Month: April 2023

Source: United States Department of Justice News

EAST ST. LOUIS – A man from California was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison after he admitted to transporting 11 pounds of crystal methamphetamine to Fairview Heights, Illinois.

Luis A. Aguilar-Caldera, 31, of Chula Vista, California, pled guilty to one count of manufacture, distribute, dispense, or possess a controlled substance. After serving his prison sentence, he will be placed on supervised release for two years.

“As a transportation hub, southern Illinois roadways are frequented by out-of-state drug dealers who target operations and plan distribution,” said U.S. Attorney Rachelle Aud Crowe. “Agents with the DEA work diligently to help prevent the poison from reaching our communities, and I appreciate their efforts.”

According to court documents, a confidential informant working with the DEA set up a controlled purchase of methamphetamine from a Mexico-based supplier in May 2021. The individual met two men in a Ford F-150 at the Flying J truck stop in Alorton, Illinois. Aguilar-Caldera was the passenger in the truck that was pulling a lawn mower on a trailer. Aguilar-Caldera told the confident source there were 11 pounds of methamphetamine located in the tires of the lawn mower.

As the Ford F-150 and the confidential source were driving to a mechanic shop to remove the tires and retrieve the drugs, DEA agents conducted a traffic stop in Fairview Heights and arrested the men in the truck.

Co-defendant Leonardo Andres Hernandez, 49, of Bentonville, Arkansas, was also named in the indictment and is facing a charge for manufacture, distribute, dispense, or possess a controlled substance.

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

The Drug Enforcement Administration led the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Carraway prosecuted the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON –Anthony Braxton, 47, of Washington, D.C., has been found guilty by a jury, of assault with intent to kill while armed and other charges in a mid-morning stabbing that took place in November 2017, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Robert J. Contee III, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Braxton also was found guilty of aggravated assault while armed, stalking, and other offenses. The verdict was returned on April 12, 2023, following a trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The Honorable Maribeth Raffinan scheduled sentencing for June 23, 2023.

            According to the government’s evidence, on Nov. 4, 2017, Braxton went to the home of his former romantic partner in violation of a court ordered stay away. He then approached the woman in broad daylight and stabbed her nearly 30 times with a pair of needle nose pliers in front of their child in common. 

            Braxton had been ordered by a District of Columbia Superior Court Judge on Oct. 16, 2017, to stay away and have no contact with the victim. Evidence showed that he violated that order over 500 times between Oct. 16, 2017 and Nov. 4, 2017. 

            The victim received medical treatment for her stab wounds at Howard University Hospital. She ultimately required surgery to save her right hand. 

            In announcing the verdict, U.S. Attorney Graves and Chief Contee commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including former Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristina Wolf, Appellate Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nick Coleman and Daniel Lenerz, Pretrial Mental Health Coordinator Jennifer Mika, Paralegal Specialist Tiffany Fogle, Victim/Witness Advocate Shawn Slade and Tracy Owusu, and interns Jessica Wasserman, Julianne Saunders, Molly Patrick, and Kate Dougherty.  

            Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dana Joseph and Brian Yang, who investigated and prosecuted the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Jackson, TN – This week, United States Attorney Kevin G. Ritz traveled to multiple counties and state Judicial Districts in West Tennessee to host a series of roundtable discussions with law enforcement, local prosecutors, and community stakeholders. These visits focused on the 24th, 26th, and 27th Judicial Districts in West Tennessee. Roundtable participants had an open dialogue with the U.S. Attorney, addressing their issues and concerns, and learned more about the Department’s priorities.

On Monday, U.S. Attorney Ritz met in Camden with partners and stakeholders in Benton, Carroll, Decatur, Hardin, and Henry Counties in the 24th Judicial District to address issues and community concerns.

On Tuesday morning, WBBJ-TV reporter Ryan Hodges interviewed U.S. Attorney Ritz about the mission of the roundtable discussions, his priorities, and violent crime issues. As U.S. Attorney said during the interview, “in Memphis, Jackson, and all of West Tennessee, communities are reeling from gun violence and violent crime. Addressing this violence is a top priority. We focus our efforts on the most significant drivers of violence.”

Tuesday afternoon, U.S. Attorney Ritz met in Martin with officials from Obion and Weakley Counties in the 27th Judicial District.

