Category: US Department of Justice

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – Tesfay Teshale, 51, of Springfield, Virginia, was found guilty yesterday by a jury, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, of aggravated assault while armed, malicious disfigurement while armed, and assault with a dangerous weapon for an assault that included pouring boiling liquid on the female victim, resulting in second-degree burns on her body, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves and Pamela Smith, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            The Honorable Jason Park scheduled sentencing for October 27, 2023. The defendant faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison for his crimes.

            The defendant and the victim had dated. According to the government’s evidence, when the victim decided to break off the relationship, the defendant stalked, harassed, and assaulted her because he could not handle the rejection. On June 14, 2019, the defendant cornered the victim, punched her multiple times in the face, knocked her down, and, while she was down, poured an urn of boiling liquid onto her. The defendant then left her there, bleeding, badly burned, and in extreme pain. The victim managed to call for help and District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services personnel transported her to the hospital where she was treated for contusions, abrasions, and bruises to her face, as well as second-degree burns.

            In announcing the verdict, U.S. Attorney Graves and Chief Smith commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian Yang, Zachary Horton, Cara Gardner, Emma McArthur, Chimnomnso Kalu, Nick Coleman, and Dan Lenerz, Paralegal Specialists ReShawn Johnson, Arielle Okpara, and Veronica Yale, Supervisory Paralegal Specialist Cynthia Muhammad, Victim/Witness Advocate Rodgers Dickerson, Litigation Technology Specialist Leif Hickling, Victim/Witness Services Coordinators Katina Adams-Washington, Tonya Jones, and Basizette Stribling, and interns Adam Russell, Izzy Metee, and Louis Villacci.

            Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Shakinah Douglas and Richard Kelley, who investigated and prosecuted the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON — A Louisiana 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 presidential election.

            Ronald Alfred Bryan, 70, of Pollock, Louisiana, is charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with felony offenses of civil disorder and assault on a federal officer. Bryan is also charged with five misdemeanor offenses, including knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, disorderly conduct in a restricted building or grounds, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, theft of government property, and physical violence on Capitol grounds.

            Bryan was arrested on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023, in Pollock and made his initial appearance in the Western District of Louisiana.

            According to court documents, Bryan was identified by law enforcement authorities through open-source video as among the crowd of rioters on Jan. 6, 2021, gathered at the Capitol’s Northwest Steps. In this video, Bryan is seen using a wooden pallet as protection while ascending the Northwest Steps and moving toward a group of United States Capitol Police (USCP) officers defending a landing.

            Seconds later, Bryan is seen putting the pallet down near the feet of another rioter and then forcibly taking a USCP officer riot shield. Bryan then charged forward toward the officers, using the shield offensively in an attempt to breach the police line. At the same time, another rioter picked up the wooden pallet and used it to assault the officers. 

            After an unsuccessful effort to breach the police line on the landing near the Northwest Steps, Bryan climbed through the temporary scaffolding slightly to the south and physically assaulted USCP officers.

            Open-source videos recorded later on January 6 revealed Bryan bragging about his theft of the police shield and his assaults on USCP officers. Near the Peace Circle, he explained, “we ganged up, on the left side of the steps where the white tarps were. I started cutting the tarps off” and described how he “stormed up the steps.” Bryan boasted, “I stole a baton. I stole a shield. [I] knocked two of them to the ground, took six of them to get me off of them.” Bryan encouraged other individuals to assault officers as well, exclaiming, “y’all go get you some!”

            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 Louisiana.

            This case is being investigated by the FBI’s New Orleans and Washington Field Offices, which identified Bryan as BOLO (Be on the Lookout) #418 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 – Pascale Cecile Veronique Ferrier, 56, a dual citizen of Canada and France, was sentenced today to 262 months in prison for sending threatening letters containing homemade ricin (a toxin), in September 2020, to the White House and then-President Donald J. Trump, as well as to eight Texas State law enforcement officials.

            The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Assistant Attorney General of the National Security Division Matthew G. Olsen, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office David Sundberg, U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani for the Southern District of Texas, and Special Agent in Charge Oliver E. Rich, Jr., of the FBI’s San Antonio Field Office.

            Ferrier pleaded guilty on January 25, 2023, to prohibitions with respect to biological weapons in two separate criminal cases before the Honorable Dabney L. Friedrich of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. One case was brought in the District of Columbia, and the other was brought in the Southern District of Texas and transferred to the District of Columbia for purposes of plea and sentencing.

            According to court documents, Ferrier admitted that she made ricin at her residence in Quebec, Canada, in September 2020. Ricin toxin is a deadly poison made from the waste material left over from processing castor beans. Ferrier placed the ricin in envelopes containing letters she wrote to then-President Trump at the White House. She also added it to envelopes she sent to eight Texas State law enforcement officials. 

