Category: US Department of Justice

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON — A Florida man has been sentenced for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, which disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress that was in the process of ascertaining and counting the electoral votes related to the presidential election.

            Christian Matthew Manley, 27, of Fort Walton Beach, was sentenced to 50 months incarceration, 36 months supervised release, $2000 restitution and $100 special assessment fee.  The sentence is the result of a guilty plea from November 19, 2021, where Manley plead guilty to assaulting, resisting, and impeding law enforcement while using a dangerous weapon.

            According to the statements of facts, Manley was captured on video in the Lower West Terrace of the Capitol, wearing a flak jacket, armed with bear spray, a collapsible police baton, and handcuffs as he approached the archway entrance. At approximately 2:53 p.m., he can be seen spraying bear spray at officers from the U.S. Capitol Police and Metropolitan Police Department, who were defending the entrance. He threw the empty bear spray container at officers a few seconds later, then used a second cannister to again spray the officers. He then threw this cannister, too, at the officers. Then, at 2:55 p.m., he accepted a metal rod from another rioter and threw it at the officers.  Manley also wedged his body against a wall in the tunnel and used force to push the security door against officers defending 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’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska.

            The case was investigated by the FBI’s Birmingham, Alabama Field Office, as well as the FBI’s Washington Field Office, which identified Manley as #81A in its seeking information photos, and the Metropolitan Police Department. Significant assistance was provided by the FBI’s Anchorage Field Office and the U.S. Capitol Police.

            In the 27 months since Jan. 6, 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 over 320 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

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that ESTEBAN CABRERA DA CORTE, a/k/a “Esteban Cabrera,” a/k/a “Esteban Da Corte,” a/k/a “Steban,” pled guilty today to participating in a scheme to steal millions of dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency and trick U.S. banks into refunding the millions used to purchase that cryptocurrency, in part by using personal identifying information stolen from other people. 

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Esteban Cabrera Da Corte orchestrated a scheme to steal millions of dollars by buying cryptocurrency using false and stolen identities and then deceiving U.S. banks regarding those transactions.  As a result of his guilty plea, Cabrera Da Corte is now being held to account.  Our Office will continue to work vigorously with our law enforcement partners to protect the integrity of U.S. banks and financial markets to the full extent of the law from those who seek to enrich themselves through fraud and deceit, including those who attempt to shroud themselves in the anonymity of digital transactions.”

According to the Indictment and statements made in court:

From at least in or about 2020 through at least in or about March 2020, CABRERA DA CORTE and his co-conspirators engaged in a scheme to deceive U.S. banks and a leading cryptocurrency exchange platform (the “Cryptocurrency Exchange”) by purchasing more than $4 million in cryptocurrency and then falsely claiming that the cryptocurrency purchase transactions were unauthorized, deceiving the U.S. banks and the Cryptocurrency Exchange into reversing those transactions and redepositing the money into the bank accounts that the Defendants controlled.  The Defendants then withdrew the money from the bank accounts.

To carry out this scheme, the Defendants opened accounts with the Cryptocurrency Exchange, frequently using photos of fake U.S. passports, fake drivers’ licenses, and stolen personal identifying information.  The Cryptocurrency Exchange accounts were linked to bank accounts that the Defendants controlled.  The Defendants used money that had been deposited into the linked bank accounts, frequently through a series of cash deposits made using ATMs, to purchase cryptocurrency.  That cryptocurrency was then quickly transferred to other cryptocurrency wallets outside of the Cryptocurrency Exchange that were controlled by the Defendants and their co-conspirators.  After the cryptocurrency was transferred, the Defendants made telephone calls to the U.S. banks during which they falsely represented that the cryptocurrency purchases were unauthorized, leading the banks to reverse the transactions. 

The operation of this scheme by the Defendants resulted in U.S. banks processing more than $4 million in fraudulent reversals and the Cryptocurrency Exchange losing more than $3.5 million worth of cryptocurrency. 

*                *                *

ESTEBAN CABRERA DA CORTE, 26, of Miami, Florida, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison, and agreed to pay restitution of $3,578,786.69 and forfeiture of $1,200,000. 

The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by a judge.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding work of Homeland Security Investigations’ El Dorado Task Force. 

The matter is being handled by the Money Laundering and Transnational Criminal Enterprises Unit.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Emily Deininger and Josiah Pertz are in charge of the prosecution.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that BRIAN KOLFAGE and ANDREW BADOLATO were sentenced today by United States District Judge Analisa Torres.  KOLFAGE was sentenced to 51 months in prison, and BADOLATO was sentenced to 36 months in prison, for their respective roles in carrying out a scheme to defraud hundreds of thousands of donors in connection with an online crowdfunding campaign known as “We Build The Wall” by soliciting donations using false statements and then stealing the resulting donations.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Brian Kolfage and Andrew Badolato abused the trust of donors to We Build the Wall and stole hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations to line their own pockets.  The defendants have now been held accountable for their criminal conduct.”

According to court filings and evidence introduced during court proceedings:

Starting in approximately December 2018, BRIAN KOLFAGE, ANDREW BADOLATO, their co-defendant TIMOTHY SHEA, and others orchestrated a scheme to defraud hundreds of thousands of donors, including donors in the Southern District of New York, in connection with an online crowdfunding campaign ultimately known as “We Build The Wall” that raised more than $25,000,000 to build a wall along the southern border of the United States.  In particular, to induce donors to donate to the campaign, KOLFAGE repeatedly and falsely assured the public that he would “not take a penny in salary or compensation” and that “100% of the funds raised…will be used in the execution of our mission and purpose.”

