Month: June 2023

Source: United States Department of Justice News

An Alabama man pleaded guilty yesterday for his involvement with a website dedicated to the advertisement and distribution of images and videos depicting child sexual abuse.

According to court documents, William Michael Spearman, 57, of Madison, was the lead administrator of the website, which had been operating for many years. The website included a section devoted to the sexual abuse of infants and toddlers, a section devoted to images and videos depicting children being subjected to pain and torture, and a section devoted to avoiding detection by law enforcement. As the lead administrator, Spearman managed numerous “staff” members, directed them how to help run the site, recommended other users for promotion, kept records of child pornography files advertised and distributed over the site, presided over staff meetings, praised and scolded users, and counseled users and other managers about the function and expectations of the website. Spearman also advertised and distributed images over the website.

Spearman pleaded guilty to engaging in a child exploitation enterprise. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 31, and faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The following defendants have also been convicted in the Southern District of Florida for their involvement with the same website:

Name	Residence	Charges	Status
Selwyn David Rosenstein	Boynton Beach, Florida	Conspiracy to advertise child pornography; five counts of advertisement of child pornography; possession of child pornography	Sentenced to 28 years in prison and ordered to pay $85,000 in restitution to victims
Gregory Malcolm Good	Silver Springs, Nevada	Conspiracy to advertise child pornography; conspiracy to distribute child pornography	Scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 22
Robert Preston Boyles	Clarksville, Tennessee	Conspiracy to advertise child pornography; conspiracy to distribute child pornography	Scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 15
Matthew Branden Garrell	Raleigh, North Carolina	Conspiracy to advertise child pornography; conspiracy to distribute child pornography	Scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 1

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, and Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri of the FBI Miami Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI’s Child Exploitation Operational Unit, West Palm Beach Resident Agency, and Miami Field Office investigated the cases. Substantial assistance for the case was provided by FBI Field Offices and Resident Agencies in: Huntsville, Alabama; Reno, Nevada; Clarksville, Tennessee; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Madison, Wisconsin. Substantial assistance was also provided by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the Northern District of Alabama, District of Nevada, Middle District of Tennessee, Eastern District of North Carolina, and Western District of Wisconsin.

Trial Attorneys Kyle P. Reynolds and William G. Clayman of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Schiller for the Southern District of Florida are prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON — A New York man was found guilty in the District of Columbia on Monday, June 12, 2023, of multiple felony and misdemeanor charges, including assaulting law enforcement officers, for his actions during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential election.

            Ralph Joseph Celentano III, 55, of Broad Channel, New York, was found guilty after a trial before U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly of two felony charges, including assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers and civil disorder, and related misdemeanor offenses.

            According to the government’s evidence, Celentano traveled from New York to Washington D.C. and attended the “Stop the Steal” rally on the Ellipse on Jan. 6, 2021. After the rally, Celentano breached the restricted perimeter of the U.S. Capitol Building and made his way to the very front of the mass of rioters gathered at the Lower West Terrace. At the same time rioters had breached the Capitol Building and forced the recess of the U.S. House of Representatives, Celentano engaged in several physical altercations with law enforcement officers attempting to hold their police line on the West Front. Celentano locked arms with other rioters and pushed forward to breach the police line and then repeatedly shoved a separate law enforcement officer backward.

            Evidence at trial showed that after successfully breaching the police line, Celentano observed a uniformed Capitol Police officer standing at the edge of a raised platform with his back turned. Celentano approached the officer from behind and rammed the officer in a “football-style tackle.” According to court documents, the officer was hit so hard that he flipped over the ledge and fell onto officers below him. The officer, an Iraq war veteran, recalled thinking, “I didn’t survive a war to go out like this.”

            Over the course of the next few days, Celentano sent several text messages and posted on the social media network Parler about the riot on Jan. 6^th. Among his messages, Celentano indicated he had fought the Capitol Police and won, taken over the Capitol, and stated that it was a day he would always remember, and that he would do it all over again.

