Northern District of Georgia

ATLANTA – John A. Wheeler and Melody Lockett Carter pleaded guilty in federal court to fraudulently obtaining FEMA assistance funds intended for the victims of Hurricane Ike.

“These defendants stole over $50,000 in disaster relief funds that were intended to benefit those who truly suffered from the devastation of Hurricane Ike in 2008,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “Since the creation of the Disaster Fraud Task Force in 2005, we have remained committed to prosecuting those criminals who would take advantage of natural disasters to enrich themselves.”

James E. Ward, Special Agent in Charge for the U. S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Inspector General, said, “The Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General is dedicated to investigating fraud related to DHS programs, specifically FEMA Emergency Disaster Relief Funds.  The charges against these defendants serves as an example of our commitment to investigating FEMA fraud allegations and pursuing federal prosecution to the fullest extent of the law.  DHS-OIG will continue to place a high priority on investigating these types of crimes which negatively impact FEMA’s Disaster Relief Funds that are intended for law abiding citizens.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court:  Wheeler, 57, and Carter, 49, both of Wilmerding, Pa., and Angela Pratt Avery, 44, of Lawrenceville, Ga., worked together to file three fraudulent FEMA claims for Hurricane Ike disaster relief funds.  The defendants filed the claims in September 2008 and January 2009, falsely claiming that Carter and Avery lived at a West Ventura Drive address in Galveston, Texas, at the time of Hurricane Ike and that their personal property had been damaged by the storm.  In fact, all three defendants lived in Norcross, Ga., at the time of Hurricane Ike and were not victims of the storm.  The defendants received over $50,000 in disaster assistance from FEMA based on their fraud.

On September 13, 2008, Hurricane Ike made landfall near Galveston, causing widespread damage along the Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida coastlines and the surrounding areas.  After Hurricane Ike struck the Texas coastline, FEMA provided financial disaster assistance to displaced individuals who resided in various counties in Texas.  Those individuals could make an application for disaster assistance funds by filing a claim with FEMA that included the Texas address where they were living at the time of the hurricane.

Wheeler and Carter each pleaded guilty to one count of theft of government money.  Sentencing for Wheeler and Carter will be scheduled at a later date.

This case is being investigated by Special Agents of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General.

Assistant United States Attorney Stephen H. McClain is prosecuting the case.

In September 2005, the Attorney General established the Disaster Fraud Task Force to deter, detect, and prosecute disaster-related federal crimes such as charity fraud, identity theft, procurement fraud, and insurance fraud related to the Hurricane Katrina disaster.  As multiple disasters occurred in subsequent years, the Task Force expanded its mandate to all types of disaster fraud.  The Task Force, chaired by Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Criminal Division, includes the FBI, the Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Secret Service, the Federal Trade Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, federal Inspectors General, and various representatives of state and local law enforcement.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.

ATLANTA – Former Atlanta Public Schools (APS) Chief Information Officer (CIO) Jerome Oberlton has pleaded guilty to conspiring to receive kickbacks in exchange for using his influence at APS to award a $780,000 project to a computer vendor. 

“Mr. Oberlton abused his position as APS’ Chief Information Officer when he took payoffs in exchange for the award of a lucrative computer contract,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “His fraud diverted scarce educational resources from the APS students who needed them to a vendor that was willing to pay to play.”

“IRS Criminal Investigation will continue to provide its investigative resources and expertise in exposing kickback schemes like the one Mr. Oberlton helped to orchestrate” stated Special Agent in Charge, Veronica F. Hyman-Pillot. “We stand committed to weed out individuals who ignore the public's well-being and choose to take the path to financial success by using greed and corruption.”      

According to United States Attorney Yates, the indictment, and information presented in court:  Oberlton had overall management responsibility for APS’ information technology program.  In January 2007, APS issued a request for proposal (RFP) for a Data Warehousing (DW) project at the school system.  The DW project was intended to centralize information relating to APS operations, including student information, so that it was maintained digitally in a secure, easily-accessible manner. 

From the start of the project in January 2007, Oberlton and co-defendant Mahendra Patel conspired to influence the RFP process for the DW project, and, ultimately, caused the winning bidder to be selected in exchange for kickbacks paid to Oberlton and Patel.  While Patel did not work for APS, he had connections with a Detroit-based technology company that received the contract through the corrupted RFP process.  In order to hide the bribes, Oberlton created two shell companies, Global Technology Partners (GTP) and, later, Global Technology Services (GTS), and funneled the bribe payments through these shell companies.  Oberlton was able to conceal his ownership of GTP and GTS from APS even when questions arose in 2007.  The kickbacks to Patel were disguised as sales commissions for non-existent consulting work that he supposedly performed for the shell companies.  In reality, Patel acted as an intermediary, helping to negotiate the kickbacks between Oberlton and the Detroit-based technology company and then signed fake sales consultant agreements to hide his role. The Detroit-based technology company ultimately paid approximately $60,000 in bribes to Oberlton over almost six months and, in return, the company received $780,000 in APS project work. 

Oberlton was the CIO for APS between June 2004 and August 2007 and, most recently, was the Chief of Staff for the Dallas Independent School District before he resigned in May 2013, shortly after he was indicted.

Oberlton, 48, of Atlanta, Ga., pleaded guilty to conspiring with Patel and others to accept bribes, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years and a fine of $250,000.  The parties have recommended to the Court that Oberlton receive a sentence of 41 months’ imprisonment, pay $735,130 in restitution and perform 1,000 hours of community service.  In determining the actual sentence, the Court will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders. Sentencing is scheduled for March 24, 2014.

Mahendra Patel, 45, of Kennesaw, Ga., pleaded guilty on August 16, 2013, to conspiring with Oberlton to accept bribes.

These cases are being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service.

Assistant United States Attorneys Kurt R. Erskine and Jill E. Steinberg are prosecuting the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the HomePage for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.justice.gov/usao/gan.

ROME, Ga. - Mark Mason Alexander, a/k/a Musa Mahmood Ahmed, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for conspiring to send water-jet cutting machines to Iran in violation of the United States trade embargo.

"Today's sentence demonstrates that the United States will continue to vigorously pursue and bring to justice those who evade our economic sanctions," said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “The trade embargo against the Islamic Republic of Iran is not limited to those who specifically seek to supply the country with military items or with items for use in its nuclear weapon proliferation program.  Rather, businesses and individuals who engage in commercial transactions with businesses and individuals in the Islamic Republic of Iran are cautioned that they are still subject to prosecution under existing sanctions.”

"This is the latest example of the commitment of the U.S. Department of Commerce's Office of Export Enforcement to protect our national security through effective enforcement of U.S. export control laws" said Robert Luzzi, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Office of Export Enforcement's Miami Field Office. "We will continue to work aggressively with our law enforcement partners including Homeland Security Investigations, Atlanta Field Office, to investigate arrest and convict those individuals who illegally export U.S technology to state sponsors of terrorism."

"The magnitude and scope of the threats facing the United States is complex and wide-ranging, and that's why HSI investigates individuals who try to export sensitive technologies to hostile nations," said Brock D. Nicholson, special agent in charge of HSI Atlanta. "Homeland Security Investigations, along with our partners like the Department of Commerce, take pride in protecting our country, and today's sentencing is just the latest example of our effective investigative efforts."

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court:  Between October 2006 and June 2008, Alexander conspired with two Iranian businessmen to sell Hydrajet water-jet cutting systems to customers located in Iran.  Hydrajet Technology, located in Dalton, Ga., manufactured the water-jet cutting systems which were used for the precision cutting of materials such as aluminum, glass, granite and steel.  These machines were distributed to customers in the Middle East through Hydrajet Mena, another company that Alexander partly owned which was located in the United Arab Emirates and for which Alexander worked as the CEO. 

In 2007, as part of the conspiracy, Alexander negotiated the sale of two water-jet cutting systems to companies located in the Islamic Republic of Iran: the Parand Machine Company and the Negin Sanat Sadr. Company.

In July 2007, after Alexander negotiated the terms of these sales and before the machines were shipped to the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Department of Commerce had conducted a community outreach meeting with Alexander, as the CEO of Hydrajet Technology.  This outreach program was designed to make exporters, like Alexander, aware of the various export restrictions, including the trade embargo against Iran, and to educate exporters about the process for legally exporting items from the United States. 

The evidence further established that the machines that Alexander conspired to sell were in fact manufactured in Dalton, Ga.  He concealed the true destination of these machines by causing them to be trans-shipped to the Islamic Republic of Iran via Alexander’s company in the United Arab Emirates.  Alexander additionally instructed Hydrajet Mena employees to travel to Islamic Republic of Iran to install the machines and to conduct software training for the Iranians who would operate them. 

Alexander, 53, of Roswell, Ga., was sentenced on Monday January 6, 2013, by United States District Judge Harold L. Murphy to 18 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release.  Alexander was found guilty by a jury on September 26, 2013, of Conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Department of Homeland Security.

Assistant United States Attorney Tracia King prosecuted the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Rome Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.

ATLANTA – Timothy Thomas, 51, and Mary Beth Thomas, 47, of Jackson County, Ga., have been sentenced for their respective roles in a criminal tax scheme. 

“For over a decade, these two failed to file their federal tax returns and sent in a blizzard of obstructive correspondence to the IRS,@ said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “Individuals who seek to obstruct the tax system and cheat hardworking taxpayers will be exposed and prosecuted.”

“The term voluntary compliance means that each of us is responsible for filing a tax return when required and for paying the correct amount of tax,” stated Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Veronica Hyman-Pillot. “That responsibility should not be taken lightly. The defendants chose to take extreme measures in order not to file and pay taxes and they are now convicted with a prison term to serve.”