Those representations were lies.  In truth, KOLFAGE, BADOLATO, SHEA, and others received hundreds of thousands of dollars in donor funds from We Build the Wall, which they each used in a manner inconsistent with the organization’s public representations.  For example, KOLFAGE covertly took for his personal use more than $350,000 in funds that donors had given to We Build the Wall.  To conceal the payments to KOLFAGE from We Build the Wall, KOLFAGE, BADOLATO, SHEA, and others devised a scheme to route those payments through entities and bank accounts that they controlled.  They took various steps to obscure or conceal these payments, including by using fake invoices and sham contracts — conduct for which SHEA was convicted at trial of obstruction of justice.

In imposing today’s sentences on KOLFAGE and BADOLATO, Judge Torres noted that “this was no ordinary financial fraud,” because when victims donated to We Build the Wall, “they were expressing their views about a political issue that was important to them.”  Noting that the offense cast doubt on the efficacy of political involvement and that the scheme would “undoubtedly have a chilling effect” on political donations, Judge Torres remarked that “the fraud perpetrated by Mr. Kolfage and Mr. Badolato went well beyond defrauding individual donors. They hurt us all.”

*                *                *

KOLFAGE, 41, of Miramar Beach, Florida, and BADOLATO, 58, of Cocoa, Florida, each pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.  KOLFAGE also pled guilty to tax and wire fraud charges originally filed by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida. 

SHEA, 52, of Castle Rock, Colorado, was convicted after trial of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and obstruction of justice, and is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Torres on June 13, 2023.

In addition to the prison terms, KOLFAGE was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit $17,872,106 and pay restitution in the amount of $2,877,414.  BADOLATO was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit $1,414,368 and pay restitution in the amount of $1,414,368.  Judge Torres also separately ordered forfeiture of $1,376,597.39 of funds held by We Build the Wall and real property located in Sunland Park, New Mexico, on which We Build the Wall had constructed a portion of a wall.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Special Agents of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

The case is being handled by the Office’s Public Corruption Unit.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mollie E. Bracewell, Alison G. Moe, Nicolas Roos, Robert B. Sobelman, and Derek Wikstrom are in charge of the prosecution.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

MADISON, WIS. – Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Ryan P. Murray, 45, Weston, Wisconsin was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson to 137 months in federal prison for possessing with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.  The prison term will be followed by 8 years of supervised release.  Murray pleaded guilty to this charge on January 31, 2023.

On January 10, 2022, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department deputies responded to a report of a one vehicle crash.  The driver, Murray, had left the scene of the crash and was found some distance away.  Next to Murray, deputies located a bag that contained 291 grams of methamphetamine.  Deputies located a loaded Glock 9mm handgun along the path Murray had travelled leaving the crash scene.  Within Murray’s crashed vehicle, deputies found a Kel-Tec rifle, ten loaded extended magazines, and a suppressor. 

At the time of this incident, Murray had five active arrest warrants and had nine open state criminal cases, including four involving possessing a firearm as a felon and another involving substantial battery.  Murray has since been convicted and sentenced in many of his state cases and is currently serving multiple state prison sentences with an anticipated release date of February 16, 2028.  As it relates to the firearms involved in this case, Murray was convicted of possession of a firearm by a felon in Lincoln County Circuit Court Case No. 2022CF14 on April 11, 2022, and was sentenced to 180 days in county jail.  Judge Peterson ordered Murray’s 137-month federal sentence run concurrently to the remainder of his state prison sentences and to any sentences imposed on his still pending cases.

At sentencing, Judge Peterson noted that the protection of the public was the primary driver of the sentence in this case.  He highlighted Murray’s nearly unrelenting pattern of criminality for over 25 years and that Murray was a drug dealer who goes heavily armed.  Murray’s history of guns, violence, and drug trafficking represented a clear danger to the community. 

The charge against Murray was the result of an investigation conducted by the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven P. Anderson prosecuted this case. 

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – Rodney Burton 35, of Washington, D.C., pleaded guilty today to two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a person convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Acting SAC Michael Weddel from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Chief Robert J. Contee III, of the Metropolitan Police Department.

            Burton entered the guilty plea in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. U.S. District Court Judge Christopher R. Cooper scheduled a sentencing hearing for July 19, 2023.

            According to the government’s evidence, on November 22, 2022, the defendant was arrested by the United States Marshals Service (USMS) on an outstanding warrant and was found to be in possession of two firearms.   The defendant was in possession of a Springfield Armory XD .45 caliber handgun which contained one round in the chamber and thirteen rounds of ammunition in the magazine with a total capacity of thirteen rounds.  The second recovered firearm was a Sig-Sauer P220 .45 caliber handgun with one round of ammunition in the chamber and seven rounds of ammunition in the magazine.  Furthermore, on August 12, 2022 officers conducted a search of an apartment where the defendant was known to reside and recovered a black Masterpiece Arms pistols with no rounds in the chamber but with twenty-two rounds of ammunition forced into a twenty round capacity magazine.

            In announcing today’s plea, U.S. Attorney Graves, Acting SAC Weddel, and Chief Contee commended the work of those who investigated the case from Project Safe Neighborhood from both the Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  They acknowledge the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialist Karla Nunez.

            Finally, they commended the efforts of Assistant United States Attorney Shehzad Akhtar who investigated and prosecuted the case.