            Celentano was arrested on March 9, 2022, in Broad Channel, New York.

            Celentano is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 11, 2023. In addition to the felonies, Celentano was found guilty of four misdemeanor counts of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds; and acts of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings.

            The felony assault charge carries a statutory maximum sentence of 8 years in prison, and the felony civil disorder charge carries a statutory maximum sentence of 5 years in prison. All charges carry potential financial penalties. The Court will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

            This case is being 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 Eastern District of New York.

            This case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, which identified Celentano as #107 in its seeking information photos, and the FBI’s New York Field Office. Valuable assistance was provided by the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Capitol Police.

            In the 29 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,000 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including nearly 350 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

            WASHINGTON — A Maryland man has been arrested on felony charges, including assaulting a law enforcement officer, for his actions during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.

            Adam Ryan Obest, 42, of Thurmont, Maryland, is charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with obstructing, impeding, or interfering with a law enforcement officer during a civil disorder, assaulting an officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon, act of physical violence in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon, all felonies, and act of physical violence on Capitol grounds.

            According to court documents, at approximately 2:31 p.m., Obest is seen on Body Worn Camera (BWC) video engaging law enforcement officers while holding a flagpole on the West Plaza of the Capitol Building. Obest maintained his hold of the flagpole as a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Officer grabbed the end of the flagpole. Obest eventually jerked the flagpole away and ran back into the crowd of rioters. Less than a minute later, Obest raised the flagpole above his head and brought the end of it down abruptly into the line of officers. Obest then engaged directly with the MPD Officer and attempted to take the officer’s baton out of their hands before eventually retreating into the crowd.

            In Facebook posts, Obest indicated he and his wife attended the Stop the Steal rally in Washington, D.C., and were in the vicinity of the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021.  Obest also commented via social media on a video posted by Bill O’Reilly: “Can’t wait to hear your analysis on the protests at the Capitol today. I was there and it was 96% peaceful.”

            This case is being 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 Maryland.

            The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Baltimore Field Office and the FBI’s Washington Field Office, which identified Obest as #422-AFO on its FBI Tip website. Valuable assistance was provided by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Capitol Police, and the Metropolitan Police Department.

            In the 29 months since Jan. 6, 2021, 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 nearly 350 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.

            A complaint 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 – Federal law enforcement arrested six more members of a fentanyl drug distribution, responsible for bringing thousands of fake blue Oxycodone (M30) pills, containing fentanyl, from California to D.C., announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, DEA Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget, of the Washington Division, United States Postal Inspection Service Inspector in Charge Damon Wood, of the Washington Division, and Interim Chief Ashan Benedict, of the Metropolitan Police Department.

            Teron Deandre McNeil, Marvin Anthony Bussie, a/k/a “Money Marr,” Marcus Orlando Brown, Thomas Columbian, a/k/a “Cruddy Murda,” Wayne Rodell Carr-Maiden, and Andre Malik Edmond are named in an indictment – along with previously apprehended co-defendants Hector David Valdez, Charles Jeffrey Taylor, Max Alexander Carias Torres, Raymond Nava, Jr., and Craig Eastman – with conspiracy to distribute 400 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing fentanyl.

            According to the indictment, from on or about January 2021 to May 18, 2023, each of the defendants conspired together to distribute 400 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing fentanyl.