 According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court:  In the 1990s, Timothy and Mary Beth Thomas, who were married and jointly owned and operated a deck and patio construction business in Maysville, Ga., stopped filing federal income tax returns.  They then hired American Rights Litigators (ARL), an organization that sold and promoted tax defiance schemes, to send obstructive and harassing materials to the IRS on their behalf.  The IRS repeatedly sent notices to the couple notifying them that they had to pay their federal income taxes and that they had to comply with the tax laws. 

After the IRS shut down ARL as a result of fraudulent anti-tax actions, Timothy and Mary Beth Thomas continued to send a variety of obstructive, frivolous and harassing documents to IRS and Department of Treasury officials instead of paying their taxes. These documents included statements that they were not United States citizens but instead were AAmerican citizens@; that they were not subject to the federal income tax laws; and that paying income tax was voluntary.  At one point, Timothy Thomas sent a letter to the personal residence of an IRS revenue agent that stated he was “a non-tax payer” and then mailed the IRS a letter stating that a commercial lien had been filed against two IRS employees. 

Finally, after a decade of not filing tax returns, the couple submitted four false tax returns claiming over $1,000,000 in fraudulent refunds from the IRS. That same year, they also submitted fictitious financial instruments to the federal government, to include a document purporting to be a $100 billion private registered bond, and instructed the government to use this bogus bond to pay any of their debts to the government.

Timothy Thomas, 51 of Jackson County, Ga., was sentenced to serve two years in federal prison.  Mary Beth Thomas, 47, also of Jackson County, Ga., was sentenced to ten months in federal prison by United States District Judge Thomas W. Thrash, Jr.  On May 10, 2013, Timothy Thomas pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service and Mary Beth Thomas pleaded guilty to one count of wilfully failing to file an income tax return. 

Despite earning substantial money from their business, Timothy Thomas and Mary Beth Thomas failed to pay over $350,000 in federal income taxes from 2003 to 2012.  At sentencing, the couple was ordered to pay $506,350.57 in back taxes, interest, and penalties to the IRS. 

In a separate case, Timothy Thomas’s brother, Stephen Paul Thomas, 47, and Patricia Denese Anderson, 52, both of Lawrenceville, Ga., were convicted for a similar tax defiance scheme and they were both sentenced January 3, 2013, here in the Northern District of Georgia.  Stephen Paul Thomas was sentenced to five years in prison and Patricia Denese Anderson was sentenced to four years, three months in federal prison.

This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation.

Assistant United States Attorneys Sally B. Molloy and Thomas J. Krepp prosecuted the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.

ATLANTA - Stoyno Filtshev, Plamen Atanasov, Nedyalko Palazov, and WB Wohrman have pleaded guilty in a case involving a scheme to steal the bank debit card numbers and passwords of over 4,700 individuals through the use of a skimming device the defendants connected to ATMs in the metro Atlanta area.

“Victims in this case were devastated to learn that merely by using an ATM, they had unwittingly handed over their debit card information to criminals who in turn used the information to drain their bank accounts,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said.  “The victims continue to suffer, from having to worry about what else may be done with their personal information to spending valuable time trying to clear their good names and credit.  Identity theft takes many forms but always creates havoc in the lives of good people.”

“Technology has forever changed the way we do business. Unfortunately, some endeavor to use those changes to their benefit and others’ detriment,” said Reginald G. Moore, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Secret Service, Atlanta Field Office. “The Secret Service, in conjunction with our law enforcement partners, will continue to actively investigate and arrest those that commit crimes that prey on unsuspecting victims.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court:  From about August 2011 through January 2013, Filtshev, Wohrman, Atanasov, and Palazov, working with co-defendant Tsvetil Iliev, used illegal skimming devices to steal over $380,000 from bank customers by installing the devices at Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, and Wells Fargo automated teller machines (ATMs) in the metro Atlanta area.  When a customer used the ATM with a skimming device installed, the device would electronically record the customer’s debit card number and a small camera in the device would video record the ATM keyboard as the customer entered his or her password.

The defendants then downloaded the information from the device to a computer.  Using a magnetic stripe card reader/writer, they re-encoded gift cards with the stolen account information.  They then used the altered gift cards at ATMs to withdraw money from the victims’ bank accounts.

Filtshev, 53, of Atlanta, Ga., and Atanasov, 30, of Sandy Springs, Ga., were arrested in Kennesaw, Ga., in June 2012 using re-encoded gift cards to take money from customers’ accounts at a Bank of America ATM.  On them and in their car, which was registered to Filtshev, they had 279 re-encoded cards.  Each re-encoded card had the customer’s ATM password written on the front. 

On September 27, 2012, Wohrman, 36, of Tennessee, was arrested by the Gwinnett County Police Department pursuant to a federal arrest warrant for violating the terms of his federal supervised release.  A search of Wohrman’s vehicle at that time revealed, among other items, a skimming device and several financial transaction cards.

On December 28, 2012, Bulgarian Customs officials notified the Secret Service in Atlanta that they had identified a DHL parcel being shipped to the United States as containing illegal skimming devices.  The Secret Service obtained a federal search warrant for the package, found three skimming devices, and then disabled them before returning them to the mail stream.  The package went to a UPS Store in Atlanta, Ga.  Wohrman and other co-conspirators were listed as authorized recipients of mail to the UPS box.  On January 8, 2013, Palazov, 28, of Atlanta, Ga., came to the UPS Store and retrieved the package.

Filtshev, Wohrman, Atanasov, Iliev, and Palazov were indicted by a federal grand jury on January 22, 2013, for conspiracy, access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft.  Palazov and Iliev fled Atlanta before they were arrested.  Palazov was arrested during a stopover in Munich, Germany after he boarded a plane in Mexico headed for Bulgaria.  Palazov was extradited from Germany and is now in custody in Lovejoy, Ga.  Iliev, 34, of Atlanta, Ga., remains a fugitive.

The investigation has identified over 4,700 bank customers whose account information was stolen by the five defendants.  The defendants withdrew over $380,000 from these customers’ accounts.         

On December 18, 2013, Wohrman pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy, access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft.  On December 27, 2013, Filtshev and Atanasov pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy, access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft.  Palazov pleaded guilty on January 2, 2013, to one count of conspiracy, access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft.  The conspiracy charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, the access device fraud count carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, and the aggravated identity theft charge carries a mandatory two-year sentence.  The two-year sentence for aggravated identity theft must run consecutively to any other sentence imposed.  Each count also carries a fine of up to $250,000.  In determining the actual sentence, the Court will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders.

In a related case, on November 19, 2013, a federal grand jury returned an indictment against Zira M. Bailey, 26, of Picayune, Miss., Michael J. Ellis, 35, of Atlanta, Ga., and Bryan S. Kees, 36, of Savannah, Ga., for participating in an ATM skimming operation and targeting SunTrust ATMs in metro Atlanta, Savannah, Ga., and Florida.  Bailey and Ellis received mail at the UPS Store box where the skimming equipment arrived from Bulgaria.  The investigation also determined that these three defendants assisted Palazov and Iliev in fleeing the United States after their indictment.  An additional 500 victims are linked to Bailey, Ellis, and Kees from the SunTrust ATMs. 

Sentencing for Filtshev, Atanasov, Palazov, and Wohrman is scheduled for March 26, 2014, at 2 p.m. before United States District Judge Orinda D. Evans. 

This case is being investigated by Special Agents of the United States Secret Service.

Assistant United States Attorneys Stephen H. McClain and Christopher C. Bly are prosecuting the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.

Shabazz Deceived Prisoners into Applying for “Prisoner Benefits” and Used Their Information to Seek Over $12 Million in False Tax Refunds

ATLANTA - Qadir Shabazz had his initial appearance today on federal charges of conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and theft of government funds.

United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said, “This defendant is charged with concocting a scheme that used the identities of inmates in prisons across the country to file fraudulent tax returns that in total sought millions of dollars in tax refunds.  With the tax filing season rapidly approaching, identity thieves like him should be aware that there are severe consequences for those who seek to steal government funds using stolen identities.”

“Individuals who commit refund fraud and identity theft of this magnitude will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” stated Veronica F. Hyman-Pillot, IRS Special Agent in Charge of the Atlanta Field Office.  “We, along with our law enforcement partners and the United States Attorney’s Office, will continue to do our part in protecting the sanctity and integrity of the tax system and those individuals whose identities were stolen.”

 “The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is committed to bringing to justice those who use the U.S. mail to commit identity theft and defraud the government of money that rightfully belongs to taxpayers,” said George Frazier, Assistant Postal Inspector in Charge of the Atlanta Field Office.

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges, and other information presented in court:  From November 2009 through May 2012, Shabazz orchestrated a nationwide scheme to file thousands of false and fraudulent federal income tax returns that claimed millions of dollars in fraudulent refunds.  Shabazz, and others conspiring with him, operated a business named “Indigent Inmate” in the state of Georgia.  Working through Indigent Inmate, Shabazz distributed literature and applications to prisoners located in incarceration facilities throughout the United States.  Prisoners were told that if they submitted their names, social security numbers, and dates of birth to Indigent Inmate they would be eligible for prisoner benefits.  As a result, prisoners submitted over 13,000 applications to Indigent Inmate seeking these benefits. 

Shabazz, and others working with him, used the prisoners’ personal information to file over 2,000 false federal income tax returns that claimed over $12,000,000 in fraudulent refunds.  These tax returns listed addresses in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee that were under the control of Shabazz and others working with him. 

Shabazz, 38, of Atlanta, Georgia, was indicted by a federal grand jury on November 5, 2013.  The indictment charges one count of conspiracy to defraud the IRS, 15 counts of wire fraud, 15 counts of aggravated identity theft, and two counts of theft of government funds.  Each wire fraud count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, each theft of government funds count carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, and the conspiracy count carries a maximum sentence of 5 years of incarceration.  The aggravated identity theft charges carry at least one mandatory two-year consecutive sentence to any other sentence imposed.  Each count also carries a fine of up to $250,000.  The United States is also seeking the forfeiture of all funds derived from or involved in this scheme. 

Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only contains charges.  The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

This case is being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, United States Postal Inspection Service, and Georgia Department of Revenue, Office of Special Investigations.  The Office of the Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the Office of Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, Bureau of Criminal Tax Investigations uncovered this scheme and launched a separate state investigation. 

Assistant United States Attorneys Thomas J. Krepp and Mary L. Webb are prosecuting the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the HomePage for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.

ATLANTA - Ralph Clark has been sentenced for embezzling more than $1.1 million from the Woodruff Arts Center while serving as the Center’s Director of Facilities.
 
“When the defendant embezzled over $1 million from the Woodruff Arts Center, he not only stole from the Arts Center, but the entire community served by the Center,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates. “His greed and betrayal has fairly landed him in prison.”

Ricky Maxwell, Acting Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office, stated:  “Today’s sentencing brings to close an unfortunate tale of betrayal and greed. This case, in addition, illustrates the FBI’s responsiveness to assist those non-profit organizations, such as the Woodruff Arts Center, when needed.”  

According to United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates, the charges and other information presented in court: In June 2006, Clark was promoted to Director of Facilities at the Woodruff Arts Center.  He had been acting in this capacity for several months before he was promoted.  His duties included ensuring that the Arts Center was properly maintained.  As Director of Facilities, he was authorized to approve vendor contracts up to $50,000.  While carrying out these duties between November 2005 and October 2012, Clark embezzled more than $1.1 million from the Woodruff Arts Center.

Clark, 42, of Ellenwood, Ga., embezzled the money by submitting invoices for bogus expenses to Woodruff Arts Center’s accounts payable department.  The bogus invoices included invoices from his wife’s business - Lowe’s Services - which was an apartment cleaning business set up by his wife in 2003.  The bogus Lowe’s Services invoices were for goods and services that were never provided to the Woodruff Arts Center, or were performed by Clark himself.  After the accounts payable department received an invoice, it generated checks from Woodruff’s checking account.  Clark would then pick the checks up in person, and deposit them into accounts on which he had signatory authority. 

Clark was sentenced by United States District Judge Julie E. Carnes to two years, six months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay approximately $1 million in restitution. Clark was convicted of these charges on April 23, 2013, upon his plea of guilty.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Assistant United States Attorney Bernita B. Malloy prosecuted the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the HomePage for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.justice.gov/usao/gan.

ATLANTA – Jiles and Shannon Johnson, a husband and wife who owned the now closed KC Pit BBQ Restaurant in Sandy Springs, Ga., and Matthew Ware, the accountant for the restaurant, have been sentenced to federal prison.

“Businesses and professionals who use legitimate organizations to filter laundered drug proceeds denigrate legitimate earnings while destroying the jobs of those who work in those businesses,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates. “Illegal drugs lure many into that lifestyle with offers of big money, easily made. In the end, what really happens is lives are destroyed, businesses close, and the dealers go to jail. We will continue working to remove harmful drugs from our streets.”

“All of the defendants in this case are deserving of the sentences handed down.  Several of these individuals masked themselves as legitimate businessmen, while everyone lined their pockets with excessive profits gained from drug trafficking,” said Harry S. Sommers, the Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Field Division.  “These sentences should serve as a clear reminder to those business operators who facilitate fraud and money laundering schemes, that while you think you may be flying under the radar, you are not.  It’s just a matter of time before you get caught and brought to justice.  I express gratitude to the law enforcement partners who helped make this case a success.”

George Frazier, Assistant Postal Inspector in Charge of the Atlanta Field Office stated, “This investigation was an excellent example of a partnership between local, state and federal law enforcement agencies across the country, working together to bring down a nationwide organized drug ring. I fully commend the hard work and countless hours put forth by all of the law enforcement agencies involved, which resulted in bringing these individuals in this case to justice.”

“We are proud to have worked with our law enforcement partners in disrupting this organization’s money laundering ability, the trafficking of drugs and the commission of crimes against our community,” stated Veronica F. Hyman-Pillot, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation. “Pretending to operate legitimate businesses will not thwart law enforcement’s efforts in determining the true nature of the businesses and the crimes they promote.”

“This case goes to show the success of task force investigations, where local police detective’s team up with our federal counterparts and share our resources, experience and knowledge to bring down criminal enterprises.  This is a great example of the effectiveness of working together to reach a common goal, which is the protection of our community,” said Police Chief Kenneth DeSimone, Sandy Springs Police Department.

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges, and other information presented in court: This large scale drug trafficking and money laundering organization coordinated (1) the distribution of thousands of kilograms of cocaine imported from Mexico and transported from California to Kansas City, Philadelphia and Washington D.C., and (2) the laundering of millions of dollars in drug proceeds in Georgia.  The organization coordinated its efforts through the KC PIT BBQ Restaurant in Sandy Springs, with the assistance of other businesses and professionals.    

In 2003, Jiles and Shannon Johnson were the owners of the KC PIT BBQ Restaurant.  Jiles Johnson was also a commercial truck driver.  To supplement his restaurant income, he began driving kilograms of cocaine from California to Philadelphia on behalf of Mark Walker.  Mark Walker was a Philadelphia cocaine distributor with access to street-level dealers, including his brother Sidney Walker, Ronald Martin, Lloyd Ellis and others.  Johnson also supplied cocaine to Kansas City and Washington D.C. 

As Johnson and Walker generated cash from cocaine sales, they purchased real estate in Georgia through Linda Tong, a local real estate broker.  Tong made “structured” deposits of over $500,000 into bank accounts.  “Structuring” occurs when a person breaks down over $10,000 in cash into smaller deposits under $10,000 to avoid the filing of a Currency Transaction Report (CTR) by a financial institution.  The Johnsons invested over three million dollars in real estate holdings, including an 80 acre motorcycle racetrack in Twiggs County.

Matthew Ware, the accountant for the KC PIT BBQ Restaurant, accepted bags of cash in excess of $10,000 from Jiles Johnson.  Ware provided the cash to some of his accounting firm’s clients and they repaid him with checks made payable to Johnson and his businesses.  When the cash volume increased, Ware connected Johnson to another client, financial planner Jacques Degaule, to assist with the laundering.  Degaule traveled to banks in Georgia, Missouri, Pennsylvania and New Jersey where he deposited over seven million dollars.  No IRS 8300 Forms were filed, which are required when a trade or business receives cash over $10,000.  The Johnsons used these laundered funds to underwrite their investments and their restaurant’s operations.  Evan Francis, a local car broker, coordinated the delivery of loads of cocaine, solicited customers, and structurally deposited cash.  Schawn Lemon Wortham laundered Mark Walker’s funds while he remained incarcerated.

The cocaine originated from Mexico and was supplied from California by Jose Gastelum and Lorenzo Vargas.  When Johnson experienced financial losses, Gastelum and Vargas collateralized his drug debt on behalf of the source of supply by taking ownership interests in his restaurant and racetrack.  Ware, the accountant, assisted them in the process. 

The organization unraveled in 2010 when Thallas Amie, Lavern Simon and Jiles Johnson attempted to deliver 35 kilograms of cocaine to Philadelphia. The cocaine was intercepted by law enforcement which ultimately led to the organization’s dismantlement.

All sentenced defendants entered guilty pleas except for the accountant, Ware, who was convicted after a jury trial in January 2013.  The sentencing’s were before United States District Judge Richard W. Story, as were other members of the organization who were sentenced for their respective roles as follows:

• Jiles Delwin Johnson, 47, of Sandy Springs, Ga., entered a guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and one count of money laundering conspiracy in the Northern District of Georgia, and one count of distribution of cocaine in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.  On December 19, 2013, Mr. Johnson was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release. 

• Mark Lamont Walker, 46, of Cumming, Ga., and Philadelphia, Penn., entered a guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and one count of money laundering conspiracy.  On September 3, 2013, Mr. Walker was sentenced to eight years, six months in federal prison to run consecutively to an existing nine year sentence he received in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.  Combined, Mr. Walker’s sentence was 17 years, six months in federal prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release.

• Jose Marcial Gastelum, 33, of Chula Vista, Ca., entered a guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine.  On May 16, 2013, Mr. Gastelum was sentenced to 12 years, three months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release.

• Lorenzo Vargas, 32, of Fullerton, Ca., entered a guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine.  On October 13, 2011, Mr. Vargas was sentenced to ten years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release.

• Sidney Walker, 45, of Huntington, Penn., entered a guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and one count of money laundering conspiracy.  On December 20, 2013, Mr. Walker was sentenced to 11 years and three months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release.

• Ronald Martin, 67, of Philadelphia, Penn., entered a guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine.  On November 26, 2013, Mr. Martin was sentenced to six years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release.  Mr. Martin received no credit against his imposed sentence for time previously served.

• Lloyd Ellis, 43, of Philadelphia, Penn., entered a guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine.  On October 10, 2013, Mr. Ellis was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release.

• Evan Francis, 48, of Lawrenceville, Ga., entered a guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and one count of money laundering conspiracy.  On September 3, 2013, Mr. Francis was sentenced to ten years, one month in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release.

• Thallas Amie, 32, of Sandy Springs, Ga., entered a guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine.  On September 4, 2013, Mr. Amie was sentenced to six years, six months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release.

• Laverne Simon, 54, of Forest Park, Ga., entered a guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine.  On September 4, 2013, Mr. Simon was sentenced to seven years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release.

