District of Connecticut

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and William P. Offord, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in New England, announced that KENNETH ZITO, 51, of Wethersfield, waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas P. Smith in Hartford to one count of tax evasion.

According to court documents and statements made in court, ZITO worked at Daniel Zito Financial Services, a South Windsor commercial financial services firm owned by ZITO’s father, where ZITO prepared tax returns for individuals and businesses.  Although ZITO and his father worked together, they submitted client tax returns separately.  Between 2007 and 2009, ZITO cashed checks he received from clients as payment for his services, but did not deposit the checks or declare them on his federal income tax return.  In pleading guilty, ZITO admitted that he failed to report $219,759.32 in income during that three-year period, and that he owes the Internal Revenue Service $59,621 in back taxes, as well as interest and penalties.

ZITO’s sentencing is scheduled for June 10, 2014 before Senior U.S. District Judge Alfred V. Covello in Hartford, at which time ZITO faces a maximum term of imprisonment of five years and a fine of up to $100,000.

This investigation was conducted by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David J. Sheldon.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that TERRELL WILLS, 40, of Stamford, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to 48 months of imprisonment, followed by four years of supervised release, for his role in a southwestern Connecticut narcotics trafficking ring. 

This matter stems from a six-month investigation spearheaded by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Stamford Police Department’s Narcotics and Organized Crime Squad.  As a result of the investigation, 20 individuals have been charged in federal court with various offenses related to the distribution of cocaine and crack cocaine in Bridgeport, Norwalk and Stamford.

During the investigation, law enforcement officers seized more than $100,000 in cash, 500 grams of cocaine, 350 grams of crack cocaine, several vehicles and jewelry.

According to court documents and statements made in court, the investigation revealed that Marvin Wooten, also known as “Smash,” of Norwalk, was operating a significant crack cocaine distribution ring in Fairfield County.  Between September 2012 and January 2013, Wooten regularly purchased multi-hundred gram quantities of cocaine from various sources of supply, including individuals who were selling cocaine out of a Bridgeport barbershop.  He then converted the cocaine to crack cocaine and distributed it to other dealers and customers.  WILLS regularly purchased crack cocaine from Wooten’s associate, Gary England, and then sold the drug to his own customers. 

On September 12, 2013, WILLS pleaded guilty to one count of possession with the intent to distribute cocaine base (“crack cocaine”).

Wooten and England also pleaded guilty.  On May 22, 2013, Wooten was sentenced to 120 months of imprisonment.  England awaits sentencing.

This matter has been investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Bridgeport High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force – including the Bridgeport, Stamford, Norwalk, Milford, Westport, and Stratford Police Departments, and the Connecticut State Police – and the Stamford Police Department’s Narcotics and Organized Crime Squad.  The U.S. Marshals Service also assisted in the arrests of several of the defendants.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah Karwan and Robert Spector.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that DAVID LESTER JOHNSTON, 45, of Ridgefield, was arrested today on federal health care fraud charges.  On March 12, 2014, a federal grand jury sitting in Hartford returned an indictment charging JOHNSTON with 14 counts of health care fraud and 14 counts of making false statements relating to health care matters.

JOHNSTON, an osteopathic physician, owns and operates Osteopathic Wellness Center, LLC, located at 158 Danbury Road in Ridgefield.  The indictment alleges that JOHNSTON engaged in a scheme to defraud Medicare and several private health insurance companies by billing for osteopathic and physical therapy services that he did not perform, and by misrepresenting the nature of the services that were performed.

JOHNSTON appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna F. Martinez in Hartford and entered a plea of not guilty.  He was released on a $100,000 bond.

If convicted, JOHNSTON faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a fine of up to $250,000 on each of the health care fraud counts, and a maximum term of imprisonment of five years and a fine of $250,000 on the false statements counts.

The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny in Hartford.

U.S. Attorney Daly stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  Charges are only allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This matter is being investigated by the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael W. Ahearn and Auditor Kevin A. Saunders.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that CORNEL CAMERON, 36, of Bridgeport, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to 40 months of imprisonment for his role in a southwestern Connecticut narcotics trafficking ring. 

This matter stems from a six-month investigation spearheaded by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Stamford Police Department’s Narcotics and Organized Crime Squad.  As a result of the investigation, 20 individuals have been charged in federal court with various offenses related to the distribution of cocaine and crack cocaine in Bridgeport, Norwalk and Stamford.

During the investigation, law enforcement officers seized more than $100,000 in cash, 500 grams of cocaine, 350 grams of crack cocaine, several vehicles and jewelry.

According to court documents and statements made in court, the investigation revealed that CORNEL CAMERON’s brother, Chester Cameron, regularly purchased half-kilogram quantities of cocaine from suppliers in New York and Jamaica.  Chester Cameron and CORNEL CAMERON then distributed the drug from the Fresh Cuts barbershop in Bridgeport.  One of the Cameron’s main drug customers was Marvin Wooten, also known as “Smash,” of Norwalk, who converted large amounts of cocaine into crack, which he distributed throughout Fairfield County.

On October 15, 2013, CORNEL CAMERON pleaded guilty to two counts of using a telephone to facilitate a drug trafficking felony.  Chester Cameron and Wooten also pleaded guilty and are serving prison terms of 70 months and 120 months, respectively.

The Camerons are citizens of Jamaica and face deportation proceedings when they complete their federal sentences.

This matter is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Bridgeport High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force – which is composed of members of the Bridgeport, Stamford, Norwalk, Milford, Westport, and Stratford Police Departments, and the Connecticut State Police – and the Stamford Police Department’s Narcotics and Organized Crime Squad.  The U.S. Marshals Service also assisted in the arrests of several of the defendants.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah Karwan and Robert Spector.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that CHRISTINA TARTAGLIO, 34, of Bridgeport, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny in Hartford to nine months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for embezzling from her employer.  TARTAGLIO also must spend the first six months of her supervised release in home confinement under electronic monitoring.

According to court documents and statements made in court, between 2008 and 2011, TARTAGLIO was employed as a corporate travel consultant, office manager, and accounting assistant for a travel agency located in Shelton.  During that time TARTAGLIO embezzled from the travel agency by drafting refund checks from the agency to clients who were not due any refunds, forged the clients’ signatures, endorsed the checks, and then deposited them into her personal bank account.  Also, where a commission was due to the travel agency, TARTAGLIO entered all or part of the commission as a credit payable to a random client or a fictitious name and then wrote a check for the credit amount to that name.  She then endorsed each check and deposited it into her bank account.  She also created checks payable to vendors or suppliers for operating expenses, changed the payee on a check to a fictitious name created by her, endorsed and then deposited the checks in her account.

Through this scheme, TARTAGLIO embezzled $94,237.05.  She was ordered to pay full restitution.

On June 10, 2013, TARTAGLIO pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.

This matter was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service, the Shelton Police Department and the Connecticut Financial Crimes Task Force, which includes federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Felice M. Duffy.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that three New Haven men involved in a crack cocaine distribution ring have pleaded guilty in Bridgeport federal court.  DONALD OGMAN, also known as “Main” and “Mainy-O,” 32, KENNETH STURDIVANT, also known as “Slay,” 28, and ROMELL BROWN, 35, each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, cocaine base (“crack cocaine”).  OGMAN pleaded guilty today, and STURDIVANT and BROWN pleaded guilty on March 10 and March 11, respectively.

According to court documents and statements made in court, this matter stems from an investigation conducted by the FBI New Haven Safe Streets Task Force and the New Haven Police Department into drug distribution and related violence allegedly being committed by members and associates of the Grape Street Crips in New Haven.

When they are sentenced, OGMAN, STURDIVANT and BROWN face a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of life.  They been detained since they were arrested in March 2012.

On April 9, 2012, a grand jury returned an indictment charging 18 individuals with narcotics distribution offenses stemming from this investigation.  Two more individuals were later charged in the case with the same offense.  To date, 16 of the defendants have pleaded guilty.  Four defendants are awaiting trial, which is currently scheduled to begin on March 24 before Senior U.S. District Judge Warren W. Eginton in Bridgeport.

With respect to the defendants awaiting trial, U.S. Attorney Daly stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  Charges are only allegations, and each defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This matter is being investigated by the FBI’s New Haven Safe Streets Task Force, which includes the New Haven, Hamden and Milford Police Departments, the Connecticut State Police and the State of Connecticut Department of Correction.  The investigation has been assisted by the U.S. Marshals Service and the Westerly (R.I.) Police Department.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anthony E. Kaplan and H. Gordon Hall.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, Patricia M. Ferrick, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Ronald G. Gardella, Special Agent-in-Charge, Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, New York Field Office, announced that KISHA PERKINS, a case manager at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury (FCI Danbury), was arrested today on a federal criminal complaint charging her with aiding and abetting a scheme to solicit and collect cash bribes from FCI Danbury inmates in exchange for a recommendation that inmates be released early to “halfway houses.”

PERKINS, 42, of Waterbury, was arrested this morning by FBI special agents at her home.  She appeared this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Joan G. Margolis in New Haven and was released on a $100,000 bond.

“There is no tolerance for corrupt employees within the ranks of the Justice Department,” stated U.S. Attorney Daly.  “The allegations contained in this criminal complaint are serious and disturbing.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office and our federal investigative partners are committed to rooting out corruption at all levels of Government.”

“Plainly and simply, the FBI has zero tolerance for corruption of any kind, at any level of government,” stated FBI Special Agent in Charge Ferrick. “The allegations in the complaint are clearly very serious crimes.  And the resulting law enforcement response to committing those crimes should be equally clear.  If you put your position of trust with the government up for sale, you will be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

As alleged in the criminal complaint, in June 2013, PERKINS approached another FCI Danbury employee about an opportunity to participate in a scheme to solicit a cash bribe from an inmate at FCI Danbury in exchange for the inmate’s early release to a halfway house.  At that time, PERKINS held the job title of “Unit Counselor” at FCI Danbury and did not have administrative authority to recommend inmates for early release.  PERKINS explained that the inmate and the inmate’s husband were willing to pay $20,000, and that PERKINS’ co-worker, who would receive half of the money, was needed to complete the scheme because the co-worker had the administrative ability to recommend inmates for early release.

PERKINS’ co-worker declined to participate in the scheme, reported the incident to law enforcement and agreed to cooperate in the investigation, which included the use of numerous consensually recorded conversations.

In July 2013, PERKINS’ co-worker told PERKINS that he/she had changed his/her mind and wanted to participate in the scheme.  It is alleged that PERKINS informed her co-worker that a scheme involving the inmate who had been previously identified was no longer feasible.

As the investigation continued, in February 2014, PERKINS’ co-worker identified a second inmate as a possible candidate for the bribe scheme.  Is it alleged that PERKINS agreed to participate and, after extensive planning, on March 8, 2014, PERKINS and her co-worker traveled to a commuter lot off of Exit 28 on Interstate 84 to pick up a partial bribe payment of $5,000 in cash in a fast food bag that, as PERKINS believed, was to be dropped off by an acquaintance of the inmate.

The complaint charges PERKINS with aiding and abetting in a bribery scheme of a public official, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 15 years.

U.S. Attorney Daly stressed that a complaint is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt.  Charges are only allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan Wines.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that DAVID GAUDIOSI, also known as “Wade,” 29, of Waterbury, was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven to 60 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for trafficking oxycodone. 

According to court documents and statements made in court, this matter stems from “Operation Blue Coast,” an investigation headed by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Bridgeport High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force into the large-scale trafficking of oxycodone pills from Florida to Connecticut.  The investigation revealed that an individual regularly purchased oxycodone from suppliers in Florida, transported the oxycodone to Connecticut by commercial airline or automobile, and sold the pills for profit to various Connecticut-based narcotics dealers.  He then transported the proceeds of his oxycodone sales from Connecticut to Florida, either by having a courier drive the money or by using commercial airline flights.

