Category: US Department of Justice

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – Christopher Wade, 40, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced on Wednesday, October 11, 2023, to 84 months in prison for stabbing a woman as she descended into the Potomac Avenue Metro Station and for robbing another woman at knifepoint in the Eastern Market Metro Station, announced U.S. Matthew M. Graves.  Mr. Wade pleaded guilty, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, in August of 2023, to one count of assault with a dangerous weapon and one count of robbery.

            According to the government’s evidence, just after 10 p.m. on June 25, 2023, Wade saw a woman descending, alone, into the Eastern Market Metro Station. Wade waited for her at the bottom of the escalator, pushed her into a wall, and demanded her property while wielding a knife. Wade fled the Metro after stealing her phone and other property. Five days later, on June 30, 2023, Wade walked into the Potomac Avenue Metro Station just before noon. A woman stood on the escalator, alone, and Wade approached her from behind, grabbed her by the neck, and demanded her property. He then pushed her down to the stairs of the escalator and stabbed her in the arm before fleeing up the escalator and out of the Metro. After review of the surveillance footage from both incidents, Metro Transit Police Department officers were able to locate Wade and confirm he was the suspect from both incidents. 

            This case was investigated by the Metropolitan Transit Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Katharine Yaske, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Defendant Concealed over $5.1 Million in Offshore Accounts

            WASHINGTON – A U.S. citizen residing in the Principality of Monaco pleaded guilty today to tax evasion for concealing from the IRS over $5,130,000 in income derived from a real estate transaction and securities investments in offshore bank accounts.

            According to court documents and statements made in court, Stephen L. Schechter was a licensed U.S. investment banker, U.K. corporate finance advisor and owner and operator of a U.S.-based financial investment advisory firm.

            In 2002, Schechter formed an entity called Charles Penn Longview (CPL) in the British Virgin Islands. In June 2004, Schechter opened a Swiss bank account in the name of CPL at what ultimately became known as Piguet Galland & Cie SA. In doing so, he and his bank relationship manager concealed Schechter’s U.S.-citizenship status in bank documents. Until it was closed around January 2013, the account generated interest and dividends that Schechter never reported to the IRS as income.

            In June 2011, Schechter sold a Monaco apartment for approximately €14,000,000, which he deposited into his CPL account at Piguet. He subsequently used the sale proceeds to purchase $8,856,691 in various securities, on which he earned interest, dividends, and capital gains. Schechter never disclosed the income from the sale of the Monaco apartment or the securities bought from sale proceeds to his tax return preparer. Schechter knew that, as a U.S. citizen, he was obligated to report and pay taxes on his income, even if he earned it abroad and lived outside the United States.

            Schechter later opened another CPL bank account at UBS Monaco SA, closed his account at Piguet, and transferred the balance of approximately $10.2 million into the new UBS Monaco account, further earning undisclosed interest and dividends until 2017. 

            U.S. citizens and permanent residents are required annually to file a FinCEN Form 114 – Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) – if the combined balance of all foreign accounts they own, have a financial interest in or signature authority over is more than $10,000 at any point during that calendar year. However, Schechter did not file FBARs reporting his Piguet or UBS Monaco accounts.

            Schechter is scheduled to be sentenced on March 1, 2024, and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for tax evasion. 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 factors.

            Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia made the announcement.

            IRS-Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

            Senior Litigation Counsel Nanette Davis and Trial Attorney George Meggali of the Tax Division, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Leslie Goemaat for the District of Columbia are prosecuting the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – Garnell Lucas, 33, of Upper Marlboro, MD, was sentenced today to 72 months in prison for his role in a fentanyl distribution ring, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, and Special Agent in Charge Wayne A. Jacobs, of the FBI Washington Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Amit P. Mehta ordered 60 months of supervised release. Lucas pleaded guilty on May 15, 2023, to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl. He admitted he is accountable for more than 1.2 kilograms of a mixture containing a detectable amount of fentanyl.

