Month: May 2023

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Def Allegedly Leaked Law Enforcement Information to Proud Boys Leader Enrique Tarrio

            WASHINGTON – A District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Lieutenant was arrested today on an indictment charging that he obstructed an investigation into the December 12, 2020 destruction of a Black Lives Matter (BLM) Banner and made false and misleading statements to federal law enforcement about having done so, including that he leaked to Enrique Tarrio, the leader of “The Proud Boys,” the fact that law enforcement had an arrest warrant for him related to that offense.

            Shane Lamond, 47, of Stafford, Va., was indicted by a grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on one count of obstruction of justice and three counts of making false statements.  Lamond will be arraigned today before the Honorable Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

            The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Special Agent in Charge Wayne A. Jacobs of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division.

            According to the indictment, Lamond worked as the supervisor of the Intelligence Branch of MPD’s Homeland Security Bureau.  Beginning in July 2019 and continuing to at least January 2021, Lamond and Tarrio were in regular contact regarding Proud Boys planned activities in the District of Columbia. The indictment alleges that, as early as at least July 2020, Lamond began using Telegram to provide information to Tarrio about law enforcement activity relating to Proud Boys’ activities in Washington, D.C. 

            For instance, the indictment alleges that beginning on December 18, 2020, Lamond gave Tarrio confidential law enforcement information into the investigation of the December 12, 2020 burning of a banner that read “#BLACKLIVESMATTER.”  As set forth in the indictment, Tarrio would then pass this information along to other Proud Boys members and take action based on the sensitive information. On or about January 4, 2021, following the issuance of an arrest warrant for Tarrio in connection with the burning of the BLM banner, while Tarrio was on a flight from Miami, Florida to Arlington, Virginia, Lamond, using Telegram, sent Tarrio a notification that a warrant had been signed for his arrest in the District of Columbia. After arriving in Arlington, Virginia and driving in to the District of Columbia, Tarrio was arrested on the warrant and subsequently pleaded guilty to one count of destruction of property in connection with the burning of the banner.

            As the indictment alleges, on June 2, 2021, during an interview with federal law enforcement, Lamond made false and misleading statements regarding his communications and contacts with Tarrio.  These false and misleading statements related to: (1) the methods by which Lamond and Tarrio would communicate; (2) whether Lamond had provided Tarrio with sensitive law enforcement information; (3) whether Lamond had notified Tarrio about the status of the MPD investigation into the banner burning; (4) whether Lamond notified Tarrio about his pending arrest warrant; and (5) the content and extent of Lamond’s discussion with Tarrio prior to and after January 6.

            The obstruction of justice charge carries a statutory maximum of 30 years in prison. Each charge for making a false statement carries a statutory maximum of 5 years in prison. The maximum statutory sentence for federal offenses is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes. The sentencing will be determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

            This case is being jointly investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the United States Attorney’s Office Criminal Investigations Unit. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Rothstein, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

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

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – Ijomah Oputa, 54, of Los Angeles, California, pleaded guilty and was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden to 40 months’ imprisonment for wire fraud in connection with the generation and sale of fraudulent renewable fuel credits, from 2017 through 2021.

            The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 created or extended several federally-funded programs to incentivize production of renewable fuels, including biodiesel, and to encourage the use of such fuels in the United States. Authorized biodiesel producers and importers could generate and attach credits – known as renewable identification numbers (RINS) – to biodiesel they produced or imported. Because certain companies need RINs to comply with regulatory obligations, RINs have significant market value.

            Oputa created a fake renewable fuel importing company and fraudulently generated RINs on volumes of biofuel that he claimed to have imported from foreign biofuel producers. No such imports had actually occurred. Oputa generated false documentation of the alleged imports, including fake classified correspondence with a branch of the United States military. He then sold the fraudulent RINs to a RIN trading company for approximately $426,000, which he deposited in a bank account he opened using a stolen identity. Judge McFadden also ordered restitution in the amount of approximately $462,200 to ACT Fuels and $33,600 to RIN Alliance, two of the victims of the wire fraud scheme.

            The case was investigated by the Environmental Protection Agency, Criminal Investigation Division. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Blackwell, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, and Senior Trial Attorney Cassandra Barnum, of the United States Department of Justice Environmental Crimes Section.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A Maryland man was sentenced today to 28 years in prison for his part in a racketeering conspiracy, including two murders, related to his participation in La Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13).

According to court documents, from at least August 2018 through July 2021, Franklyn Edgardo Sanchez, aka Freddy, aka Magic, aka Miclo, aka Delinquente, 25, of Adelphi, was a member of MS-13, a transnational criminal enterprise and one of the largest street gangs in the United States that is composed primarily of immigrants or descendants from El Salvador and other central American countries. Sanchez was a member and associate of Weedams Locos Salvatrucha (WLS), an MS-13 clique operating primarily in Adelphi.

As part of the conspiracy, MS-13 members are required to commit acts of violence to maintain membership and discipline within the gang as well as against rival gangs. One of the principal rules of MS-13 is that its members must attack and kill rivals, known as “chavalas,” whenever possible. Participation in criminal activity by a member, particularly in violent acts directed at rival gangs or as directed by gang leadership, increases the respect accorded to that member, resulting in that member maintaining or increasing his position in the gang and opens the door to promotion to a leadership position. 

