Month: June 2023

Source: United States Department of Justice News

          WASHINGTON – A Superior Court jury, today, returned guilty verdicts against six men, from Washington, D.C., charged in the murder 10-year old Makiyah Wilson. The verdicts were announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Interim Chief Ashan Benedict, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

          A jury found Isaiah Murchison, 23, Darrise Jeffers, 23, Gregory Taylor, 27, Qujuan Thomas, 24, and Quentin Michals, 25, guilty of first degree murder while armed, conspiracy to commit a crime of violence, participation in a criminal street gang, and multiple counts of assault with intent to kill while armed. Co-defendant Marquell Cobbs, 21, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit a crime of violence. All six are members of the “Wellington Park crew.”  Sentencing hearings are scheduled for October 6, 2023 and October 20, 2023.

          “On July 16, 2018, four men exited a vehicle in the courtyard of an apartment complex and indiscriminately fired over 50 shots at the residents because of a petty social media feud they had with individuals who associated with that community,” said U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves. “Their rampage left multiple people shot and a 10-year old child dead. Today’s verdicts demonstrate that we will hold accountable both the shooters in these brazen attacks and the people who help them.”

            “This investigation was the result of great detective work by our homicide detectives, who worked tirelessly to track down evidence, follow up on leads and tips from the community, along with our federal law enforcement partnerships,” said Chief Benedict. “It was because of hard work between the Metropolitan Police Department, our law enforcement partners and most importantly the community.”

            On July 16, 2018, defendants Isaiah Murchison, Gregory Taylor, Qujuan Thomas, and two other individuals drove to the Clay Terrace neighborhood armed with guns. They opened fire on the Clay Terrace courtyard, firing more than 50 shots, indiscriminately.  Makiyah Wilson, who was sitting on the front stoop of her home, was killed. Several other people were wounded.   Defendants Quentin Michals and Darrise Jeffers assisted the shooters by obtaining the weapons and vehicle used in the shooting.  Despite having witnessed the defendants preparing for the shooting, no witnesses were willing to provide information regarding the identity of the shooters. The government presented forensic evidence, statements the defendants made over social media, and motive evidence in presenting its case.

            In announcing the verdicts, U.S. Attorney Graves and Interim Chief Benedict commended the work of the detectives with the Metropolitan Police Department who investigated the case as well as members of the prosecution team, including: Paralegal Specialists Sharon Newman and Grazy Rivera and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Richard Barker and Melissa Jackson, along with former Assistant U.S. Attorney John Timmer, who investigated the case.  Finally, they thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Laura Bach and Lindsey Merikas who prosecuted the case. 

Source: United States Department of Justice News

The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of a Mississippi company pleaded guilty today to willfully failing to report and pay over employment taxes withheld from employees’ paychecks.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Julian Russ of Houma, Louisiana, was the CFO of Community Construction Company LLC, a pipeline-maintenance and construction company based in Hazelhurst, Mississippi. From at least 2012 through October 2018, Russ did not file required quarterly employment tax returns or pay over the taxes withheld from employees’ wages to the IRS, despite knowing of his obligation to do so. In total, Russ caused a tax loss to the IRS of more than $6 million.

Russ faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory actors.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca for the Southern District of Mississippi made the announcement. 

IRS-Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorney Curtis Weidler of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Kirkham for the Southern District of Mississippi are prosecuting the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

An Oregon man pleaded guilty in federal court today for conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) by producing and distributing propaganda and recruiting materials online in coordination with ISIS members overseas.

Hawazen Sameer Mothafar, 33, an Iraqi national residing in Troutdale, Oregon, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.

According to court documents, Mothafar immigrated to the U.S. from Iraq in 2014 and, since his arrival, has resided in Troutdale. An ISIS supporter since 2014, Mothafar was the co-founder of the Sunni Shield Foundation, a pro-ISIS media organization that created and published violent propaganda promoting ISIS ideology and objectives. In this role, Mothafar created the Sunni Shield’s first media product, a video of ISIS battle footage obtained from an official ISIS online platform intended to promote ISIS. In subsequent videos produced by Mothafar, he encouraged viewers to travel to Iraq and Syria to fight for ISIS and conduct attacks on behalf of the organization.

