Category: US Department of Justice

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett today sentenced Justin Kuchta, age 40, of Annapolis, Maryland, to four months in federal prison, followed by one year of supervised release, for threatening to murder a United States Member of Congress. 

The sentence was announced by Erek L. Barron, United States Attorney for the District of Maryland; Chief J. Thomas Manger of the United States Capitol Police; and Superintendent of the Maryland State Police, Colonel Roland L. Butler, Jr.

According to his plea agreement, Kuchta made threats to murder a Member of the U.S. Congress.  Specifically, a U.S. Member of Congress’ district office in Texas reported that on July 18, 2022, it received a threatening message via an event management website.  The website was being used by an event planner to coordinate an event held in the State of Missouri, being attended by Member of Congress 1.  The Subject line of that email read, in relevant part: “Rally in Missouri – Featured Guest [Member of Congress 1], [Individual 1], and [Individual 2].”  The message stated, “Thank you for the address!!! I’m coming to murder all of you Satanist f*ckers!!! Especially the chuckle-f*ck Zodiak [sic] Killer [Member of Congress 1]!! That fat fake f*cker ass will be the first on the gallows!! SEE ALL OF YOU F*CKERS REALLY SOON!!! With my fresh militia and weapons!!! Thanks for the info f*ckers!!!”  The Member of Congress’ Washington office reported that a similar message was sent on July 22, 2022, using the same event management website.

As detailed in the plea agreement, an investigation revealed that the IP address was registered to a private high-speed network operated by the State of Maryland.  Network records revealed that the IP address originated from a Virtual Private Network and computer assigned to Kuchta.  Kuchta was subsequently interviewed, after being advised of his rights, by Special Agents with the U.S. Capitol Police and investigators assigned to the Maryland State Police Computer Crimes Unit at his place of employment in Annapolis, Maryland.  While Kuchta initially denied sending the email messages, he ultimately admitted that he sent the July 18, 2022, threatening message over the website.    

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the United States Capitol Police and the Maryland State Police for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney P. Michael Cunningham, who prosecuted the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, and its efforts to protect national security, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/anti-terrorism.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

The Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced that Tesoro Refining and Marketing Company will pay a $27.5 million penalty for violating a 2016 consent decree ordering the company to reduce air pollution at its petroleum refinery in Martinez, California. In particular, according to today’s settlement, Tesoro failed to limit air emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOX), a pollutant that contributes to smog.

The settlement requires Tesoro to adhere to strict pollution controls at the facility. The facility is currently undergoing conversion into a renewable fuels plant, which will use renewable sources such as vegetable oils to produce fuels instead of crude oil. The settlement also sets up a framework for additional pollutant reductions, including significant climate co-benefits. Specifically, the settlement requires Tesoro to forego hundreds of annual emission credits that it could otherwise sell to area sources who could then increase their emissions.

“Today, we are holding Tesoro accountable for its failure to implement court-ordered pollution controls,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “This settlement requires Tesoro to forfeit substantially more air emission credits than the excess emissions associated with its violations, resulting in cleaner air for those who live and work in the San Francisco area.”

“Tesoro did not meet the consent decree pollution limit because it did not install adequate pollution controls,” said Acting Assistant Administrator Larry Starfield for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “As this settlement shows, EPA will seek substantial penalties when companies delay installing appropriate pollution controls to meet environmental obligations.”

In May 2020, Tesoro suspended operations at the Martinez refinery and then announced its plan to convert the refinery to a renewable fuels plant. Today’s agreement includes requirements to limit air pollution from the future renewable fuels plant. The agreement does not prohibit Tesoro from resuming petroleum refining, but if it does so, Tesoro must install specific air pollution control technology, at an expected cost of $125 million, to ensure stringent NOX emission limits are met.

“Tesoro failed to meet its requirement to reduce air pollution at the Martinez refinery, and EPA is now taking firm action to hold Tesoro accountable,” said Regional Administrator Martha Guzman of the EPA Pacific Southwest. “This settlement ensures that Tesoro complies with stringent air pollution limits, to protect neighboring communities regardless of fuel type.”

To mitigate pollution resulting from its violation of the 2016 consent decree, Tesoro agreed to surrender most of its existing NOX emission trading credits. Tesoro also agreed to forego almost all trading credits from the shutdown of petroleum refining equipment should it convert to a renewable fuels plant. A company can receive emission credits by shutting down equipment and then apply such credits to offset emissions from new projects or trade such credits to other companies for their use. By requiring Tesoro to surrender existing credits and forego petroleum-related shutdown credits if it converts to a renewable fuels plant, the settlement prevents Tesoro and other local sources from using these credits. As a result, the settlement filed today will limit emissions in the San Francisco Bay area.

