Month: April 2023

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett today sentenced Wilson Nuyila Tita, age 47, of Owings Mills, Maryland, to 63 months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release, for conspiracy, for transporting firearms with obliterated serial numbers, and for smuggling firearms and ammunition from the United States to Nigeria.  Tita was convicted of those charges on May 6, 2022, along with co-defendants Eric Fru Nji, age 42, of Fort Washington, Maryland and Wilson Che Fonguh, age 41, of Bowie, Maryland, after a two-week trial.

The sentence was announced by Erek L. Barron, United States Attorney for the District of Maryland; Special Agent in Charge James C. Harris of Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”) Baltimore; Special Agent in Charge Toni M. Crosby of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”) Baltimore Field Division; and Special Agent in Charge Christopher Dillard of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (“DCIS”) – Mid-Atlantic Field Office.

According to the evidence presented at trial, from at least November 2017 through July 19, 2019, Tita and his co-defendants conspired with each other and with others to export firearms, ammunition and other military typed items from the United States to Nigeria.  Specifically, the evidence at trial established that co-conspirators secreted 38 firearms, 28 of which had the obliterated serial numbers in a shipping container that they sent out of the Port of Baltimore in January of 2019.  The guns included sniper rifles, SKS assault rifles (some with bayonets), other rifles and several handguns.  There were 44 high-capacity magazines, two rifle scopes and over 35,000 rounds of ammunition.  The evidence proved that co-conspirators concealed the firearms, ammunition, rifle scopes, and other items in duffle bags and heavily wrapped packages inside sealed compressor units, placing those items into a shipping container destined for Nigeria.  According to trial testimony and court documents, Tita was present for the loading of the container, but that did not load anything himself, because Tita “didn’t like to get his hands dirty.”  Instead, Tita gave instructions to the others as they loaded the container.

As detailed in trial testimony, Tita and his co-conspirators contributed funds for the purchase of firearms, ammunition, reloading materials and other equipment for shipping overseas to separatists fighting against the Government of Cameroon.  Tita and his co-conspirators communicated about their efforts and plans to ship weapons and ammunitions using an on-line encrypted messaging application and code words in order to conceal their activities.  Co-defendant Fonguh and seven defendants charged in related cases are awaiting sentencing.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended HSI, the ATF and DCIS for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron recognized the U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Export Enforcement; the U.S. Department of State, Diplomatic Security Service; the Naval Criminal Investigative Service; and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service for their contributions to the investigation.  U.S. Attorney Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen O. Gavin, who is 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 https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – A West Virginia doctor has been indicted for the unlawful distribution of controlled substances and for destroying evidence of his alleged crimes.

David Elwood Hess, 59, of Bridgeport, West Virginia, was indicted today on twenty-five counts of improper prescribing and one count of destroying records in a federal investigation. According to court documents, Hess wrote prescriptions for Adderall, Xanax, Oxycontin, and other controlled substances to individuals without a legitimate medical purpose and beyond the bounds of professional practice. The indictment also charges Hess with remotely wiping his iPhone after it had been seized by law enforcement.

“Adderall is the chemical cousin of methamphetamine and a very powerful stimulant,” said United States Attorney William Ihlenfeld. “Given its high potential for misuse, medical practitioners must be cautious when prescribing it and when they are not, there will be consequences.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Cogar is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government.

The Drug Enforcement Administration investigated.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

Good afternoon. The day before his assassination, Dr. King spoke in support of the Sanitation Workers strike that had brought him to Memphis. Implicitly acknowledging the threats on his life, he expressed gratitude that God had allowed him “to go up the mountain. And I’ve looked over,” he said. “And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know that we, as a people, will get to the promised land . . . Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.” 

Fifty-five years later, we have made great progress, movingly honored in this National Civil Rights Museum. But we still have not reached the promised land of freedom and equality.   

White supremacy and racially motivated hate crimes are alive and well.

Voting discrimination and voter suppression are rampant.

The conditions in our jails and prisons are inhumane.

People are dying because of unjustified police violence.

These are our challenges, and we meet them head on every day at the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department.

We are using our federal civil rights laws to hold accountable the defendant who killed 10 Black people at the Tops grocery store in Buffalo, New York.

We secured convictions against all three men responsible for the racially-motivated killing of Ahmaud Arbery.

We are holding law enforcement officials accountable when they violate civil and constitutional rights, including Derek Chauvin and the three other officers who just stood by while he killed George Floyd.