In early 2010, the Florida narcotics trafficker was introduced to GAUDIOSI, who already had been illegally distributing narcotic pills in the Waterbury area.  After the meeting, the trafficker began to supply GAUDIOSI with thousands of oxycodone pills on a weekly basis.  GAUDIOSI also visited the narcotics trafficker in Florida on multiple occasions to obtain prescriptions for oxycodone from unscrupulous pain clinics, commonly referred to as “pill mills.”

GAUDIOSI was arrested on September 13, 2011.  On June 5, 2012, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute oxycodone. 

Seventeen individuals, including two law enforcement officers and three Transportation Security Agency officers, have been convicted as a result of this investigation and prosecution.

This matter was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Bridgeport High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, which included personnel from the Connecticut State Police and the Bridgeport, Milford, Norwalk, Stamford and Westport Police Departments; the DEA in Florida and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General.  In addition, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Greenwich, Monroe, Danbury and Waterbury Police Departments have assisted the investigation.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rahul Kale.

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The United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut todayannounced that a federal grand jury in Bridgeport has returned an indictment charging a Monroe property management company, its owner and the company’s accountant with conspiring to defraud a Bridgeport-based residential property owner.

As alleged in the indictment, which was returned yesterday and unsealed today, ANTHONY TESTO, 66, of Monroe, was the owner and president of ACT Builders, Inc., which was contracted to serve as a property manager for an entity in Bridgeport that owned an apartment complex and several single and multi-family residences.  TESTO’s role as property manager included filling vacant rental units, setting rental amounts, collecting security deposits, collecting rent from tenants and depositing rental payments in the property owner’s bank account.  TESTO also was required to submit to the property owner a monthly “rent roll,” which was a spreadsheet showing the occupancy of the rental units, the rental amounts due and the rental payments collected from tenants.  THOMAS RAGONESE, 54, of Trumbull, provided accounting services to TESTO and ACT Builders.  At TESTO’s instruction, RAGONESE prepared the rent rolls.

From approximately January 2007 to August 2010, it is alleged that TESTO, ACT Builders and RAGONESE schemed to defraud the property owner by submitting fraudulent rent rolls that misrepresented that certain rental units were vacant with no rent due when, in fact, the apartments were occupied and rent had been collected.  The rent rolls also misrepresented that the rent due and collected for certain rental units was lower than the amount that was actually collected.  It is alleged that TESTO deposited rental income that was due to the property owner into both his personal bank account and the ACT Builders bank account.

The indictment also alleges that RAGONESE maintained a second set of records in which he kept track of the rental income actually due and collected, which was more than the rental income reported on the rent rolls.

The indictment charges TESTO, RAGONESE and ACT Builders with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.  If convicted of the charge, TESTO and RAGONESE face a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years, and ACT Builders faces a maximum term of probation of five years.

TESTO was arrested this morning.  He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge William I. Garfinkel and was released into home confinement, under electronic monitoring, on a $500,000 bond.

RAGONESE was arrested on a criminal complaint on February 25, 2014.  He also appeared today before Judge Garfinkel and was released on a $250,000 bond.

This case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny in Hartford.

This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Felice Duffy.

An indictment is not evidence of guilt.  Charges are only allegations, and each defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Patricia M. Ferrick, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced that ERNEST SYKU, 43, of the Bronx, N.Y., and ROBERT FRANCELLA, also known as “Bobby Fingers,” 54, of Yonkers, N.Y., were arrested today on a federal criminal complaint charging them with collection of an extension of credit by extortionate means.

According to statements made in court, SYKU and FRANCELLA are alleged to have threatened a Connecticut resident with violence in order to induce this individual to pay an alleged $240,000 debt.

Following their arrests, SYKU and FRANCELLA appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge William I. Garfinkel in Bridgeport and were detained pending detention hearings that are scheduled for next week.

If convicted of the charge of collection of an extension of credit by extortionate means, both SYKU and FRANCELLA face a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years and a fine up to $250,000.

U.S. Attorney Daly stressed that a complaint is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt.  Charges are only allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This matter is being investigated by the FBI Fairfield County Organized Crime Task Force, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, the Bridgeport Police Department, and the Connecticut State Police.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Chen.

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The United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut announced that MOHAMMED N. ISLAM, also known as “Tanveer,” 38, of Trumbull, waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Leslie G. Foschio in Bridgeport to conspiring to defraud financial institutions through an extensive mortgage fraud scheme that involved dozens of properties in Fairfield County.

According to court documents and statements made in court, between 2006 and 2013, ISLAM participated in a mortgage fraud conspiracy that involved the purchase of numerous single and multi-family properties, primarily in Bridgeport and Stamford.  During the scheme, materially false information was provided to mortgage lenders by ISLAM and his co-conspirators.  The fraudulent information included false verifications of mortgage applicants’ income, false verifications of down payments for real estate transactions and false HUD-1 Forms.

In pleading guilty, ISLAM admitted that he recruited and directed the actions of several “straw buyers,” or individuals who fraudulently applied for and obtained mortgage loans but did not have an actual financial investment or stake in the mortgage loan transactions.  In fact, ISLAM was the intended owner of the property, managed the property and collected all of the rents from the property.

Through this scheme, lenders suffered losses of more than $7 million.  Many of the properties involved in this mortgage fraud scheme ended up in foreclosure, or in short sale transactions.

ISLAM pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud.  He is scheduled to be sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall on June 4, 2014, and faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 30 years.

This ongoing investigation is being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ann M. Nevins and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney John McReynolds.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, Christy Romero, Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), and Patricia M. Ferrick, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, today announced that New York-based investment bank and broker-dealer Jefferies LLC (Jefferies) and the U.S. Attorney’s Office have entered into a non-prosecution agreement relating to Jefferies’ trading in residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), including with funds created and funded through the Troubled Asset Relief Program by the federal government.  As part of this agreement, Jefferies will pay a monetary penalty of $25 million.

“Employees in Jefferies’ fixed income division repeatedly misled their own customers, said U.S. Attorney Daly.  “The sole purpose of this deception was to increase profit to Jefferies and its employees.  Not only did management tolerate these illegal practices, but the culture within the division encouraged the fraudulent conduct.  By entering into this agreement, Jefferies recognized the seriousness of the problem and committed to change.  While our investigation of individuals continues, we agreed to this corporate resolution in order to reflect the company’s cooperation and to avoid further damage to its many blameless employees and shareholders.  Broker-dealers are on notice that lying to customers to increase profits is a crime, and are strongly encouraged to root out and report such misconduct to avoid significant consequences.  We thank SIGTARP, Connecticut FBI and the Boston Regional Office of the SEC for their excellent work on this important case.”

“The government absolutely expects that businesses dealing with federal TARP programs, funded by taxpayers and designed to address the financial crisis, will ensure that they and their employees conduct themselves using strict adherence to the laws of this country and the highest standards of ethics, integrity, and cooperation,” said Christy Romero, Special Inspector General for TARP (SIGTARP).  “When Jefferies learned of a suspected fraud scheme by one of its senior traders, Jesse Litvak, to cheat and overcharge TARP-funded entities and that Jefferies supervisors were aware of the lies but turned a blind eye, Jefferies chose to do the right thing.  Jefferies cooperated with the government, conducted an internal investigation, acknowledged the harm done, agreed to pay for that harm, and took responsibility to make necessary changes to its staffing as well as to its compliance policies, procedures, and internal controls.”

“Perhaps most troublesome in this fraud scheme was that Jefferies management in the fixed income division learned of the fraud and did nothing to stop it, let alone report it,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Ferrick.  “Such egregious conduct supports the $25 million dollar penalty and underscores the need to investigate and prosecute all responsible parties.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office, SIGTARP and the FBI make a formidable team in the pursuit of justice and will continue to thoroughly investigate this matter.”

In response to the 2008 financial collapse, the U.S. Department of Treasury introduced the Legacy Securities Public-Private Investment Program (PPIP), and used more than $22 billion of bailout money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to restart the trading markets for many troubled securities, including certain kinds of RMBS.  The program created nine PPIP funds, and more than 100 firms applied to manage the funds.  TARP infused between $1.4 billion and $3.7 billion of bailout money into each of the PPIP funds that was to be invested alongside private capital.

Jefferies’ Mortgage and Asset-Backed Securities Trading group traded RMBS on the secondary market by buying and selling RMBS to customers, including Legacy Securities Public-Private Investment Funds.  In approximately 2009, certain Jefferies’ employees in that group fraudulently increased the profitability of certain RMBS trades for Jefferies in various ways, including by misrepresenting the RMBS seller’s asking price to the buyer and by misrepresenting the buyer’s asking price to the seller.  Jefferies’ employees also concealed that RMBS were being sold from Jefferies’ inventory in order to charge buyers an extra commission to which Jefferies was not entitled.

At times, members of Jefferies’ management in the fixed income division became aware that Jefferies employees were making misrepresentations to customers and did nothing to stop it.

Under the terms of the non-prosecution agreement, which was entered into on January 29, 2014, Jefferies agreed to pay a total penalty of $25 million.  The penalty includes up to $11 million in restitution to victims and up to a $4,200,402 penalty to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).  Jefferies also agreed to address deficiencies in the compliance and ethics practices and policies of its Mortgage and Asset-Backed Securities Trading group.  These measures include Jefferies’ agreement to retain an Independent Compliance Consultant to conduct a review of Jefferies’ policies and procedures for detecting and preventing fraud in connection with the purchase or sale of RMBS.

The agreement announced today addresses only the corporate criminal liability of Jefferies LLC, not potential criminal charges for any individual.  The criminal investigation of individuals associated with Jefferies’ RMBS trading activities remains active and ongoing.  Jefferies has cooperated with the federal criminal investigation, and already implemented certain compliance improvements.

On March 7, 2014, a federal jury in New Haven found Jesse C. Litvak, a registered broker-dealer and former managing director at Jefferies, guilty of multiple offenses involving a scheme to defraud customers trading in RMBS.

This matter is being investigated by the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan Francis and Eric Glover.

This matter was investigated in coordination with the RMBS Working Group, a joint federal and state initiative created to investigate those responsible for misconduct contributing to the 2008 financial crisis. RMBS were pools of mortgages deposited into trusts and then sold as securities to investors who were to receive a stream of income from the mortgages packaged in the RMBS. The RMBS Working Group, which is chaired by Attorney General Eric Holder, brings together more than 200 attorneys, investigators, analysts and staff from dozens of state and federal agencies including the Department of Justice, ten U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, the FBI, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), HUD’s Office of Inspector General, the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Office of Inspector General, SIGTARP, the Federal Reserve Board’s Office of Inspector General, the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and more than ten state Attorneys General offices around the country.

For more information about the RMBS Working Group and the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, please visit: www.stopfraud.gov.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Ronald G. Gardella, Special Agent-in-Charge, Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, New York Field Office, announced that STEVEN WOLFF, 46, of the Bronx, N.Y., was sentenced today by Senior U.S. District Judge Warren W. Eginton in Bridgeport to five months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised released, for sexually abusing an inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury.  WOLFF was also ordered to serve the first five months of his supervised release in home confinement under electronic monitoring.

According to court documents and statements made in court, WOLFF, while employed as a Utilities Systems Repair Operator Foreman by the Federal Bureau of Prisons at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, engaged in sexual acts with a female inmate at the prison.  On multiple occasions between July 2011 and November 2011, WOLFF and the victim met privately in the boiler area of the prison facility and engaged in sexual intercourse.  In addition, WOLFF provided contraband including hair dye, candy, greeting cards and over-the-counter medication to the inmate.  Contraband was also provided to another inmate who acted as a lookout during the illicit sexual activity.