Mothafar and other members of the Sunni Shield obtained ISIS Central Media’s permission to begin publishing Al Anfal, an online newspaper promoting the Islamic State’s goals and advocating violent jihad. Mothafar oversaw planning and production of the publication while also serving as one of its graphic designers. Graphics designed by Mothafar for the publication incited readers to attack and kill Westerners and conduct knife attacks against ISIS enemies.

Mothafar communicated directly with ISIS Central Media officials in Iraq, from whom he regularly took instructions about media production. He represented the Sunni Shield in a private online group comprised of ISIS Central Media officials and representatives of other ISIS supporter groups. In this group, ISIS media officials would pass instructions to the supporter groups about official ISIS media campaigns. The supporter groups, including the Sunni Shield, would then prepare media materials to publish in support of the campaigns.

In addition to his work with the Sunni Shield, Mothafar aided other pro-ISIS media organizations and conspired with numerous ISIS associates in furtherance of his support to the terrorist organization. Mothafar provided graphic designs to the Khattab Media Foundation, assisted in the production of the Youth of the Caliphate magazine, published ISIS news on Nashr News Agency channels, worked with Fursan al-Rafa’ (Knights of Uploading) to publish pro-ISIS material on various websites, and assisted the Saqri Foundation with designs. Mothafar also communicated with Abu Qaswara al-Shanqiti, a Specially Designated Global Terrorist imprisoned in West Africa, and connected Qaswara al-Shanqiti with two ISIS officials in hopes of aiding his release.

On Nov. 3, 2020, a federal grand jury in Portland returned a five-count indictment charging Mothafar with conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, providing and attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, and making false statements in an immigration application and to a government agency.

Mothafar faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and a life term of supervised release. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 11, 2024 before U.S. District Court Judge Marco A. Hernández.

Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, U.S. Attorney Natalie K. Wight, and Assistant Director Robert R. Wells of the FBI Counterterrorism Division made the announcement.

The FBI Portland Field Office is investigating the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Thank you, Chairman Durbin, Ranking Member Graham and members of the Committee.

As you have just heard, Section 702 is invaluable. The reauthorization of 702 is perhaps the single most consequential national security decision that this Congress will make. The stakes could not be higher.

Congress enacted Section 702 as part of a number of fundamental legal reforms following 9/11. Those attacks demonstrated that we must one, share intelligence and two, that we must eliminate walls between foreign intelligence and domestic law enforcement. 

I was part of the team at the Department of Justice in 2008 that worked with Congress to pass Section 702. Congress then recognized that FISA, as written, created a dangerous intelligence gap — and enacted 702 on a bipartisan basis.

And when Congress passed 702, it also included a number of critical safeguards for Americans. The law, for example, prohibits targeting anyone inside the United States or a U.S. person anywhere in the world. The FISA court reviews Section 702 procedures every year to ensure that they comply with the Constitution and with FISA. And the National Security Division, which I lead, reviews every single targeting decision that is made.

In my experience, Section 702 is a model piece of legislation — an authority that both protects national security and safeguards civil liberties.

So, let me address one area of particular concern, and that is the FBI’s use of 702 information.

To use the intelligence that the IC collects lawfully, agents and analysts “query” the database of FBI information — this is the small subset of 702 data that is relevant to open FBI national security investigations. A query simply means using a term to retrieve specific information that already is in the FBI’s possession. It is like searching for something in your email inbox — you don’t read every single email. You probably enter a keyword to find what you’re looking for quickly within what is already stored in your inbox.

And the FBI’s ability to do this – to conduct these queries – is absolutely essential to its mission.

For example, if the FBI learns that a spy working for the PRC has a list of U.S. phone numbers on their phone, FBI investigators may query FBI 702 data with those phone numbers – some of them may be U.S. phone numbers – to help identify others working for the PRC or even potential victims of PRC espionage.

And this is not just hypothetical. The FBI, in fact, was able to disrupt ongoing assassination and kidnapping plots in, in part, because FBI investigators searched their 702 data with U.S. person identifiers and they were able to, therefore, quickly discover the nature and extent of the plotting.

In another case, the FBI was investigating a cyberattack against a critical infrastructure company here in the United States. The FBI queried its Section 702 data with U.S. person identifiers, and they found out that it was Chinese hackers who were behind the attack, and that they had comprised the network and they figured out how they did it. It was this information that the FBI got from querying its data that allowed the FBI to alert the network operators and mitigate the attack.

