Category: US Department of Justice

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Defendant Sent Hundreds of Images and Videos of Child Sexual Abuse Material to Undercover Officer

            WASHINGTON – Daniel Mahnke, 35, of Manteno, Illinois, was sentenced today to 168 months in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release, for distribution of child pornography. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Acting Special Agent in Charge David Geist, of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division.

            According to the government’s evidence, in December of 2020, the defendant was using the website Rapey.SU, a social media site where countless users discussed the sexual exploitation of children, bestiality, and hardcore child pornography. During the course of the investigation, Mahnke began communicating with an individual he believed had a child, but who turned out to be law enforcement acting in an undercover capacity (UC).  Believing that he was communicating with a pedophile, Mahnke requested that the UC send him sexually explicit photos of the UC’s fictitious child. Mahnke told the UC that he would send child pornography and, in fact, sent the UC a link containing hundreds of videos and images of child pornography.

            Mahnke was arrested on December 11, 2020, and charged with distribution of child pornography. He has been detained ever since. Mahnke pled guilty on January 6, 2023, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

           This case was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. The task force is composed of FBI agents, along with other federal agents and detectives from northern Virginia and the District of Columbia. The task force is charged with investigating and bringing federal charges against individuals engaged in the exploitation of children and those engaged in human trafficking.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves and Acting Special Agent in Charge Geist commended the work of those who investigated the case from the FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, which includes members of the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the Metropolitan Police Department’s (MPD) Youth Investigations Division. They also commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Caroline Burrell, who prosecuted the case.

            This case was brought as part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative. In February 2006, the Attorney General created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON — A North Carolina man has been arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges, including assaulting law enforcement officers, 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.

            Anthony Mastanduno, 60, formerly of Farmingdale, New York and now a resident of Rutherford County, North Carolina, is charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with civil disorder and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon, both felony offenses. In addition to the felonies, Mastanduno is charged with several misdemeanors, including knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings; and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.

            Mastanduno was arrested today in Asheville and will make his initial appearance in the Western District of North Carolina.

            According to court documents, Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) footage from Jan. 6, 2021 shows a man, later identified as Mastanduno, unlawfully entering the U.S. Capitol building through the Senate Wing Door while wearing a camouflage jacket, backpack, and a red baseball cap with a patch on the bill and “Trump 2020 Keep America Great!” embroidered in white thread. Mastanduno entered the building approximately four minutes after it was first breached. Mastanduno was also observed in the area near the Memorial Door and at the front of a line of rioters who overwhelmed officers in the Crypt at about 2:23 p.m.

            Mastanduno later traveled outside the Capitol building, engaging with fellow rioters and participating in coordinated attacks on uniformed Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Officers defending the Lower West Terrace tunnel. Court documents allege that videos and still images taken by others in the crowd showed Mastanduno at around 4:30 p.m. as he threw an object toward officers, utilized a telescoping baton to strike at officers in the tunnel, and pushed into the tunnel with a stolen police shield.  

            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 Western District of North Carolina.

            This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Charlotte, New York, and Washington Field Offices, which identified Mastanduno as BOLO (Be On the Lookout) #397 on its seeking information photos. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.

            In the 31 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,106 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 350 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. 

            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 – A Brazilian national, previously working as a visiting international attorney, is charged by complaint, unsealed today, with insider trading. Romero Cabral Da Costa Neto (Costa), 33, of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is a licensed attorney in Brazil who had been working as an international visiting attorney in the United States, on a one-year J-1 Visa, at a U.S. law firm (the Law Firm).  Costa was arrested on August 22, 2023, in Washington, D.C., by agents with the FBI’s Washington Field Office.

            The charges were announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Acting Special Agent in Charge David Geist, of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division.

            According to the public documents, Costa is an attorney licensed to practice in Brazil and had been working in the United State for the Law Firm since September 2022. During that time, Costa has executed multiple stock trades in companies represented by the Law Firm. As confirmed by the Law Firm records, Costa accessed internal Law Firm files in advance of public market-moving announcement. 

            According to the complaint, one of these trades involved Company B. Company B is a Seattle-based biotech company represented by the Law Firm. In or around April of 2023, Company C, a Swedish international biopharmaceutical company began negotiations to acquire Company B. Both Company B and C were public companies. Company B’s Board of Directors held several meetings throughout April and into early May discussing transaction prices and terms of the sale. Representatives of the Law Firm attended these meetings and prepared documents relating to these meetings.