On August 6, 2013, WOLFF pleaded guilty to one count of sexual abuse of a ward.

This case was investigated by the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anastasia E. King.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that LYNN A. SCHEUFLER, 35, formerly of Woodstock, Conn. and currently residing in Vermont, pleaded guilty on Friday, March 7, before U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford to structuring hundreds of thousands of dollars, including funds that she embezzled from her employer.

According to court documents and statements made in court, SCHEUFLER was the Controller and Chief Financial Officer of a company that owns and operates dining and nightlife venues in the northeastern United States.  In that role, she was responsible for filling ATM machines located in the company’s venues out of the cash that managers collected from daily business operations and deposited into nightly deposit bags.  Over the course of approximately two years, SCHEUFLER embezzled funds by taking cash out of the company’s nightly deposit bags and by making unauthorized withdrawals from the company’s cash accounts using the company’s ATM cards.

SCHEUFLER, with the assistance of then boyfriend and now husband, Craig L. Galligan, deposited at least $400,000 in stolen cash into their personal bank accounts.  Most of these deposits were illegally structured so that no individual deposit exceeded the $10,000 threshold that would have triggered bank reporting requirements.

Federal law requires all financial institutions to file a Currency Transaction Report (CTR) for currency transactions that exceed $10,000.  To evade the filing of a CTR, individuals will often structure their currency transactions so that no single transaction exceeds $10,000.  Structuring involves the repeated depositing or withdrawal of amounts of cash less than the $10,000 limit, or the splitting of a cash transaction that exceeds $10,000 into smaller cash transactions in an effort to avoid the reporting requirements.  Even if the deposited funds are derived from a legitimate means, financial transactions conducted in this manner are still in violation of federal criminal law.

SCHEUFLER pleaded guilty to one count of illegally structuring financial transactions as part of a pattern of illegal activity, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.  Judge Thompson scheduled sentencing for May 30, 2014.

On August 1, 2013, Galligan, 42, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to structure financial transactions.  He awaits sentencing.

SCHEUFLER and Galligan were arrested on October 10, 2012, and are currently released on bond.

This matter is being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael S. McGarry.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Daniel J. Kumor, Special Agent in Charge of the ATF Boston Field Division, announced that ROBERT BRINKERHOFF, 54, of Old Lyme, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to violating federal firearms laws.  BRINKERHOFF works as the general manager of Tri-Town Plastics, a federally-licensed firearms manufacturer located in Deep River. 

According to court documents and statements made in court, Tri-Town Plastics (“Tri-Town”) has a contract with Smith and Wesson to manufacturer firearm frames at its Deep River facility.  In February 2012, after the Plainfield Police Department seized a Smith and Wesson 9 millimeter handgun from a residence, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) learned that Smith and Wesson had no record of the handgun ever having been manufactured.  A review of Tri-Town’s records revealed that the handgun had been scrapped in March 2011.

The investigation revealed that, in 2009, ATF had directed Tri-Town to address some record-keeping issues that were uncovered during a routine inspection.  In March 2011, while ATF was preparing to conduct another routine inspection of Tri-Town, two Tri-Town employees discovered that there were approximately 23 firearms missing from their inventory.  Rather than report the firearms as missing, the employees falsely listed them as “scrapped” in Tri-Town’s acquisition and disposition records so that ATF would not learn that they were missing and would renew Tri-Town’s license.  Soon after ATF contacted Tri-Town in February 2012 to inquire about the Smith and Wesson handgun that was seized in Plainfield, one of the Tri-Town employees responsible for the fraudulent scrapping advised BRINKERHOFF of the phony record entries that were recorded in March 2011.  BRINKERHOFF waited until June 2012 to cause a theft/loss report that listed the 23 missing firearms to be filed with ATF.  However, the report failed to advise ATF that all of the firearms had been falsely listed as scrapped in March 2011.

BRINKERHOFF pleaded guilty to one count of failing to file a theft/loss report and one count of making false statements in a theft/loss report.  Judge Underhill scheduled sentencing for June 2, 2014, at which time BRINKERHOFF faces a maximum term of imprisonment of one year and a fine of up to $100,000 on each count.

This ongoing investigation is being conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert M. Spector and Vanessa Richards.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, Christy Romero, Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), and Patricia M. Ferrick, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, today announced that a federal jury in New Haven has convicted JESSE C. LITVAK, a registered broker-dealer and former managing director at New York investment bank Jefferies & Co., Inc., of multiple offenses involving a scheme to defraud customers trading in residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS).  The jury convicted Litvak on all counts, including 10 counts of securities fraud, one count of Troubled Asset Relief Program fraud and four counts of making false statements within the jurisdiction of the United States Government.

The trial before Chief U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall began on February 18 and the jury returned its verdict today after deliberating for approximately two days.

“Today’s verdict shows plainly and powerfully that Wall Street professionals are not above the law,” said U.S. Attorney Daly. “A lie is a lie, and fraud is fraud. The jury rightly rejected Mr. Litvak’s shameful claim that he did nothing wrong because many on Wall Street engage in the same conduct. The defendant manipulated facts and made self-serving misrepresentations about the bonds he was buying and selling in a scheme that netted him and his employer more than $2 million in ill-gotten gain. His crime caught the attention of the Attorney General’s RMBS Working Group because much of that $2 million was from the defendant’s scheme to defraud a federal program created with taxpayer money to aid our nation in recovering from the 2008 financial meltdown. I want to acknowledge SIGTARP and the FBI for their incredible work on this ongoing investigation. The U.S. Attorney’s Office and our RMBS Working Group partners remain highly committed to investigating the fraud and abuse that helped lead to the 2008 financial crisis, particularly where that fraud is related to the government’s response to the crisis.”

“This afternoon at 2:30pm, Jesse Litvak, a former senior trader at New York investment bank Jefferies & Co., was convicted of lying through his teeth to defraud American taxpayers out of their hard-earned TARP investments,” said Christy Romero, Special Inspector General for TARP (SIGTARP). “The defendant was the first person SIGTARP arrested for a crime related to the TARP bailout program known as PPIP, and he is now the first person convicted of a crime related to that program.  Trading in mortgage securities can be a complicated business, but what the defendant did was simple – he lied to, defrauded, and illegally overcharged customers out of pure greed to benefit Jefferies and himself. Some of those customers were taxpayers who funded the TARP bailout. I would like to thank Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan Francis and Eric Glover for their hard work and the deftness with which they prosecuted the case. SIGTARP and our law enforcement partners stand united in protecting taxpayers’ TARP investments, and we will track down perpetrators of TARP fraud and ensure they receive swift justice.”

“Today’s verdict was swift and just, and serves as a stern warning to those who defraud the Government for their own greed and avarice,” stated FBI Special Agent in Charge Ferrick. “TARP was designed to aid in the recovery from one of the worst recessions in U.S. history.  Mr. Litvak orchestrated a scheme of deceit and prevarication to manipulate the program to the detriment of investors and the markets. The U.S. Attorney’s Office and all the other members of the RMBS Working Group form a highly effective partnership that will continue to identify and prosecute those who steal TARP funds.”

According to the evidence introduced during the three-week trial, in response to the 2008 financial collapse, the U.S. Department of Treasury introduced the Legacy Securities Public-Private Investment Program (PPIP), and used more than $22 billion of bailout money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to restart the trading markets for many troubled securities, including certain kinds of RMBS. The program created nine PPIP funds, and more than 100 firms applied to manage the funds. TARP infused between $1.4 billion and $3.7 billion of bailout money into each of the PPIP funds that was to be invested alongside private capital. 

LITVAK, 39, of New York, N.Y., was a senior trader and managing director at Jefferies & Co, Inc. (“Jefferies”), a global securities and investment banking firm headquartered in New York. Jefferies also had a trading floor in Stamford, Conn., where LITVAK and other members of its Mortgage and Asset-Backed Securities trading group worked.  

The jury found that LITVAK engaged in a scheme to defraud based on two types of misrepresentations. First, as a broker-dealer, only LITVAK – not the bond seller or buyer – knew the selling and asking prices of the parties. LITVAK exploited this information by misrepresenting the RMBS seller’s asking price to the buyer and by misrepresenting the buyer’s asking price to the seller. Having fraudulently manufactured a gap, LITVAK, on behalf of Jefferies, pocketed the difference in the price paid by the buyer and the price paid to the seller. Second, LITVAK took bonds held in Jefferies’ inventory and sold them to RMBS buyers only after inventing a fictitious third-party seller. This ruse allowed LITVAK to charge the buyer an extra commission that Jefferies was not entitled to because it was selling bonds it held in its own inventory.
Through these schemes, LITVAK defrauded numerous PPIP funds and multiple private investment funds of a total of more than $2 million.

LITVAK was found guilty of ten counts of securities fraud, a charge that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years on each count, one count of TARP fraud, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years, and four counts of making false statements to the federal government, a charge that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years on each count.

Judge Hall scheduled sentencing for May 30, 2014.  LITVAK has been released on bond since his arrest on January 28, 2013.

This matter is being investigated by SIGTARP and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan Francis and Eric Glover.

This prosecution was brought in coordination with the RMBS Working Group, a joint federal and state initiative created to investigate those responsible for misconduct contributing to the 2008 financial crisis. RMBS were pools of mortgages deposited into trusts and then sold as securities to investors who were to receive a stream of income from the mortgages packaged in the RMBS. The RMBS Working Group, which is chaired by Attorney General Eric Holder, brings together more than 200 attorneys, investigators, analysts and staff from dozens of state and federal agencies including the Department of Justice, ten U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, the FBI, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), HUD’s Office of Inspector General, the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Office of Inspector General, the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), the Federal Reserve Board’s Office of Inspector General, the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and more than ten state Attorneys General offices around the country.

For more information about the RMBS Working Group and the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, please visit: www.stopfraud.gov.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that RAKENT BUNKLEY, also known as “Kent” and “Kent Street,” 25, of Hartford, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford to 80 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for distributing crack cocaine.

This matter stems from “Operation Vinefield,” a joint law enforcement investigation headed by the FBI’s Northern Connecticut Violent Crimes Task Force targeting narcotics trafficking and gang violence in Hartford’s North End.  As a result of the nine-month investigation, 38 individuals were charged with various offenses related to the distribution of crack cocaine and the unlawful possession and dealing of firearms in and around Hartford.

According to court documents and statements made in court, one of the main targets of the investigation was Dementrius Nave, a member of the AVE street gang with a lengthy criminal history.  Court-authorized wiretaps of Nave’s phones, coordinated motor vehicle stops and seizures, and physical surveillance, confirmed that Nave and his associates, including BUNKLEY, conspired to distribute crack cocaine and other narcotics in Hartford’s Northeast neighborhood.  BUNKLEY is a member of the “Forty Deuce” set of the AVE.

BUNKLEY’s criminal history includes a state felony conviction stemming from a carjacking robbery.  In September 2009, he was sentenced to three years of imprisonment for that offense.  Approximately four months after he was released in October 2011, he was intercepted on Nave’s phone conspiring to sell crack cocaine.

BUNKLEY has been detained since his arrest on February 13, 2012.  On November 5, 2013, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine base (“crack cocaine”).
Nave has pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing.

