Category: US Department of Justice

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Donavon Parish, 29, of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, pleaded guilty today to one count of cyberstalking and five counts of abuse and harassment using a telecommunications device. Parish also admitted to a special finding that he targeted his victims based on their actual and perceived religion.

According to court documents, during April and May 2022, the defendant used a voiceover internet protocol service to make a series of phone calls to synagogues and Jewish-owned businesses in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

In these calls, the defendant spoke to individuals answering the telephone calls on behalf of their respective institutions, at which time he repeatedly referenced the genocide of approximately six million Jewish people during the Holocaust, stating, among other things, “Heil Hitler,” “all Jews must die,” “we will put you in work camps,” “gas the Jews” and “Hitler should have finished the job.”

Parish is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 24 and faces a statutory maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a $1.5 million fine and a $600 special assessment. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General Mathew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, U.S. Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and Assistant Director Michael Nordwall of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division made the announcement.

The FBI Philadelphia Field Office is investigating the case.

Trial Attorney Justin Sher of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Jeanette Kang for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania are prosecuting the case, with assistance from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi.

Source: United States Department of Justice

The Justice Department announced today its findings that the State of Missouri violated Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by unnecessarily institutionalizing adults with mental health disabilities in nursing facilities. The investigation also examined the role of guardianships in such institutionalization.

Source: United States Department of Justice

The Justice Department announced today its findings that the State of Missouri violated Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by unnecessarily institutionalizing adults with mental health disabilities in nursing facilities. The investigation also examined the role of guardianships in such institutionalization.

The Justice Department determined that there is reasonable cause to believe Missouri violates the ADA by failing to provide the community-based services adults with mental health disabilities need in order to remain in their communities. It also found that the state is improperly relying on guardianship and that this leads to people entering nursing facilities even though community-based services are appropriate for their needs.

“People with mental health disabilities should not have to be confined to a nursing facility because they cannot access the community-based services they need,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Civil Rights Division will safeguard the rights of people with disabilities to participate fully in their communities. The state’s reliance on guardianships that serve as a pipeline to nursing facilities, rather than engaging people in community-based mental health services, has led to violations of the ADA.”

The department’s investigation found Missouri fails to provide community-based mental health services for many people with mental health disabilities who need them, including services such as:

• Assertive Community Treatment;
• Case management;
• Supported employment;
• Mobile crisis response;
• Crisis stabilization services;
• Permanent Supportive Housing;
• Peer support; and
• Supported Decision-Making.

Instead, the state makes nursing facility services for these people. Missouri can reasonably modify its system to remedy this violation by expanding community-based services and implementing processes to ensure that individuals can receive those services rather than entering nursing facilities.

Individuals with information relevant to this matter can contact the department by leaving a voicemail at 833-610-1242 or emailing Community.Missouri@usdoj.gov. The Justice Department will hold two virtual community meetings on Tuesday, June 25, at 6 p.m. CT/7 p.m. ET and Wednesday, June 26, at 12 p.m. CT/1 p.m. ET. Members of the public are encouraged to attend to learn more about the findings. Please register to join these meetings by clicking on the respective link. If you need an interpreter or accommodation to attend, please email Community.Missouri@usdoj.gov.

Additional information about the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department is available on its website at www.justice.gov/crt/rights-persons-disabilities and www.ada.gov.

View the findings report here.

View the notice letter here.

Source: United States Department of Justice

The Justice Department announced today its findings that Utah is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by unnecessarily segregating youth and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) during the day, instead of helping them find work and spend their days in their communities.

The department found that the State relies on segregated settings, such as sheltered workshops and day facilities, where people with I/DD have limited interaction with people without disabilities and have little choice in how to spend their time. As a result, thousands of Utahns with I/DD spend their days separated from their communities. Other individuals with I/DD in the State, including youth with I/DD who are transitioning out of children’s services, are at serious risk of unnecessary segregation in these settings.

“Full inclusion in society is a central promise of the ADA,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “People with intellectual and developmental disabilities are entitled to full inclusion, and to the dignity and purpose that comes with deciding where to work and how to spend their days.”

Utah’s sheltered workshops are often located in large, industrial warehouses. People with I/DD who work in sheltered workshops may spend all day at the warehouse, performing rote tasks — like shredding paper — often for less than minimum wage. In day facilities, people with I/DD may similarly spend all day at the facility with nothing much to do other than craft or watch TV.

The ADA and the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Olmstead v. L.C. require state and local governments to make their services for people with disabilities available in the most integrated setting appropriate to each person’s needs. In October 2023, the department issued guidance explaining how this federal requirement applies to publicly-funded employment and day services.

The Civil Rights Division’s Disability Rights Section investigated the case, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah.

For more information on the ADA, please call the department’s toll-free ADA Information Line at 1-800-514-0301 (TDD 800-514-0383) or visit www.ada.gov/topics/community-integration/.

For more information on the Civil Rights Division, please visit www.justice.gov/crt.

Source: United States Department of Justice

A federal judge in the Middle District of Alabama unsealed an eight-count indictment today charging five individuals with sex trafficking and related offenses. 

According to the indictment, Kimani Jones, 30, Treymane Lambert, 48, and Aleecia Scott, 27, of Montgomery, Alabama, used force, fraud and coercion to compel adult women to engage in commercial sex acts between August 2016 and November 2020. Jones also used force, fraud and coercion to compel two minors to engage in commercial sex acts during that period, and Joseph Keon Bowe, 37, of Notasulga, Alabama, used force, fraud and coercion to compel a minor to engage in commercial sex acts between August 2018 and March 2019.

In addition, the indictment charges Jones with transporting one minor and one adult woman across state lines for purposes of prostitution in November 2016 and January 2020. A fifth defendant, Daryle Gardner, 30, of Prattville, Alabama, is charged with transporting an adult woman for purposes of prostitution in January 2020.

If convicted, the defendants face a range of penalties, including substantial prison terms, and mandatory restitution. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. 

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney Jonathan S. Ross for the Middle District of Alabama and Acting Special Agent in Charge Anthony J. Patrone of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) made the announcement.

HSI, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, Montgomery Sheriff’s Office, Montgomery Police Department and Montgomery Attorney General’s Office investigated the case.

Trial Attorney Kate Alexander of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tara Ratz for the Middle District of Alabama are prosecuting the case.

Anyone who has information about human trafficking should report that information to the National Human Trafficking Hotline toll-free at 1-888-373-7888, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For more information about human trafficking, please visit www.humantraffickinghotline.org. Information on the Justice Department’s efforts to combat human trafficking can be found at www.justice.gov/humantrafficking.

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