Category: US Department of Justice

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – A Pennsylvania woman was found guilty in the District of Columbia today of felony and misdemeanor charges for her actions during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach. Her 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.

            Sandra S. Weyer, 59, of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, was found guilty of five charges, including one felony count and four misdemeanor counts, following a bench trial before Chief Judge of the U.S. District for the District of Columbia, James E. Boasberg. Weyer was convicted of obstruction of an official proceeding; as well as four misdemeanors: entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disruptive conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, picketing, or demonstrating in a Capitol building.

            Weyer is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 14, 2023.

            According to evidence presented in court, after attending rallies on Jan. 3, 2021 and Jan. 5, 2021 to “decertify” the 2020 electoral votes, Weyer traveled from Pennsylvania to D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021 and made her way to the East front of the United States Capitol. After standing behind barricades placed by United States Capitol Police, Weyer helped remove the barricades protecting the Capitol and encouraged others to do the same, yelling, “tear it down!” Weyer continued past additional police lines on the East Capitol steps and forced her way along with the crowd into the East Rotunda doors, yelling “charge,” “don’t retreat,” and “march forward” as well as chanting “stop the steal” and “break that door!” with other rioters.

            Weyer joined the rioters forcing open the doors of the Capitol pushing past Capitol Police officers who had just been violently attacked by the rioters in front of Weyer, who acknowledged that in her view, the officers “stood down. . . because the crowd was too massive to contain any longer.” Once inside the Capitol, Weyer went into the Rotunda, stating, “This is awesome, we did it!” before making her way to the various hallways on the third floor near the House and Senate galleries.

            Weyer’s obstruction charge carries a statutory maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison. A federal court judge will determine the appropriate sentence after considering all factors and the U.S. Sentencing guidelines.

            The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

            The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington and Philadelphia Field Offices. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police.

            In the 29 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,000 individuals have been arrested 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

A federal jury convicted a New Jersey man today of tax evasion and failing to file personal income tax returns.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Jonathan D. Michael of Springfield, New Jersey, worked as a mechanic in the crane shop at the Port Newark Container Terminal. For the years 2014 through 2018, Michael provided his employer with an Employee’s Withholding Certificate (Form W-4) that falsely claimed he was exempt from any federal income tax withholding. During the same five-year period, Michael did not file personal income tax returns even though he earned approximately $1.5 million in wages, resulting in a tax loss to the IRS of over $375,000.

Michael is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 23, 2023, and faces a statutory maximum penalty of five years in prison for tax evasion and one year in prison for each count of willful failure to file a tax return. He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger for the District of New Jersey made the announcement.

IRS-Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorney Michael C. Vasiliadis of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Feldman Nikic of the District of New Jersey are prosecuting the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

A Florida resident and dual citizen of the United States and Turkey pleaded guilty yesterday in the District of New Jersey to running an extensive operation over many years to traffic in fraudulent and counterfeit Cisco networking equipment.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court, Onur Aksoy, 39, of Miami, ran at least 19 companies formed in New Jersey and Florida, as well as approximately 15 Amazon storefronts and at least 10 eBay storefronts (collectively, the “Pro Network Entities”), that imported from suppliers in China and Hong Kong tens of thousands of low-quality, modified computer networking devices with counterfeit Cisco labels, stickers, boxes, documentation, and packaging, all bearing counterfeit trademarks registered and owned by Cisco, that made the goods falsely appear to be new, genuine, and high-quality devices manufactured and authorized by Cisco. The devices had an estimated total retail value of hundreds of millions of dollars. Moreover, the Pro Network Entities generated over $100 million in revenue, and Aksoy received millions of dollars for his personal gain.

The devices the Pro Network Entities imported from China and Hong Kong were typically older, lower-model products – some of which had been sold or discarded – which Chinese counterfeiters then modified to appear to be genuine versions of new, enhanced, and more expensive Cisco devices. The Chinese counterfeiters often added pirated Cisco software and unauthorized, low-quality, or unreliable components – including components to circumvent technological measures added by Cisco to the software to check for software license compliance and to authenticate the hardware. Finally, to make the devices appear new, genuine, high-quality, and factory-sealed by Cisco, the Chinese counterfeiters added counterfeited Cisco labels, stickers, boxes, documentation, packaging, and other materials.

Fraudulent and counterfeit products sold by the Pro Network Entities suffered from numerous performance, functionality, and safety problems. Often, they would simply fail or otherwise malfunction, causing significant damage to their users’ networks and operations – in some cases, costing users tens of thousands of dollars. Customers of Aksoy’s fraudulent and counterfeit devices included hospitals, schools, government agencies, and the military.