This matter has been investigated by the FBI’s Northern Connecticut Violent Crimes Task Force, the Connecticut State Police, the Hartford Police Department, and the Connecticut Department of Correction.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian P. Leaming.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ROBERT LIQUINDOLI, 42, of Waterbury, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to five months of imprisonment, followed by one year of supervised release, the first five months of which LIQUINDOLI must serve in home confinement.  On November 20, 2013, LIQUINDOLI pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of the administration of the Internal Revenue laws.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in December 2011, the Internal Revenue Service was conducting an investigation of Thomas Thorndike, a Waterbury tax preparer.  In connection with that investigation, the IRS requested to interview LIQUINDOLI, whose 2007 and 2008 tax returns had been prepared by Thorndike.  After being contacted by the IRS, LIQUINDOLI sought to obstruct the IRS’s investigation by obtaining false documents that he intended to present to the IRS in support of deductions he claimed on his tax returns in 2007 and 2008.  Between December 2011 and February 2012, LIQUINDOLI engaged in an effort to obtain false documents in support of false items on these tax returns, and lied to the IRS concerning the extent to which he possessed original and legitimate documents to support the deductions on his tax returns.  LIQUINDOLI also falsely denied that he had attempted to obtain false documents to support those deductions.

LIQUINDOLI, who was formerly employed as a detective with the Waterbury Police Department, was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $4,489.56.

Thorndike pleaded guilty to tax offenses in October 2012 and, on March 12, 2013, was sentenced to 72 months of imprisonment.

This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Mattei and Eric Glover.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that GUITANA JONES, 42, formerly of Waterbury, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to one count of failing to register as a sex offender.  JONES also admitted to violating the conditions of her supervised release from a previous federal conviction.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in October 2003, JONES was sentenced in federal court to 120 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiracy and use of an interstate facility to transmit information about a minor.  Also, in June 2007, she was given a concurrent sentence in state court of risk of injury to a minor and conspiracy to commit risk of injury to a minor.  JONES was released from federal prison in May 2010.

As a convicted sex offender, JONES was told that she was required to register and update her registration under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (“SORNA”).  Convicted sex offenders must update their address within five days of any move, re-registering in any state to which they move, and verifying their current address with local law enforcement every 90 days.  Prior to her release on federal supervision, JONES was told that crossing state lines without registering in the new state or notifying Connecticut of her change of address could result in federal prosecution for failure to register.

In September 2011, JONES requested the Court’s permission to move from Connecticut to Florida.  In March 2012, her request was denied and JONES was told that she was not permitted to move to Florida while on federal supervised release.

In May 2013, the U.S. Probation Office learned that JONES had moved to Florida and, at times, had traveled back to Connecticut to avoid detection of her supervised release violation.  JONES also tested positive for cocaine use.  On June 10, 2013, U.S. Marshals arrested JONES for violating her supervised release.  She has been detained since her arrest.

The investigation revealed that, in September 2012, JONES obtained a Florida identification card after providing an address in Miramar, Fla.  She also possessed and used a cellular telephone with a Florida area code while residing in Florida between February and April 2013.  The Florida Sex Registry has no record of JONES ever applying to register as a sex offender. 

When she is sentenced, JONES faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years for failing to register and update a registration as required by SORNA, and a maximum term of imprisonment of two years for violating her supervised release.

This matter was investigated by the United States Marshals Service and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter S. Jongbloed.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that DANIEL EVANS, also known as “D-Nice,” 41, of New Haven, was sentenced today by Senior U.S. District Judge Ellen Bree Burns in New Haven to 72 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for distributing heroin.

According to court documents and statements made in court, this matter stems from “Operation Bloodline,” a joint law enforcement investigation targeting narcotics trafficking and gang violence in the Dwight-Kensington and Fair Haven sections of New Haven.  Led by the DEA New Haven Task Force and the New Haven and Hamden Police Departments, the year-long investigation included the use of court-authorized wiretaps on numerous telephones, extensive physical surveillance, controlled purchases of narcotics, execution of search warrants, and seizures of narcotics and firearms.  More than 100 individuals were charged as a result of the investigation.

EVANS has been detained since his arrest on May 17, 2012.  On September 20, 2013, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, heroin.

EVANS’s criminal history includes at least four prior felony convictions, including three prior felony drug convictions and one conviction for assault in the second degree with a firearm. 

This matter is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Haven Task Force, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the New Haven, Hamden, West Haven, North Haven, Branford, Ansonia and Meriden Police Departments.  The United States Marshals Service, the Connecticut State Police, the Connecticut Department of Correction, Parole and Community Services and the Milford, Hartford, New Britain, North Branford and Stratford Police Departments have provided valuable assistance to the investigation.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys S. Dave Vatti and Marc Silverman.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Daniel J. Kumor, Special Agent in Charge of the ATF Boston Field Division, announced that BRIAN VANACORE, 48, of North Branford, GREG BODYTKO, 54, of Northford, and their business, BMG LLC, pleaded guilty today in Bridgeport federal court to violating federal firearms laws.

According to court documents and statements made in court, VANACORE and BODYTKO were the owners of BMG LLC (BMC), which operated a gun store at 2585 Berlin Turnpike in Newington.  VANACORE and BMG had three separate federal firearms licenses to deal firearms in Connecticut, and BODYTKO was a 50 percent partner in the business with VANACORE.

In the summer of 2013, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) conducted a routine inspection of BMG’s Newington store.  During the inspection, ATF inspectors found several firearms, including machine guns and silencers, which are required to be registered under the National Firearms Act.  BMG records revealed that BMG had purchased these firearms, but had not changed the registration information in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.  As a result, each of the firearms remained registered to the individual who sold them to BMG.  In total, BMG possessed 15 firearms that it should have registered under the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.

BMG, VANACORE and BODYTKO also failed, on numerous occasions, to report the sale of multiple handguns to the same individual, and failed to record in their Acquisition and Disposition records the acquisition and/or disposition of hundreds of firearms.  On numerous occasions, the defendants failed to fill out properly, or failed to fill out at all, ATF Form 4473, a form that must be completed by individuals who purchase firearms from federally-licensed firearms dealers.  They also failed to conduct necessary background checks on at least 10 separate occasions.

VANACORE and BODYTKO each pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge William I. Garfinkel to one count of failing to keep a complete and accurate written record in its acquisition and disposition records for firearms, and one count of failing to report the multiple sale of handguns.  VANACORE also entered a guilty plea on behalf of BMG to one count of making false entries in dealer’s records.

VANACORE and BMG are scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford on May 28, 2014, and BODYTKO is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Shea on June 6, 2014. 

ANACORE and BODYTKO face a maximum term of imprisonment of one year and a fine of up to $100,000.

This matter was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert M. Spector and Michael Runowicz.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and William P. Offord, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in New England, announced that ROBERT JOSEPH PARKER, 51, of Fairfield, waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to one count of tax evasion.

According to court documents and statements made in court, PARKER earned income by providing information technology services to various businesses.  Between 1996 and 2012, PARKER did not pay any federal income tax on approximately $2 million of income he received in his own name, and in the name of his alter ego entity known as Success Zone, LLC.

Judge Arterton scheduled sentencing for June 17, 2014, at which time PARKER faces a maximum term of imprisonment of five years and a fine of up to $100,000.  In addition, the government believes that PARKER owes approximately $2 million in taxes, interest and penalties for himself personally for tax years 1996 through 2012, and for Success Zone, LLC, for tax years 2003 through 2012.

This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Senior Litigation Counsel Richard J. Schechter.

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Singapore-based ODFJELL ASIA II PTE LTD. and one of its senior crew members pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Hartford, Conn., for violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS), announced Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division Robert G. Dreher, United States Attorney Deirdre M. Daly, and Rear Admiral Daniel B. Abel, Commander of the First Coast Guard District in Boston.

“The defendants violated environmental laws that protect our oceans, the world’s fisheries and marine life, from harmful pollution,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Dreher.  “Today's conviction ensures they will be held accountable with a stiff criminal fine, contribute to conservation efforts in coastal areas of Long Island, and submit to strict monitoring.  We hope this sends a strong message to the shipping industry that committing environmental crimes at sea will not be tolerated.”  

“Pollution of our waters will not be tolerated,” said U.S. Attorney Daly.  “Shipping companies are on notice that violating American environment laws will result in federal prosecution and puts at risk their business interests in this country.  Crew members who ignore these laws may also face incarceration.  Although these illegal discharges of oily waste occurred in international waters, we are gratified that a quarter of the $1.2M monetary penalty will fund improvements and protection of the Long Island Sound, a vital economic and recreational resource that contains many unique wildlife habitats.”

“The Coast Guard is committed to working with the maritime industry and federal, state, and local law enforcement partners, to protect the U.S. maritime environment from individuals who pollute our waters,” said Rear Admiral Abel.  “When these violations occur, the Coast Guard will work with our partners to ensure that the violators are held accountable under the law.”

According to court documents and statements made in court, ODFJELL ASIA II PTE LTD. (ODFJELL) operated the M/T Bow Lind, a 577-foot, 26,327 gross ton petroleum/chemical tanker ship.  On November 6, 2012, the U.S. Coast Guard boarded the vessel in New Haven to conduct an inspection.  The inspection and subsequent criminal investigation revealed that three times between October 2011 and October 2012, while in international waters, the vessel discharged machinery space bilge water directly into the sea.  At the direction of senior engineer Ramil Leuterio, crew members bypassed pollution prevention equipment that was in place to ensure that any discharged bilge water contain less than 15 parts per million of oil.  The crew then concealed the illegal discharges by making misleading entries and omissions in the vessel’s oil record book.

According to several engine room crew members, Leuterio directed them to use a complex system to transfer the bilge water from the bilge holding tank to the sewage tank.  From the sewage tank, the bilge water was dumped directly into the sea without passing through pollution prevention equipment.  Once the bilge holding tank was emptied, Leuterio directed the lower ranking crew members to put clean fresh water and salt water into the tank.  As the pollution prevention equipment automatically records the time it is being operated, Leuterio then processed the clean water through the  prevention equipment, thereby creating an electronic record to account for the bilge water that had bypassed the equipment and been discharged directly overboard.

Under the terms of a binding plea agreement, if accepted by the court, ODFJELL will be placed on probation for a period of three years and pay a criminal penalty totaling $1.2 million, including $300,000 that will be directed to The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to fund projects aimed at the preservation and restoration of the marine environment of Long Island Sound. 

As a condition of probation, ODFJELL will implement an environmental management plan which will ensure that any ship operated by ODFJELL calling on a port of the United States complies with all maritime environmental requirements established under applicable international, flag state, and port state laws.  The plan ensures that ODFJELL’s employees and the crew of any vessel operated by ODFJELL that calls on a United States port are properly trained in preventing maritime pollution. An independent monitor will report to the court regarding ODFJELL’s compliance with these obligations during the period of probation.

Leuterio, 42, a citizen of the Philippines, pleaded guilty yesterday to one count of violating APPS for his role in directing lower ranking crewmembers to make the illegal discharges and for failing to accurately maintain the vessel’s oil record book.  He faces a maximum term of imprisonment of six years and a fine of up to $250,000.

U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant has scheduled sentencing for May 14, 2014.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound, Coast Guard Investigative Service, and Coast Guard office of Investigations and Analysis (CG-INV).  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul H. McConnell from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut and Trial Attorney Stephen Da Ponte in the Environmental Crimes Section of the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that GILBERT GALAN, JR., also known as “G” and “Skittles,” 32, of New Haven, was sentenced today by Senior U.S. District Judge Ellen Bree Burns in New Haven to 46 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for trafficking heroin.

According to court documents and statements made in court, this matter stems from “Operation Bloodline,” a joint law enforcement investigation targeting narcotics trafficking and gang violence in the Dwight-Kensington and Fair Haven sections of New Haven.  Led by the DEA New Haven Task Force and the New Haven and Hamden Police Departments, the year-long investigation included the use of court-authorized wiretaps on numerous telephones, extensive physical surveillance, controlled purchases of narcotics, execution of search warrants, and seizures of narcotics and firearms.  More than 100 individuals were charged as a result of the investigation.

On December 6, 2013, GALAN pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, heroin.

GALAN’s criminal history includes one prior felony narcotics conviction.