            In early May 2023, Company B, whose stock was trading at around $4.80 informed Company C that they would sell to Company C for a price above $9.00 per share. On May 9, 2023, Company C relayed an offer to buy all outstanding common stock in Company B for $9.10 per share. The stock was trading at $4.82 on May 9, 2023. The Board of Directors approved the sale at $9.10 and both Company B and C announced the $1.7 billion transaction in the early morning hours of May 10, 2023. Trading in Company B opened at $8.91 per share on May 10, 2023.

            According to public documents, Costa used two online trading firms to purchase 10,400 shares in Company B on May 9, 2023, for $49,976. Costa then sold his holdings in Company B on May 10, 2023, for $92,635.24, resulting in a one-day investment profit of $42,649.13.

            According to the Complaint, Costa improperly accessed Law Firm files related to Company B in the lead up to this merger. Costa was not assigned to this transaction and had no legitimate reason to access and view these files related to this matter. Costa accessed files over 100 times in advance of the sale.

            The complaint further alleges that on June 2, 2023, Costa purchased stock in Company E – another company that was represented by the Law Firm – one day before Company E went public with information about drug treatment for patients with a specific cancer. The stock rose following the announcement. Costa sold his position on June 5, 2023.

            On June 6, 2023, the Law Firm issued an opinion related to a secondary stock offering on behalf of Company E which had the effect of driving down the value of the stock. Costa was able to purchase shares of Company E immediately before a positive market event and then quickly sell before the subsequent negative market event, profiting by approximately $1,000 from these transactions. According to the complaint, Costa improperly accessed Law Firm files related to this matter in the lead up to the announcements. Costa was not assigned to this matter and had no legitimate reason for accessing these files.

            Costa is again alleged to have improperly accessed Law Firm documents and files related to Company F, another firm client. On June 15, 2023, Company F and Company G announced a merger in an all-stock deal to create a $5.4 billion oilfield services firm. Between June 8, 2023, and June 12, 2023, Costa purchased approximately 7,000 shares of Company G in advance of this merger announcement. He subsequently sold the shares and profited approximately $8,500 from the transactions. Costa was not assigned to this matter and had no legitimate reason to access these files.

            Insider trading carries a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison. The charge also carries potential financial penalties. 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.  It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Rosenberg, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. 

            Today, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Philadelphia Regional Office, which provided invaluable assistance in this matter, filed a parallel civil complaint charging Costa with securities violations. 

            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 – Stefen Farmer, 52, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 17 years in prison for the February 2021 shooting of a man on a sidewalk in Northeast Washington D.C., announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Acting Chief Pamela A. Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department.

            On March 7, 2023, following a two-week trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, Farmer was found guilty of aggravated assault while armed, assault with a dangerous weapon, assault with significant bodily injury, three counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, unlawful possession of a firearm, carrying a pistol without a license, and lesser included firearms offenses.

            The Honorable Anthony Epstein sentenced Farmer to 144 months for aggravated assault while armed and 60 months for possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, with those sentences to run consecutively, for a total of 17 years incarceration. 

            According to the government’s evidence, around 6 p.m. on February 25, 2021, the defendant was sitting in the driver’s seat of a small black SUV parked on the 4400 block of Gault Place when the victim – a longtime friend of the defendant’s – walked up to the car window and started a conversation. Farmer repeatedly asked the victim for money but the victim refused. Farmer then retrieved a gun, stepped out of the car, and shot at the victim from pointblank range three times, as the victim was walking away. Two bullets hit the victim while he was trying to escape the gunfire and he sustained injuries to his hand and leg. Farmer stopped shooting only because a mutual friend of both men pushed him back while he was firing the gun. Three days after the shooting, Farmer sent the victim a Facebook message apologizing “for the inconvenience.” 

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves and Acting Chief Smith commended the officers and detectives of the Metropolitan Police Department for their work on the case. They also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alec Levy and Omeed A. Assefi who prosecuted the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – An Iowa man was sentenced in the District of Columbia today on seven offenses, including one felony, committed 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.

            Leo Christopher Kelly, 37, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth to 30 months in prison, 36 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay $7,000 in restitution and fines.