Between 2014 and 2022, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized approximately 180 shipments of counterfeit Cisco devices being shipped to the Pro Network Entities from China and Hong Kong. In response to some of these seizures, Aksoy falsely submitted official paperwork to CBP under the alias “Dave Durden,” an identity that he used to communicate with Chinese co-conspirators. To try to avoid CBP scrutiny, Chinese co-conspirators broke the shipments up into smaller parcels and shipped them on different days, and Aksoy used fake delivery addresses in Ohio. After CBP seized a shipment of counterfeit Cisco products to Aksoy and the Pro Network Entities and sent a seizure notice, Aksoy often continued to order counterfeit Cisco products from the same supplier. 

Between 2014 and 2019, Cisco sent seven letters to Aksoy asking him to cease and desist his trafficking of counterfeit goods. Aksoy responded to at least two of these letters by causing his attorney to provide Cisco with forged documents. In July 2021, agents executed a search warrant at Aksoy’s warehouse and seized 1,156 counterfeit Cisco devices with a retail value of over $7 million.

Aksoy pleaded guilty to (1) conspiring with others to traffic in counterfeit goods, to commit mail fraud, and to commit wire fraud and (2) mail fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 6, and under the plea agreement that the court conditionally accepted yesterday pending sentencing, faces a sentence of four to six and a half years in prison. Also pursuant to the plea agreement, Aksoy must forfeit $15 million in illicit gains from his scheme and make full restitution to his victims. The court will determine the final sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Attorney for the United States Vikas Khanna for the District of New Jersey; Acting Special Agent in Charge Eddy Wang of the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Los Angeles Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Bryan Denny of the U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) Western Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Floyd Martinez of the General Services Administration Office of Inspector General (GSA-OIG), Southeast and Caribbean Division; Special Agent in Charge Greg Gross of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), Economic Crimes Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Anthony Salisbury of the HSI Miami Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel of the HSI Newark Field Office made the announcement today. 

HSI, DCIS, GSA-OIG, NCIS, and CBP are investigating the case.

Senior Counsel Matthew A. Lamberti of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Trombly and Senior Trial Counsel Barbara Ward for the District of New Jersey are prosecuting the case.

The CBP Electronics Center of Excellence; the CBP Los Angeles National Targeting and Analysis Center; and the CBP Office of Trade, Regulatory Audit and Agency Advisory Services, Miami Field Office provided valuable assistance.

If you believe you are a victim of Aksoy or the Pro Network Entities, please visit www.justice.gov/largecases or www.justice.gov/usao-nj/united-states-v-onur-aksoy-pro-network for more information.

The Pro Network Entities include at least the following:

Pro Network Companies	Approximate Month and Year of Formation	State of Formation
Pro Network LLC	August 2013	New Jersey
Netech Solutions LLC	November 2016	Florida
Target Network Solutions LLC	January 2017	Florida
Easy Network LLC	April 2017	New Jersey
ACE NETUS LLC (aka Ace Network)	April 2017	New Jersey
My Network Dealer LLC	April 2017	New Jersey
1701 Doral LLC	May 2017	New Jersey
Maytech Trading LLC	August 2017	Florida
NFD Trading LLC	September 2017	Florida
Kenet Solutions LLC	September 2017	Florida
Team Tech Global LLC	January 2018	New Jersey
Tenek Trading LLC	January 2018	Florida
The Network Gears LLC	February 2018	Florida
All Networking Solutions LLC (aka All Network)	April 2018	Florida
San Network LLC	October 2018	Florida
Pro Network US Inc.	January 2019	Florida
Jms Tek LLC	August 2019	Florida
Renewed Equipment LLC	August 2021	Florida
Pro Ship US LLC	August 2021	Florida

Pro Network Amazon Storefronts	Approximate Date of Earliest Known Activity
Albus Trade Hub	January 2014
EasyNetworkUS	March 2014
Get Better Trade	July 2015
Mercadeal	February 2017
Netech Solutions	February 2018
Netkco LLC	September 2014
NFD Trading LLC	January 2018
Palm Network Solutions	June 2017
Renewed Equip	August 2017
Servtaur	August 2019
Smart Network	July 2017
SOS Tech Trade	August 2017
Target-Solutions	September 2020
TeamTech Global	March 2016
TradeOrigin US	August 2015

