Category: US Department of Justice

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – Anthony Glenmore, 39, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 37 months in prison and 36 months’ supervised release for possession of a loaded firearm and ammunition, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Acting Chief Pamela Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), and Special Agent in Charge Craig Kailimai of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

            Glenmore pleaded guilty in April 2023.  According to court documents, on December 17, 2022, in the 2000 block of Georgia Avenue, Northwest, MPD officers, patrolling in a marked police vehicle, saw Glenmore walking south toward U Street, carrying a camouflaged backpack. The officers pulled alongside the defendant, rolled down the car window and asked the defendant if he had a gun in the backpack. The defendant denied that he had a gun and, when asked a second time, started walking away at a fast pace. One of the police officers then called out to the defendant, exited the vehicle, and started chasing the defendant who began running away. As the officer was chasing the defendant, he yelled for the defendant to drop the gun. The defendant then dropped the backpack which the officer picked up as the defendant tried to scale a building. When the officer unzipped the backpack he saw a firearm and wallet which contained the defendant’s identification.

            The recovered firearm (Black, Intrac Arms, HS2000) contained 9-millimeter ammunition and had 14 rounds in a magazine that had the capacity to hold 16 rounds.

            The defendant has been detained since December 17, 2022.

            This case was investigated by the MPD and ATF as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods.

            It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shehzad Akhtar.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – A Maryland man was sentenced in the District of Columbia today on felony and misdemeanor charges related to his conduct during the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol breach. 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.

            Rodney Kenneth Milstreed, 56, of Finksburg, Maryland, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Chief Judge James E. Boasberg to 60 months in prison, 24 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution.

            Milstreed pleaded guilty on April 14, 2023, to assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a deadly or dangerous weapon and receipt and possession of an unregistered firearm, both felonies, and assault by striking, beating, or wounding, a misdemeanor.

            During the sentencing hearing, Chief Judge Boasberg found that Milstreed’s conduct warranted a sentencing enhancement under the Sentencing Guidelines provision for felony offenses involving terrorism because his crimes were calculated to influence or affect the conduct of the government by intimidation or coercion and to retaliate against government conduct. As part of his plea agreement, Milstreed agreed that this sentencing enhancement applied and agreed that his conduct was, in fact, calculated to influence government action by intimidation and coercion.

            According to court documents, before the events of Jan. 6, 2021, Milstreed planned to attend the “Stop the Steal” rally on the National Mall rally in Washington, D.C., to protest the results of the 2020 presidential election. Court documents say that Milstreed attempted to recruit friends to join him at the rally, procured a wooden club, injected steroids for several weeks, and worked out to get “jacked” ahead of January 6th. Milstreed indicated to others that he was prepared to “crack some skulls” at the Capitol.

            On the morning of January 6, Milstreed took the train from his home in Maryland to Washington, D.C., carrying a wooden pick handle, approximately 4 feet long, with a blue “Trump” flag attached. Shortly before 1:00 p.m., Milstreed made his way to the restricted grounds of the U.S. Capitol and was behind the initial group of rioters who breached the police line at the Pennsylvania Avenue walkway. He then made his way to the front of the crowd at the West Plaza barricade, where he broke through the police line.

            Shortly after 1:00 p.m., Milstreed and a large group of rioters swarmed the Upper West Plaza and attempted to overcome a group of officers who had formed a police line. Between approximately 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m., Milstreed engaged with the crowd in an effort to break through the police barriers and eventually succeeded and made his way to the Upper West Terrace within yards of the entrance to the Capitol. During the fighting, Milstreed grabbed and yanked on a bike rack barrier fence the police were using in an attempt to prevent the mob from advancing further toward the Capitol. Milstreed also located a smoke grenade the police had deployed to disburse the crowd and threw it back into the police line.

            While Milstreed was on the Upper West Plaza, shortly after 1:00 p.m., court documents say that he forcibly assaulted a group of U.S. Capitol Police officers by throwing his wooden pick handle, with the flag still attached, into the line of U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) officers attempting to prevent the crowd from advancing. The pick handle hit a USCP officer and glanced off the officer’s helmet.

            In addition to the assault on police, Milstreed assaulted an Associated Press journalist on the Upper West Plaza. Here, Milstreed took notice of an individual in the crowd dressed in black, wearing a helmet-style gas mask and a lanyard with Associated Press lettering and carrying at least one large professional camera. This individual, a photographer for the Associated Press, was attacked by rioters in the area. Milstreed was one of the first to assault this individual and, in doing so, committed an act of striking, beating, or wounding the victim.

            Specifically, Milstreed grabbed the photographer’s backpack and yanked him down a set of steps to the Lower West Plaza. After the victim stumbled to the bottom of the stairs, Milstreed shoved him and advanced toward him threateningly. Additional rioters surrounded the victim and continued the assault, dragging him through the crowd, grabbing his media identification lanyard and his face and neck.

            After the riot, Milstreed sent messages to friends celebrating his participation in the riot and his assaults on law enforcement and media members. Around 8:00 p.m. that evening, Milstreed told one individual, “We f— them federal cops up. They all ran when we got physical. LMFAO[.]” He then added, “Time for war.”

            Milstreed was arrested on May 24, 2022.

            This case was 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 Offices for the Districts of Maryland and Colorado.

            The case was investigated by the FBI’s Baltimore, Denver, and Washington Field Offices. Milstreed was identified by FBI Baltimore as BOLO (Be on the Lookout) #156 on the FBI’s seeking information photos.  Valuable assistance was provided by the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Capitol Police.

