Category: US Department of Justice

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – Glenn Dolford, 29, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced yesterday to 270 months in prison for 2nd degree murder while armed, aggravated assault while armed, and assault with a deadly weapon, for killing one man and shooting two others in February of 2020, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves. In addition to the prison term, the Honorable Judge Maribeth Raffinan ordered five years of supervised release.

            On February 2, 2020, Dolford fatally shot Raheem Murray and wounded two other people in the 4000 block of 3rd Street, SE. Dolford pleaded guilty on February 17, 2023. 

            On February 2, 2020, at approximately 4:00 PM, a dark colored sedan pulled into the 4000 block of 3rd Street, SE, where the three victims were standing on the sidewalk discussing where they were going to watch the Super Bowl. The dark colored sedan slowed to a stop in the middle of the street at which time the defendant and another individual got out of the passenger side of the car and began shooting rifle styled firearms at the three victims. Police found 57 rifle cartridge casings at the scene. Victim Marco Harper ran from the scene after sustaining two gunshot wounds; victim Corvell Hayden was able to get himself to the end of the block where he collapsed having suffered 10 gunshot wounds. Raheem Murray fell to the ground. The defendant ran to Mr. Murray and, from inches away, shot Mr. Murray in the head with his rifle style weapon.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves commended the work of the officers and detectives with the Metropolitan Police Department, under the direction of Interim Chief Ashan Benedict, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorney Marybeth Manfreda, who prosecuted the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON — Tyronne Gregory Taylor, 53, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 24 months in prison, suspended, and five years of supervised probation, on one felony count of financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult or elderly person. The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Inspector General for the District of Columbia Daniel W. Lucas.    

            According to information presented in court documents, Taylor admitted that from on or about July 2020, to December 2020, he gained unauthorized access to a family member’s debit card, who suffered from cognitive impairments and was hospitalized at a District of Columbia skilled nursing facility.  Taylor used his family member’s ATM card for cash withdrawals and purchases at auto parts stores, hardware stores, restaurants, gas stations, liquor stores, hotels, and the purchase of a new car.  Taylor also used his family member’s ATM card to make fraudulent payments to his company, TNTGreenConstruction, LLC.  In total, Taylor was able to obtain more than $51,000 for his personal use, from his hospitalized family member, who was unable to make decisions for himself or to communicate meaningfully. 

            Taylor entered his guilty plea in the U.S. Superior Court for the District of Columbia on February 23, 2023.  In addition to his sentencing, the Honorable Errol Arthur ordered Taylor to pay $51,886.31 in restitution and pay $100 to the Crime Victims Compensation Fund.

            This matter was originally reported to the District of Columbia’s Office of Aging and Community Living’s Adult Protective Services Division and initially investigated by the District of Columbia Office of the Attorney General.  In announcing the sentencing, U.S. Attorney Graves and Inspector General Lucas commended the work of those who prosecuted the case from the Office of Inspector General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the Major Crimes Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.  They also acknowledged the efforts of Special Assistant United States Attorney Jason Facci, on detail from the Office of the Inspector General, who prosecuted the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – Donnell Rojas, 31, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 168 months in prison for possession of child pornography, announced United States Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Special Agent in Charge Wayne A. Jacobs of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division.  He was also ordered to pay $117,000 in restitution to the identified victims and serve a lifetime of supervised release.

            After receiving a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (“NCMEC”), law enforcement executed a search warrant on a Yahoo account later revealed to belong to the defendant.  The search warrant revealed that on April 29, 2020, the defendant sent three emails attaching numerous files constituting child sexual abuse materials (“CSAM”) to and from the Yahoo account—apparently sending the attachments to himself.  Several of the files depicted the violent sexual abuse of prepubescent girls and boys, including at least two “GIF” files identified as part of the widely known “Daisy’s Destruction” series.  A subsequent search warrant on a Facebook account tied to the defendant revealed that he distributed three images containing CSAM to other Facebook users, asking if one user had “[a]ny kid videos?”