Pro Network eBay Storefronts	Approximate Date of Earliest Known Activity
connectwus	March 2014
futuretechneeds	July 2017
getbettertrade	July 2017
getontrade	April 2016
maytechtradingllc	October 2017
netechsolutions	April 2017
netkco	September 2014
nfdtrading	February 2018
smartnetworkusa	January 2014
tenektradingllc	May 2018

Source: United States Department of Justice News

The Justice Department announced today that it has secured a settlement agreement in its environmental justice investigation into the City of Houston’s response to illegal dumping in Black and Latino neighborhoods. The agreement builds upon the city’s recently announced One Clean Houston initiative, a comprehensive plan to address pervasive illegal dumping and its negative impacts on the health, safety and quality of life of Houston residents. Today’s agreement memorializes the city’s cooperation with the Justice Department as it implements these new steps to combat illegal dumping and develops improved waste management services for residents across Houston.

“Houston’s illegal dumpsites have contaminated water and soil, attracted vermin and created blight in historically under-resourced neighborhoods across the city,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “I appreciate Mayor Turner’s leadership in addressing these concerns and his resolve in developing One Clean Houston. This agreement will ensure that Houston fully addresses chronic illegal dumpsites, provides access to adequate waste management services and improves quality of life in communities of color. The Justice Department will continue advancing environmental justice and ensuring that people of color across our nation live in safe, clean and healthy communities.”

“No one should have to live next to discarded tires, bags of trash, rotting carcasses, infected soils and contaminated groundwater, all caused by illegal dumping,” said U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani for the Southern District of Texas. “For too long now, Houston’s underserved and low-income communities have had to bear the health burdens of the inaction and misdeeds of others. My hope is that this resolution is an important step in remedying those wrongs.”

In July 2022, the Justice Department launched its investigation after it received a civil rights complaint filed on behalf of Houston residents alleging that the city discriminated against Black and Latino residents of the Trinity/Houston Gardens neighborhood in northeast Houston in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VI prohibits recipients of federal funds from discriminating on the basis of race, color or national origin in their federally funded programs and activities.  

The department’s ten-month investigation focused on Houston’s efforts to address illegal dumping, a persistent and pervasive problem that occurs more frequently in the city’s Black and Latino neighborhoods. In March 2023, the city announced its One Clean Houston initiative. One Clean Houston focuses on rapid cleanup, better enforcement and prevention and education. In addition to confirming the city’s commitment to One Clean Houston, the agreement establishes a three-year period of federal monitoring; data reporting obligations; enhanced community outreach with impacted neighborhoods, including engagement with residents with limited English proficiency; consideration of additional actions to combat commercial sources of illegal dumping and reduce restrictions for residents seeking to use waste depositories; and a federal civil rights training program for specified city employees.

The Civil Rights Division’s Federal Coordination and Compliance Section conducted this investigation in collaboration with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.

Addressing discriminatory environmental and health impacts through enforcement of the nation’s civil rights laws is a top priority of the Civil Rights Division. Today’s announcement marks the second environmental justice settlement under federal civil rights statutes. Last month, the division announced the resolution of its environmental justice investigation into the Alabama Department of Health and Lowndes County Health Department in Lowndes County, Alabama. In April 2022, the Justice Department launched its Office on Environmental Justice and its Comprehensive Environmental Justice Enforcement Strategy.

Individuals who believe their civil rights have been violated or have environmental justice concerns can file a complaint with the Civil Rights Division at www.civilrights.justice.gov/report/.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Remarks as Delivered

Good morning. I am Kristen Clarke, the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. Today is a good day. I am here with U.S. Attorney Alamdar Hamdani for the Southern District of Texas, who you’ll hear from shortly as well.

We are here this morning to announce that the Justice Department has secured a settlement agreement in our environmental justice investigation involving the City of Houston. The City of Houston, as you have heard, has agreed to take a number of critical actions to address illegal dumping here in the city, an issue that has long plagued the predominately Black and Latino residents of Houston’s Trinity/Houston Gardens Super Neighborhood 48 and other similar communities in the city. The agreement memorializes the City of Houston’s – and Mayor Turner’s – efforts to ensure racially equitable responses to the environmental hazard and improve the quality of life of members of the Houston community.

Illegal dumping is a long-standing environmental justice issue, which, in many cities across the country, disproportionately burdens Black and Latino communities. Illegal dumping can contaminate surface water, groundwater and soil. It decreases property values and discourages economic development, often in communities that cannot afford to withstand these impacts. Illegal dumping contributes to increased flooding, when contaminated waste blocks the flow of water to appropriate outlets. And illegal dumping contributes to increases in rodents and mosquitoes, which can carry diseases.