This matter is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Haven Task Force, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the New Haven, Hamden, West Haven, North Haven, Branford, Ansonia and Meriden Police Departments.  The United States Marshals Service, the Connecticut State Police, the Connecticut Department of Correction, Parole and Community Services and the Milford, Hartford, New Britain, North Branford and Stratford Police Departments have provided valuable assistance to the investigation.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys S. Dave Vatti and Marc Silverman.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Patricia M. Ferrick, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced that AMANDA C. BOWDEN, 21, formerly of East Haven, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to approximately 10 months of imprisonment, time already served, followed by three years of supervised release, for threatening to carry out a violent attack at Gateway Community College in New Haven.

According to court documents and statements made in court, between approximately February 4 and February 16, 2013, BOWDEN made numerous telephonic threats, initially through text messaging with a cooperating witness and subsequently through text messaging and verbal conversations with an undercover law enforcement agent, discussing her plans to commit a suicidal mass shooting and bombing at Gateway Community College in New Haven.  In these communications, BOWDEN claimed to possess firearms and to have constructed at least two napalm-based bombs at her residence.

BOWDEN was arrested on February 19, 2013.  On that date, investigating agents conducted a court-authorized search of BOWDEN’s East Haven residence.  No firearms or explosive devices were found during the search.

On April 25, 2013, BOWDEN pleaded guilty to one count of false information and hoaxes.

BOWDEN was detained after her arrest until May 14, 2013, when she was released on bond into a Salvation Army program in Hartford that included mental health treatment.  She was returned to federal custody on July 11, 2013, for violating the conditions of her release.

Upon her release from federal custody today, BOWDEN was transferred to a State of Connecticut inpatient mental health facility for further treatment.  BOWDEN’s internet usage will be monitored by the U.S. Probation Office during her term of supervised release.

This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, the New Haven Police Department and the East Haven Police Department.  The FBI’s JTTF includes participants from the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Connecticut State Police, Bridgeport Police Department, Norwich Police Department and the New York Police Department.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Henry K. Kopel.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Patricia M. Ferrick, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, today announced that a federal grand jury sitting in New Haven has returned an indictment charging EDWARD THOMAS, also known as “Fire,” 39, and KAYLA WALTERS, 22, both of New York, with offenses related to the sex trafficking of minors.

The indictment alleges that, between September 2012 and August 2013, THOMAS and WALTERS conspired to recruit, harbor and transport a minor to engage in commercial acts.  The indictment further alleges that THOMAS also recruited, harbored and transported a second minor to engage in commercial sex acts.

The indictment was returned under seal on February 24, 2014, and THOMAS and WALTERS were arrested on February 28 at a hotel in Milford, Conn.  They appeared today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna F. Martinez in Hartford and were ordered detained.

THOMAS and WALTERS are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor, and THOMAS is charged with two counts and WALTERS with one count of sex trafficking of a minor.  If convicted of the charges, both defendants face a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of life.

U.S. Attorney Daly stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  Charges are only allegations, and each defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Connecticut Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.  The Stratford and Milford Police Departments have assisted the investigation.

The Connecticut Child Exploitation Task Force, which is housed at the main FBI office in New Haven, investigates crimes against children occurring over the Internet, and provides computer forensic review services for participating agencies.  For more information about the Task Force, or to report child exploitation crimes, please contact the FBI at 203-777-6311.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David E. Novick.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that TYRELL GARY, also known as “T-Buggy,” 29, of Hamden, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny in Hartford to 37 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for distributing cocaine.

According to court documents and statements made in court, this matter stems from “Operation Bloodline,” a joint law enforcement investigation targeting narcotics trafficking and gang violence in the Dwight-Kensington and Fair Haven sections of New Haven.  Led by the DEA New Haven Task Force and the New Haven and Hamden Police Departments, the year-long investigation included the use of court-authorized wiretaps on numerous telephones, extensive physical surveillance, controlled purchases of narcotics, execution of search warrants, and seizures of narcotics and firearms.

More than 100 individuals were charged as a result of the investigation.

The investigation revealed that GARY was purchasing distribution quantities of cocaine from Michael Smith, also known as “Smitty” and “Fingers.”  On January 18, 2012, law enforcement officers attempted to stop GARY’s car after one such purchase.  A motor vehicle chase ensued during which GARY attempted to discard the cocaine.  GARY was eventually apprehended and officers were able to recover a quantity of cocaine.

GARY has been detained since his federal arrest on May 22, 2012.  On December 3, 2013, he pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine.

GARY’s criminal history includes at least four felony convictions, including three drug-related offenses and a 2008 conviction for robbery in the State of Maine.

On January 13, 2014, a jury found Michael Smith guilty of one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, cocaine and cocaine base (“crack cocaine”), and one count of possession with intent to distribute, and distribution of, cocaine base.  He awaits sentencing.

This matter is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Haven Task Force, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the New Haven, Hamden, West Haven, North Haven, Branford, Ansonia and Meriden Police Departments.  The United States Marshals Service, the Connecticut State Police, the Connecticut Department of Correction, Parole and Community Services and the Milford, Hartford, New Britain, North Branford and Stratford Police Departments have provided valuable assistance to the investigation.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys S. Dave Vatti and Marc Silverman.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that JUAN G. CHEVEREZ, also known as “Guinchi,” 32, of Groton, pleaded guilty yesterday in Hartford federal court to conspiring to import and distribute large amounts of cocaine in southeastern Connecticut.  In addition, two defendants charged with narcotics distribution offenses as a result of the same investigation were sentenced yesterday.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in early 2012, Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), the U.S. Secret Service and the New London Police Department initiated an investigation to combat the large-scale trafficking of heroin and cocaine from the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico into and around southeastern Connecticut.  The investigation revealed that certain members of the conspiracy coordinated the shipment of heroin, and sometimes cocaine, via human couriers from the Dominican Republic to the United States.  Other members of the conspiracy obtained kilogram-quantities of cocaine in Puerto Rico and then mailed the drug to locations in and around New London where it was sold to distributors and customers.  Narcotics were also obtained from sources in New York City and Rhode Island.

More than 100 individuals were charged with federal and state offenses as a result of this investigation.

CHEVEREZ, who pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, received kilogram-quantities of cocaine in the mail from Axel Matta Figueroa, also known as “Joelito,” in Puerto Rico, and distributed the drug in southeastern Connecticut.  He is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant on June 16, 2014, at which time he faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 40 years.  CHEVEREZ also has agreed to forfeit several vehicles.  He has been detained since his arrest on April 3, 2013.

ISIDRO SUAREZ, also known as “El Diamante Negro,” 47, a citizen of the Dominican Republic last residing in the Bronx, N.Y., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to 18 months of imprisonment.  During the investigation, SUAREZ helped to broker a 200-gram heroin transaction with Luis Ariel Capellan Maldonado.  SUAREZ, who has been detained since his arrest on April 3, 2013, will be deported after he completes his sentence.

ORLANDO GONZALEZ-ROMAN, also known as “Bebo,” 24, of Groton, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant in Hartford to eight months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for assisting Frankie Rivera in the distribution of cocaine out of Rivera’s auto-repair service, PR Speed Shop, in New London.

Frankie Rivera, Luis Ariel Capellan Maldonado and Axel Matta Figueroa have pleaded guilty to narcotics conspiracy offenses.  On February 18, 2014, Rivera was sentenced to 36 months of imprisonment.  Capellan Maldonado and Matta Figueroa await sentencing.

This matter is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations; U.S. Secret Service; U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Air and Marine; Connecticut State Police; New London Police Department, Norwich Police Department, Waterford Police Department, Groton Town Police Department, East Lyme Police Department and Putnam Police Department.  The United States Marshals Service; ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations; Drug Enforcement Administration; HSI Assistant Attaché, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; HSI Arecibo, Puerto Rico Resident Office;  Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation; Connecticut Department of Correction, Parole and Community Services; and the Groton City, Willimantic, New Haven and Bristol Police Departments have provided valuable assistance to the investigation.

The federal case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alina P. Reynolds, Sarah P. Karwan and Henry K. Kopel.  The state cases are being prosecuted by the State’s Attorney for the New London Judicial District and Senior Assistant State’s Attorneys Paul Narducci and Stephen Carney.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that CHOLOE BRIGHT, also known as “Chi-Chi” and “Chello,” 29, of West Haven, was sentenced today by Senior U.S. District Judge Ellen Bree Burns in New Haven to 72 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for distributing heroin.

According to court documents and statements made in court, this matter stems from “Operation Bloodline,” a joint law enforcement investigation targeting narcotics trafficking and gang violence in the Dwight-Kensington and Fair Haven sections of New Haven.  Led by the DEA New Haven Task Force and the New Haven and Hamden Police Departments, the year-long investigation included the use of court-authorized wiretaps on numerous telephones, extensive physical surveillance, controlled purchases of narcotics, execution of search warrants, and seizures of narcotics and firearms.  The investigation revealed that BRIGHT was involved in the packaging and street-level distribution of heroin.

More than 100 individuals were charged as a result of the investigation.

BRIGHT has been detained since his arrest on May 17, 2012.  On December 6, 2013, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, heroin.

BRIGHT’s criminal history includes at least eight felony convictions, including four drug-related offenses and a 2004 conviction for first degree robbery.

This matter is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Haven Task Force, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the New Haven, Hamden, West Haven, North Haven, Branford, Ansonia and Meriden Police Departments.  The United States Marshals Service, the Connecticut State Police, the Connecticut Department of Correction, Parole and Community Services and the Milford, Hartford, New Britain, North Branford and Stratford Police Departments have provided valuable assistance to the investigation.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys S. Dave Vatti and Marc Silverman.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that LUIS MARTINEZ, 34, of Salem, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to 60 months of imprisonment, followed by four years of supervised release, for distributing heroin. 

According to court documents and statements made in court, in early 2012, Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), the U.S. Secret Service and the New London Police Department initiated an investigation to combat the large-scale trafficking of heroin and cocaine from the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico into and around southeastern Connecticut.  MARTINEZ was intercepted several times over a court-authorized wiretap ordering quantities of heroin from his drug supplier, Luis Ariel Capellan Maldonado, for distribution purposes.

In addition, when he arrested on April 3, 2013, MARTINEZ was found in possession of approximately one ounce of cocaine, a digital scale and drug packaging materials.

On November 19, 2013, MARTINEZ pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin.

More than 100 individuals have been charged with federal and state offenses as a result of this investigation.

Capellan Maldonado has pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing.

This matter is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations; U.S. Secret Service; U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Air and Marine; Connecticut State Police; New London Police Department, Norwich Police Department, Waterford Police Department, Groton Town Police Department, East Lyme Police Department and Putnam Police Department.  The United States Marshals Service; ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations; Drug Enforcement Administration; HSI Assistant Attaché, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; HSI Arecibo, Puerto Rico Resident Office;  Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation; Connecticut Department of Correction, Parole and Community Services; and the Groton City, Willimantic, New Haven and Bristol Police Departments have provided valuable assistance to the investigation.

The federal case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alina P. Reynolds, Sarah P. Karwan and Henry K. Kopel.  The state cases are being prosecuted by the State’s Attorney for the New London Judicial District and Senior Assistant State’s Attorneys Paul Narducci and Stephen Carney.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that federal grand jury sitting in Bridgeport has returned an indictment charging GIOVANNI CANDELARIO, 21, of Bridgeport, with one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

As alleged in court documents and statements made in court, at approximately 10 p.m. on February 1, 2014, a vehicle in which CANDELARIO was a passenger engaged in a chase with Bridgeport Police.  The vehicle eventually stopped on Ogden Street in Bridgeport and CANDELARIO fled on foot.  CANDELARIO was apprehended after he was found hiding in a trash can behind an apartment building on Hallet Street.  Officers subsequently traced the route of CANDELARIO’s flight and located a Smith and Wesson MP .40 caliber pistol on the driveway of an Ogden Street residence.  The firearm had been previously reported stolen.