• Matthew Ware, 57, of Tucker, Ga., was convicted after a jury trial in January 2013, on one count of money laundering conspiracy.  On October 29, 2013, Mr. Ware was sentenced to six years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

• Jacques Degaule, 52, of Atlanta, Ga., entered a guilty plea to two counts of interstate transportation in aid of racketeering enterprises.  On September 4, 2013, Mr. Degaule was sentenced to three years in federal prison, followed by one year of supervised release.  Mr. Degaule received no credit against his sentence for time previously served.

• Shannon Renee Johnson, 46, of Sandy Springs, Ga., entered a guilty plea to one count of money laundering conspiracy.  On December 19, 2013, Ms. Johnson was sentenced to three years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

• Schwan Lemon-Wortham, 52, of Sandy Springs, Ga., entered a guilty plea to one count of money laundering conspiracy.  On November 26, 2013, Ms. Wortham was sentenced to two years, six months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

• Linda Tong, 68, of Alpharetta, Ga., entered a guilty plea to one count of Structuring.  On September 4, 2013, Ms. Tong was sentenced to three years of probation with the special condition of ten months home detention.

In addition, related cases were filed against defendants in the Western District of Missouri, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and the Southern District of New York.

The investigation and prosecution of this case was a coordinated effort with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI), and the Sandy Springs Police Department through the Atlanta-Carolinas HIDTA High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force and the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Program.  Other agencies that assisted in the investigation include the United States Marshal Service; Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Philadelphia; Gwinnett County District Attorney=s Office; Gwinnett County Police Department; Georgia Bureau of Investigation; Georgia Department of Corrections; Forsyth County Sheriff=s Office; Atlanta Police Department; Heard County Sheriff=s Office; New Mexico State Police, Arkansas State Police; Los Angeles Police Department; Philadelphia Police Department and the Tennessee Highway Patrol.  Other United States Attorney=s Offices that assisted in this investigation include: the Eastern District of Pennsylvania; Southern District of New York; District of Massachusetts; Eastern District of Missouri; Southern District of California; Southern District of Florida; and the Western District of Arkansas.

Assistant United States Attorneys Michael Smith, C. Brock Brockington, R. Scott Ferber and G. Jeffery Viscomi prosecuted the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.

ATLANTA - Tremain Hutchinson, who coerced minors to produce child pornography, has been sentenced to life in prison.

“This sexual predator used the anonymity of the internet to prey on young girls – mentally, physically, and emotionally violating them,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “His crimes certainly warrant the prison sentence he received, and the stiff sentence will protect our children from this vicious predator.”

“The exploitation of children is one of the most heinous crimes we investigate,” said Brock Nicholson, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations Atlanta, which oversees all of Georgia and the Carolinas. “This case was especially egregious due to the offenses committed and the number of juvenile victims. Let this sentence be a warning to individuals who prey on innocent children – we will find you, arrest you and ensure you are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court: Beginning in or about November 2011, Hutchinson, who was 26 at the time, used a social media site called Tagged.com to contact the victims, young girls ranging from 11 to 16 years old.  Hutchinson by-passed the safety features of website by posing as a 15 to 18 year-old teenager.  When he made contact with the girls he targeted, he immediately asked the victims to send him nude photos of themselves.  After the victims sent the initial photographs, Hutchinson then demanded more sexually graphic images.  Typically, the girls refused, and Hutchinson would verbally abuse and threaten them.  The threats included Hutchinson saying that he would find out where they lived and harm them or their families, or saying that he would upload the girls’ earlier, nude photos to their schools' websites or to social media sites like Facebook.

The investigation began when DeKalb County Police learned that someone with an account on Tagged.com had forced a teenage girl to molest her younger brother and to send him images of the molestation.   DeKalb County Police identified Hutchinson during the course of their investigation and obtained a subpoena for records of his Tagged.com account.  A search of Hutchinson’s computer and cell phone revealed hundreds of images of young girls in various stages of nudity and engaged in sexual conduct.

Hutchinson admitted in court that he had raped two of the girls he contacted on Tagged.com.  In one instance, Hutchinson contacted a girl using Tagged.com and enticed her to send him nude photos of herself.  He then threatened her until she sent him several videos depicting her engaging in sexually explicit conduct.  Hutchinson continued to demand that the victim send him more videos and pictures and threatened to kill her and her family if she did not comply.  He also threatened to post the photos she had previously sent on the internet.   In February 2012, Hutchinson went to the victim’s home and raped her.   He also raped a 13 year-old he met on Tagged.com.

Then, again posing as a teenage boy, Hutchinson contacted an 11 year-old girl on Tagged.com.  The victim refused to send nude images of herself to him.  Two years later, Hutchinson contacted the victim again and coerced her into sending him various nude images.  When she refused to send additional pictures, Hutchinson threatened to post naked pictures of other girls using the victim's name and phone number on the internet.  He told her that people would think it was her in the photos.  Hutchinson also sent the same victim a photograph of his genitals and tried to meet the victim in person to have sex with her. 

Hutchinson, 28, of Mableton, GA, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Timothy Batten to life in prison.  Hutchinson was convicted of these charges on October 10, 2013, after he pleaded guilty.  He will be required to register as a sex offender if he is released from prison.

This case was investigated by Special Agents of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the DeKalb County Police Department.

Assistant United States Attorneys Yonette Buchanan and Leslie J. Abrams prosecuted the case.

This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, the Attorney General launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse.  Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices around the country, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.

ATLANTA - Zerry Feaster, a/k/a Zerry Travis, a/k/a Zerry West has been arraigned on federal charges of theft of government funds and making false statements.   Feaster was indicted by a federal grand jury on December 17, 2013.

“This defendant is charged with abusing her position with the VA by repeatedly using her government credit card to steal over $80,000,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “Money intended to support the men and women who have served our country was instead used by the defendant for gambling and at luxury stores.”

Monty Stokes, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General, said “We are disappointed in Feaster’s alleged betrayal of public trust.  She was hired to help veterans, but allegedly elected to abuse her position for her own personal gain.  We are committed to safeguarding VA programs and resources to ensure veterans are afforded the care they have earned.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges, and other information presented in court:  Feaster was employed as a secretary in the Police Services division at the Department of Veteran Affairs Medical Center in Atlanta.  From February 2010 through February 2012, Feaster allegedly engaged in a scheme to steal over $80,000 from the VA by misusing her government-issued credit card.  The credit card was supposed to be used to purchase office supplies and other equipment for the Police Services division.  Feaster instead allegedly misused her government credit card to purchase pre-paid gift cards, which she then used to buy personal items, such as luxury accessories and jewelry at stores such as Coach and Tiffany & Co., as well as to gamble.  Feaster attempted to hide the gift card purchases by creating and submitting fake purchase orders to the VA, falsely claiming that she was using the government credit card to buy office supplies and equipment for Police Services.  

The indictment charges Zerry Feaster, 45, of Ellenwood, Ga., with seven counts of theft of government funds and five counts of false statements.  Each theft of government funds count carries a maximum sentence of ten years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.  Each false statement count carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.    In determining the actual sentence, the Court will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders. 

Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only contains charges.  The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

This case is being investigated by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General.

Assistant United States Attorneys Mary L. Webb and Ryan Scott Ferber are prosecuting the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.

ATLANTA – Terrance Anderson, a/k/a/ Scooby, has been sentenced to federal prison on charges of sex trafficking of a minor and two counts of transporting adults in interstate commerce for prostitution.
           
“This defendant lived off the sexual exploiting of minors, even after previously serving a federal sentence for sex trafficking-related conduct,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “Our office will remain vigilant in our efforts to prosecute those who exploit children and young women in this district.” 

“For his own benefit, the defendant preyed upon women and girls, coercing them into prostitution,” said Jocelyn Samuels Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “The Department of Justice will continue to devote its full efforts to prosecuting those who commit such heinous crimes.”

Ricky Maxwell, Acting Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office, stated: “Today's sentencing removes a dangerous individual from our streets who has repeatedly shown a callous disregard for the basic human rights of others.  Human trafficking and child exploitation cases such as this reaffirm the FBI's mission as we work to protect and help those that may not be able to help themselves.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court: From February 2008 through December 2011, Anderson ran a prostitution ring in which he advertised the sexual services of a minor and young women, including victims K.B., T.B., A.C. and other victims on the Internet.  He advertised on sites such as Backpage, Craig’s List and Eros, as well as his own website, Rentsomethingsexy.com.  Anderson caused K.B., a 17-year-old girl, to engage in commercial sex acts in multiple states, requiring her to earn $1,000 a day, work seven days-a-week, and give all her earnings to him.  Anderson also transported 18-year-old T.B., and 24-year-old A.C., from Georgia to Virginia, where he required the young women to perform numerous commercial sex acts for his financial gain. 

Anderson previously pleaded guilty in August 2001 to using a cell phone, which is a facility of interstate commerce, to cause a juvenile to engage in prostitution, and to being a felon in possession of a firearm.  He received a sentence of seven years in federal prison after providing information to federal investigators about other sex trafficking crimes and testifying at the trial of two other human traffickers.  However, Anderson resumed his sex trafficking activities after completing his prison sentence.  

Terrance Anderson, 42, of Ellenwood, Ga., was sentenced by United States District Judge Thomas W. Thrash to 25 years in prison to be followed by seven years of supervised release.  Anderson was ordered to pay restitution to victims totaling $154,550.  Anderson pleaded guilty to the charges on July 19, 2013.

This case was investigated by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  If anyone has any information about human trafficking, they are encouraged to report the information to the Federal Bureau of Investigation at 404-679-9000.

Assistant United States Attorney Susan Coppedge and Department of Justice Deputy Chief Karima Maloney prosecuted the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.

ATLANTA - Ernesto Escobar, a/k/a Pink Panther, a/k/a Flaco, Miguel Alvarado-Linares, a/k/a Joker, and Dimas Alfaro-Granados, a/k/a Toro have been sentenced to life in prison for their roles in committing murders and attempted murders in Gwinnett and DeKalb Counties.