Ultimately, the FBI is the single organization represented here with the responsibility and the authority to take action inside the United States to protect our national security — whether that’s to identify and disrupt terrorism attacks, espionage, or cyber threats. And the FBI’s ability to quickly review its Section 702 data is an essential tool for that mission.

The FBI, however, must safeguard the rights of Americans. In recent years, we have identified and reported serious compliance issues with FBI’s U.S. person queries.

And let me be clear: I join with Deputy Director Abbate. These compliance problems are not acceptable. They have eroded public trust, and I am not here to defend them. Indeed, when we identified these problems, the Attorney General directed the FBI to make significant changes to their systems and their policies and their training — changes that have already proven effective in improving compliance.

But this is an ongoing process. As the Deputy Director testified, the FBI is imposing new measures for compliance and new measures for accountability. And we are continuing to review the FBI’s performance for ways to improve.

We are committed to working with you and with the rest of Congress on potential reforms. As we work with you on this effort, we must ensure that any changes we make also preserve Section 702’s essential effectiveness as a national security tool.

In the end, we must not forget the lessons of 9/11. Unduly limiting the FBI’s ability to access lawfully collected information and imposing artificial barriers between foreign intelligence and criminal investigations will set us back decades. It will put our nation at grave risk. Section 702 has proven to be an irreplaceable authority that enables our entire intelligence community to work together to collect, to share and to use the information that is necessary to protect our country.

Thank you.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

The Justice Department announced today that it has secured a settlement agreement with Mountain Prairie Holdings, a Colorado-based staffing agency that formerly operated as Apprentice Personnel. The settlement resolves the department’s determination that Mountain Prairie violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by discriminating against non-U.S. citizen workers when checking their permission to work in the United States.

“Demanding that workers provide more documentation than required by law to prove their permission to work causes unnecessary stress, financial hardship and obstacles to employment, especially for vulnerable workers,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department will continue to hold employers accountable for such discriminatory actions.”

The department’s investigation began after a newly hired non-U.S. citizen complained that staff in Apprentice Personnel’s Colorado Springs office demanded that he produce a foreign passport to prove his permission to work, even though he had already presented sufficient documentation. The department also determined that the Colorado Springs office routinely required certain non-U.S. citizens to show their immigration documents, even when these workers had already presented other valid documentation. Ultimately, the department found that several non-U.S. citizens, including the complaining party, had been victims of this practice.

Under the terms of the settlement, Mountain Prairie will pay civil penalties to the United States and be subject to departmental monitoring for a three-year period. Additionally, Mountain Prairie will train staff on the INA’s anti-discrimination provision and review and revise its employment policies before the company or any of its subsidiaries hire any workers during the monitoring period.

Federal law allows all workers to choose which valid, legally acceptable documentation to present to demonstrate their identity and permission to work, regardless of citizenship, immigration status or national origin. The INA’s anti-discrimination provision prohibits employers from asking for specific documents because of a worker’s citizenship, immigration status or national origin. Indeed, many non-U.S. citizens, including lawful permanent residents, refugees and asylees, are eligible for several of the same types of documents to prove their permission to work as U.S. citizens (such as driver’s licenses and unrestricted Social Security cards). Employers must allow workers to present whatever acceptable documentation the workers choose and cannot reject valid documentation that reasonably appears to be genuine.

The Civil Rights Division’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER) is responsible for enforcing the anti-discrimination provision of the INA. The statute prohibits discrimination based on citizenship status and national origin in hiring, firing or recruitment or referral for a fee; unfair documentary practices; and retaliation and intimidation. 

Find more information on how employers can avoid discrimination when verifying permission to work on IER’s website. Learn more about how IER protects workers’ rights in this video. For more information about protections against employment discrimination under immigration laws, call IER’s worker hotline at 1-800-255-7688 (1-800-237-2515, TTY for hearing impaired); call IER’s employer hotline at 1-800-255-8155 (1-800-237-2515, TTY for hearing impaired); sign up for a free webinar; email IER@usdoj.gov; or visit IER’s English and Spanish websites. Sign up for email updates from IER.

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