Category: US Department of Justice

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON — A New York man was found guilty in the District of Columbia on Monday, June 12, 2023, of multiple felony and misdemeanor charges, including assaulting law enforcement officers, 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 presidential election.

            Ralph Joseph Celentano III, 55, of Broad Channel, New York, was found guilty after a trial before U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly of two felony charges, including assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers and civil disorder, and related misdemeanor offenses.

            According to the government’s evidence, Celentano traveled from New York to Washington D.C. and attended the “Stop the Steal” rally on the Ellipse on Jan. 6, 2021. After the rally, Celentano breached the restricted perimeter of the U.S. Capitol Building and made his way to the very front of the mass of rioters gathered at the Lower West Terrace. At the same time rioters had breached the Capitol Building and forced the recess of the U.S. House of Representatives, Celentano engaged in several physical altercations with law enforcement officers attempting to hold their police line on the West Front. Celentano locked arms with other rioters and pushed forward to breach the police line and then repeatedly shoved a separate law enforcement officer backward.

            Evidence at trial showed that after successfully breaching the police line, Celentano observed a uniformed Capitol Police officer standing at the edge of a raised platform with his back turned. Celentano approached the officer from behind and rammed the officer in a “football-style tackle.” According to court documents, the officer was hit so hard that he flipped over the ledge and fell onto officers below him. The officer, an Iraq war veteran, recalled thinking, “I didn’t survive a war to go out like this.”

            Over the course of the next few days, Celentano sent several text messages and posted on the social media network Parler about the riot on Jan. 6^th. Among his messages, Celentano indicated he had fought the Capitol Police and won, taken over the Capitol, and stated that it was a day he would always remember, and that he would do it all over again.

            Celentano was arrested on March 9, 2022, in Broad Channel, New York.

            Celentano is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 11, 2023. In addition to the felonies, Celentano was found guilty of four misdemeanor counts of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds; and acts of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings.

            The felony assault charge carries a statutory maximum sentence of 8 years in prison, and the felony civil disorder charge carries a statutory maximum sentence of 5 years in prison. All charges carry potential financial penalties. The Court 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 New York.

            This case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, which identified Celentano as #107 in its seeking information photos, and the FBI’s New York Field Office. Valuable assistance was provided by the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Capitol Police.

            In the 29 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,000 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including nearly 350 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing. 

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

Source: United States Department of Justice News

An Alabama man pleaded guilty yesterday for his involvement with a website dedicated to the advertisement and distribution of images and videos depicting child sexual abuse.

According to court documents, William Michael Spearman, 57, of Madison, was the lead administrator of the website, which had been operating for many years. The website included a section devoted to the sexual abuse of infants and toddlers, a section devoted to images and videos depicting children being subjected to pain and torture, and a section devoted to avoiding detection by law enforcement. As the lead administrator, Spearman managed numerous “staff” members, directed them how to help run the site, recommended other users for promotion, kept records of child pornography files advertised and distributed over the site, presided over staff meetings, praised and scolded users, and counseled users and other managers about the function and expectations of the website. Spearman also advertised and distributed images over the website.

Spearman pleaded guilty to engaging in a child exploitation enterprise. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 31, and faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The following defendants have also been convicted in the Southern District of Florida for their involvement with the same website:

Name	Residence	Charges	Status
Selwyn David Rosenstein	Boynton Beach, Florida	Conspiracy to advertise child pornography; five counts of advertisement of child pornography; possession of child pornography	Sentenced to 28 years in prison and ordered to pay $85,000 in restitution to victims
Gregory Malcolm Good	Silver Springs, Nevada	Conspiracy to advertise child pornography; conspiracy to distribute child pornography	Scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 22
Robert Preston Boyles	Clarksville, Tennessee	Conspiracy to advertise child pornography; conspiracy to distribute child pornography	Scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 15
Matthew Branden Garrell	Raleigh, North Carolina	Conspiracy to advertise child pornography; conspiracy to distribute child pornography	Scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 1

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, and Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri of the FBI Miami Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI’s Child Exploitation Operational Unit, West Palm Beach Resident Agency, and Miami Field Office investigated the cases. Substantial assistance for the case was provided by FBI Field Offices and Resident Agencies in: Huntsville, Alabama; Reno, Nevada; Clarksville, Tennessee; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Madison, Wisconsin. Substantial assistance was also provided by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the Northern District of Alabama, District of Nevada, Middle District of Tennessee, Eastern District of North Carolina, and Western District of Wisconsin.