            According to court documents, in August 2021, law enforcement began investigating a drug trafficking group running a fentanyl pill pressing operation in and around Washington, D.C. and Maryland. Law enforcement learned that the group was in possession of at least three pill presses, used to press fentanyl into counterfeit prescription pills which the group then distributed throughout Washington, D.C. and Maryland. Lucas and others were identified as participants in the drug trafficking operation. Between May 2020 and late-September 2022, the conspiracy utilized at least three pill presses, including one industrial pill press, to press mixed fentanyl.

            As part of the conspiracy, the defendant distributed the counterfeit pills in a coordinated manner with co-conspirators, including to other co-conspirators and to other distributors and/or users. The co-conspirators would coordinate their distribution, including resupplying or helping each other fill orders, if necessary, to further the object of selling narcotics, and referring customers to each other. On March 29, 2022, the FBI executed a search warrant at an apartment in Southeast Washington, DC, a stash house used by the conspiracy to run the pill press operation. During the search, law enforcement seized baggies of pills and loose powder, together amounting to more than 516 pills and more than 76 grams of a mixture and substance containing fentanyl. 

            This case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Rosenberg and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah J. Rasalam, of the Violence Reduction and Trafficking Offenses Section, prosecuted the case. Valuable assistance in the investigation was provided by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Wasserman and former Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Marnee Rand.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON — A Pennsylvania man has been arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges, including assaulting law enforcement, related to his actions during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He and others helped to disrupt a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to count the electoral votes of the 2020 presidential election.

            Troy Spackman, 40, of West York, Pa., is charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with felony offenses of civil disorder and assaulting, resisting, or impeding federal officers. In addition to the felonies, Spackman is charged with misdemeanor offenses of disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, and act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings.

            Spackman was arrested today in Harrisburg and will make his initial appearance in the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

            According to court documents, Spackman traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend a rally on Jan. 6, 2021, and afterward walked toward the U.S. Capitol building and then to the side of the building with the inauguration scaffolding. Spackman was identified by federal investigators in multiple videos concerning the events of that day, wearing a black jacket and dark-colored hat with a “dk” logo. In one such video, Spackman is seen holding a cell phone above his head in his right hand and in his left hand holding two canisters of Oleoresin capsicum (OC) spray. Court documents say that the OC spray carried by Spackman appears to be Combined Tactical Systems MK-9 OC spray, a less-than-lethal product intended to cause temporary pain and injury that can, in rare instances and if used incorrectly, lead to property damage, serious bodily injury, or death.

            In another open-source video taken at the Capitol building, Spackman appears to point a canister of OC spray toward uniformed officers from an elevated position. In the video, Spackman’s right arm is extended toward the officers, holding a canister of OC spray, and appears to have a second canister of OC spray in his left rear pocket. In the video, a mist of spray comes from the canister, consistent with the deployment of OC spray. Investigators then reviewed body-worn camera footage depicting Spackman with his right arm extended, deploying the OC spray at approximately 2:31 p.m.

            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 Middle District of Pennsylvania.

            This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Philadelphia Field Office’s Capital Area Resident Agency and Washington Field Offices. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.

            In the 33 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 400 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.fib.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 – Rushan Lavar Reed, 46, and Celeste Nicole Reed, 26, both of Las Vegas, Nevada, were arrested on charges, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., related to the alleged sale of illegal drugs and the laundering of the drug proceeds. The charges were announced today by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, and Special Agent in Charge Wayne Jacobs of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division.

            According to the indictment, unsealed yesterday, starting in March of 2017, the Reeds knowingly conspired with others – known and unknown to the Grand Jury – to distribute and possess with intent to distribute narcotics that included a detectable amount of oxycodone, hydrocodone, and amphetamine. The indictment also alleges that the defendants conducted and attempted to conduct financial transactions involving the proceeds of illegal drug trafficking activity.

            If convicted, the defendants each face a maximum statutory sentence of 10 years in prison for conspiracy to distribute the illegal drugs and 10 years in prison for conspiracy to commit money laundering. 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 investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office and Office of the Inspector General of the District of Columbia, with assistance from the FBI Las Vegas Field Office and U.S. Postal Inspection Service. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gary Crosby and Andy Wang, of the Violence Reduction and Trafficking Offenses Section 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.