            On March 8, 2021, law enforcement executed a warrant at Rojas’s residence.  During the search, Rojas admitted that the recovery email accounts linked to the Yahoo account belonged to him.  Law enforcement also seized nine devices during the search warrant, including a white Apple iPhone 8 on his person bearing a phone number tied to the Yahoo account.  A subsequent forensic review confirmed that five of the seized devices contained voluminous CSAM, including an encrypted hard drive containing CSAM in folders labeled “Taboo” and “Very Taboo.”

            Rojas was arrested on Nov. 5, 2019, following an investigation by the Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, which is composed of FBI agents and local, state, and federal partners.  He has been detained ever since. He pleaded guilty on June 16, 2022.

            In announcing the plea, U.S. Attorney Graves and Special Agent in Charge Jacobs commended the work of those who investigated the case from the FBI and MPD.  They acknowledged the efforts of those who handled the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Victim Witness Service Coordinator Tonya Jones. Finally, they commended the work of Trial Attorney-Detailee Jessica Arco, who investigated and prosecuted the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – Suzgo Phiri, 36, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced yesterday to 41 months in prison for conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Christopher R. Cooper ordered restitution of $108,000. Phiri pleaded guilty February 21, 2023.

            According to court documents, between 2018 and his arrest in March of 2022, Phiri – who used multiple false identities including: “Malcolm Tucker,” “David Campbell,” “Eric Brooks,” “Aaron Brooks,” “John Sanders,” “Jaamal Brooks,” “Brady Jones,” and “Payton Deel” – committed multiple fraud schemes.  In one fraud, he generated approximately $10,000 per week through a scheme that exploited weaknesses in the payment processing systems used by Square and American Express. The defendant moved fraudulent “tip” amounts that were instantly credited by Square to bank accounts that he had opened using one of many false identities and then quickly withdrew those funds before the fraud could be detected. The government has identified at least $300,000 in gross proceeds from that scheme.

            In addition to the fraudulent identity scheme, the government has identified numerous other instances in which the defendant has possessed false identification documents, bank records, and bank cards for individuals other than himself.

            This case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. It was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service Washington Field Office, the Montgomery County Police Department, and the U.S. Capitol Police.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Earlier today, a federal jury in Brooklyn, New York, convicted three defendants on multiple counts of a superseding indictment charging them with acting and conspiring to act in the United States as illegal agents of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), without prior notification to the Attorney General. 

Michael McMahon, 55, of Mahwah, New Jersey, was convicted of acting as an illegal agent of the PRC, conspiracy to commit interstate stalking and interstate stalking; Congying Zheng, 27, of Brooklyn, was convicted of conspiracy to commit interstate stalking and interstate stalking; and Zhu Yong aka Jason Zhu, 66, of Queens, New York, was convicted of conspiracy to act as an illegal agent of the PRC, acting as an illegal agent of the PRC, conspiracy to commit interstate stalking and interstate stalking.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, McMahon – a retired NYPD sergeant working as a private investigator – and Zhu knowingly acted at the direction of the PRC government officials to conduct surveillance and engage in a campaign to harass, stalk and coerce certain residents of the United States to return to the PRC as part of a global and extralegal repatriation effort known as “Operation Fox Hunt.” Zheng engaged in interstate stalking of the same victims, leaving a threatening note at their residence. 

Today’s verdict follows a three-week trial before U.S. District Judge Pamela K. Chen. McMahon faces up to 20 years in prison, Zhu faces up to 25 years in prison, and Zheng faces up to 10 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

“The defendants engaged in a campaign of harassment and coercion on behalf of the PRC to force the victim’s repatriation to China from the United States, including by threatening family members,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “The Department of Justice will hold accountable those who would help repressive regimes violate the fundamental freedoms of people in the United States.”

“The jury’s verdict confirms that defendants McMahon and Zhu knowingly acted at the direction of a hostile foreign state to harass, intimidate and attempt to cause the involuntary return of a resident of the New York metropolitan area to the People’s Republic of China, and that defendant Zheng harassed and intimidated that same person and his family,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York. “It is particularly troubling that defendant Michael McMahon, a former sergeant in the New York City Police Department, engaged in surveillance, harassment, and stalking on behalf of a foreign power for money. We will remain steadfast in exposing and undermining efforts by the Chinese government to reach across our border and perpetrate transnational repression schemes targeting victims in the United States in violation of our laws.”