The indictment alleges that, in March 2012, CANDELARIO was convicted in state court of possession with intent to distribute narcotics.  It is a violation of federal law for a person previously convicted of a felony offense to possess a firearm or ammunition that has moved in interstate or foreign commerce.

This prosecution stems from Project Longevity, a comprehensive initiative to reduce gun violence in Connecticut’s major cities.  Through Project Longevity, community members and law enforcement directly engage with members of groups that are prone to commit violence.  A critical component of the Project Longevity strategy is the “call-in,” a face-to-face meeting where Project Longevity partners engage group members and deliver a community message against violence, a law enforcement message about the consequences of further violence and an offer of help for those who want it.  CANDELARIO attended a call-in on October 30, 2013, in Bridgeport.

The indictment was returned on February 19 and was unsealed today during CANDELARIO’s arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna F. Martinez in Hartford.  CANDELARIO entered a plea of not guilty to the charge, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.

CANDELARIO has been detained since his arrest on February 1.

This matter is being investigated by the FBI’s Bridgeport Safe Streets Task Force and the Bridgeport Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rahul Kale.

U.S. Attorney Daly stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  Charges are only allegations, and each defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that SILVERIO CALIFANO, 53, of Stamford, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant in Hartford to 15 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for his involvement in organized crime-controlled illegal gambling businesses.  CALIFANO was also ordered to pay a $4,000 fine and to forfeit $40,000.

According to court documents and statements made in court, after a long-term investigation led by the FBI Fairfield County Organized Crime Task Force, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation and the Stamford Police Department, CALIFANO, Dean DePreta, Richard Uva and 17 other individuals were charged with various offenses related to their involvement in an illegal Internet sports bookmaking operation and illegal card gambling clubs.  As part of the conspiracy, DePreta and Uva were involved in the collection and payment of “tribute” payments to Gambino organized crime family associates in New York.

The investigation, which included the use of court-authorized wiretaps, revealed that CALIFANO was a long-time associate of DePreta and Uva, and was involved in a large-scale sports bookmaking operation in which gamblers placed bets with offshore Internet sports-gambling websites, particularly www.44wager.com based in Costa Rica.

FBI analysis of the sports-betting web site utilized by the defendants determined that the total gross revenues of the Stamford-based gambling operation were nearly $1.7 million from October 2010 to June 2011.

In addition, CALIFANO managed a card gambling club at 859 East Main Street in Stamford, where a house percentage, commonly referred to as a “rake,” was collected from every hand played.

On May 6, 2013, CALIFANO pleaded guilty to two counts of operating an illegal gambling business.

DePreta and Uva each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to violate the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).  On October 9, 2013, DePreta was sentenced to 71 months of imprisonment and ordered to forfeit $300,000.  On October 24, 2013, Uva was sentenced to 46 months of imprisonment and ordered to forfeit $250,000.

This matter is being investigated by the FBI Fairfield County Organized Crime Task Force, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, the Stamford Police Department, the Bridgeport Police Department and the Connecticut State Police.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Hal Chen and Peter Jongbloed.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that STEVEN THOMAS, 39, of Mashantucket, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to one day of imprisonment, time already served, for stealing from the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Government.  THOMAS also was ordered to serve two years of supervised release, the first three months of which must be served in home confinement, and to pay restitution of $177,603.69.

According to court documents and statements made in court, THOMAS served as the Assistant Director of the Office of Natural Resources Protection, an agency of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Government.  As an employee of the tribal government, THOMAS was required to complete and submit time cards on a weekly basis to the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation (“MPTN”) documenting that he reported to work for 40 hours each week.  However, THOMAS was a “no-show” employee and rarely reported to work or performed work of any kind.  Between January 2007 and January 2008, THOMAS submitted false weekly time cards to the MPTN that falsely reported the hours he worked.  During that period, THOMAS was paid approximately $177,603.69 by the MPTN based upon the false weekly time cards.

On October 3, 2013, THOMAS pleaded guilty to one count of theft from an Indian tribal government.  THOMAS resigned his position as Treasurer of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Council in advance of his guilty plea.

This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Interior – Office of Inspector General.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher M. Mattei and Douglas P. Morabito.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Patricia M. Ferrick, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced that GREGORY P. LOLES, 54, formerly of Easton, Conn., was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford to 300 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for defrauding investors, including a Connecticut church, of approximately $27 million.

“For nearly a decade, this defendant abused the trust of friends and clients, and stole millions from his own church.” stated U.S. Attorney Daly.  “He engaged in a carefully calculated fraud that included the use of sham companies, phony documents and endless lies to investors.  His scheme was for his own material gain, including the purchase of an extravagant home and the funding of a professional car racing team.  This long sentence is clearly appropriate as the defendant preyed upon and devastated innocent victims who had placed their trust in him.”

“Today’s sentence will hopefully deter investment advisors and other financial services professionals from defrauding their investors,” stated Special Agent in Charge Ferrick. “For years, the defendant systematically swindled numerous victims, including friends and fellow parishioners, of approximately $27 million dollars.  While most of the details of his heartless frauds have been uncovered, the depth of the destruction of trust and faith may never be fully revealed.  Unfortunately, this is an all too common occurrence and another reminder to investors to do your due diligence before investing with anyone.”

According to court documents and statements made in court, LOLES owned Apeiron Capital Management, Inc., which was an investment adviser and broker dealer registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from 1995 through 1998, at which point the registrations were cancelled.  However, LOLES continued to operate Apeiron as an unregistered investment adviser and falsely represented Apeiron to be a registered investment management firm.  LOLES also was the majority owner and managing member of Farnbacher Loles Motor Sports, Farnbacher Loles Racing, Farnbacher Loles Street Performance, and various other Farnbacher Loles businesses, which were based in Danbury, and were engaged in the business of professional race team operations and servicing high-performance automobiles.

For nearly a decade, LOLES falsely represented to numerous victim-investors, including friends and fellow parishioners of a church in Orange, Conn., that he would act as their investment adviser and invest their funds through Apeiron in various securities including in what he described as “Arbitrage Bonds,” which LOLES represented would provide investors with a safe and steady return.  LOLES also was selected to serve on the board of the church’s endowment fund and was entrusted to manage the church’s investment funds, including the endowment fund and the building fund, by investing in, among other things, Arbitrage Bonds.  However, the Arbitrage Bonds did not exist.

Instead of investing funds as promised, LOLES used the money to fund his Farnbacher Loles operation, to pay personal expenses, and to purchase a large home with a pool, tennis court and multi-car garage for his sports cars.  In order to keep his scheme from being detected, LOLES provided investors with fraudulent account statements and also made periodic “lulling” payments to certain investors using a portion of other victim-investors’ funds.

Through this scheme, LOLES stole approximately $27 million from more than 50 victims, including approximately $2 million from his church and approximately $14 million from a single family in Greece.  LOLES also defrauded clients of Farnbacher Loles.

Some of the individual investors lost their life savings, and provided LOLES with funds that had previously been invested in IRAs, 401(k)s, or were proceeds of life insurance payments.

LOLES has been detained since his arrest on December 15, 2009.  On July 26, 2011, he pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud, one count of wire fraud, one count of securities fraud and one count of money laundering.

Judge Thompson found that LOLES attempted to obstruct the investigation of this matter, after he was arrested, by making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in relation to the $14 million he stole from the family in Greece.  Judge Thompson also found that LOLES willfully attempted to mislead the court and committed perjury while testifying during multiple pre-sentencing hearings.

This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with the assistance of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation and the Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael S. McGarry.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that FRANK DOUGHTY, also known as “Fresh,” 42, of New Haven, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny in Hartford to 41 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for distributing cocaine.

According to court documents and statements made in court, this matter stems from “Operation Bloodline,” a joint law enforcement investigation targeting narcotics trafficking and gang violence in the Dwight-Kensington and Fair Haven sections of New Haven.  Led by the DEA New Haven Task Force and the New Haven and Hamden Police Departments, the year-long investigation included the use of court-authorized wiretaps on numerous telephones, extensive physical surveillance, controlled purchases of narcotics, execution of search warrants, and seizures of narcotics and firearms.  More than 100 individuals were charged as a result of the investigation.

During the investigation, law enforcement officers received court-authorization to monitor three telephones used by Michael Smith, also known as “Smitty” and “Fingers.”  DOUGHTY was intercepted on multiple occasions ordering distribution quantities of cocaine from Smith.

DOUGHTY has been detained since his arrest on May 22, 2012.  On October 25, 2013, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, cocaine.

On January 13, 2014, a jury found Michael Smith guilty of one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, cocaine and cocaine base (“crack cocaine”), and one count of possession with intent to distribute, and distribution of, cocaine base.  He awaits sentencing.

This matter is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Haven Task Force, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the New Haven, Hamden, West Haven, North Haven, Branford, Ansonia and Meriden Police Departments.  The United States Marshals Service, the Connecticut State Police, the Connecticut Department of Correction, Parole and Community Services and the Milford, Hartford, New Britain, North Branford and Stratford Police Departments have provided valuable assistance to the investigation.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys S. Dave Vatti and Marc Silverman.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that BRUCE BROWN, also known as “Bruce Browne,” “Spenser Brown,” “Spenser Browne,” “Agent Brice” and “Detective Brice,” 47, of Wolcott, waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty today in Bridgeport federal court to impersonating a federal officer and falsifying a military discharge certificate.

According to court documents and statements made in open court, on August 8, 2013, BROWN, operating a Ford Crown Victoria equipped to resemble a police vehicle, entered a shoreline residential community in Old Lyme.  BROWN was wearing a bullet proof tactical vest with police insignia and was carrying a weapon and handcuffs.  When approached by an Old Lyme resident, Brown stated that he was a special agent of the United States Coast Guard and was sent there to observe a Coast Guard vessel that was in the area.

While in the Old Lyme community, BROWN’s fiancée asked a friend to take BROWN out on the friend’s boat.  As the boat was backing out of the slip, BROWN informed the boat owner that “I am commandeering your boat.  Your boat is now a U.S. Coast Guard vessel.”  BROWN then directed the owner to pilot his boat toward other vessels and at BROWN’s direction, the owner approached two boats operated by private citizens.  In each instance, BROWN required the boat operators to produce their boating licenses. 

BROWN then instructed the boat owner to approach an individual who was operating a jet ski.  Again, BROWN asked the operator for his license.  When the operator could not produce it, BROWN told him to return to the dock. The boat owner took BROWN back to the dock and then observed BROWN enter what appeared to be a police car and drive off with the emergency lights flashing.  BROWN drove his car to the boat launch where the jet ski operator was removing his craft from the water.  He required the jet ski operator to obtain his license.  After the owner showed BROWN the license, he was allowed to leave.

Law enforcement officers subsequently located and questioned BROWN in the Old Lyme residential community.  BROWN initially told them that he was a law enforcement officer sent by the U.S. Coast Guard to photograph a Coast Guard cutter that was in the area, but eventually admitted that he was not an officer.  A search of BROWN’s car revealed numerous law enforcement items, including a bulletproof/tactical vest with police insignia and a TSA badge, multiple sets of handcuffs, three handguns, loaded gun magazines, significant quantities of ammunition including hollow point bullets, a knife, and a police tactical baton.  BROWN was arrested on state charges at that time.

While released on bond following his arrest, BROWN took four other law enforcement badges in his possession and threw them into the Chestnut Hill Reservoir in Wolcott.  BROWN subsequently informed federal authorities of his actions and, on September 27, 2013, a dive team from the Connecticut State Police recovered the badges.