            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 investigations are 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 government contractor is charged by criminal complaint, unsealed today, with espionage. Abraham Teklu Lemma, 50, a naturalized U.S. citizen of Ethiopian descent living in Silver Spring, Maryland, is charged with gathering or delivering national defense information to aid a foreign government; conspiracy to gather or deliver national defense information to aid a foreign government; and having unauthorized possession of national defense information and willfully retaining it.

            The charges were announced by United States Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen, of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, and Assistant Director in Charge David Sundberg of the FBI’s Washington Field Office.

            Lemma worked as an IT administrator for the Department of State, and as a Management Analyst for the Department of Justice. In those positions, Lemma was granted a TOP SECRET security clearance and granted access to classified systems. 

            According to the criminal complaint, between December 19, 2022, and August 7, 2023, Lemma copied classified information from Intelligence Reports and deleted the classification markings from them. Lemma then removed the information, which was classified as SECRET and TOP SECRET, from secure facilities at the Department of State against protocol. The materials related to a specific country and/or geographic region. Lemma accessed, copied, removed, and retained this information without authorization.

            It is further alleged that Lemma used an encrypted application to transmit classified national defense information to a foreign official associated with the specific country’s intelligence service. In these communications, Lemma expressed an interest and willingness to assist the foreign official in providing information. In one communication, the foreign official stated  stated, “[i]t’s time to continue ur support.”  Lemma responded, “Roger that!” In another chat, the foreign official praised Lemma’s efforts, stating “[a]lways this beautiful country have [sic] some special people who scarify [sic] their life to protect our proud history. You always remembered. It doesn’t matter the results.”

            The two espionage charges carry a potential sentence of death or any term of years up to life, and the retention charge carries a maximum sentence of ten years.  A federal judge will determine any sentence based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

            This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office.

            It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tejpal Chawla and Alexandra Hughes for the District of Columbia and Trial Attorney Matthew McKenzie of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.

A criminal 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 – U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves released the following statement on the package of bills and initiatives—known as the “Secure DC Plan”—proposed by D.C. Councilmember Brooke Pinto.  The plan includes the Addressing Crime through Targeted Interventions and Violence Enforcement (ACTIVE) Amendment Act of 2023.

            “I am glad Councilmember Pinto introduced these bills, and I support her plan to improve public safety in the District. These provisions will better enable our office to prosecute cases that are harming our communities and fill legal gaps that will make our residents safer.”

            U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves provides the following additional statement:

            This legislation includes a number of common-sense fixes, such as making clear that being shot is a severe assault that should be treated as the serious bodily injury that it is, and making clear that whether an armed gunman takes your car from you, or forcefully takes your keys from you to steal your car, it is all carjacking. 

            As the community begins to consider this important package, I have noted that the provisions addressing how we better protect our community from gun offenders and those charged with gun offenses who remain in the community have already garnered much attention.  Before discussing those provisions, I want to explain how our system currently operates. In the District, people charged with illegally possessing a firearm are typically released pending trial—even when they have previously been convicted of a felony.  While there is a presumption in the D.C. Code that these individuals will be detained pending trial due to the inherent dangerousness of firearms offenses, most are released.

            Moreover, a majority of the people convicted of carrying a pistol without a license in the District are sentenced to a period of probation, which is permitted under the D.C. Sentencing Guidelines.  Put simply, the typical result of a prosecution for illegally carrying a firearm is that the person charged will be in the community pending the resolution of his or her case and, if convicted of carrying a pistol without a license, will be sentenced to a period of probation. Our criminal justice system needs to reflect the reality that many individuals found with guns are being released back into our community after having served little to no time in jail. 

            This legislation, if enacted, will be narrowly tailored to work to stop people who are given the opportunity to remain in the community despite having been convicted of gun offenses, or people given the opportunity to be released pending trial—notwithstanding a presumption of pretrial detention—from re-arming themselves while they are under supervision.

            This will allow law enforcement to search a limited category of people for—among other things—guns that they are carrying in public places in violation of their conditions of release. This provision recognizes that swift and certain apprehension is an effective deterrent to criminal activity, and draws from research from the U.S. Sentencing Commission showing that people convicted of gun offenses have higher rates of recidivism.

            We have reviewed similar legislation from California and other states, and the court decisions affirming their constitutionality, including decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court.  Based on judicial precedent, we are confident that the legislation complies with the Fourth Amendment, and if this legislation is enacted, we are prepared to defend the statute’s constitutionality in court.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – Graham Hauck, 50, of Bethesda, Maryland, pleaded guilty today—for the second time in approximately four months—to stealing money from his clients. In May 2023, Hauck pleaded guilty to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from one former client. Following that guilty plea, additional clients contacted the government to report that Hauck had stolen from them, too. Hauck even stole money from one client after his May 2023 guilty plea. In total, he misappropriated more than $2 million from eight clients. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division.

            On May 10, 2023, Hauck pleaded guilty to wire fraud, which carries a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison. Today, he pleaded guilty to bank fraud, which carries a statutory maximum of 30 years in prison. As part of his plea agreements, Hauck must pay full restitution to the victims. He also will be liable for forfeiture money judgments. U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras accepted both of Hauck’s guilty pleas.  Judge Contreras revoked Hauck’s bond last Thursday after he learned that Hauck had stolen money from one victim following the entry of his May guilty plea. Sentencing is scheduled in both cases for Feb. 28, 2024.

            Hauck served as president and CEO of Hauck & Associates, Inc., (H&A) a trade association management firm based in Washington, D.C. The victim organizations retained H&A to serve as their management company. Hauck used his access to their financial accounts to steal more than $2 million from the eight victims.

            This case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kondi Kleinman with assistance from Financial Analyst Bryan Snitselaar, Paralegal Specialists Michon Tart and Marsha Cannon, and Supervisory Paralegal Specialist Catherine Chae.