Category: US Department of Justice

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – A Central Florida man was sentenced in the District of Columbia today on four 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 presidential election.

            Joshua Christopher Doolin, 25, of Lakeland, Florida, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Carl J. Nichols to 18 months in prison and 36 months of supervised release.

           Doolin was found guilty on March 15, 2023, following a bench trial before U.S. District Court Judge Carl J. Nichols of civil disorder, a felony, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, and theft of government property.

           According to the government’s evidence, Doolin traveled with a group of family members and friends to Washington, D.C., to attend a rally at the ellipse. Court documents say that prior to making the trip, Doolin contemplated bringing a semi-automatic rifle but changed his mind at the last minute.

          At the rally, Doolin told a friend that, “We are just waiting on word to go to the capital!!!” When his friend responded, “Don’t get killed on your birthday bro,” Doolin texted, “I wouldn’t mind dying with my family storming the capital [sic] on my birthday!”

          About two hours later, Doolin did storm the Capitol. With members of his group, he approached the Capitol from the southwest. They crossed the restricted perimeter that the U.S. Capitol Police and U.S. Secret Service had established around the Capitol building and portions of the Capitol grounds.  Doolin filmed the group’s approach on his cellphone and narrated as he filmed, observing that it “sounds like the cops are shooting rubber bullets and macing people.” By 1:56 p.m., Doolin’s group was on the south side of the West Plaza, where police had established a line to prevent the mob from advancing further.

           Shortly after 2 p.m., Doolin made his way to the front of the mob. Doolin watched and filmed as his friends and other rioters attacked the police line, charging at and slamming into the officers and fighting with officers. Doolin himself was sprayed with chemical spray.

          When the police line broke, and the officers fell back, Doolin and his fellow rioters surged forward towards a set of steps leading to the inaugural stage. From there, Doolin celebrated what they had accomplished. As he filmed rioters streaming up the steps, he cheered, “now it’s ours, and we’re taking our Capitol back. We’re taking our Capitol back, baby!”

           By approximately 3:45 p.m., Doolin had stolen a U.S. Capitol Police riot shield that he would carry with him for the rest of the day. He filmed a video on the Upper West Terrace of himself holding the stolen shield, proclaiming, “I got a riot shield!”

          Half an hour later, Doolin was again on the Lower West Terrace, where he joined the crowd pushing against police in the narrow entranceway known as “The Tunnel” connecting the inaugural stage to the Capitol building itself. There he tried to break the line that was keeping the rioters from entering the Capitol.  Doolin used the riot shield to press forward with the mob, lending his force and weight to their efforts.

          Doolin left the vicinity of the tunnel shortly before 5:00 p.m., still carrying the stolen riot shield, now with an American flag draped over it.

          On June 30, 2021, FBI agents arrested Doolin in Lakeland, Florida.

          The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. Valuable assistance was provided by the Middle District of Florida and the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division.

          The case was investigated by the FBI’s Tampa Field Office 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.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Defendant Accused of Sexually Assaulting Multiple Victims in Golden Triangle

            WASHINGTON – Christopher Sharp, 31, of Washington, D.C., has been arrested on sexual assault charges against three different victims. Sharp is charged in a criminal complaint filed in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia with assault with intent to commit first degree sexual abuse; kidnapping; and misdemeanor sexual abuse. He made an initial appearance in the District of Columbia on August 16, 2023. The Honorable Shelly A. Mulkey has ordered that Sharp be detained pending a preliminary hearing on August 22, 2023. The charges were announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves and Acting Chief Pamela Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) announced.

            According to court documents, on August 15, 2023, at approximately 9:40am, Sharp left the George Washington University Hospital. Upon the leaving the building, he encountered an individual standing near the exit. Sharp is accused of smacking the individual’s buttock. Sharp then walked away in the direction of Washington Circle. Around five minutes later, at approximately 9:50am, Sharp encountered an individual walking in the 2100 block of K Street, Northwest. As Sharp and the individual passed each other, Sharp is accused of grabbing the individual’s buttock.

            Around five minutes later, at approximately 9:55am, Sharp encountered an individual near the intersection of 19th Street, Northwest and Eye Street, Northwest. Sharp is accused of approaching the individual from behind, touching the individual’s vagina, and lifting the individual into the air. Sharp then walked several feet forward before sitting down on the pavement, still carrying the individual. Once on the ground, Sharp is accused of pinning the individual to the ground, pulling up her dress, and attempting to sexually assault the individual. The assault ended when bystanders intervened, causing the defendant to release the individual.

            At the time of the alleged offenses, Sharp was on release in a pending case in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia in which he was charged with misdemeanor sexual abuse against three additional victims.          

            A complaint is merely a charge that a defendant has committed a violation of criminal laws and every defendant is presumed innocent until, and unless, proven guilty.

            This case is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department’s Sexual Assault Unit. It is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Defendant Previously Served Prison Sentence for Different Theft Scheme

            WASHINGTON – Rhayda Barnes Thomas, 52, of Washington, D.C., a former employee of the D.C. Department of Employment Services’ Project Empowerment Program, was sentenced today to 48 months in prison for stealing more than $350,000 from the Project Empowerment Program between May 2015 and April 2018.

            The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, District of Columbia Inspector General Daniel W. Lucas, and Inspector in Charge Damon E. Wood, Washington Division, U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

            On May 17, 2023, Barnes Thomas pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Leon ordered restitution in the amount of $356,110.64, three years of supervised release, 360 hours of community service, and ordered Thomas be liable for a forfeiture money judgment totaling $318,415.