            Ferrier had been detained in the State of Texas for around ten weeks in the spring of 2019, and she believed that the law enforcement officials were connected to her period of detention. In early September 2020, Ferrier used the Twitter social media service to propose that someone should “please shoot [T]rump in the face.” The letters in the envelopes contained threatening language, and the letter addressed to then-President Trump instructed him to “[g]ive up and remove [his] application for this election.” Ferrier mailed each of the threatening ricin letters from Canada to the United States. Ferrier then drove a car from Canada to the Peace Bridge Border Crossing in Buffalo, New York, on Sept. 20, 2020, where border patrol officials found her in possession of a loaded firearm, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, and other weapons, and arrested her. Ferrier has remained in custody.

            In addition to the nearly 22-year term of imprisonment, Ferrier was sentenced to a lifetime of supervised release.  The Court will also issue an order of judicial removal requiring that Ferrier be removed from the United States at the end of her term of imprisonment.

            The investigation was handled by the FBI’s Washington Field Office and San Antonio Field Office. Assistance was provided by the United States Secret Service and the United States Postal Inspection Service.

            The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Michael J. Friedman, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, Assistant United States Attorneys Rob Jones, David Coronado, and David Lindenmuth, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, and Trial Attorneys David Smith and Joseph Kaster, of the DOJ’s National Security Division Counterterrorism Section.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – A South Florida man pleaded guilty today to three felony charges for 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.

            Kenneth Bonawitz, 41, of Pompano Beach, Florida, pleaded guilty in the District of Columbia to three felony charges, including civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, and assaulting a law enforcement officer during a civil disorder. U.S. District Judge Jia M. Cobb scheduled Bonawitz to be sentenced on Dec.1, 2023.

            According to court documents, Bonawitz traveled by bus from Florida to Washington, D.C., to attend a rally on January 6 at the Ellipse. After the rally, Bonawitz marched with more than 1,000 individuals to the U.S. Capitol and was among the first of the rioters to push through a police defensive line on the grounds at about 2:28 p.m. at the building’s West Front. Bonawitz was carrying an 8-inch hunting knife in a sheath attached to his belt.

            Bonawitz mounted the stage built for the upcoming Inauguration. He then turned and ran in the direction of the edge of the stage with both arms raised. He hurled himself at two Capitol police officers, knocking both to the ground, injuring one of them.

            As other officers escorted Bonawitz away, they confiscated the knife and then released him back into the crowd. Seconds later, Bonawitz rejoined the mob and again confronted additional officers on a defensive police line. Almost immediately, Bonawitz assaulted four separate Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers in a melee.

            As rioters pushed back against the police, Bonawitz shoved an officer, causing the officer to stumble forward. When the officer turned to face Bonawitz, he wrapped his arms around the officer from behind, inserted his forearm under the officer’s shield, then put the officer in a chokehold. He briefly lifted the officer off the ground and caused the officer to gag before struggling free of his grip.

            Bonawitz assaulted two more officers before he began to exit the area around the West Front after being sprayed with a chemical agent.

            As he exited Capitol grounds, Bonawitz gave two brief interviews to media outlets. In the first, Bonawitz stated, “I was up on the stage breaking through the lines. D.C. police maced me, hit me over the head with batons, and was kicking me in the side of the face.” In the second, a reporter asked him his name and where he was from. He replied: “Kenneth Bonawitz, Florida.”  

            Many of Bonawitz’s actions were video recorded by police body worn cameras.

            Bonawitz was identified by a confidential source based upon his distinctive tattoos, Bonawitz’s own social media accounts, and his appearance on a Proud Boys meet-up poster that circulated in May 2022 in South Florida.

            The FBI arrested Bonawitz on Jan. 26, 2023, in Pompano Beach.

            A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

            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 Office for the Southern District of Florida.

            The case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington and Miami Field Offices. 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.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – Jamari Payne, 21, of Washington, D.C., was presented in Superior Court today on the charge of second-degree murder while armed, stemming from the homicide of 57-year-old Bacilio Villatoro, on September 22, 2022, in the Gateway neighborhood, U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves announced. 

            Mr. Payne was arraigned before Judge Shelly Mulkey in D.C. Superior Court, today, where he entered a plea of not guilty. The defendant is accused of firing multiple shots striking the victim in the back. The court heard arguments and found probable cause to believe that the defendant committed second degree murder while armed. The court held the defendant without bond pending a preliminary hearing scheduled for August 31, 2023, before Judge Maribeth Raffinan.  

            An arrest on a complaint is merely a formally charged allegation that a defendant has committed a violation of criminal laws and every defendant is presumed innocent until, and unless, proven guilty.

            In announcing the charge, U.S. Attorney Graves commended the work of those investigating the case from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.