Last summer, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas launched an investigation into whether the City of Houston complied with the nondiscrimination requirements of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, regarding the city’s response to illegal dumping. This investigation was in response to a complaint we received, which alleged that Houston engaged in racial discrimination in its response to illegal dumping in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Over the course of our 10-month investigation, we conducted an extensive review of the City of Houston’s efforts to address illegal dumping. We heard from residents and other impacted stakeholders about the effects of illegal dumping, and the impact on their lives and communities. We also worked cooperatively with the City of Houston at every step of the way. The city provided documents and information and made relevant officials available for interviews.

In March, as you heard, the City of Houston announced the One Clean Houston initiative, a truly comprehensive plan to address pervasive illegal dumping and its negative impacts on the health, safety and quality of life of Houston residents. One Clean Houston focuses on rapid cleanup, better enforcement and prevention and education. It increases funding for heavy trash, dumping and litter abatement; establishes efforts to better facilitate reporting of illegal dumping, targeting major repeat offenders and improved access to neighborhood depositories. Many of the aspects of the One Clean Houston initiative are responsive to the government’s concerns that were set forth in the Title VI complaint that we received, and we heard from residents and others during the course of our investigation. No doubt, this initiative is an important step in addressing illegal dumping here in Houston.

Today’s agreement builds upon the One Clean Houston initiative. In addition, to confirming the city’s ongoing commitment to One Clean Houston, the agreement outlines a series of additional actions that the city will take to address illegal dumping. As set forth in the agreement, the city has agreed to additional community outreach and engagement with neighborhood groups, community leaders and other residents. The city has agreed to monitoring and to providing additional data and information about its efforts to address illegal dumping. The city has also committed to exploring whether additional actions can be taken against commercial sources of illegal dumping.

In crafting this agreement, we made sure to center the experiences of impacted people and communities. This agreement is also built on principles of racial justice and racial equity. And I fully expect this agreement will bring about lasting and enduring change and transformation for communities that for far too long have been beleaguered by illegal dumping. In a few minutes, U.S. Attorney Hamdani will provide more details on the settlement agreement.

This agreement marks the second time that the U.S. Justice Department has reached a settlement in an environmental justice investigation under our federal civil rights laws. Advancing environmental justice is a top priority for the U.S. Department of Justice. We know the dire consequences that environmental injustice had on communities of color across this country. It has impacted the health outcomes of people who have been forced to endure unsafe and unsanitary conditions. It can also lower property values and impact the quality of life for residents and communities. And it is directly contrary to the fundamental principles that all people are entitled to be treated with dignity and respect. Because of these harms, last year, the Justice Department announced a Comprehensive Environmental Justice Enforcement Strategy, where we vowed to use all of our enforcement tools and authorities to confront systemic barriers that deny Black and Brown communities access to clean air, clean water and equitable infrastructure. The agreement we are announcing today makes clear our commitment.

This agreement should also send a strong message to jurisdictions across the country regarding our commitment to promoting environmental justice. We will remain steadfast on these issues. And we will do this work in communities across the country: big or small, North or South, East or West, urban or rural. We will leave no community behind.

I want to acknowledge again the City of Houston, under the leadership of Mayor Turner. The City of Houston, through the initiation of its One Clean Houston initiative, has committed significant money, time and other resources towards addressing illegal dumping, especially in its most underserved communities. The comprehensive nature of the One Clean Houston program reflects the city’s thoughtfulness and intentionality regarding this environmental hazard. Importantly, the City of Houston and the Justice Department are committed to engaging with Houston residents in affected communities to explore and implement strategies to address illegal dumping. The Justice Department is also committed to working with the city to monitor the implementation of the program and this agreement to improve the health, welfare and safety of impacted communities.

In closing, I also want to acknowledge the people, the residents of the City of Houston, and especially those in Trinity/Houston Gardens Super Neighborhood 48, as well as those in Kashmere Gardens, Sunnyside, 3rd Ward, 5th Ward and so many others who reached out to us. You – you – provided the vital information about your day-to-day experiences and efforts in this area, and you remained patient yet vigilant while we carried out this investigation. You shared with us your love for your city, your hope in the city’s and federal government’s efforts to work collaboratively to address these issues and your ideas and strategies that were targeted to your individual communities. It is through your energy and efforts that we have reached this historic agreement today, and we appreciate all that you’ve contributed to this moment.

I’ll now turn the floor over to my colleague, United States Attorney Hamdani who will discuss the resolution agreement in further detail.