            The D.C. government’s Project Empowerment Program provides employment services to D.C. residents who have multiple barriers to employment, such as a history of substance abuse, a history of job cycling (not maintaining steady employment), and either a felony conviction or previous incarceration. One phase of the program consists of subsidized employment, which involves the D.C. government paying the wages of participants while they work at worksites. During this phase, worksites were responsible for entering participants’ work hours into an electronic system used by Project Empowerment. In turn, the D.C. government would then have payments corresponding with those hours issued to accounts associated with participants, usually in the form of pre-paid bank debit cards.

            In 2011, Barnes Thomas pleaded guilty, in federal court in the District of Maryland, to theft involving a federal government program in connection with a scheme to use federal funds received by her school employer to buy technology for herself, her family, and friends. She was sentenced to 27 months in prison for that offense.

            In August 2013, following her release from prison, Barnes Thomas participated in the Project Empowerment Program. She ultimately was hired by the program as a Program Support Assistant in February 2014. From May 2015 through April 2018, she stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from the program by reviving 16 former Project Empowerment participants’ profiles and modifying entries in a database to falsely show them as working for a non-profit organization, which was not true.  She also used the name of a former employee from the non‑profit organization to enter and approve time in the database showing individuals as working when they were not. In addition, she ordered or caused to be ordered replacement and new prepaid debit cards on behalf of the former Project Empowerment participants whose profiles she fraudulently revived. As a result of her conduct, she caused the D.C. government to request that Wells Fargo Bank load funds onto those prepaid debit cards, which she controlled.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves, Inspector General Lucas, and Inspector in Charge Wood commended the work of those who investigated the case from the D.C. Office of the Inspector General, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Criminal Investigations Unit in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. They also acknowledged the efforts of individuals from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kondi Kleinman and David Gorman, Financial Analyst Bryan Snitselaar, Paralegal Specialists Michon Tart, Mariela Andrade, and Amanda Rohde, and former Paralegal Specialists Brittany Phillips and Aisha Keys.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – Franklin Olaitan, 50, of Beltsville, Maryland, pleaded guilty in federal court, late yesterday, to one count of wire fraud related to the theft of a residence located in Northwest Washington D.C.  As part of the guilty plea, the defendant admitted he caused the filing of a false deed transferring the property, which he immediately resold to a third-party, pocketing the sale proceeds. As a result of the fraudulent scheme, the defendant caused over a half-million dollars in loss to the various victims.

            The guilty plea was entered before U.S. District Court Judge Carl J. Nichols. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled in early 2024 before U.S. District Court Judge Paul L. Friedman.

            According to the Statement of the Offense, the property located on First Street N.W. (the “First Street property”), was purchased by Person 1 in 1996. Between about September 2016 through March 2017, while the First Street property was vacant, the defendant forged the signatures of Person 1 and a notary on several documents – including a false sales contract and a false deed – in order to sell the First Street property to a company owned and controlled by him, without Person 1’s knowledge or consent. The defendant executed his scheme to defraud by preparing and presenting to a lender and Maryland settlement company the false and fraudulent documents. Neither the owner of the First Street property nor the notary signed the documents selling the property to the defendant’s company. The defendant provided the false documents to a Maryland settlement company and caused the settlement company to file the false documents with the D.C. Recorder of Deeds. In addition, the defendant caused the settlement company to give him the purported seller’s proceeds check from the purported sale, which he later deposited into another one of his LLC’s bank accounts. After allegedly purchasing the property, the defendant immediately resold the property to a third-party who intended to renovate it. After the third-party buyer spent at least $600,000 renovating the First Street property, they listed it for sale. The true owner of the property then learned that the property had been stolen out from under them.

            In announcing the guilty plea, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew M. Graves and Acting Special Agent in Charge David Geist, of the FBI Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division, commended the work of those who investigated the case from the FBI’s Washington Field Office. They also commended the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialists Lisa Abbe and Liliana Villamizar, Victim-Witness Service Coordinator Tonya Jones, Supervisory Litigation Technology Specialist Leif Hickling, Litigation Technology Specialist Jeanie Latimore-Brown, former Assistant U.S. Attorneys Derrick Williams and Veronica Sanchez, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Diane Lucas and Christopher Howland, who investigated and prosecuted the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – A Michigan man pleaded guilty today to assaulting law enforcement 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.

            Matthew Thomas Krol, 64, of Linden, Michigan, pleaded guilty in the District of Columbia to one felony count of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon. Krol is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 15, 2023.

            According to court documents, Krol traveled from his home in Michigan to Washington, D.C., in order to attend the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6, 2021. After the rally had ended, Krol marched toward the U.S. Capitol building. At approximately 2:28 p.m., court documents say that Krol pushed forward through a crowd of rioters on the Lower West Plaza of the Capitol grounds, threw a water bottle at police officers attempting to hold a defensive perimeter around the building, and then attacked the line of police officers. During that time, Krol grappled with a police officer, stole the officer’s baton, and used the baton to strike at least two other officers.

            Court documents state that Krol first grabbed a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officer and attempted to pull away the officer’s baton. During the struggle, Krol spun the officer around multiple times, pulled the officer into the crowd, and eventually wrestled the baton free from the officer’s hand. Krol then held up the baton and showed it to the crowd in celebration.

            Krol then moved forward toward the police line, holding the stolen baton above his head, and swung the baton down, striking an MPD officer as the officer held his own baton in both hands in a defensive position. Krol then turned and struck at a police shield held by another officer. As the line of police officers attempted to retreat from the surging crowd of rioters, Krol again moved forward and attacked a United States Capitol Police Officer with the stolen baton.

            Krol was arrested on Feb. 22, 2022, in Linden, Michigan.

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

            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 Eastern District of Michigan.

            This case is being investigated by the FBI Detroit Field Office’s Flint Resident Agency and the FBI’s Washington Field Office, which identified Krol as #291 in its seeking information photos. Valuable assistance was provided by the Metropolitan Police Department and the 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.