“The conviction of these three defendants – including a retired NYPD sergeant – is yet another powerful reminder of the Chinese government’s ongoing, pervasive, and illegal behavior here in the United States,” said Assistant Director Suzanne Turner of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division. “At the direction of the PRC’s Ministry of Public Security, the defendants engaged in increasingly egregious efforts at repression, from stalking to outright threats and intimidation tactics undertaken at the victim’s family home. This will not be tolerated within our borders, plain and simple. If you or someone you know have been targeted in this manner, we urge you to contact the FBI – and to all those engaging in such repression tactics, stand forewarned.”

As proven at trial, between approximately 2016 and 2019, the defendants participated in an international campaign with members of the PRC government as part of “Operation Fox Hunt” to threaten, harass, surveil and intimidate John Doe #1 and his family, in order to force John Doe #1 and his wife, Jane Doe #1, to return to the PRC. In or around 2015, the PRC government caused the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), an inter-governmental law enforcement organization, to issue “Red Notices” for John Doe #1 and Jane Doe #1, alleging that both persons were wanted by the PRC government on corruption-related charges.

Zhu hired McMahon who obtained detailed information about John Doe #1, his wife, and his daughter from a law enforcement database and other government databases, then reported back to Zhu and others, including a PRC police officer, what he had learned. McMahon also conducted surveillance outside the New Jersey home of John Doe #1’s sister-in-law and provided Zhu and PRC officials with detailed reports of what he had observed. The operation was supervised and directed by several PRC officials, including co-conspirators Hu Ji, a PRC police officer with the Wuhan Public Security Bureau and Tu Lan, a PRC prosecutor with the Wuhan Procuratorate.

In April 2017, Tu Lan and Hu Ji transported John Doe #1’s then-82-year-old father from the PRC to the New Jersey home of John Doe #1’s sister-in-law to attempt to convince John Doe #1 to return to the PRC. The testimony established that John Doe #1’s father was brought by a PRC doctor and charged co-conspirator, Li Minjun, and that while John Doe #1’s father was in the United States, his daughter was threatened with jailing in the PRC. A co-conspirator conducted surveillance of the home during the visit, wearing night-vision goggles provided by the PRC doctor and the PRC prosecutor. McMahon tailed John Doe #1 from the meeting with his elderly father, back to his home, and provided John Doe #1’s address – which was previously unknown – to the PRC operatives.

In October 2016 and April 2017, McMahon emailed himself a China Daily News article titled “Interpol Launches Global Dragnet for 100 Chinese Fugitives,” which stated, “Amid the nation’s intensifying antigraft campaign, arrest warrants were issued by Interpol China for former State employees and others suspected of a wide range of corrupt practices. China Daily was authorized by the Chinese justice authorities to publish the information below.” The article provided a list of photographs and identifying information about Operation Fox Hunt targets by the PRC government, including those of John Doe #1 and Jane Doe #1.

On Sept. 4, 2018, Zheng drove to the New Jersey residence of John Doe #1 and Jane Doe #1 and pounded on the front door. He and a co-conspirator attempted to force open the door to the residence, then left a note that stated “If you are willing to go back to the mainland and spend 10 years in prison, your wife and children will be all right. That’s the end of this matter!” 

Previously, three other defendants pleaded guilty in connection with their roles in the PRC-directed harassment and intimidation campaign.

Zebin pleaded guilty in March 2022 to interstate stalking conspiracy and is awaiting sentencing. Hongru Jin pleaded guilty in June 2021 to conspiring to act as an illegal agent of the PRC and interstate stalking conspiracy and is awaiting sentencing. Tu Lan, Hu Ji and Li Minjun are fugitives.

The FBI New York Field Office investigated the case with valuable assistance provided by the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Craig R. Heeren, Meredith A. Arfa and Irisa Chen for the Eastern District of New York and Trial Attorney Christine A. Bonomo of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are in charge of the prosecution, with valuable assistance provided by Paralegal Specialist Mary Clare McMahon.