DEFENDANT NAME	AGE	RESIDENT OF	DETENTION STATUS
Teron Deandre McNeil a/k/a “Wild Boy”	33	Washington, DC	Arrested: 06/08/2023 Detention Hearing set 06/13
Marvin Anthony Bussie, a/k/a “Money Marr”	20	Washington, DC	Arrested: 04/14/2023 Detained in unrelated case
Marcus Orlando Brown	27	Temple Hills, MD	Arrested: 05/30/2023 Detained: 06/02/2023
Thomas Columbian, a/k/a “Cruddy Murda”	25	Washington, DC	Arrested: 06/02/2023 Detained: 06/05/2023
Wayne Rodell Carr-Maiden, a/k/a “Wayne Maiden”	28	Washington, DC	Arrested: 06/01/2023 Detained: 06/06/2023
Andre Malik Edmond, a/k/a “Draco”	22	Temple Hills, MD	Arrested: 06/12/2023 Initial Appearance: pending

            The conspiracy charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison up to life. The sentencing will be determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

            The investigation of this case had the sponsorship and support of the federal Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). OCDETF specializes in the investigation and prosecution of drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and related criminal enterprises.

            The prosecutions followed a joint investigation by the DEA Washington Division and the U.S. Postal Inspector, in partnership with the Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with additional support from the DEA Los Angeles and Riverside Field Offices, the Federal Bureau of Investigation Washington Field Office and the Charles County, Maryland Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys David T. Henek, Matthew W. Kinskey and Andy Wang of the Violence Reduction and Trafficking Offenses (VRTO) Section.

            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

The Justice Department today announced that FPI Management Inc. (FPI) has agreed to pay $74,087 to resolve allegations that it violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) by imposing unlawful charges on nine servicemembers who were exercising their right to terminate their apartment leases after receiving military orders to relocate.

“The right for servicemembers to terminate leases without penalty when military orders send them elsewhere is a critical protection for people who already sacrifice so much,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department will continue to enforce federal civil rights laws to ensure that paying rent for housing they no longer need is not another sacrifice servicemembers must bear.”

“The SCRA protects servicemembers who have answered our country’s call to serve,” said U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert for the Eastern District of California. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office and our partners in the Civil Rights Division stand ready to vindicate those rights, to allow our servicemembers to focus on their duty and relieve stress on them and their families.”

The SCRA extends various protections to servicemembers to allow them to devote their entire energy to the national defense. The SCRA provides protections for servicemembers in areas such as evictions, security deposits, pre-paid rent, civil judicial proceedings, installment contracts, interest rates, foreclosures and automobile leases. The SCRA also allows servicemembers to terminate their residential leases after entering military service or receiving military orders for a permanent change of station, deployment or retirement. Landlords are prohibited from imposing an early termination charge on servicemembers who terminate their leases under the SCRA.

The department launched an investigation into FPI’s leasing practices after receiving a referral from Coast Guard Legal Assistance about two instances where FPI attempted to require servicemembers who were terminating their leases early under the SCRA to repay discounts they had received when they signed the lease. In one case, FPI required Coast Guard Petty Officer First Class Aaron Gomez and his wife to repay $8,590 in lease concessions after they terminated their lease at an apartment building in Oakland, California, near Coast Guard Island Alameda. In the other case, FPI told Coast Guard Petty Officer First Class William Fuchs that he would have to repay $7,838 in lease incentives after he terminated his lease at the same apartment building. Fuchs had just received military orders to relocate Charleston, South Carolina.

In a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, the department alleges that FPI unlawfully imposed early termination charges on a total of nine servicemembers who had exercised their right to terminate their residential leases upon receipt of qualifying military orders.

Under the consent order, which still must be approved by the court, FPI has agreed to pay a total of $51,587 to the servicemembers and a $22,500 civil penalty to the United States. The order also requires FPI to repair the servicemembers’ tenant database entries, implement new policies and procedures that comply with the SCRA and training its employees on the SCRA.

Since 2011, the Justice Department has been awarded over $481 million in monetary relief for over 146,000 servicemembers through its enforcement of the SCRA. For more information about the department’s SCRA enforcement efforts, please visit www.servicemembers.gov.

Servicemembers and their dependents who believe that their rights under the SCRA have been violated should contact the nearest Armed Forces Legal Assistance Program Office. Office locations may be found at legalassistance.law.af.mil.