“The defendants sentenced today were the local leaders of the notorious MS-13 gang,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “These defendants upheld MS‑13’s reputation for spreading fear throughout the community by committing brazen and indiscriminate acts of violence, including killing rival gang members and suspected cooperators.  They have rightfully earned their life sentences.”

“Homeland Security Investigations, in partnership with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners, have made a priority of targeting the most violent members of transnational gangs who are involved in murder and mayhem and significantly escalate violence in our neighborhoods, and these three individuals fit that bill,” said Brock Nicholson, special agent in charge of HSI Atlanta. “Our communities are now safer because these heinous criminals will spend the rest of their lives behind bars”

Ricky Maxwell, Acting Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office, stated: "An investigation that helped secure life sentences for such violent offenders that have proven time and again that they have no respect for the lives of others is a very successful investigation.  Such international gangs as MS-13 will continue to be the focus of a joint law enforcement effort at all levels with the goal to arrest those involved and to dismantle the organization as a whole."

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court:  MS-13 is an international gang that has operated in the Atlanta area since at least 2005.  During the course of this investigation, which ended in 2010, more than 75 MS-13 members have been arrested, charged, and/or deported.  Members were organized into “cliques,” or groups, but they operated under the larger umbrella of MS‑13.  Each clique had a leader, often referred to as “the first word,” who conducted weekly meetings.  At these meetings, members discussed their crimes against rival gang members and their plans to retaliate against rivals.  The clique leaders collected dues from the gang members, which they used to buy guns and post bail for jailed gang members.  Clique leaders often sent money back to MS-13 leaders in their home countries of El Salvador and Honduras, and clique leaders often reported back to MS-13 leaders in their home countries about MS-13 activities in the Atlanta area. 

The gang members staked out Gwinnett and DeKalb Counties as their home territory, where they committed murders, attempted murders, and armed robberies.  The evidence at trial showed that the defendants committed the following crimes:

• Alvarado-Linares and Alfaro-Granados, along with another gang member, killed Lal Ko in October 2006.  Ko was a fellow MS-13 member, but Alvarado-Linares, one of the gang leaders, thought that Ko was cooperating with police and ordered his murder.
• In December 2006, when another MS-13 gang member wanted to quit the gang, Alvarado-Linares and Alfaro-Granados ordered him to kill a rival gang member as a condition of leaving MS-13.  On Christmas Eve 2006, that gang member, following orders, shot at a car on Highway 316 that he believed contained rival gang members.  The driver, Celso Villalobos, was shot, and his passenger, Angel Gonzalez, was murdered.  Angel Gonzalez was 20 years old.
• On New Year’s Eve 2006, Alvarado-Linares was at an apartment complex where he exchanged gang hand signs and insults with two members of the rival gang SUR-13.  Alvarado-Linares pulled out a gun and shot the men.
• A few weeks after the New Year’s Eve incident, Alfaro-Granados got into a fight with a suspected rival gang member at a nightclub.  Alvarado-Linares, Alfaro-Granados, and Escobar later returned to the club, where Escobar shot a man walking through the parking lot.
• In August 2007, Escobar got into a scuffle with two teenagers at a Shell gas station in Gwinnett County.  Escobar reported the incident to the clique leader, who gave Escobar a .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun to retaliate.  Escobar went back to the Shell station and shot one of the teenagers as he was painting lines in the parking lot.  The victim, David Hernandez, was only 16 years old.
• In October 2007, Alvarado-Linares was in Gwinnett County and came across a suspected 18th Street member.  Alvarado fired a shotgun and killed Pablo Archila-Baires.  Archila-Baires was only 15 years old.

Ernesto Escobar, a/k/a Pink Panther, a/k/a Flaco, 30, of Norcross, Ga., was sentenced today to life in prison.  Miguel Alvarado-Linares, a/k/a Joker, 25, of Norcross, Ga., was sentenced to life in prison on October 15, 2013, and Dimas Alfaro-Granados, a/k/a Toro, 30, of Duluth, Ga., was sentenced to life in prison on October 29, 2013.  Escobar, Alvarado-Linares and Alfaro-Granados were found guilty by a jury on July 15, 2013.  Parole has been abolished in the federal system.

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service, Gwinnett County Police Department, DeKalb County Police Department, Chamblee Police Department, and Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office.

Assistant United States Attorneys Paul R. Jones and Kim S. Dammers and U.S. Department of Justice, Organized Crime and Gang Section, Trial Attorney Joseph K. Wheatley prosecuted the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.

ROME, Ga. – Joseph Monroe Wilson has been sentenced today to three years in federal prison for possessing images of child pornography on his home computer.

“This prosecution successfully removed a teacher from the classroom who not only ordered and collected child pornography, but who also had unfettered access to children as a school teacher,” said United States Attorney Yates.  “Because children innocently trust teachers like this man, it is essential that we identify and prosecute such individuals.”

“The Postal Inspection Service is charged with enforcing the laws that defend the nation's mail system from illegal use.  The use of the U.S. mail to exploit children is intolerable and those responsible will be held accountable, just as this defendant with today's sentencing,” said George Frazier, Assistant Postal Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Atlanta Field Office.

According to United States Attorney Yates, the criminal indictment, and material presented in court:  In February and March 2011, Wilson ordered numerous images and movies containing sexually explicit images of young boys from a company based in Canada.  In March 2012, the United States Postal Inspection Services executed a federal search warrant at Wilson’s home in Paulding County, Ga.  During the search warrant, law enforcement found a large portrait of a young, naked boy hidden in Wilson’s closet and numerous images of child erotica and child pornography on Wilson’s home computer.  At the time the search warrant was executed, Wilson was a teacher at New Georgia Elementary School in Villa Rica, Ga., and was in the process of adopting a seven‑year‑old boy.  He is no longer teaching at the school and the adoption did not take place.   

Wilson, 44, of Spartanburg, SC, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Robert L. Vining, Jr. to three years in prison to be followed by 30 years of supervised release.  The defendant will be required to register as a sex offender when he is released from prison.

This case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service.

Assistant United States Attorneys Jill E. Steinberg and Brent A. Gray are prosecuting the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.justice.gov/usao/gan.

ATLANTA – Devon Campbell, a/k/a Wilmott Alvin Livingston, a former Jamaican police officer who illegally entered the United States and has since become a U.S. citizen and a College Park police officer, has been arraigned on charges relating to false statements he made on his applications to obtain U.S. citizenship and a passport, and other related crimes.

“According to the indictment, over the last 13 years, Campbell has been engaged in a pervasive scheme to deceive U.S. immigration authorities,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “Even more boldly, Campbell has used his fraudulently obtained citizenship to become a police officer. Simply stated, the citizens of College Park deserve police officers who will follow the laws that they have been sworn to enforce.”

"Law enforcement officers hold positions of public trust requiring the highest levels of integrity," said Brock D. Nicholson, special agent in charge of HSI Atlanta. "The defendant has betrayed that public trust with a life of fraud and deceit. HSI special agents, with assistance from the HSI Jamaica attaché and the Jamaican Constabulary Force, have taken quick action to unmask this impostor and ensure he will never again wear a police officer's uniform in this country."

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges, and other information presented in court:  In 2000, Campbell lived in Jamaica, where he had previously worked as a police officer with the Jamaican Constabulary Force.  On November 7, 2000, Campbell left Jamaica and entered the United States using a Jamaican passport bearing the fabricated name Wilmott Alvin Livingston with a false date of birth.

While in the United States, Campbell has lived under the Livingston alias.  On April 19, 2001, Campbell (using the Livingston alias) married a United States citizen in Jonesboro, Ga.  Shortly thereafter, Campbell (under the Livingston name) petitioned to become a Lawful Permanent Resident.  On August 13, 2004, U.S. immigration authorities granted the application and Campbell become a permanent resident of the United States.

On October 15, 2007, Campbell, using the fake name and date of birth, filed an Application for Naturalization with U.S. immigration services.  Although the application required Campbell to list any previously-used names, Campbell marked that section with the letters “N/A,” meaning “Not Applicable.”  Campbell also signed the form under penalty of perjury using the name Wilmott Alvin Livingston. On April 11, 2008, Campbell (under the Livingston alias) became a naturalized U.S. citizen.  Later that month, Campbell applied for and was issued a U.S. passport. On the passport application, Campbell falsely listed his name and date of birth. Campbell has used his fraudulently-obtained passport to travel back and forth to Jamaica.

Two months after becoming a U.S. citizen, on June 12, 2008, Campbell (under the Livingston identity) and his wife divorced.  Eight days later, Campbell (under the Livingston identity) married another woman.

Since 2011, Campbell has served as a police officer with the College Park Police Department.  In obtaining his Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training certification, Campbell falsely claimed to be a naturalized United States citizen and submitted an unlawfully obtained Certificate of Naturalization.

On December 17, 2013, Campbell, 46, of Ellenwood, Ga., was indicted by a federal grand jury for one count each of: (a) Unlawfully Procuring Citizenship or Naturalization, (b) Making False Statements in a Passport Application, (c) Misusing  Evidence of Citizenship, and (d) Using a Passport Secured by False Statements. The most serious of the charges carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.  In determining the actual sentence, the Court will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders.

Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only contains charges.  The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

This case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations.

Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey W. Davis is prosecuting the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.

ATLANTA – Jae Jun Bae has been indicted by a federal grand jury for wire fraud and bribery.

“The defendant is charged with offering bribes to subvert the proper operation of Doraville’s government,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “As is usually the case, the government employees reported Bae’s misdeeds – allowing law enforcement officers to thwart his efforts to offer cash for favors.”