Trial Attorneys Kyle P. Reynolds and William G. Clayman of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Schiller for the Southern District of Florida are prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, 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 to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

The Justice Department announced today that it has secured a settlement agreement with Mountain Prairie Holdings, a Colorado-based staffing agency that formerly operated as Apprentice Personnel. The settlement resolves the department’s determination that Mountain Prairie violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by discriminating against non-U.S. citizen workers when checking their permission to work in the United States.

“Demanding that workers provide more documentation than required by law to prove their permission to work causes unnecessary stress, financial hardship and obstacles to employment, especially for vulnerable workers,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department will continue to hold employers accountable for such discriminatory actions.”

The department’s investigation began after a newly hired non-U.S. citizen complained that staff in Apprentice Personnel’s Colorado Springs office demanded that he produce a foreign passport to prove his permission to work, even though he had already presented sufficient documentation. The department also determined that the Colorado Springs office routinely required certain non-U.S. citizens to show their immigration documents, even when these workers had already presented other valid documentation. Ultimately, the department found that several non-U.S. citizens, including the complaining party, had been victims of this practice.

Under the terms of the settlement, Mountain Prairie will pay civil penalties to the United States and be subject to departmental monitoring for a three-year period. Additionally, Mountain Prairie will train staff on the INA’s anti-discrimination provision and review and revise its employment policies before the company or any of its subsidiaries hire any workers during the monitoring period.

Federal law allows all workers to choose which valid, legally acceptable documentation to present to demonstrate their identity and permission to work, regardless of citizenship, immigration status or national origin. The INA’s anti-discrimination provision prohibits employers from asking for specific documents because of a worker’s citizenship, immigration status or national origin. Indeed, many non-U.S. citizens, including lawful permanent residents, refugees and asylees, are eligible for several of the same types of documents to prove their permission to work as U.S. citizens (such as driver’s licenses and unrestricted Social Security cards). Employers must allow workers to present whatever acceptable documentation the workers choose and cannot reject valid documentation that reasonably appears to be genuine.

The Civil Rights Division’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER) is responsible for enforcing the anti-discrimination provision of the INA. The statute prohibits discrimination based on citizenship status and national origin in hiring, firing or recruitment or referral for a fee; unfair documentary practices; and retaliation and intimidation. 

Find more information on how employers can avoid discrimination when verifying permission to work on IER’s website. Learn more about how IER protects workers’ rights in this video. For more information about protections against employment discrimination under immigration laws, call IER’s worker hotline at 1-800-255-7688 (1-800-237-2515, TTY for hearing impaired); call IER’s employer hotline at 1-800-255-8155 (1-800-237-2515, TTY for hearing impaired); sign up for a free webinar; email IER@usdoj.gov; or visit IER’s English and Spanish websites. Sign up for email updates from IER.

Spanish Version

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Thank you, Chairman Durbin, Ranking Member Graham and members of the Committee.

As you have just heard, Section 702 is invaluable. The reauthorization of 702 is perhaps the single most consequential national security decision that this Congress will make. The stakes could not be higher.

Congress enacted Section 702 as part of a number of fundamental legal reforms following 9/11. Those attacks demonstrated that we must one, share intelligence and two, that we must eliminate walls between foreign intelligence and domestic law enforcement. 

I was part of the team at the Department of Justice in 2008 that worked with Congress to pass Section 702. Congress then recognized that FISA, as written, created a dangerous intelligence gap — and enacted 702 on a bipartisan basis.

And when Congress passed 702, it also included a number of critical safeguards for Americans. The law, for example, prohibits targeting anyone inside the United States or a U.S. person anywhere in the world. The FISA court reviews Section 702 procedures every year to ensure that they comply with the Constitution and with FISA. And the National Security Division, which I lead, reviews every single targeting decision that is made.

In my experience, Section 702 is a model piece of legislation — an authority that both protects national security and safeguards civil liberties.

So, let me address one area of particular concern, and that is the FBI’s use of 702 information.

To use the intelligence that the IC collects lawfully, agents and analysts “query” the database of FBI information — this is the small subset of 702 data that is relevant to open FBI national security investigations. A query simply means using a term to retrieve specific information that already is in the FBI’s possession. It is like searching for something in your email inbox — you don’t read every single email. You probably enter a keyword to find what you’re looking for quickly within what is already stored in your inbox.

And the FBI’s ability to do this – to conduct these queries – is absolutely essential to its mission.

For example, if the FBI learns that a spy working for the PRC has a list of U.S. phone numbers on their phone, FBI investigators may query FBI 702 data with those phone numbers – some of them may be U.S. phone numbers – to help identify others working for the PRC or even potential victims of PRC espionage.

And this is not just hypothetical. The FBI, in fact, was able to disrupt ongoing assassination and kidnapping plots in, in part, because FBI investigators searched their 702 data with U.S. person identifiers and they were able to, therefore, quickly discover the nature and extent of the plotting.