Further investigation of this matter revealed that in March 2013, BROWN offered to have a “scared straight” conversation with the sons of an acquaintance who believed BROWN was a federal law enforcement officer with experience in narcotics matters.  Brown arrived at his acquaintance’s home in a Crown Victoria that resembled a police vehicle, displayed a badge and had a holstered gun and handcuffs secured on his belt.  BROWN individually introduced himself to the minors as “Agent Brice” and “Detective Brice.”  After some initial conversation, BROWN escorted the minors up to their rooms.  Their mother tried to follow, but was ordered by BROWN to stay downstairs.  She heard raised voices and later learned from her son that BROWN had drawn his gun and handcuffed her son while BROWN searched his room.

Eventually, BROWN walked downstairs with one of the minors and entered the garage.  BROWN removed the weapon from his holster and pointed it in proximity of the minor as they prepared to enter the garage.  BROWN returned with a backpack that contained about $200, a small amount of what appeared to be marijuana and a pipe.  After confirming with the mother that the money was from a legitimate source, BROWN gave her the money and took the backpack and all of its contents.  While in the house, BROWN indicated that he had conducted surveillance on the boys in the prior week and related several incidents to them that seemed to authenticate that claim.

The investigation further revealed that in April 2002, BROWN was discharged from the U.S. Coast Guard “under other than honorable conditions.”  In February 2013, BROWN submitted a Pistol Permit Application to the Connecticut State Police Special Licensing and Firearms Unit.  In the military history section of the application, BROWN stated that he had not been discharged from the United States Armed Forces with less than an Honorable Discharge.  The form required BROWN to attach a copy of his Department of Defense Discharge Form, DD-214.  In box 24 of his DD-214, BROWN obliterated the words “under other than,” leaving the form to appear as if he had been discharged under “honorable conditions.”

BROWN pleaded guilty to two counts of impersonating a federal law enforcement officer, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of three years on both counts, and one count of falsifying a military discharge certificate, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of one year.  He is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill on May 19, 2014.

This matter is being investigated by the Department of Homeland Security – Office of Inspector General, Coast Guard Investigative Service, Connecticut State Police, and the Wolcott, Bristol and Southington Police Departments.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ray Miller.   

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that EFRAIN HERNANDEZ VASQUEZ, known as “Frao,” 38, of Groton, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to 46 months of imprisonment, followed by four years of supervised release, for distributing heroin. 

In early 2012, Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), the U.S. Secret Service and the New London Police Department initiated an investigation to combat the large-scale trafficking of heroin and cocaine from the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico into and around southeastern Connecticut.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on multiple occasions in early 2013, HERNANDEZ VASQUEZ was intercepted over a court-authorized wiretap ordering five-gram quantities of heroin from his drug supplier, Luis Ariel Capellan Maldonado, for distribution purposes.

HERNANDEZ VASQUEZ has been incarcerated since February 2013.  On December 2, 2013, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute heroin.

More than 100 individuals have been charged with federal and state offenses as a result of this investigation.

Capellan Maldonado has pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing.

This matter is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations; U.S. Secret Service; U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Air and Marine; Connecticut State Police; New London Police Department, Norwich Police Department, Waterford Police Department, Groton Town Police Department, East Lyme Police Department and Putnam Police Department.  The United States Marshals Service; ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations; Drug Enforcement Administration; HSI Assistant Attaché, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; HSI Arecibo, Puerto Rico Resident Office;  Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation; Connecticut Department of Correction, Parole and Community Services; and the Groton City, Willimantic, New Haven and Bristol Police Departments have provided valuable assistance to the investigation.

The federal case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alina P. Reynolds, Sarah P. Karwan and Henry K. Kopel.  The state cases are being prosecuted by the State’s Attorney for the New London Judicial District and Senior Assistant State’s Attorneys Paul Narducci and Stephen Carney.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that DANIELLE FAUX, 46, of Weston, was arrested today on federal health care fraud charges.  On February 19, 2014, a federal grand jury sitting in Bridgeport returned an indictment charging FAUX with 46 counts of health care fraud and one count of obstruction of a federal audit.

According to the indictment, FAUX owned and operated Danielle Faux PT, LLC, a physical therapy clinic located at 27 Lois Street in Norwalk, and was a part owner of Achieve Rehab and Fitness, a gym located at the same address in Norwalk.  The indictment alleges that FAUX engaged in a scheme to defraud Medicare and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield by referring some of her patients for personal training sessions at Achieve Rehab and Fitness and then billing the sessions as if they were physical therapy procedures.  The indictment also alleges that FAUX created and altered patient records when Medicare audited her practice in August 2009.

FAUX appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge William I. Garfinkel in Bridgeport and entered a plea of not guilty.  She was released on a $50,000 bond.

If convicted, FAUX faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a fine of up to $250,000 on each of the health care fraud counts, and a maximum term of imprisonment of five years and a fine of $250,000 on the obstruction count.

The case has been assigned to Senior U.S. District Judge Warren W. Eginton in Bridgeport.

U.S. Attorney Daly stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  Charges are only allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David J. Sheldon and health care auditor Kevin Saunders.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that EMORY JAMES, also known as “Emmo,” 42, of New Haven, was sentenced today by Senior U.S. District Judge Ellen Bree Burns in New Haven to 55 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for trafficking narcotics.

According to court documents and statements made in court, this matter stems from “Operation Bloodline,” a joint law enforcement investigation targeting narcotics trafficking and gang violence in the Dwight-Kensington and Fair Haven sections of New Haven.  Led by the DEA New Haven Task Force and the New Haven and Hamden Police Departments, the year-long investigation included the use of court-authorized wiretaps on numerous telephones, extensive physical surveillance, controlled purchases of narcotics, execution of search warrants, and seizures of narcotics and firearms.  More than 100 individuals were charged as a result of the investigation.

On September 19, 2013, JAMES pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, cocaine and heroin.

JAMES’s criminal history includes at least seven felony convictions, including five drug-related offenses.

This matter is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Haven Task Force, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the New Haven, Hamden, West Haven, North Haven, Branford, Ansonia and Meriden Police Departments.  The United States Marshals Service, the Connecticut State Police, the Connecticut Department of Correction, Parole and Community Services and the Milford, Hartford, New Britain, North Branford and Stratford Police Departments have provided valuable assistance to the investigation.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys S. Dave Vatti and Marc Silverman.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that DARIUSZ SZTEBOROWSKI, the manager of New Britain-based transportation company Wisla Express, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford to 14 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for falsifying and destroying driver records that are required to be maintained under federal motor carrier safety regulations for inspection. SZTEBOROWSKI was also ordered to pay a $20,000 fine.

On January 17, 2014, Wisla Express was sentenced to a five-year term of probation and ordered to pay a $75,000 fine.

“Wisla Express drivers, at Mr. Szteborowski’s direction, routinely drove many more hours than allowed by federal transportation safety regulations,” stated U.S. Attorney Daly.  “Mr. Szteborowski then attempted to cover up these violations by submitting numerous false driver logs to federal regulators.  Driver safety regulations for commercial motor vehicle carriers exist to protect not only passengers, but everyone who travels our nation’s roads.  We believe that this investigation and prosecution may have prevented a highway tragedy caused by fatigued drivers, and we hope that this sentence will serve as fair warning to other commercial operators.”

According to court documents and statements made in court, Wisla Express, located at 157 Broad Street in New Britain, is a commercial motor carrier that employs drivers to operate vans and minibuses to transport individuals to and from airports, and tour buses carrying passengers to locations outside of Connecticut. SZTEBOROWSKI, a manager of Wisla Express was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company, including scheduling driving assignments and maintaining the company’s driving records.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (“FMCSA”), a division of the U.S. Department of Transportation, administers and enforces the federal commercial motor vehicle laws and regulations to ensure that commercial motor vehicle carriers and drivers fully comply with the responsibilities imposed on them to operate their vehicles in a safe and unimpaired manner.  Federal regulations prohibit drivers from driving in excess of certain maximum allowable driving hours over defined periods, and require commercial motor carriers to maintain truthful and accurate driving records.

Between September 2008 and September 2010, SZTEBOROWSKI scheduled and assigned drivers to trips knowing that the drivers would be exceeding the regulated limits of on-duty driving time, and also instructed drivers and others to falsify driving logs by recording that the drivers were off-duty during times when they were, in fact, driving.  In order to pay drivers for time actually spent working for Wisla Express, SZTEBOROWSKI instructed drivers to submit separate pay sheets and notes that accurately detailed their hours.  SZTEBOROWSKI then destroyed the pay sheets and other documentation that accurately recorded the drivers’ hours.

In response to an FMCSA investigation of Wisla Express that was initiated in August 2010, SZTEBOROWSKI produced the falsified driver logs and withheld other records that would conflict with the logs.

On February 22, 2013, SZTEBOROWSKI, 50, of Rocky Hill, pleaded guilty to one count of submitting a false statement to the U.S. Department of Transportation.  On February 25, 2013, Wisla Express pleaded guilty to the same charge.

During his three-year term of supervised release, SZTEBOROWSKI and his wife cannot be involved, directly or indirectly, in Wisla Express or any other business under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

U.S. Attorney Daly commended the investigative efforts of the agents of the New England Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General, and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.  The Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles Commercial Safety Division provided valuable assistance to the investigation.

This matter was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Felice M. Duffy and David E. Novick.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JOHN FRANCIS WILLIAMS, 58, of Montville, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to three years of probation for illegally receiving Social Security benefits.  As part of his sentence, WILLIAMS was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $42,156.20.

According to court documents and statements made in court, the defendant’s birth name was Russell Fithian.  Sometime prior to 1993, the defendant obtained the Social Security card and birth certificate of a John Francis Williams.  In 1993, the defendant applied for and received a replacement Social Security card in the name of John Francis Williams.  Thereafter, he used the name John Francis Williams.

In August 2009, the defendant applied for Social Security retirement income benefits under the name of John Francis Williams, who would have turned 62 that year and had reached eligible retirement age.   The defendant was 54 at the time of his application and was not eligible for retirement benefits under his true identity.  The defendant thereafter received monthly benefits, totaling $42,156.20, until February 2013.

In 2013, the defendant legally changed his name to John Francis Williams.

On October 8, 2013, WILLIAMS pleaded guilty to one count of theft of government property.

This matter was investigated by the Office of the Inspector General for the Social Security Administration and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Felice Duffy.     

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that DALBERT RODRIGUEZ, 30, formerly of Holyoke, Mass., pleaded guilty today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna F. Martinez in Hartford to his role in a robbery spree of pharmacies in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on November 13, 2013, RODRIGUEZ was arrested on a criminal complaint charging him with the armed robbery of a CVS store located at 972 Silver Lane in East Hartford.  At approximately 9:00 p.m. on October 18, 2013.  RODRIGUEZ entered the CVS, proceeded to the pharmacy counter, passed through a swinging door and approached the pharmacist who was behind the counter.  RODRIGUEZ displayed a handgun to the pharmacist and instructed him to open the safe.  RODRIGUEZ then removed numerous pill bottles from the safe, placed them in a plastic bag and exited the store.

In pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to interfere with commerce through robbery, RODRIGUEZ admitted his role in the robbery of the East Hartford CVS.  RODRIGUEZ also admitted to participating in 10 additional pharmacy robberies between June 2013 and November 2013, including robberies of a Rite Aid on Northampton Street in Holyoke, Mass., on June 19; a Rite Aid on Meadow Street in Chicopee, Mass., on June 30; a CVS on Longmeadow Street in Longmeadow, Mass., on July 13; a Rite Aid Pharmacy on Bridge Street in East Windsor, Conn., on August 8; a Walgreens on Deming Street in Manchester, Conn., on August 15; a CVS on Hazard Avenue in Enfield, Conn., on August 25; a Walgreens on the Berlin Turnpike in Newington, Conn., on September 10; a Rite Aid Pharmacy on East Street in Plainville, Conn., on September 27; a Walgreens on West Street in Cromwell, Conn., on October 4, and a Walgreens on North Main Street in Providence, R.I., on November 9.