Specifically, if Tesoro resumes petroleum refining, the settlement requirements will reduce annual air emissions by about 261 metric tons of NOX. If Tesoro converts the facility to a renewable fuels plant, the settlement will result in annual air emissions reductions of about 440 tons of NOX, 327 tons of sulfur dioxide, 697 tons of carbon monoxide, 69 tons of volatile organic compounds, 301 tons of fine particulate matter and the equivalent of 1,342,025 tons of carbon dioxide. 

The terms of a 2016 federal consent decree, which resolved Clean Air Act violations at the Martinez refinery and five other refineries nationwide, established emission limits for multiple pollutants including NOX. The settlement announced today, which will modify the 2016 settlement, includes new requirements that apply whether Tesoro chooses to reopen the Martinez facility as a petroleum refinery or a renewable fuels plant.

There will be a 30-day public comment period on the modification to the 2016 settlement. Information on how to comment on the modification will be available in the Federal Register and at www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees.

For more information on the 2016 federal consent decree and today’s agreement, go to 2023 Tesoro Martinez Clean Air Act Settlement Information Sheet | US EPA.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

PROVIDENCE – Tao Jiang, the president and owner of Broad Tech System, Inc., a California-based electronics distribution company, and his company were both sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island for concealing information from the U.S. Department of Commerce and from U.S. Customs and Border Protection as part of a scheme to illegally export chemicals manufactured and/or distributed by a Rhode Island-based company to a technology company in China with ties to the Chinese military, announced United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha.

Tao Jiang, aka Jason Jiang, 53, of Riverside, CA, and Broad Tech Systems pleaded guilty on January 11, 2023, to charges of conspiracy, violation of the Export Control Act, and money laundering conspiracy. Jiang was ordered by U.S. District Court Chief Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., to serve one year of federal probation, to pay a fine of $5,500, and to perform 100 hours of community service; Broad Tech Systems was placed on federal probation for one year and ordered to pay a fine of $120,000.

Additionally, Jiang and Broad Tech Systems were ordered to implement ethics and training programs for all officers and employees of Mr. Jiang and his companies; and to hire an employee whose responsibility is to monitor Broad Tech, and all companies owned by Mr. Jiang, to ensure that his companies and his employees are in full compliance with U.S. laws and regulations.

In pleading guilty, Jiang and Broad Tech System admitted to a federal judge that they conspired together, as well as with Bohr Winn-Shih, an engineer employed at Broad Tech System, to order the chemicals Photoresist and HPRD (Developer) from a North Kingstown-based manufacturer, and then knowingly submitted false and misleading documentation to the U.S. Government and to shipping companies in an effort to have those products illegally shipped to a company in China, in violation of the Export Control Reform Act. 

The intended recipient of the shipment, a state-owned Chinese entity in Nanjing, China, mainly engages in the manufacturing of electronic components and research, development and production of core chips and key components that are used in China’s military strategic early warning systems, air defense systems, airborne fire control systems, manned space systems, and other large-scale national projects. Photoresist and HPRD are essential to the chip manufacturing process.

The Chinese company that was intended to receive these products is on a U.S. government list of businesses that are not permitted to receive products manufactured in the United States.

In October 2018, the Customs and Border Protection National Targeting Center alerted the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) of an intended export of 58 gallons of Photoresist to the China-based company.  The product was returned to the manufacturer. Several days after the shipment was halted, the Rhode Island manufacturer received a call from Jiang, acting on behalf of Broad Tech System, seeking to purchase 94 gallons of Photoresist, and asking that it be shipped to a different China-based company. The manufacturer communicated to DOC agents that they found this to be suspicious because they had not done business with Broad Tech in the past; the quantity of Photoresist ordered was unusually significant; and the request came just days after the first shipment had been recalled. It was determined by DOC agents that Jiang, Shih and Broad Tech concealed the intended recipient, and that the shipment’s final destination was actually the Nanjing-based company controlled by the Chinese government.  

On January 29, 2019, Broad Tech received a wire transfer of $65,984 to its bank account within the United States, representing payment for the 58 gallons of Photoresist. It was determined that the wire transfer originated from an account controlled by the Nanjing, China-based company.

Bohr Winn-Shih, 65, of Ontario, CA, pleaded guilty on May 11, 2021. Winn-Shih was sentenced on August 3, 2021, to one year of probation.

The cases were prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul F. Daly, Jr.

The matter was investigated by the U.S. Department of Commerce and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

SAN ANTONIO – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas joins the rest of the nation in commemorating National Crime Victims’ Rights Week (NCVRW) April 23-29.  NCVRW is an annual week of recognition to honor victims of crime and ensure their rights are upheld.

This year’s theme is “Survivor Voices: Elevate. Engage. Effect Change.”  It calls upon communities to amplify the voices of survivors and create environments where survivors have the confidence that they will be heard, believed, and supported.