In another case, the FBI was investigating a cyberattack against a critical infrastructure company here in the United States. The FBI queried its Section 702 data with U.S. person identifiers, and they found out that it was Chinese hackers who were behind the attack, and that they had comprised the network and they figured out how they did it. It was this information that the FBI got from querying its data that allowed the FBI to alert the network operators and mitigate the attack.

Ultimately, the FBI is the single organization represented here with the responsibility and the authority to take action inside the United States to protect our national security — whether that’s to identify and disrupt terrorism attacks, espionage, or cyber threats. And the FBI’s ability to quickly review its Section 702 data is an essential tool for that mission.

The FBI, however, must safeguard the rights of Americans. In recent years, we have identified and reported serious compliance issues with FBI’s U.S. person queries.

And let me be clear: I join with Deputy Director Abbate. These compliance problems are not acceptable. They have eroded public trust, and I am not here to defend them. Indeed, when we identified these problems, the Attorney General directed the FBI to make significant changes to their systems and their policies and their training — changes that have already proven effective in improving compliance.

But this is an ongoing process. As the Deputy Director testified, the FBI is imposing new measures for compliance and new measures for accountability. And we are continuing to review the FBI’s performance for ways to improve.

We are committed to working with you and with the rest of Congress on potential reforms. As we work with you on this effort, we must ensure that any changes we make also preserve Section 702’s essential effectiveness as a national security tool.

In the end, we must not forget the lessons of 9/11. Unduly limiting the FBI’s ability to access lawfully collected information and imposing artificial barriers between foreign intelligence and criminal investigations will set us back decades. It will put our nation at grave risk. Section 702 has proven to be an irreplaceable authority that enables our entire intelligence community to work together to collect, to share and to use the information that is necessary to protect our country.

Thank you.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

The Justice Department today announced that FPI Management Inc. (FPI) has agreed to pay $74,087 to resolve allegations that it violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) by imposing unlawful charges on nine servicemembers who were exercising their right to terminate their apartment leases after receiving military orders to relocate.

“The right for servicemembers to terminate leases without penalty when military orders send them elsewhere is a critical protection for people who already sacrifice so much,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department will continue to enforce federal civil rights laws to ensure that paying rent for housing they no longer need is not another sacrifice servicemembers must bear.”

“The SCRA protects servicemembers who have answered our country’s call to serve,” said U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert for the Eastern District of California. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office and our partners in the Civil Rights Division stand ready to vindicate those rights, to allow our servicemembers to focus on their duty and relieve stress on them and their families.”

The SCRA extends various protections to servicemembers to allow them to devote their entire energy to the national defense. The SCRA provides protections for servicemembers in areas such as evictions, security deposits, pre-paid rent, civil judicial proceedings, installment contracts, interest rates, foreclosures and automobile leases. The SCRA also allows servicemembers to terminate their residential leases after entering military service or receiving military orders for a permanent change of station, deployment or retirement. Landlords are prohibited from imposing an early termination charge on servicemembers who terminate their leases under the SCRA.

The department launched an investigation into FPI’s leasing practices after receiving a referral from Coast Guard Legal Assistance about two instances where FPI attempted to require servicemembers who were terminating their leases early under the SCRA to repay discounts they had received when they signed the lease. In one case, FPI required Coast Guard Petty Officer First Class Aaron Gomez and his wife to repay $8,590 in lease concessions after they terminated their lease at an apartment building in Oakland, California, near Coast Guard Island Alameda. In the other case, FPI told Coast Guard Petty Officer First Class William Fuchs that he would have to repay $7,838 in lease incentives after he terminated his lease at the same apartment building. Fuchs had just received military orders to relocate Charleston, South Carolina.

In a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, the department alleges that FPI unlawfully imposed early termination charges on a total of nine servicemembers who had exercised their right to terminate their residential leases upon receipt of qualifying military orders.

Under the consent order, which still must be approved by the court, FPI has agreed to pay a total of $51,587 to the servicemembers and a $22,500 civil penalty to the United States. The order also requires FPI to repair the servicemembers’ tenant database entries, implement new policies and procedures that comply with the SCRA and training its employees on the SCRA.

Since 2011, the Justice Department has been awarded over $481 million in monetary relief for over 146,000 servicemembers through its enforcement of the SCRA. For more information about the department’s SCRA enforcement efforts, please visit www.servicemembers.gov.

Servicemembers and their dependents who believe that their rights under the SCRA have been violated should contact the nearest Armed Forces Legal Assistance Program Office. Office locations may be found at legalassistance.law.af.mil.