Category: US Department of Justice

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Defendant Shot Victim in Back After Confrontation Over Drug Sales to Victim’s Father

            WASHINGTON – Shaka Haltiwanger, 24, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 24 years in prison for second-degree murder while armed, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, and related charges stemming from the brazen mid-morning killing of Anthony Kelley in the lobby of an apartment building in Southeast Washington.  The sentenced was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Acting Chief Pamela A. Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            A jury found Haltiwanger guilty on March 22, 2023. In addition to the 24-year prison term, the Honorable Rainey Brandt ordered three years of supervised release.

            According to the government’s evidence, just before 11:30 a.m. on September 10, 2021, 39-year old Anthony Kelley arrived at his father’s apartment building at 1400 29^th Street SE, to take his father—who had suffered a stroke and could not drive—to the grocery store. When Mr. Kelley entered his father’s apartment, he found Haltiwanger on the living room couch.   Haltiwanger had been regularly selling crack cocaine to Mr. Kelley’s father. Mr. Kelley confronted Haltiwanger and physically removed him from the apartment. Haltiwanger and Mr. Kelley continued to argue in the hallway and stairwell of the apartment building until Mr. Kelley separated himself and began to walk away toward the building’s front door. Haltiwanger then removed a 9 mm “ghost gun,” equipped with a 50-round magazine drum, from his backpack and shot Mr. Kelley once in the back. The gun jammed after the first shot, and Haltiwanger fled the scene. Haltiwanger and others then proceeded to call multiple eyewitnesses to the shooting more than a dozen times using blocked phone numbers while the eyewitnesses were speaking to law enforcement on scene.

            Haltiwanger was arrested for the murder of Mr. Kelley on September 30, 2021, and has been in custody since. At the time of the murder, Haltiwanger was on pretrial release for a pending gun and drug case in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves and Acting Chief Smith commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They also expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by the U.S. Marshals Service and FBI CAST team. They acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sharon Donovan, Deputy Chief of the Homicide Section, and Dan Lenerz of the Appellate Section; Investigative Analyst Zachary McMenamin; Victim/Witness Advocate Jennifer Allen; Victim/Witness Security Specialists Robert Cephas, Marlon Hernandez, and Lesley Slade; Supervisory Victim/Witness Service Coordinator Katina Adams-Washington; Paralegal Specialists Meridith McGarrity and Grazy Rivera; and Supervisory Litigation Technology Specialist Leif Hickling.  

            Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gregory Kimak and Charles R. Jones, who investigated and prosecuted the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON — A Maryland 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. 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.

            Steven Patrick Cook, 24, of Bethesda, Maryland, is charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with two felony offenses of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers and obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder. In addition to the felonies, Cook is charged with several misdemeanors, including entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, and engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds.

            Cook was arrested in Virginia on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023, and made his initial appearance today in the District of Columbia.

            According to court documents, on Jan. 6, 2021, Cook was identified via multiple body-worn camera footage and open-source videos as among the crowd of rioters on the West Plaza of the U.S. Capitol. At 2:28 p.m., three individuals linked arms and marched into the police line on the West Plaza, breaking the line. Cook followed soon after and began pushing and hitting police officers. Cook grabbed an officer’s baton and punched another.

            As Cook continued his assault on the police, the line broke and officers retreated into the Lower West Terrace Tunnel. Cook followed close behind, entering the Tunnel at approximately 2:43 p.m. Cook quickly made his way deeper into the Tunnel, left, and returned at 3:02 p.m. When he returned, Cook took a gas mask from a nearby rioter, put it on, and ran back into the Tunnel, bull-rushing the police line and grabbing an officer’s baton.

            Cook eventually left the area at about 3:05 p.m., only to return once more to participate in a coordinated push against the police with other rioters. Cook ultimately left the Tunnel area at 4:08 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 District of Maryland.

            This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Baltimore and Washington Field Offices. 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.

            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 – Maron Moss, Jr., 49, of Miami, Florida, pleaded guilty today in Superior Court to one count of first-degree fraud for a scheme in which he stole more than $31,920 from the District of Columbia’s HomeSaver program, a foreclosure prevention program administered by the D.C. Housing Finance Agency and funded by the U.S. Department of Treasury. U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Principal Deputy Inspector General Melissa Bruce, of the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), and Inspector General for the District of Columbia Daniel W. Lucas made the announcement.

            According to the government’s evidence, Moss, a former DC resident, applied for mortgage assistance for his Washington, D.C. home in 2018, and then submitted recertifications for continued program eligibility on six separate occasions between 2018 and 2019.  Moss represented that he was suffering from financial hardship, was unemployed, and that his only source of income was unemployment benefits. Based on these representations, the D.C. Housing Finance Agency made more than $31,920 in monthly mortgage payments directly to Moss’s mortgage service companies. But Moss was, in fact, employed when he applied for the program, as well as during the entire period that he recertified his program eligibility, earning approximately $239,743 in income from at least five different employers during the relevant 20-month period.

            The Honorable Heidi Pasichow accepted Moss’s guilty plea and scheduled sentencing for December 5, 2023. As part of the plea agreement, Moss agreed to pay full restitution.

            In announcing the guilty plea, U.S. Attorney Graves, Principal Deputy Inspector General Bruce, and Inspector General Lucas commended the work of those who investigated the case from SIGTARP and the Office of Inspector General.  They also acknowledged the efforts of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Benjamin D. Bleiberg and Brian P. Kelly who investigated and prosecuted the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia will testify today at a committee hearing before the Council of the District of Columbia on proposed legislation, Bill 25-0345, the “Accountability and Victim Protection Amendment Act of 2023.”

            USAO-DC strongly supports the “Accountability and Victim Protection Amendment Act” because it will provide additional tools to protect some of the most vulnerable members of our community and hold accountable those who harm them. Our Office is committed to aggressively prosecuting all forms of violence, including sexual assault and domestic violence against adults, teens, and children, and to protecting our community from these often life-changing acts of violence.            

            In addition to appearing before the Council’s Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety, Elana Suttenberg, Special Counsel to the U.S. Attorney, provided written remarks, available in the accompanying attachment.

            The testimony is available in the attachment below. 

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – Joseph Brown, 33, pleaded guilty today to second degree murder while armed, and Rondell McLeod, 30, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter while armed in the shooting death of 21-year-old Amari Jenkins, on Aug. 18, 2015, in front of St. Luke’s Catholic Church, located at 4925 East Capitol Street, N.E. The pleas were announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Acting Chief Pamela Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).  

            The defendants, both of Washington, D.C., admitted that on the day of the murder, they emerged from a blue van that pulled in front of the church, and fired 28 rounds at Jenkins, before reentering the van and making their escape. 

            In a separate case, Joseph Brown pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter while armed for the shooting of 29-year-old Antwan Baker, on Nov. 12, 2015, in the 5300 block of Clay Terrace, N.E. In that homicide, Brown admitted he emerged from a vehicle and shot Baker six times in the back of the head and neck before fleeing the scene.

            Both defendants will be sentenced on Dec. 4, 2023, by D.C. Superior Court Judge Marisa J. Demeo. McLeod is currently serving an 11-year sentence for federal robbery charges brought in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, and the government will argue at sentencing that McLeod’s voluntary manslaughter sentence should run consecutive to the federal robbery sentence.

            In announcing the guilty plea, U.S. Attorney Graves and Acting Chief Smith commended the work of the officers and detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department who investigated the case. They also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael P. Spence and Andrea Coronado, who prosecuted the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.