“Survivors of crime often face physical, emotional and psychological trauma that can have long-lasting effects.  They deserve our support, our compassion and our protection,” said U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza of the Western District of Texas.  “As U.S. Attorney, I am committed to ensuring that criminals are held accountable for their actions, and that victims are treated with dignity and respect.  This week, we stand in solidarity with survivors and remain focused on working toward a society in which all victims are treated with dignity and respect so that they can heal and rebuild their lives.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas has a dedicated team of prosecutors and victim assistance professionals who work together to ensure victims of crime receive the services and support they need.

In 2022, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas obtained a default judgement against Samantha Mueting and her company, iCORE Global.  Mueting led a real estate scam, perpetrating a series of frauds upon couple nearing retirement.  One of the victim couples lost approximately $600,000 to Mueting and iCORE Global when they sent wire transfers to Mueting’s bank accounts in San Antonio. Immediately after the wire transfers were deposited, Mueting made a large cash withdrawal. Suspecting fraud, bank officials closed the account and issued a check to Mueting who then deposited the funds into another bank account in San Antonio under the name of iCORE Global LLC and ICG Secure Deposit Funds LLC.  Working with the United States Secret Service, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas filed a civil forfeiture case against the funds, which then totaled $482,194.05.  The funds were returned to the victims in or about Oct. 2022.

On Aug. 4, 2022, Jose Gomez III was sentenced in Midland to 25 years in prison on hate crime charges for attacking an Asian family he believed was Chinese and therefore responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic.  Gomez further admitted that he had attempted to kill the family’s six-year-old child.  In addition to the prison sentence, Gomez was ordered to pay the victims $16,782.74 in restitution.

On Aug. 24, 2022, two men were sentenced in Waco for robbing five area merchants at gunpoint, causing severe harm to each of their victims through violent crime.  Roosevelt Jones IV is now serving a 20 year prison sentence, while co-defendant Christopher Teon Fults is serving 10 years.  Combined, Jones and Fults were ordered to pay more than $21,000 in restitution to the victims.

On Jan. 23, 2023, Jaycob Andrew Bustamante was sentenced to 204-months imprisonment, a 30 year term of supervised release, and $13,500 restitution, for cyberstalking, distribution of child sexual abuse material and extortion.  Between January 2021 and September 2021, he created multiple social media accounts posing as the victim, through which he posted the sexually explicit images and sent the child pornography to her friends and family. Over the course of Bustamante’s constant harassment, he repeatedly threatened and stalked the victim through social media, placing her and her family in fear of violence, while demanding more sexually explicit images.

On Feb. 8, 2023, Connor Flores Jimenez, of the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas Reservation near Eagle Pass, was sentenced in Del Rio to 20 years in prison after he severely injured his two-month-old baby and choked his wife unconscious.

On April 4, 2023, Alberto Jimenez Pastrana was sentenced in Pecos to 15 years in prison for possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.  Pastrana had shot at a vehicle containing his children and their mother, then crashed into it with this own vehicle and drove away, fleeing numerous law enforcement vehicles from various agencies.  Pastrana was a convicted felon with four prior felony convictions and received the statutory maximum sentence.

Visit ovc.ojp.gov/ncvrw2023/overview for more information on National Crime Victims’ Rights Week.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

Anchorage – A federal grand jury in Alaska returned an indictment on April 21, 2023, charging a Homer man with unlawful transportation of four black bears and making false records in violation of the Lacey Act.

According to court documents, Travis Larson, 47, of Homer, and his company Alaska Premier Sportfishing, LLC, were named as defendants in the six-count indictment. The indictment alleges that in May 2018, Larson and Alaska Premier Sportfishing illegally transported four black bears they knew had been unlawfully harvested by four Norwegian hunters. The defendants used a 65-foot vessel, the Venturess, and a 16-foot motorboat to commit these offenses. The indictment further charges that Larson and Alaska Premier Sportfishing made and submitted false records, which stated the four bears had been transported from Nuka Island, when in truth they had been transported from Beauty Bay and Surprise Bay on the Kenai Peninsula.

Larson is charged with four counts of Unlawful Transportation of Wildlife, in violation of 16 U.S.C. § 3372(a)(2)(A); and two counts of Making False Record, in violation of 16 U.S.C. § 3372(d). If convicted, he faces a maximum of five years in prison and a $20,000 fine on each count. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. The defendants are scheduled for their initial court appearance May 11, 2023, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew M. Scoble of the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska.

U.S. Attorney S. Lane Tucker of the District of Alaska made the announcement.

The United States Fish Wildlife Service, National Park Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Alaska State Troopers are investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth Brickey is prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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