Ricky Maxwell, Acting Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office, stated: “Public corruption matters at all levels continue to be an investigative priority for the FBI because of the harm that it causes both with government operations and public trust.  We ask the public to remain vigilant regarding criminal activities not only by public or elected officials, but also by those engaging the government, and ask that they report those activities to their nearest FBI field office.”

"Doraville is thankful to be able to work in partnership with the FBI,” said Doraville Police Chief John King.  “Public corruption erodes the confidence and trust that our citizens have in our government officials and employees.  Doraville Police Officers works tirelessly with the citizens and our partnering law-enforcement agencies to make sure that our city is free of corruption and filled with trust."

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges, and other information presented in court:  Bae is the owner of Moon Lingerie, a lingerie business located in Doraville, Ga. In April 2012, Bae bought a commercial building located on Buford Highway in Doraville.  At the time of the purchase, the property was zoned for retail use and could not be used as a wholesale location as Bae wanted. In August 2012, Bae met with an employee of the City of Doraville and attempted to give the employee an envelope of cash, ostensibly in an effort to have the Buford Highway property re-zoned.  The employee did not take the envelope and reported Bae’s attempt to local law enforcement authorities.

In October 2013, Bae asked to meet with an employee of Doraville’s Community Development Department. Based on the allegations from August 2012, the employee (“Doraville Employee”) reported Bae’s request for a meeting to law enforcement authorities and agreed to cooperate with them. Thereafter, the FBI and the Doraville Police Department conducted a series of undercover operations involving Bae.  In particular, on October 17, 2013, Bae met with the Doraville Employee and an undercover officer (“UC”), who was posing member of Doraville’s Community Development Department.  During the meeting, Bae agreed to pay approximately $100,000 to have the Buford Highway property re-zoned to permit wholesale uses.  On October 18, 2013, Bae met with the UC and re-negotiated the price to obtain a wholesale re-zoning from $100,000 down to $70,000.   On October 29, 2013, Bae made a $5,000 payment to the Doraville Employee as a deposit to get the Buford Highway property re-zoned.  On the next day, Bae gave the UC a $3,000 payment, which the UC said would secure a vote in favor of Bae’s re-zoning application. On November 14, 2013, the FBI arrested Bae.

On December 3, 2013, Bae, 34, of Duluth, Ga., was indicted by a federal grand jury on five counts of wire fraud and one count of bribery. The most serious of the charges (wire fraud) carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on each count.  In determining the actual sentence, the Court will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders.

Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only contains charges.  The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Doraville Police Department.

Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey W. Davis and Special Assistant United States Attorney Erin Sanders are prosecuting the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.

ATLANTA - Geoffrey William Hine, who traveled to Georgia to have a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl, has been sentenced on charges of child enticement.

“This office will continue to aggressively pursue individuals who seek to exploit young children, including those who travel here from foreign countries for this purpose,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “Engaging in sexual acts with children is a vile and violent act, and perpetrators will be held accountable for this reprehensible conduct.”

Ricky Maxwell, Acting Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office, stated: “The sentencing of Hine, an Australian national, ensures that there will be one less dangerous child predator among us.  This was a unique international based child exploitation case that not only speaks to the ambitious state of mind of a predator but also to the determination of law enforcement at all levels and jurisdictions to work together in apprehending these individuals. The FBI will continue to dedicate significant investigative resources toward identifying, investigating, and presenting for prosecution those that prey on and exploit our children.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court:  In August 2011, Hine began a Facebook “relationship” with a  14-year-old girl who lived in Rome, Ga.  At the time, Hine was a 33-year-old citizen of Australia.  Hine and the girl had numerous online and phone conversations over the next few months.  Hine even sent the girl's grandmother money on several occasions.  Hine and the 14-year-old then planned a trip for him to come to the United States, specifically to visit her in Rome, Ga.  Hine asked the girl if she would sleep in the same bed with him and engage in sexual activity when he visited.  Hine continued to send sexually explicit texts to the young girl describing the sexual acts he intended to do with her.  When Hine arrived in the U.S. on April 14, 2012, FBI agents met his plane at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and arrested him.

Hine, 35, of Western Australia, was sentenced to ten years in prison, to be followed by 30 years of supervised release.

This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Floyd County Police Department.

Assistant United States Attorney Cassandra J. Schansman prosecuted the case.

This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, the Attorney General launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse.  Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices around the country, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.

ATLANTA – Former Clarkston City Councilwoman Joan Swaney has pleaded guilty to embezzling over $60,000 from a local community center.

“As a Clarkston councilwoman, Swaney’s personal motto was ‘live with purpose, act with integrity,’” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “Unfortunately, she failed to live up to these ideals when she stole tens of thousands of dollars from the Clarkston Community Center.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court:  The Clarkston Community Center (CCC) was established in 1994 in the former Clarkston High School and serves a diverse community in the Clarkston area.  The CCC includes classrooms and an auditorium as well as activity fields for sports and other outdoor events.  The CCC focuses on educational and recreational activities in the Clarkston area.  Swaney was employed by the CCC from November 2003 until December 2012.  During this time, Swaney was its office manager.  Her responsibilities included bookkeeping and other administrative tasks.

In 2010, Joan Swaney, 67, of Clarkston, Ga., was elected to serve on the City Council in Clarkston.  She also served as Clarkston's Vice Mayor during her tenure.  Swaney resigned her position in October 2013 after she was indicted by a federal grand jury in this case. 

As part of her normal duties, Swaney regularly received reimbursements for supplies she purchased on behalf of the CCC.  Normally, receipts for expenses incurred and a purchase authorization form for CCC expenses were maintained for each transaction in order to document expenses.  In 2010, Swaney began to write checks to herself from the CCC's bank account at BB&T.  Between 2010 and 2012, she made the checks payable directly to herself and forged the signature of the CCC's Director.  The checks were written without the authorization of the CCC's Director who managed the day-to-day affairs of the CCC.

Swaney deposited the forged checks into her personal account and used the CCC's funds to pay personal expenses and her personal credit card bills.  During this period, she used CCC funds to pay for a variety of personal expenses including:

• Charges totaling $1,424 in June 2010 for a family vacation;
• Charges totaling approximately $3,000 in September 2010 for personal vehicle repairs; and
• Charges totaling $1,590 in June 2011 for a charter boat rental.

Swaney varied the check amounts and made fictitious entries in the memo lines of the checks in order to make it appear the funds had been spent on expenses relating to the CCC's operations.  At the same time, she also used the CCC debit card to withdraw cash from the CCC's BB&T bank account, generally withdrawing between $300 and $600 at a time.  Swaney made cash withdrawals using the debit card at least once or twice a month.  The loss to the CCC exceeded $60,000.

The charges in this case carry a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $1,000,000.   In determining the actual sentence, the Court will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders.

Swaney’s sentencing is scheduled for March 6th, 2014, at 10:00 a.m.

This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Assistant United States Attorney Kurt Erskine is prosecuting the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.

ATLANTA - Maario Coleman and Angela Russell have been arraigned for operating a scheme to obtain thousands of dollars by stealing the identities of Emory University law and medical students and using them to apply for loans. 

“The alleged actions of these two defendants demonstrates how every member of our community is vulnerable to identity theft and computer intrusions,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “The potential for causing damage to Emory students’ financial and professional futures cannot be overstated.  We continue to work aggressively to combat this problem.”

Ricky Maxwell, Acting Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office, stated: “This case illustrates the need for the law enforcement community to work together in order to stay ahead of today’s very capable and tech savvy individuals that are able to do much harm to many unsuspecting victims.  The FBI’s Atlanta Cyber Task Force applauds the quick response of the Emory University Police Department and its continued assistance throughout this investigation.”

“The teamwork of Emory Police investigators, Emory's University Technology Services and school officials, allowed Emory to respond quickly to reports, initiate an investigation and take steps to prevent further fraud against our graduates,” says Emory Police Chief Craig Watson. “On behalf of the Emory Police Department, I greatly appreciate the productive partnership with the Federal Bureau of Investigation that has led to the arrest of these two individuals.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges, and other information presented in court: Coleman obtained lists of students graduating in the class of 2013 by checking university websites and attending graduation ceremonies.  Coleman and Russell used that information to obtain the students’ dates of birth and social security numbers from online databases.  The defendants then used those personal identifiers to apply for post-graduate “bar loans” and “residency loans” at Discover Bank.  “Bar loans” are designed to pay for living expenses and exam preparation while law school graduates studied for the bar exam.  Similarly, “residency loans” assist medical school graduates with the costs of residency, relocation, and board exam review courses.

In many instances, Discover required school transcripts before it would approve and fund the loans.  To satisfy this requirement, Coleman and others used the personal identifiers of the victims to obtain passwords to access Emory’s online portal and order the victims’ transcripts.  The transcripts were mailed to other participants in the scheme, and Coleman then coordinated sending the transcripts to Discover.  He also arranged for the loan proceeds to be deposited into bank accounts fraudulently opened in the victims’ names.  After the loans were funded, other participants in the scheme obtained the funds via ATM withdrawals. 

The investigation showed that the scheme began as early as May 2013, and continued until at least November 6, 2013.  On that date, law enforcement officers, including federal agents, interviewed Russell regarding the scheme.  Following the interview, the agents went to a second location, and then returned to Russell’s residence.  When they arrived, agents became alarmed by a large volume of smoke they saw rising from Russell’s apartment.  After entering the apartment, the agents found Coleman and Russell inside, with fire and smoke coming from the fireplace.  The agents put out the fire with an extinguisher and discovered documents and computer equipment, including hard drives and at least one laptop, all either burned in the fire, dismantled or gouged.

To date, investigators have identified over $200,000 in false loan applications.  In addition, over 100 students at Emory and other Georgia universities have had their personal information compromised.  The fraud was discovered when several Emory students contacted the Emory Police Department after realizing that their personal information had been compromised.  The investigation is ongoing.