We have charged four officers tied to the tragic death of Breonna Taylor.

And, here in Memphis, we are investigating the events that led to the death of Tyre Nichols. I know that Tyre’s parents are with us. Tyre Nichols should be alive today.

We are challenging voter suppression in lawsuits from Georgia to Texas to Arizona.

We are standing up for historically marginalized communities that have dealt with the legacy of environmental injustice for far too long, including in Lowndes County, Alabama, where generations of Black people have been denied access to basic sanitation and exposed to raw sewage.

We are investigating police departments from Louisville to Minneapolis, Phoenix to Louisiana.

We are taking on banks right here in Memphis that engage in modern-day redlining.

We do this work because we owe a tremendous debt to Dr. King and the other heroes and sheroes who gave their lives so that we would someday reach the promised land. We, too, can see it, and though there is much to be done, we will get there, together.

I pledge to you that the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice will keep fighting for you, all of you. Thank you.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A 28-year-old Columbus man was ordered detained after he appeared before a U.S. Magistrate Judge here today after a criminal complaint charging him with sex trafficking was unsealed. 

The complaint alleges that Terrael Alexander Alls, aka “Ace” and “Rell” engaged in sex trafficking by means of force, threats, fraud, and coercion. Alls was arrested on March 31, 2023 in Licking County and appeared in federal court for his initial appearance on April 3.

According to court documents, an email tip received by the Columbus Division of Police regarding possible sex trafficking in Columbus was sent to the Central Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force. The Task Force investigation, which spanned the course of one year, ultimately led to All’s arrest.

“Court records contain disturbing testimony by two of the numerous victims as they describe what they’ve been through,” said Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio. “I admire their courage to come forward and encourage anyone else who may be a victim to reach out to law enforcement.”

“Human traffickers control their victims with abuse, fear and intimidation – which are difficult to overcome,” Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said. “Now that this defendant is in custody, we’re asking potential victims to contact law enforcement with any information about the case. If you’ve seen something, now is the time to say something.”

Anyone with additional information regarding this investigation or knowledge of additional victims of human trafficking is encouraged to contact the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation at 855-BCI-OHIO (855-224-6446) or the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-3737-888 and request to be connected with a member of the Central Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force.

The Central Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force, formed under the Ohio Attorney General’s Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission, includes resources from the Columbus Division of Police, Homeland Security Investigations, Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, Delaware County Sheriff’s Office, Licking County Sheriff’s Office, Powell Police Department, Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Adult Parole Authority, The Ohio State University Police Department, Salvation Army, Southeast Healthcare, the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office and the Delaware County Prosecutor’s Office.

Sex trafficking by means of force, threats, fraud, and coercion is punishable by a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and up to life imprisonment.

U.S. Attorney Parker and Ohio Attorney General Yost announced the unsealing of the complaint and the detention ordered by U.S. Magistrate Judge Kimberly A. Jolson, who set a preliminary hearing for April 17, 2023. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Emily Czerniejewski and Jennifer Rausch are representing the United States.

A criminal complaint merely contains allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

ALPINE, Texas – A Pecos man was sentenced in a federal court in Pecos last week to 180 months in prison for attempted murder.

According to court documents, Alberto Jimenez Pastrana, 35, shot at a vehicle containing multiple people—later determined to be his children and their mother—then crashed into it with his own vehicle and drove away.  Pecos Police Department (PPD) patrol officers located Pastrana, who fled at a high rate of speed and led the officers on a vehicle pursuit, shooting at PPD officers and Reeves County Sheriff’s Deputies.  Texas State Troopers, along with the other law enforcement officers in pursuit, tracked Pastrana to a neighborhood south of Pecos where he had crashed and took off on foot.  He eventually ditched his assault rifle and surrendered in an area that contained empty oil-field chemical containers and abandoned vehicles.

Pastrana was charged in a criminal complaint on Sept. 28, 2022 with one count of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.  Pastrana, a convicted felon with four prior felony convictions, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge David Counts to the statutory maximum sentence.

“It was very evident that this defendant tried to end the lives of his own children and their mother with both a firearm and a vehicle,” said U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza of the Western District of Texas.  “I greatly appreciate the joint effort and professionalism by our local and state law enforcement partners, who selflessly placed themselves in harm’s way in the pursuit leading to the Pastrana’s arrest.”

The Texas Department of Public Safety Criminal Investigation Division, Pecos Police Department, and Texas Highway Patrol investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Ellis prosecuted the case.

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