The district-wide visit concluded on Wednesday, when U.S. Attorney Ritz facilitated a roundtable discussion in the 26th Judicial District with officials from Chester, Henderson, and Madison Counties. He also addressed members of the Jackson Rotary Club as their keynote speaker.

Below are photos from these events. U.S. Attorney Ritz will continue to schedule roundtable discussions with stakeholders throughout the Western District of Tennessee.

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

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge George L. Russell, III today sentenced Shanese Butler, age 35, of Baltimore, a former Correctional Officer at the Metropolitan Transition Center (“MTC”) in Baltimore, to two years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for a racketeering conspiracy related to a scheme to smuggle contraband the MTC.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; and Secretary Carolyn J. Scruggs of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.

According to court documents and her guilty plea, from June 2020 to November 2020, Butler engaged in a romantic relationship with Christopher Mann while he was a detainee at the Metropolitan Transition Center, and conspired with Mann, other employees, detainees, and associates of MTC to participate in a pattern of racketeering activity, including drug distribution and bribery. 

Specifically, Butler, Mann and at least two other conspirators, including outside facilitator, Cania Jefferson, age 35, and Correctional Officer Thomas Green, worked together to smuggle contraband into MTC in exchange for bribe payments.  At Mann’s direction, Butler sent $1,000 bribe payments to Green on multiple occasions.  In exchange for these bribe payments, Green smuggled contraband into MTC and delivered it to Mann.  For example, in July 2020, after receiving a bribe payment from Mann, Green smuggled two cell phones, suboxone, and K2 into MTC but was apprehended by law enforcement on their way to MTC.

The evidence showed that Butler controlled Mann’s Cash App account, through which multiple payments were made to Green and facilitator Cania Jefferson; and multiple payments from and on behalf of Mann’s customer’s inside MTC were received.  The government presented evidence that, not only did Butler assist in managing the day-to-day financial aspects of Mann’s contraband smuggling organization, she assisted in liquidating the operation’s proceeds.  Cash App records confirm that between September 16 and October 3, 2020, Butler withdrew approximately $33,000 from the account.  The FBI recovered approximately 10 percent of that amount, $3,020, while searching Butler’s home on October 2, 2020.  The balance of the proceeds is unaccounted for.

According to court documents, in September 2020, law enforcement intercepted a series of phone calls in which Butler and Mann devised a scheme to spray liquid K2 onto a piece of paper, and to smuggle the paper into MTC through the United States mail service.  Butler sent the piece of paper to another detainee as a “trial.”  The mailing was seized by jail administrators, tested by a chemist, and found to have been soaked in synthetic marijuana.  When the FBI raided Butler’s home in October 2020, they recovered a spray bottle containing liquid K2, as well as multiple pieces of paper that had been soaked in liquid K2.

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

Co-defendants Christopher Mann, age 40, of Baltimore; Thomas Green, age 34, of Pikesville, Maryland; and Cania Jefferson, age 36, of Lansdowne, Maryland previously pleaded guilty to their roles in the scheme and were sentenced to between a year and a day and three years in federal prison.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI and DPSCS Intelligence and Investigative Division for their work in this joint investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Peter J. Martinez and Aaron S.J. Zelinsky who are prosecuting the case.

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

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

KANSAS CITY, KAN.– A federal grand jury in Kansas City returned an indictment charging six people with conspiring to smuggle contraband into a federal prison in Kansas. 

Dale Gaver III, 35, Dale Gaver II, 54, Joshua Hamilton, 37, and Rex Hill, 33, all of Omaha, Nebraska, are charged with one count of conspiracy to provide and possess contraband in prison. Additionally, Melvin Edwards, 44, and Tamarae Hollman, 36, of Riverside, California, are charged with one count of conspiracy to provide and possess contraband in prison.

According to court documents, between August 2020 and May 2021, Edwards, Gaver II, Gaver III, Hamilton, Hill, and Hollman are accused of conspiring to smuggle prohibited items into Leavenworth Penitentiary by allegedly using a drone to drop contraband such as cellular phones, K2 (synthetic cannabinoid), marijuana, and tobacco into the yard. 

Hill is also charged with one count of attempting to provide prison contraband. Gaver III, an inmate at Leavenworth Penitentiary during the conspiracy time frame, is also charged with one count of attempted possession of prison contraband and one count of possession of prison contraband.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle McFarlane is prosecuting the case.

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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