The indictment charges Coleman, 27, of Decatur, Ga., with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, three counts of aggravated identity theft, one count of computer fraud, and one count of tampering with computers and documents.  Russell, 42, of Dunwoody, Ga., is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft, and one count of tampering with computers and documents.  Both appeared before Linda T. Walker, United States Magistrate Judge.

The bank fraud conspiracy and tampering charges each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.  The computer fraud charge carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison.  The aggravated identity theft charges carry at least one mandatory two-year consecutive sentence, in addition to any other sentence imposed.  In addition, the bank fraud count carries a fine of up to $1,000,000, and the computer fraud and tampering counts each carry a fine of up to $250,000.  In determining the actual sentence, the Court will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders.

Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only contains charges.  The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Emory University Police Department.

Assistant United States Attorney Shanya Dingle is prosecuting the case.

Today’s announcement is part of efforts underway by President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (FFETF) which was created in November 2009 to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. attorneys’ offices and state and local partners, it’s the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations. Over the past three fiscal years, the Justice Department has filed more than 10,000 financial fraud cases against nearly 15,000 defendants including more than 2,700 mortgage fraud defendants. For more information on the task force, visit www.stopfraud.gov.

If you are a victim of identity theft, change the passwords to your online banking and other financial accounts because your information may have been stolen/ acquired over the Internet.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/ .

ROME, Ga. – Clifford J. Joyce has been sentenced to one year and six months in prison for framing a Murray County citizen for drug possession.
           
“By planting drugs on an innocent woman’s car, Mr. Joyce attempted to use the criminal justice system to serve his own personal agenda,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “In the end, however, it is Mr. Joyce, and not the Murray County woman, who will be headed to prison.”

Ricky Maxwell, Acting Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office, stated: “Mr. Joyce’s sentencing today serves to not only hold him accountable for his crime, but provides him time to reflect on this terrible deceptive act intended to harm another innocent individual.  The FBI will continue to work with its various local, state and other federal law enforcement partners to identify and investigate any allegations of criminal conduct involving or adversely impacting our criminal justice system.”

“Vindicating an innocent person is as important as convicting the guilty.  The GBI will continue to work with our federal law enforcement counterparts to ensure criminal cases are thoroughly investigated so the innocent remain free and the guilty are held accountable,” said Vernon Keenan, GBI Director. 

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court:  In July 2012, a Murray County citizen met with then-Chief Magistrate Judge Bryant Cochran regarding a legal matter.  She alleged that during the meeting, Cochran made inappropriate sexual advances towards her.

In an effort to discredit the citizen, Joyce and others participated in a scheme to frame her for drug possession. On or about August 12, 2012, Joyce hid a metal tin containing five packets of methamphetamine under the tire well of the citizen’s car. 

Two days later, on August 14, 2012, Murray County Deputy Sheriff Joshua Greeson (who has since been convicted of witness tampering for lying to law enforcement officers) conducted a traffic stop of the citizen’s car. During the traffic stop, Greeson searched the vehicle for drugs. Ultimately, after receiving information from Captain Michael Henderson (who has also been convicted of witness tampering), Greeson found the metal tin of methamphetamine under the tire well.  After locating the drugs, Greeson and Henderson arrested the citizen and the driver of the car on narcotics charges. On August 24, 2012, the District Attorney dismissed the charges against the citizen.

On June 14, 2013, Joyce, 27, of Dalton, Ga., pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute methamphetamine. Today, United States District Judge Harold L. Murphy sentenced Joyce to one year, six months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, and 100 hours of community service. 

This case was investigated by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Assistant United States Attorneys Jeffrey W. Davis and Michael V. Herskowitz prosecuted the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.justice.gov/usao/gan.

ATLANTA - Billy Gene McCorkle, Jr. has been arraigned on charges of distributing and possessing child pornography of children under the age of 12.  McCorkle was indicted by a federal grand jury on December 10, 2013.  He was detained.

“The sexual exploitation of a child through the distribution of child pornography is a crime that preys on the most innocent in our society, the very ones who depend on us to protect them,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “This defendant is accused of trafficking sexually graphic images of very young children, with some of them even shown in bondage situations.  This office is committed to prosecuting those who engage in this horrible trade.”

"The defendant stands accused of trading in the worst kinds of child pornography, in effect victimizing again children whose documented rapes will haunt them for the rest of their lives ," said Brock D. Nicholson, special agent in charge of HSI Atlanta. "HSI special agents and our law enforcement partners will continue to tirelessly pursue these monsters and will use every tool we have available to hold them accountable for their crimes and keep them away from children."

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges, and other information presented in court: In October 2013, special agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations identified McCorkle as a Canton, Georgia resident using a Google email account to transmit hardcore images of pornography depicting very young children.  Federal agents then obtained a search warrant to gain access to McCorkle’s email content.  A review of those records revealed that between October 27, 2013, and sometime in November 2013, McCorkle used a cellular telephone connected to the Internet to transmit more than 208 photographs and 14 video files, depicting pornographic images of minors, including children under age 12.  The photographs and video files included hardcore images of child pornography, some of which involved bondage.

The indictment charges McCorkle, 45, of Canton, Ga., with distributing child pornography, and possessing images of child pornography depicting minors under age 12.  Because McCorkle was previously convicted of a sex offense, the distribution charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years of imprisonment, up to a maximum sentence of 40 years of imprisonment, and a fine of up to $250,000.  And because McCorkle possessed images of prepubescent minors, the possession charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years of imprisonment, up to a maximum sentence of 20 years of imprisonment, and a fine of up to $250,000.  In determining the actual sentence, the Court will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders.

Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only contains charges.  The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

This case is being investigated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.

Assistant United States Attorney Richard S. Moultrie, Jr. is prosecuting the case.

This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, the Attorney General launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse.  Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices around the country, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.

ATLANTA – A federal jury today found Bernando O. Davis guilty of conspiracy, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft for using stolen identities to file false federal income tax returns that claimed millions of dollars in bogus refunds. 

“Almost every day we learn of another identity thief who has found a unique way to steal personal identifying information.  The common theme is that the thieves always use the information they steal to commit a second theft: the theft of money,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “Today, a federal jury brought this defendant’s identity theft scheme to an end.”

“These unscrupulous defendants thought they had figured out a clever scheme to thwart the IRS and steal from American taxpayers,” said IRS Criminal Investigation, Special Agent in Charge, Veronica F.  Hyman-Pillot. “Today’s verdict clearly demonstrates that taking advantage, manipulating, and stealing from the American people will not go unpunished.”

“This case is just another prime example that demonstrates the hard work and collaborative law enforcement effort to fight against perpetrators committing fraudulent acts against the American public.  The U.S. Postal Inspection Service will continue to aggressively investigate all crimes where illegal use of the U.S. mail is used to further fraudulent schemes." said Keith Fixel, Postal Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service - Charlotte Division.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court:  From approximately July 2010 to January 2013, Davis operated “Davis Tax Service,” a tax preparation business in Clayton County, Ga.  Davis, working with others, including Kevin J. Sonnier, and Carla L. Jefferson of Palmdale, Ca., led thousands of victims to believe that they could apply for “government stimulus payments” or “free government money” from the federal government by providing their names and Social Security numbers.  Davis and his co-conspirators used toll-free telephone numbers, web sites, flyers, and radio advertisements to advertise the “stimulus payments” and collect victims’ personal information.  They also recruited “runners” who promoted the scheme by word of mouth and collected victims’ personal information.  In addition to the “stimulus” charade, Davis and his co-conspirators acquired names from a variety of sources, including prisons and homeless shelters, to use in the fraud.  Many victims testified that they had never heard about the “stimulus payments,” but their identities were nonetheless used by Davis and his co-conspirators to file bogus tax returns. 

In actuality, no stimulus payment existed, and Davis and his co-conspirators used the victims’ personal information to file fraudulent tax returns that claimed a total of over $19 million in bogus refunds.  On the returns, Davis claimed false income amounts and student credits to generate the bogus tax refunds.  In many of the returns, Davis directed the IRS to pay the refund amounts to bank accounts he or his co-conspirators controlled.  Davis and his co-conspirators shared in the profits generated from this scheme. The victims did not know that Davis had filed tax returns in their names. 

The evidence at trial showed that Davis had over 1,600 tax refund checks sent to his home address in Stockbridge, Ga., by listing his home address as the victims’ address on the tax returns he filed in their names.  In addition to the checks, Davis received thousands of letters addressed to the victims from the IRS, Social Security Administration, and other government agencies.  After seeing such a large number of Treasury checks coming to Davis’ home address, a mail carrier seized over 1,000 of these checks and provided them to law enforcement. 

Federal agencies executed a search warrant at Davis’ and Sonnier’s business location in February 2013.  There they found numerous lists of names, Social Security numbers, and birth dates of victims which were used to file tax returns.  They also found tax forms with victims’ signatures taped onto the forms to make it look like the victims had authorized the tax returns.  In reality, Davis and his co-conspirators had cut the signatures from the “stimulus” applications and taped them to the tax forms to make their business appear legitimate if anyone asked any questions.  When agents first entered the business to execute the search, Davis fled out of the back of the building and was arrested with the assistance of Clayton County law enforcement. 

Davis also faxed a fraudulent Georgia driver’s license and tax forms to a Texas detective in 2012, when the detective asked questions about a tax return Davis had fraudulently filed in a Texas victim’s name.  Davis falsely represented that the license had been given to him by the taxpayer.  Numerous text messages were also introduced at trial where co-conspirators sent Davis names and Social Security numbers, including from prisoners, for use in the scheme.

