw it at the officers.  Manley also wedged his body against a wall in the tunnel and used force to push the security door against officers defending the Capitol.

            This case was 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 Alaska.

            The case was investigated by the FBI’s Birmingham, Alabama Field Office, as well as the FBI’s Washington Field Office, which identified Manley as #81A in its seeking information photos, and the Metropolitan Police Department. Significant assistance was provided by the FBI’s Anchorage Field Office and the U.S. Capitol Police.

            In the 27 months since Jan. 6, 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.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Jackson, TN – Jason Perkins, 44, of Tiptonville, has been sentenced to 24 months in federal prison for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, and the unlawful taking of a bald eagle. United States Attorney Kevin Ritz announced the sentence today.

According to United States Attorney Ritz and information presented in court, on March 21, 2021, United States Fish and Wildlife Service Agents and Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency Officers received a report of a bald eagle carcass in Tiptonville, Tennessee. Through witness interviews and the execution of search warrants on Perkins’s home and his father’s home, officers determined that Perkins shot the bald eagle and that he was previously convicted of felony offenses. A 12-gauge shotgun and .357 handgun possessed by Perkins were recovered.

United States Attorney Ritz stated, “The bald eagle has been a symbol of our country since 1782. This defendant, a felon, shot and killed one of these great birds—violating federal law in the process. I appreciate the federal, state, and local partners who worked to bring him to justice.”

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement, Atlanta, GA Special Agent in Charge, Stephen Clark stated, “United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Law Enforcement, is committed to working collaboratively with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats. The illegal taking of a bald eagle is a violation of numerous federal statutes and will be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. We will continue to work closely with our state partners to conduct these criminal investigations.”

United States District Judge J. Daniel Breen sentenced Perkins to 24 months in federal prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

This case was investigated by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency, and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

United States Attorney Kevin Ritz thanked former Assistant United States Attorney Matt Wilson and Assistant United States Attorney Christie Hopper who prosecuted this case, as well as the law enforcement partners who investigated the case.

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For more information, please contact Public Information Officer Cherri Green at (901) 544-4231 or cherri.green@usoj.gov. Follow @ WDTNNews on Twitter for office news and updates.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – Rodney Burton 35, of Washington, D.C., pleaded guilty today to two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a person convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Acting SAC Michael Weddel from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Chief Robert J. Contee III, of the Metropolitan Police Department.

            Burton entered the guilty plea in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. U.S. District Court Judge Christopher R. Cooper scheduled a sentencing hearing for July 19, 2023.

            According to the government’s evidence, on November 22, 2022, the defendant was arrested by the United States Marshals Service (USMS) on an outstanding warrant and was found to be in possession of two firearms.   The defendant was in possession of a Springfield Armory XD .45 caliber handgun which contained one round in the chamber and thirteen rounds of ammunition in the magazine with a total capacity of thirteen rounds.  The second recovered firearm was a Sig-Sauer P220 .45 caliber handgun with one round of ammunition in the chamber and seven rounds of ammunition in the magazine.  Furthermore, on August 12, 2022 officers conducted a search of an apartment where the defendant was known to reside and recovered a black Masterpiece Arms pistols with no rounds in the chamber but with twenty-two rounds of ammunition forced into a twenty round capacity magazine.

            In announcing today’s plea, U.S. Attorney Graves, Acting SAC Weddel, and Chief Contee commended the work of those who investigated the case from Project Safe Neighborhood from both the Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  They acknowledge the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialist Karla Nunez.

            Finally, they commended the efforts of Assistant United States Attorney Shehzad Akhtar who investigated and prosecuted the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

MADISON, WIS. – Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Ryan P. Murray, 45, Weston, Wisconsin was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson to 137 months in federal prison for possessing with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.  The prison term will be followed by 8 years of supervised release.  Murray pleaded guilty to this charge on January 31, 2023.

On January 10, 2022, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department deputies responded to a report of a one vehicle crash.  The driver, Murray, had left the scene of the crash and was found some distance away.  Next to Murray, deputies located a bag that contained 291 grams of methamphetamine.  Deputies located a loaded Glock 9mm handgun along the path Murray had travelled leaving the crash scene.  Within Murray’s crashed vehicle, deputies found a Kel-Tec rifle, ten loaded extended magazines, and a suppressor. 

At the time of this incident, Murray had five active arrest warrants and had nine open state criminal cases, including four involving possessing a firearm as a felon and another involving substantial battery.  Murray has since been convicted and sentenced in many of his state cases and is currently serving multiple state prison sentences with an anticipated release date of February 16, 2028.  As it relates to the firearms involved in this case, Murray was convicted of possession of a firearm by a felon in Lincoln County Circuit Court Case No. 2022CF14 on April 11, 2022, and was sentenced to 180 days in county jail.  Judge Peterson ordered Murray’s 137-month federal sentence run concurrently to the remainder of his state prison sentences and to any sentences imposed on his still pending cases.

At sentencing, Judge Peterson noted that the protection of the public was the primary driver of the sentence in this case.  He highlighted Murray’s nearly unrelenting pattern of criminality for over 25 years and that Murray was a drug dealer who goes heavily armed.  Murray’s history of guns, violence, and drug trafficking represented a clear danger to the community. 

The charge against Murray was the result of an investigation conducted by the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven P. Anderson prosecuted this case.