Controlled substances, including oxycodone, were stolen during each of the robberies, and what appeared to be a firearm was displayed or possessed during several of the robberies.

RODRIGUEZ, who has been detained since his arrest, is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny on May 16, 2014, at which time he faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years. 

U.S. Attorney Daly stated that the investigation is ongoing.

This matter is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Massachusetts State Police, and the police departments in each town where the robberies occurred.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony E. Kaplan.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JEROME R. THOMAS, 21, of New Haven, pleaded guilty today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Holly B. Fitzsimmons in Bridgeport to possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on January 1, 2014, members of the Yale University Police Department executed an arrest warrant for THOMAS at his girlfriend’s residence.  THOMAS was apprehended after he attempted to flee the premises through a window.  A search of the residence revealed a .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol, two magazines loaded with .45 caliber ammunition, and a bag containing more than 80 additional rounds of .45 caliber ammunition.

THOMAS was previously convicted in state court of criminal possession of a firearm, possession of narcotics with intent to sell, and carrying a pistol without a permit.  It is a violation of federal law for a person previously convicted of a felony offense to possess a firearm or ammunition that has moved in interstate or foreign commerce.

THOMAS is scheduled to be sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall on May 14, 2014, at which time he faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.  He has been detained since his arrest.

This matter is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Yale University Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony E. Kaplan.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that DAVID HANEY, 52, of Marlborough, waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to robbing five Connecticut pharmacies last year.

On November 22, 2013, HANEY was arrested on a criminal complaint charging him with the armed robbery of a CVS store located at 525 Buckland Road in South Windsor.  At approximately 7:45 p.m. on September 25, 2013, HANEY entered the store and proceeded to the pharmacy counter.   He then asked for the pharmacist by name, showed the pharmacist a firearm that was in his waistband and demanded oxycodone pills.  The pharmacist gave HANEY more than 2000 oxycodone pills of different strengths and HANEY exited the store.

HANEY pleaded guilty today to one count of interference with commerce by robbery related to the South Windsor CVS robbery.  In pleading guilty, HANEY also admitted that he committed similar robberies at a Walgreens on Deming Street in Manchester on September 15, 2013, a Walgreens on Main Street in Meriden on October 3, 2013, a CVS on Main Street in East Hartford on October 11, 2013, and a Walgreens on Talcottville Road in Vernon on November 9, 2013.

Judge Underhill has scheduled sentencing for May 14, 2014, at which time HANEY faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.

HANEY has been detained since his arrest.

This matter is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Drug Enforcement Administration and the South Windsor, East Hartford, Meriden, Vernon, and Manchester Police Departments, with the assistance of other state and local law enforcement agencies.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony E. Kaplan.

PUBLIC AFFAIRS CONTACT:

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that FRANKIE RIVERA, 32, of New London, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant in Hartford to 36 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for distributing cocaine.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in early 2012, Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), the U.S. Secret Service and the New London Police Department initiated an investigation to combat the large-scale trafficking of heroin and cocaine from the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico into and around southeastern Connecticut.  The investigation revealed that certain members of the conspiracy were obtaining kilogram-quantities of cocaine in Puerto Rico and then mailing the drug to locations in and around New London where is was sold to distributors and customers.  RIVERA used his business “PR Speed Shop,” an auto-repair service on Westwood Avenue in New London, to sell cocaine to customers. 

RIVERA has been detained since his arrest on April 3, 2013.  On November 15, 2013, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine.

More than 100 individuals have been charged with federal and state offenses as a result of this investigation.

This matter is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations; U.S. Secret Service; U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Air and Marine; Connecticut State Police; New London Police Department, Norwich Police Department, Waterford Police Department, Groton Town Police Department, East Lyme Police Department and Putnam Police Department.  The United States Marshals Service; ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations; Drug Enforcement Administration; HSI Assistant Attaché, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; HSI Arecibo, Puerto Rico Resident Office;  Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation; Connecticut Department of Correction, Parole and Community Services; and the Groton City, Willimantic, New Haven and Bristol Police Departments have provided valuable assistance to the investigation.

The federal case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alina P. Reynolds, Sarah P. Karwan and Henry K. Kopel.  The state cases are being prosecuted by the State’s Attorney for the New London Judicial District and Senior Assistant State’s Attorneys Paul Narducci and Stephen Carney.

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The United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut today announced that, on February 12, CHRISTOPHER BRECCIANO, 35, of Stamford, waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty in Bridgeport federal court to conspiring to defraud financial institutions through an extensive mortgage fraud scheme that involved dozens of properties in Fairfield County.

According to court documents and statements made in court, between 2006 and 2010, BRECCIANO, while working as an associate at a Stamford law firm, participated in mortgage fraud conspiracy that involved the purchase of numerous single and multi-family properties, primarily in Bridgeport, Norwalk and Stamford.  BRECCIANO acted as a closing attorney for at least 50 mortgage loan transactions in which materially false information was provided to mortgage lenders by BRECCIANO or his co-conspirators.  The fraudulent information included false verifications of down payments for real estate transactions, false deeds, and false HUD-1 Forms.  In many of the transactions, BRECCIANO knew that the borrower was a “straw buyer,” and that other individuals intended to control the property and collect rent from the property.  In many transactions, BRECCIANO distributed mortgage loan funds to the straw buyer and other co-conspirators at the closing.

Many of these properties ended up in foreclosure, or in short sale transactions.  In pleading guilty, BRECCIANO admitted that he was also involved in many short sale transactions in which  he knew that the buyer and seller were working together to retain control of the property while representing to the lender that the sale was an arm’s length transaction.

Through this scheme, lenders suffered losses of more than $7 million.  

BRECCIANO pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud.  He is scheduled to be sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall on May 7, 2014, and faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 30 years.

This ongoing investigation is being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ann M. Nevins and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney John McReynolds.

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February 14, 2013

David B. Fein, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that JORDAN MARSH, 26, of South Windsor, has been charged by criminal complaint with being a previously convicted felon in possession of a firearm, and theft of a firearm from a federally licensed firearms dealer.

MARSH appeared today before United States Magistrate Judge Donna F. Martinez in Hartford federal court.  He is currently detained in state custody on related charges.

As alleged in the criminal complaint, on December 11, 2012, MARSH stole a Windham Weaponry 5.56 caliber semi-automatic rifle from the front counter of Riverview Gun Sales, a federal firearms dealer located in East Windsor.  The theft was captured on the store’s video surveillance system, but no employee at Riverview observed the theft or realized the firearm was missing until the Hartford Police retrieved it from MARSH’s hotel room on December 17, 2012, two days after MARSH had been arrested for attempting to steal a different semi-automatic rifle from the same store.

The complaint further alleges that, in 2011, MARSH was convicted of a felony stemming from his prior thefts of firearms from Riverview.

It is a violation of federal law for a person previously convicted of a felony offense to possess a firearm or ammunition that has moved in interstate or foreign commerce.

Each of the federal charges carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a fine of up to $250,000.

U.S. Attorney Fein stressed that a complaint is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt.  Charges are only allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This matter is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Hartford and East Windsor Police Departments.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert M. Spector.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that, on February 12, JABARI PETERSON, 27, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to 72 months of imprisonment, followed by four years of supervised release, for trafficking crack cocaine and oxycodone pills.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in the afternoon of January 29, 2013, a Connecticut State Trooper stopped PETERSON on Interstate 95 in Greenwich for speeding.  The trooper determined that PETERSON did not have a license and subsequently performed a search.  After the trooper felt a plastic bag of containing crack cocaine in PETERSON’s jacket and attempted to pull it out, PETERSON ran from the officer.  PETERSON then threw the bag of crack, as well as two bags containing oxycodone pills, onto the highway.  Although the narcotics were dispersed or destroyed by vehicles traveling on the highway, the trooper was able to recover nearly 190 grams of crack, 147 30-mg oxycodone pills, and an additional amount of crushed oxycodone powder.  PETERSON was placed under arrest at the scene.

The investigation revealed that PETERSON was on his way to Vermont to distribute the drugs.

PETERSON has been detained since his arrest.  On June 6, 2013, he pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute 28 grams or more of cocaine base (“crack cocaine”).

PETERSON’s criminal history includes a Vermont state conviction for selling cocaine.  He was sentenced to 18 months of imprisonment on that conviction and was on probation at the time of his federal arrest.

This matter was investigated by Connecticut State Police and the Drug Enforcement Administration.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rahul Kale.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that a federal grand jury sitting in Hartford returned an indictment today charging EDWARD HOGAN, 37, of Waterbury, with one count of embezzlement of mail by a U.S. Postal Service employee.

According to court documents and statements made in court, this matter stems from a federal investigation into the use of the mails to transport narcotics from Puerto Rico to the greater Waterbury area.  On November 9, 2013, it is alleged that HOGAN, who was employed as a supervisor of customer service with the U.S. Postal Service, intercepted a package containing cocaine that was delivered to the Waterbury Main Post Office on Grand Street, and then took the package to his home.

If convicted of the charge of embezzlement of mail by a U.S. Postal Employee, HOGAN faces a maximum term of imprisonment of five years and a fine of up to $250,000.

HOGAN has been released on a $150,000 bond since his arrest on November 9, 2013.

U.S. Attorney Daly stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  Charges are only allegations, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the U.S. Postal Service – Office of Inspector General.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher M. Mattei.

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Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and George Venizelos, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced that former East Haven Police Sergeant JOHN MILLER, 44, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford to four months of imprisonment, followed by two years of supervised release, for violating an individual’s civil rights by using unreasonable force during the course of an arrest.  MILLER was also ordered to pay a $3000 fine.

This matter stems from a criminal investigation into members of the East Haven Police Department using excessive force during arrests, conducting unconstitutional searches and seizures, and filing false police reports.  As a result of the investigation, MILLER and Officers Dennis Spaulding, Jason Zullo and David Cari were convicted of various civil rights offenses.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on January 3, 2010, in the course of making an arrest, MILLER struck a handcuffed individual while the victim was in the secure custody of two other East Haven Police officers.

On September 21, 2012, MILLER pleaded guilty to one count of depriving an individual of his right to be free from the use of excessive force by a law enforcement officer.

Judge Thompson credited MILLER for his cooperation in the investigation and prosecution of this matter and imposed a sentence below the recommended sentencing guidelines range of 12 to 18 months of imprisonment.

MILLER, who has retired from the East Haven Police Department, was ordered to report to prison on March 13.

On October 23, 2012, Jason Zullo pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction stemming from his filing of a false police report in order to prevent a possible excessive force investigation.  On December 16, 2013, he was sentenced to 24 months of imprisonment.

On October 21, 2013, David Cari was found guilty of one count of conspiracy against rights, one count of deprivation of rights for making an arrest without probable cause, and one count of obstruction of a federal investigation for preparing a false report.  On January 21, 2014, he was sentenced to 30 months of imprisonment.

On October 21, 2013, Dennis Spaulding was found guilty of one count of conspiracy against rights, one count of use of unreasonable force by a law enforcement officer, two counts of deprivation of rights for making arrests without probable cause, and two counts of obstruction of a federal investigation for preparing false reports to justify the false arrests.  On January 23, he was sentenced to 60 months of imprisonment.

This matter was investigated by the Civil Rights Squad of the FBI’s New York Field Office, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Krishna R. Patel and Senior Litigation Counsel Richard J. Schechter.

PUBLIC AFFAIRS CONTACT:

U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Tom Carson
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