Category: US Department of Justice

Source: United States Department of Justice News

A former Louisville Metro Police Department officer pleaded guilty to violating an individual’s rights by using excessive force while acting as a police officer.

During the plea hearing, Richard Ross Wiedo, 37, admitted that on or about May 30, 2020, while working as a police officer with the Louisville Metro Police Department, he deployed a foam round from his 40mm direct impact munition into a crowd of protestors after a bottle was thrown from the back of the crowd. The foam round struck an individual at the front of the crowd in the face. Wiedo admitted he had not identified who had thrown the bottle and was not deploying his 40mm direct impact munition at anyone who was being actively aggressive. 

Wiedo pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of using unreasonable force. Wiedo’s guilty plea carries a maximum fine of $100,000. As part of the plea agreement, if it is accepted by the court, Wiedo will forfeit his Kentucky law enforcement certification and agree not to seek any future law enforcement employment.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett for the Western District of Kentucky and Special Agent in Charge Jodi Cohen of the FBI Louisville Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI Louisville Field Office and the Louisville Metro Police Department’s Public Integrity Unit investigated the case through the Louisville Public Corruption Civil Rights Task Force.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda E. Gregory for the Western District of Kentucky and Trial Attorney Anita Channapati of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section prosecuted the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – Graham Hauck, 50, of Chevy Chase, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to stealing more than $330,000 from a nonprofit trade organization. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Special Agent in Charge Wayne A. Jacobs, of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division.

            Hauck pleaded guilty to wire fraud, which carries a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison. As part of his plea agreement, Hauck must pay full restitution. He also will be liable for a forfeiture money judgment. U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras, who accepted Hauck’s guilty plea, scheduled sentencing for September 14, 2023. 

            According to court documents, Hauck served as president and CEO of Hauck & Associates, Inc. (“H&A”), a trade association management firm based in Washington, D.C. The victim organization, a nonprofit professional trade organization, retained H&A to serve as its management company. For the period covering January 1, 2019, through December 31, 2019, the victim organization agreed to pay H&A an annual management and headquarters fee of $148,475, with one-twelfth of the fee (approximately $12,372) being billed on the first day of each month. From March 2019 through approximately October 2019, Hauck stole roughly $336,222 from the victim organization. Although H&A was authorized to pay itself the monthly management fee from one of the organization’s bank accounts, Hauck wrote checks and initiated ACH payments from that account to H&A in amounts far exceeding what the organization owed.  Hauck also stole from one of the organization’s other accounts by writing a $100,000 to H&A and initiating three ACH transfers from the account.

            Hauck concealed his scheme both by lying to one of his employees who noticed the victim organization’s unusual activity and by creating inaccurate balance sheets that were presented monthly to the victim organization’s board of directors. The false balance sheets showed more money than the organization actually had in its accounts.

            This case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office.

            It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kondi Kleinman and Anne McNamara, and former Assistant U.S. Attorney David B. Kent, with assistance from Paralegal Specialist Michon Tart and former Paralegal Specialists Angeline Thekkumthala and Stephanie Frijas.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – An Idaho man was sentenced today on a felony charge 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.

            Josiah Colt, 34, of Meridian, Idaho, was sentenced to 15 months in prison for obstruction of an official proceeding. Colt pleaded guilty on July 14, 2021. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Dabney L. Friedrich ordered 36 months of supervised release and $1,000 in restitution.

            According to court documents, shortly after 2 p.m. on Jan. 6, crowd members who were gathered outside the Capitol forced entry into the building, ultimately causing the Joint Session to be stopped and Members of Congress, including the Vice President, to be evacuated from the House and Senate Chambers.  According to his guilty plea, as Members were subject to evacuation, Colt entered the Capitol and made his way to the Senate Chamber, where he followed other individuals who forced their way past U.S. Capitol Police into the Senate Gallery—shortly after Senators had been evacuated.  Colt then jumped from the Gallery to the Senate floor and ran to a chair reserved for the Senate President, the Vice President of the United States. 

            Later that day, Colt posted a video to Facebook in which he called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi a traitor and claimed to be the first person who breached the Capitol to sit in her chair.  In fact, Colt had occupied the chair in the Senate reserved for the Senate President. 

            According to court papers, Colt traveled to Washington, D.C. with Nathaniel DeGrave and Ronald Sandlin, who have been charged and sentenced separately in connection with the Capitol breach.  In preparation for his travel, Colt purchased a holster for a Glock .43 pistol he owned, a gas mask, and a helmet.  Together with Sandlin and DeGrave, the trio brought gas masks, helmets, shin guards, body armor, a handheld taser/stun gun, an expandable baton, walkie talkies, knives, bear mace, and Colt’s Glock .43 pistol with them to the Washington Metropolitan Area.  On Jan. 6, Colt left his firearm at his hotel but donned the protective gear described above and wore it into the Capitol. 