            Kelly was found guilty following a trial by jury on May 9, 2023, of obstruction of an official proceeding, a felony offense. In addition, Kelly was convicted of six other misdemeanor offenses, including entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, entering and remaining on the floor of the Congress, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.

            According to court documents and evidence presented during the trial, Kelly was one of the very few rioters who breached the Senate Chamber during his participation in the January 6^th attack on the Capitol. Once inside the Senate Chamber, Kelly ascended the Senate Dais, leafed through sensitive documents, and took photos of them.

            According to court documents, Kelly drove to Washington, D.C. on Jan. 5, 2021, from his home in Iowa. On January 6, Kelly joined a large group of people, including his parents, for a rally at the Ellipse. After the rally, Kelly and his parents marched towards the Capitol building.

            Kelly eventually made his way past the barriers to the West Terrace Courtyard, where rioters had broken into the Senate Wing door and flooded into the building. Kelly used his phone to capture video of the scene. His footage showed shattered glass windows, rioters, and police officers in riot gear guarding the inside of the Capitol.

            Around that same time, a rioter began bashing in the Parliamentarian’s Door just across the courtyard from Kelly. After the rioter bashed in the window with a metal pole and opened the door for the mob, rioters rushed into the building, Kelly included.

            Kelly entered the Capitol building through the Parliamentarian’s Door at approximately 2:43 p.m. Upon entering, Kelly watched as another rioter used a metal stand to bash in an office door. Across the hallway, rioters had already breached the Parliamentarian’s Office. Kelly entered that office for a short time, walked out and down the hallway a few more steps, and again entered the office through a second door.

            Kelly entered the ransacked office, shooting video on his phone. Shortly after, Kelly rejoined the rioters in the hallway and faced off against an outnumbered line of officers attempting to keep the rioters back. Despite the clear indications that they should leave, the rioters charged forward into the police line. The mob then grabbed a rioter under arrest and pulled him back into the crowd. Chanting “USA! USA! USA!” and screaming, “THIS IS OURS!” the rioters successfully pushed the police line all the way back to the end of the hallway. Kelly then approached a large bay window, looked out the window towards the rioters still outside the building, pumped his fist in the air, and smiled.

            Kelly then joined the mob as it started down a second hallway and encountered another police line. To the rioters’ right and front, officers held a police line guarding hallways that led into the Capitol building. To the rioters’ left, there was an exit. Kelly stepped towards the police line until he was face-to-face with the officers guarding the stairway that led to the Senate Chamber. As Kelly confronted the police line, he ignored officers’ repeated orders to exit out of the nearby door. Rioters promptly started to “push and shove” the police officers. After tussling with the officers, one rioter near Kelly stepped through the police line. When an officer turned to grab the rioter, Kelly took a step forward and created a gap for all the rioters behind him to “pour through” the now-broken police line, opening a path to access the staircase that led directly to the Senate Chamber.

            From there, Kelly ascended the stairs to the second floor and ultimately made his way onto the Senate floor as rioters flooded the Chamber, yelling, screaming, and ransacking the Senators’ desks. Kelly made his way to the head of the room – to the Senate Dais – where shortly before, the Vice President had presided over Senate convened to certify the electoral college vote.

            Kelly riffled through sensitive documents and took video footage of the papers on the Vice President’s desk, including a ballot sheet, handwritten notes, and a script. Kelly then joined a group of rioters and “prayed” to “send a message to the tyrants, the communists, and the globalists that this is our nation, not theirs.” Kelly then rifled through sensitive documents on another desk in the Senate Chamber.

            Kelly exited the Chamber soon after officers entered. As he walked out of the Capitol, he pumped his fist in the air and smiled. After Kelly left the Capitol grounds, he sent texts to his mother declaring, “I am not dead and not in jail” and “I’m safe and sound. Only a little tear [g]as in the back of my throat.”

            Kelly sent the photos that he took in the Senate Chamber to several individuals, including a reporter, and he sent video footage of the siege to his friends.

            On January 18, 2021, FBI agents arrested Kelly in Cedar Rapids. On Dec. 3, 2021, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Kelly with seven counts,

            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, with valuable assistance provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa.

            This case was investigated by the FBI’s Omaha and Washington Field Office, with valuable assistance provided by the Metropolitan Police Department and U.S. Capitol Police.

            In the 31 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,106 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 350 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.

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