On Feb. 23, 2020, at the direction of an MS-13 leader, Sanchez and co-defendant Hernan Yanes-Rivera, aka Recio, shot and killed a former WLS member (Victim-1), in retaliation for the victim’s suspected cooperation with law enforcement. As a result of his participation in the murder, Sanchez was promoted within the hierarchy of MS-13.

On Aug. 8, 2020, Sanchez and several WLS members agreed to murder another individual (described in the indictment as Victim 4), who was suspected of cooperating with law enforcement and to whom Sanchez owed a debt. After driving to a wooded area in Prince George’s County, Maryland, WLS leader Brayan Alexander Torres, aka Spooky, called Victim 4 and told him to come to the wooded area to participate in a disciplinary beating of Sanchez, even though the gang intended to murder Victim 4. When Victim 4 arrived, Sanchez and another MS-13 member shot Victim 4. Sanchez then stabbed Victim 4 with a knife. 

To prevent the discovery of DNA or other evidence and to hinder the investigation and prosecution of Victim 4’s murder, Torres called other WLS members, including Agustino Eugenio Rivas Rodriguez, aka Terrible, and ordered them to bring shovels to the wooded area, where they dug a hole and buried Victim 4’s body.

Sanchez also participated in money laundering by transferring gang funds to MS-13 members and associates in El Salvador.

Sanchez, Torres, Yanes-Rivera, and Rivas Rodriguez all previously pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy. By the terms of their plea agreements, Torres faces 28 years in prison, Yanes-Rivera faces 22 years in prison, and Rivas Rodriguez faces 16 years in prison. Torres is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 31, Yanes-Rivera is scheduled to be sentenced on July 28, and Rivas Rodriguez is scheduled to be sentenced on July 21.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron for the District of Maryland, Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the FBI Baltimore Field Office, Special Agent in Charge James C. Harris of the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore Field Office, and Chief Malik Aziz of the Prince George’s County Police Department made the announcement.

The FBI, HSI, and Prince George’s County Police Department investigated the case, with assistance from the Montgomery County Police Department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Trial Attorneys Brendan Woods and Christopher Taylor of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel Crespo for the District of Maryland prosecuted the case.

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 make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. PSN, an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime, is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

This case is also 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.    

Source: United States Department of Justice 2

The Justice Department announced today that it has filed a lawsuit against Timothy Britton, the owner and operator of rental properties in the Falls Creek, Pennsylvania, area and Britton Enterprises LLC, doing business as “Tim’s Apartments,” which operates the rental properties, alleging sexual harassment and retaliation in violation of the Fair Housing Act.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, alleges that Timothy Britton has sexually harassed female tenants since at least 2016. According to the complaint, Britton made repeated and unwelcome sexual comments to female tenants, touched female tenants’ bodies without their permission, requested sexual contact, offered reduced or free rent in exchange for sexual contact and took retaliatory actions against female tenants who refused his sexual advances.

“In this day and age, no one should have to endure sexual harassment to keep a roof over their head,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This lawsuit makes clear that the Justice Department stands ready to hold accountable those landlords and housing providers who unlawfully harass and retaliate against tenants. We encourage survivors to speak out when their rights are violated so that we can vindicate their fair housing rights and secure the relief they deserve.”

“The complaint alleges that Mr. Britton has violated federal fair housing laws through acts of sexual harassment and retaliation,” said Acting U. S. Attorney Troy Rivetti for the Western District of Pennsylvania. “The harm caused by this type of unlawful behavior is compounded when committed by someone who has control over the place where individuals have the right to feel the most safe – in their homes. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to protecting vulnerable members of our community and holding individuals accountable who prey upon them.”

“It is unacceptable and illegal to subject tenants to sexual harassment and retaliation; it must stop. Tenants deserve a safe place to call home,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Demetria L. McCain of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. “HUD will continue to work with the Justice Department to hold housing providers accountable and work toward justice for those whose civil rights have been violated.”

The lawsuit seeks monetary damages to compensate persons harmed by the alleged harassment, civil penalties to vindicate the public interest and a court order barring future discrimination.

Individuals who believe that they may have been victims of sexual harassment or other types of housing discrimination at rental dwellings owned or managed by Timothy Britton or Britton Enterprises, or who have other information that may be relevant to this case, can contact the housing discrimination tip line at 1-833-591-0291, select 1 for English, and select option number 2, then option number 2 to leave a message. Individuals may also e-mail the Justice Department at fairhousing@usdoj.gov or submit a report online. Reports also may be made by contacting the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development at 1-800-669-9777 or by filing a complaint online.

The Justice Department launched its Sexual Harassment in Housing Initiative in October 2017. The department’s initiative is led by the Civil Rights Division, in coordination with U.S. Attorneys’ offices across the country. The initiative seeks to address and raise awareness about sexual harassment by landlords, property managers, maintenance workers, loan officers or other people who have control over housing. Since launching the initiative, the Department of Justice has filed 32 lawsuits alleging sexual harassment in housing and recovered over $10.8 million for victims of such harassment. 

The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability and familial status. More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at www.justice.gov/crt.