Month: October 2023

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – Gregory Bournes Jr., 31, of Lancaster, Va., and Dream Jackson, 30, of Riverdale, Ga., pleaded guilty today to a federal conspiracy charge for trafficking over 80 firearms into the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Special Agent in Charge Craig Kailimai, of the Washington Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

            Bournes and Jackson pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to one count of conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States. Judge Royce C. Lamberth ordered the defendants detained pending their sentencing hearing, which he scheduled for Dec. 8, 2023.

            According to court papers, from February 2021 through February 2022, Bournes and Jackson—who were in a romantic relationship at the time—conspired to purchase firearms from licensed dealers in the States of Georgia and Texas and to transport and transfer the firearms to the District of Columbia and elsewhere, for the purpose of unlawfully reselling the firearms for profit. In total, Bournes and Jackson purchased over 80 firearms, which they then sold to others.  As part of their guilty pleas, Bournes and Jackson each admitted that they knew or had to reason to believe that their conduct would result in prohibited persons receiving firearms.

            In March 2023, following their indictment by a federal grand jury, Bournes and Jackson were arrested in Georgia—where they both resided at the time—pursuant to warrants issued by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The defendants were released on their personal recognizance pending trial.  Following their guilty plea today, the government moved for their detention pending sentencing. Judge Lamberth granted the government’s motion, and both defendants are now in custody. 

            Bournes and Jackson face a maximum sentence of five years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine. The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentence imposed in this case will be determined by the Court after considering the United States Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

            Most of the firearms trafficked by Bournes and Jackson remain unaccounted for, and law enforcement in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area continue to recover the trafficked firearms in connection with criminal activity. One firearm, which Bournes purchased in Georgia in November 2021 and then resold for profit, was recently used in the commission of an attempted murder in Prince George’s County, Maryland.

            In announcing the guilty pleas, U.S. Attorney Graves and Special Assistant in Charge Kailimai commended the work of those who investigated the case from the ATF’s Washington Field Division. They also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas G. Strong and Paralegal Specialists Karla Núñez and Tiffany Robinson.

            Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul V. Courtney and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine A. Pattison, who indicted and are prosecuting the matter.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – On Oct. 2, the United States transferred approximately 1.1 million 7.62mm rounds of ammunition to the Ukrainian armed forces. This ammunition had been seized by U.S. Central Command naval forces from a flagless vessel in the Arabian Sea enroute from Iran and destined for Yemen, where sanctioned groups including Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) directly support the Houthi movement. The Department of Justice then filed a civil forfeiture action against the seized munitions, resulting in a July 20, 2023, order by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia transferring title to the United States.

            “With this weapons transfer, the Justice Department’s forfeiture actions against one authoritarian regime are now directly supporting the Ukrainian people’s fight against another authoritarian regime,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “We will continue to use every legal authority at our disposal to support Ukraine in their fight for freedom, democracy, and the rule of law.”

            “Our office will continue to use all the tools in our arsenal to disrupt the IRGC’s efforts to sow discord,” said U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia. “The transfer of these assets to the Ukrainian armed forces will now aid an important partner in its fight against unwarranted aggression.”

            “The forfeiture and transfer of a major ammunition cache, once destined to serve the Iranian regime’s destabilizing efforts abroad, represents the Justice Department’s commitment to countering authoritarian aggression around the world,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.  “Together, with partner agencies and departments, we remain steadfast in our mission to ensure the nation’s security by vigorously enforcing U.S. sanctions and imposing costs on hostile regimes in accordance with the rule of law.”

            According to court documents in the civil forfeiture action, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command seized the ammunition and other munitions on or about Dec. 1, 2022.

            The documents alleged a sophisticated scheme by the IRGC to clandestinely ship weapons and munitions to entities contrary to U.S. interests.

            The government’s forfeiture action was part of a larger investigation of an Iranian weapons-smuggling network. The network was involved in the illicit trafficking of advanced conventional weapons systems and components by sanctioned Iranian entities that directly support military action by the Houthi movement in Yemen and the Iranian regime’s campaign of terrorist activities throughout the region.

            The HSI Washington Field Office and the DCIS Mid-Atlantic Field Office are leading the larger investigation of the Iranian weapons-smuggling network, with substantial assistance from the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command in conducting the seizure.

            Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stuart D. Allen, Brian P. Hudak, Rajbir S. Datta, and Anna D. Walker for the District of Columbia and Trial Attorney S. Derek Shugert of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section litigated the case, with support from Paralegal Specialists Brian Rickers and Angela De Falco.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – Aaron Christopher Davis, 32, of Suitland, Maryland, a registered sex offender, was indicted in U.S. District Court, on October 3, 2023, on charges of distribution of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, FBI Special Agent in Charge Wayne A. Jacobs, of the Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division, and Acting Chief Pamela Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            On August 25, 2023, an FBI Washington Field Office (WFO) Task Force Officer (TFO) was acting in an undercover (UC) capacity as part of the Metropolitan Police Department – Federal Bureau of Investigation (MPD-FBI) Child Exploitation Task Force. The UC was monitoring a dating application  that law enforcement has come to learn is used by some individuals who have a sexual interest in children. The UC encountered the defendant who sent a message believing he was communicating with a pedophile. The defendant expressed a desire to sexually assault the UC’s purported child. He then sent the UC a video showing an adult male anally raping a little boy whose mouth is taped closed and his hands are restrained with handcuffs. As the conversation continued, the defendant expressed a desire to meet up with the UC to watch videos depicting the sexual abuse of children, while they assaulted the UC’s purported son.

            On September 19, 2023, law enforcement executed a search warrant at the defendant’s home. During a post-Miranda interview with law enforcement, Davis admitted that he exchanged messages with the UC, and that he distributed child pornography. The defendant told law enforcement that he used other encrypted messaging applications to communicate with individuals who have a sexual interest in children, and to exchange child sexual abuse material.  These communications, and a collection of child pornography, have been discovered on mobile devices belonging to Davis.

            Davis was convicted of possession of child pornography, on October 16, 2017, in Prince George’s County.  He was sentenced to five years imprisonment, but was only required to serve 18 months of that sentence. As a result of this conviction, Davis is required to register as a sex offender.  

            Davis was arrested on September 19, 2023, and he will be detained pending trial.

            Because of Davis’s prior conviction, the distribution of child pornography carries a statutory minimum sentence of 15 years, in prison, with a statutory maximum of 40 years. The maximum statutory sentence for federal offenses is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes. The sentence will be determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

            This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the Metropolitan Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Larson, with the assistance of Paralegal Specialist Alexis Spencer-Anderson, 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 – An Ohio man pleaded guilty today to a felony charge related to 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.

            Ryan Swoope, 29, of Perry, Ohio, pleaded guilty to assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers before U.S. District Court Judge Trevor N. McFadden in the District of Columbia. Judge McFadden scheduled a sentencing hearing for Jan. 5, 2024.  

            According to court documents, Swoope and two co-defendants traveled from Ohio to Washington, D.C., to attend a rally at the Ellipse. After the rally, the three walked toward the U.S. Capitol building with a large crowd.

            At 3:08 p.m., Swoope entered the U.S. Capitol through the Senate Wing Door. Upon entry, he saw the broken windows inside the door frame while an alarm sounded. Swoope then walked towards the Crypt and entered the Senate Spouses’ Lobby. While in the lobby, he chanted “Our House” in response to someone chanting “Whose House?”

            A few minutes later, Swoope left through the Senate Wing Door at 3:17 p.m. He continued towards the north side of the Capitol, where he joined a group of rioters at the North Door. Sometime after the Swoope’s arrival, several members of the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) and the Metropolitan Police Department retreated into the Capitol through the North Door. As the officers moved into the North Door vestibule, Swoope and several other rioters crowded around the doorway. At 3:52 p.m., Swoope sprayed a canister of chemical irritant into the vestibule, striking a USCP sergeant in the face and blinding the officer for 20 minutes. 

            The FBI arrested Swoope on Nov. 30, 2022, in Mentor, Ohio.

            The Court will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

            The 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 Northern District of Ohio.

            The case was investigated by the FBI’s Cleveland and Washington Field Offices, which identified Swoope as BOLO (Be on the Lookout) Assault on Federal Officer (AFO) #486 on its seeking information photos. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.

            In the 32 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,100 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 396 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The investigation remains ongoing.

            Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.