            This case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division. It was investigated by the FBI’s Washington and Salt Lake City Field Offices. 

            In the 28 months since Jan. 6, more than 1,000 individuals have been arrested on charges related to the Jan. 6 Capitol breach, including more than 320 individuals charged with assaulting, resisting, 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

            WASHINGTON – Joseph Arnold, 43, of Chesapeake, Virginia, was sentenced today to  97 months in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release and ordered to pay $67,500 restitution, for distributing child pornography. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Special Agent in Charge Wayne A. Jacobs, of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division.

            Arnold pleaded guilty on July 19, 2022, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. According to the government’s evidence, on October 26, 2020, Arnold began communicating with an undercover officer based in the District of Columbia using an online messaging application. Over the next two weeks, Arnold sent the undercover officer multiple videos of child pornography, boasting that he had “hundreds more” such videos, and arranged with the undercover officer to travel to the District of Columbia for the purpose sexually abusing a child. On November 5, 2020, Arnold traveled from Virginia to Washington, D.C. When he arrived, he was arrested by law enforcement.

            This case was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. The task force is composed of FBI agents, along with other federal agents and detectives from northern Virginia and the District of Columbia. The task force is charged with investigating and bringing federal charges against individuals engaged in the exploitation of children and those engaged in human trafficking. Valuable assistance was provided by the FBI’s Baltimore Field Office, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Prince George’s County, Maryland Police Department.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves and Special Agent in Charge Jacobs commended the work of those who investigated the case from the FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, which includes members of the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the Metropolitan Police Department’s (MPD) Youth Investigations Division. They also commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Caroline Burrell and Jocelyn Bond, and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenya Davis, who prosecuted the case.

            This case was brought as part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative. In February 2006, the Attorney General created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Source: United States Department of Justice

The Justice Department filed a statement of interest in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California explaining that the act of distributing food and drinks to people who are homeless by Micah’s Way, a faith-based organization that helps people in need, could be religious exercise under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA).

The statement of interest was filed in Micah’s Way v. the City of Santa Ana, a lawsuit alleging that Santa Ana imposed a substantial burden on Micah’s Way’s religious exercise. At issue is the city’s denial of an occupancy certificate to Micah’s Way on the grounds that it was providing food and drinks to people who are homeless in violation of the city’s zoning ordinance. According to its complaint, Micah’s Way has a religious duty to help people in need, including by providing food and drink to someone who is hungry. After denying the occupancy certificate, the city informed Micah’s Way that it could not feed people who are homeless at its resource center under any circumstances and that if it continued to do so, Micah’s Way would be subject to fines and potential criminal prosecution.

The city filed a motion to dismiss the complaint, arguing in part that providing food and drinks to people who are homeless is not religious exercise and that its denial of an occupancy certificate did not substantially burden Micah’s Way’s religious exercise. The department’s statement of interest argues that feeding people who are homeless may be religious exercise protected by RLUIPA and that the city’s denial of an occupancy certificate and complete prohibition on feeding people who are homeless may have imposed a substantial burden on Micah’s Way’s religious exercise, in violation of RLUIPA.

“Discriminatory barriers and land use restrictions against faith-based organizations is unlawful,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Many faith-based organizations across the country are on the front lines serving the needs of people experiencing homelessness. The Justice Department is committed to enforcing federal civil rights laws to ensure that all religious groups can freely exercise their religious beliefs.”

“The free exercise of religion is a bedrock principle of our nation,” said U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada for the Central District of California. “Religious groups should be entitled to exercise their religion by providing charitable services based in their religious beliefs. Our office firmly opposes actions that block religious groups from carrying out their spiritual mission to help others in need.”

RLUIPA is a federal law that protects religious institutions from unduly burdensome or discriminatory land use regulations. In June 2018, the Justice Department announced its Place to Worship Initiative, which focuses on RLUIPA’s provisions that protect the rights of houses of worship and other religious institutions to worship on their land. More information is available at www.justice.gov/crt/placetoworship.

Individuals who believe they have been subjected to discrimination in land use or zoning decisions may contact the U.S. Attorney’s Office Civil Division’s Civil Rights Section at (213) 894-2879 or the Civil Rights Division Housing and Civil Enforcement Section at (833) 591-0291, or may submit a complaint through the complaint portal on the Place to Worship Initiative website. More information about RLUIPA, including questions and answers about the law and other documents, may be found at www.justice.gov/crt/about/hce/rluipaexplain.php.