In June 2012, Davis, 27, of Stockbridge, Ga., entered into an “Assurance of Voluntary Compliance” with the Administrator of the Georgia Fair Business Practices Act, in which he agreed to modify his business practices.  The evidence at trial demonstrated that despite entering into this agreement, he continued to file false tax returns using the identities of unsuspecting victims.  Over 20 victims testified at trial.  The scheme affected over 15,000 victims in virtually every state across the country.

The jury convicted Davis of one count of conspiracy, 15 counts of wire fraud, and 15 counts of aggravated identity theft.  The wire fraud counts each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, the conspiracy count carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison, and the aggravated identity theft charges each carry a mandatory two-year sentence.  At least one of the two-year sentences for aggravated identity theft must run consecutively to any other sentence imposed.  Each count also carries a fine of up to $250,000.  Davis was detained after the verdict.

On November 20, 2013, Jefferson pleaded guilty to conspiracy for her role in the scheme.  On May 22, 2013, Sonnier, 44, of Ellenwood, Ga., pleaded guilty to conspiracy, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft for his role.  As part of his plea agreement, Sonnier agreed to forfeit his interest in 17 separate pieces of real estate located throughout Clayton County, thousands of dollars that were previously seized from his bank accounts, and over 80 electronic devices and items of jewelry that were previously seized by the government.  In addition, Sonnier agreed to a money judgment of at least $7 million and full restitution to the IRS. 

In determining the actual sentence, the Court will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders.

Sentencing for Davis is scheduled for February 19, 2014, at 10:00 a.m. before United States District Judge Charles A. Pannell, Jr.  Sentencing for Sonnier is scheduled for January 7, 2014, at 11 a.m., before Judge Pannell.  Sentencing for Jefferson is scheduled for February 18, 2014, at 10 a.m., before Judge Pannell.          

This case is being investigated by Special Agents of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation and Postal Inspectors with the United States Postal Inspection Service.  If you believe you may be a victim of tax return-related identity theft, please contact the IRS Identity Protection Specialized Unit at 800-908-4490, extension 245 (Mon. - Fri., 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. local time).         

Assistant United States Attorneys Stephen H. McClain and Thomas J. Krepp are prosecuting the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Information Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the HomePage for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.justice.gov/usao/gan.

ATLANTA - Darrell Mathis has pleaded guilty to a charge of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

“The defendant dealt drugs while armed with a gun while he was a deputy sheriff,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “He was sworn to uphold the law and to protect the public from the crimes that he committed himself. Today’s guilty plea provides important reassurance to the community that corrupt law enforcement officers have no place in our community and will be held accountable for their actions.”

Ricky Maxwell, Acting Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office, stated: “A career in law enforcement comes with not only immense responsibilities but also temptations to stray from those responsibilities.  Former Deputy Mathis unfortunately gave in to those temptations, the results of which ended his career and damaged the public’s trust in those others serving honorably.  The FBI will continue its efforts to identify, investigate, and present for prosecution, those individuals who engage in similar such corrupt and criminal conduct.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court: In April 2013, it came to the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation that Mathis, a deputy sheriff with the Newton County Sheriff’s Office, was engaged in distributing marijuana.  From May through September 2013, Mathis sold various quantities of marijuana to a confidential source who was working with the FBI, as well as to an undercover FBI agent.  On at least two occasions, Mathis sold marijuana from his marked patrol vehicle while wearing his Newton County Sheriff’s Office uniform. 

On August 8, 2013, Mathis sold one pound of marijuana to an undercover FBI agent.  Following that sale, Mathis and the undercover FBI agent went to meet with another undercover FBI agent to discuss the sale of additional quantities of marijuana.  Mathis brought his NCSO badge and his firearm to the meeting. Mathis told the undercover agent that he was bringing his firearm to the meeting “just in case.”  During the meeting, Mathis told the second undercover FBI agent, who Mathis believed to be a marijuana and cocaine trafficker, that he was a police officer, pulled out his badge, and stated, “Don't worry, I'm on your side.” Mathis was arrested on September 19, 2013, when he met with the undercover FBI agent while in possession of one pound of marijuana.

The charge in this case carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and a mandatory minimum sentence of five years' incarceration, as well as a maximum fine of $250,000. In determining the actual sentence, the Court will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders.

Darrell Mathis, 41, of Lithonia, Ga., is scheduled to be sentenced on March 5th, at 2:00 p.m. before United States District Judge Orinda D. Evans.

This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Assistant United States Attorney Jamie L. Mickelson is prosecuting the case.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta recommends parents and children learn about the dangers of drugs at the following web site: www.justthinktwice.com.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.

ATLANTA - Elton Lee Flenaugh and Deje D. Silas have been convicted of federal credit card fraud and identity theft charges.

“This case highlights the need for aggressive federal investigation and prosecution of credit card fraud and identity theft crimes,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “We commend the U.S. Secret Service for synchronizing local law enforcement activities in multiple cities to bring this brazen, multi-state scheme to a halt, and these defendants to justice.”

“The defendants’ criminal actions reflect how advancements in digital technology can alternatively have a negative effect on our communities.  The Secret Service will continue to collaborate with its law enforcement partners and the public and private sectors to actively investigate and arrest those that commit crimes that prey on unsuspecting victims,” said Reginald G. Moore, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Secret Service, Atlanta Field Office.

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges, and other information presented in court:  Flenaugh and Silas had a romantic relationship dating back several years.  On February 9, 2013, Flenaugh and Silas were scheduled to fly from Atlanta to Los Angeles.  During the pre-flight security screening process, alert TSA security officers noticed a suspicious package in Flenaugh’s carry-on bag and, upon further inspection, found nearly 100 fraudulent credit cards secreted inside of a double-sealed manila envelope, which had been hidden inside of an empty, foil-lined Lay’s potato chip bag.  33 of the cards were embossed in Silas’ name, 28 were embossed in three different aliases used by Flenaugh, and 21 were blank and had not yet been embossed.  Subsequent searches by the Atlanta Police Department revealed fraudulent driver’s licenses inside of the protective case attached to Silas’ cell phone, and underneath the removable insole of one of Flenaugh’s shoes in the carry-on bag.

Additional investigation revealed fraudulent credit cards, licenses, and stolen credit card account and identity information of hundreds of people.  These were found in personal items seized from and during searches of Google e-mail accounts controlled by Flenaugh and Silas, an Apple iPad seized from them at the airport, and a 2007 BMW M6 automobile registered to one of Flenaugh’s aliases.

The investigation showed that the scheme began at least by early 2012 and continued until Flenaugh and Silas’ arrests in February 2013.  The scheme involved obtaining credit and debit card account information of hundreds of people, which were then used to manufacture fraudulent credit cards.  The cards were made to appear as if they had been issued by major financial institutions such as Chase Bank, U.S. Bank, and Capital One.  The defendants also obtained personal identifying information -- including Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and credit information -- of dozens of people, which were used to create fraudulent driver’s licenses to use with the fraudulent credit cards.  The fraudulent credit cards were then embossed with the names used on the fraudulent driver’s licenses.  The issuing banks and the names embossed on the fraudulent credit cards were merely a front to make them appear legitimate.  The magnetic stripes on those cards were encoded with the actual debit and credit card account information of account holders at dozens of financial institutions throughout the country, but primarily at credit unions located in California, Florida, Georgia, Oregon, and Washington.

In at least three instances identified to date, Flenaugh and Silas opened fraudulent credit card accounts in one of the stolen identities and made thousands of dollars in unauthorized charges.  As part of his plea agreement with the United States, Flenaugh agreed that he is responsible for losses between $200,000 and $400,000.

Elton Lee Flenaugh, a/k/a Josh Ford a/k/a Ali Waheed, 34, of Richmond, Ca., and Deje D. Silas, 21, of San Francisco, Ca., were originally arrested and charged by the Atlanta Police Department at the airport on February 9th, and taken into custody by the Clayton County Sherriff’s Office. 

On March 4, 2013, the U.S. Secret Service took Flenaugh into federal custody at the Clayton County Jail after Clayton County authorities indicated that Flenaugh had posted bond and would be released from custody in Clayton County.  A federal complaint was filed against him later that day.  On March 7, 2013, the court ordered Flenaugh detained as a flight risk and as a danger to the community, and he has remained in custody since then.  A federal grand jury indicted Flenaugh on the instant charges on April 2, 2013.

Flenaugh pleaded guilty today to one count of possession of 15 or more counterfeit or unauthorized access devices, and one count of aggravated identity theft.  The charge against him for possession of counterfeit or unauthorized access devices carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison, and the aggravated identity theft charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in federal prison, which is required to be imposed consecutive to any sentence imposed on the possession charge.  Each of the charges also authorizes a fine of up to $250,000.  In determining the actual sentence, the Court will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders.

Silas remained in Clayton County custody until May 8, 2013, when she agreed to waive indictment and appeared in federal court on a Criminal Information pursuant to a negotiated plea agreement.  On May 21, 2013, she pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess 15 or more counterfeit or unauthorized credit cards.  On August 28, 2013, the court sentenced Silas to three years, five months in federal prison in connection with the scheme.  Silas is currently serving her sentence.

Sentencing for Flenaugh is scheduled for Feb. 27, 2014, at 2:00 p.m. before Senior United States District Judge Orinda D. Evans.

This case is being investigated by Special Agents of the United States Secret Service.  Valuable assistance has been provided by the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport division of the Atlanta Police Department, the Office of the Chief Counsel of the Transportation Security Administration, the City of Atlanta Department of Aviation, the Miami-Dade State’s Attorney’s Office, the San Francisco Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Investigations Division of the California Department of Motor Vehicles, and the Oakland Police Department.

Assistant United States Attorney David M. Chaiken is prosecuting the case.

Anyone who believes they may be the victim of identity theft is strongly encouraged to request and review their credit reports from the three nationwide consumer credit reporting companies; Equifax, Experion, and Trans Union, to be sure everything on the reports are authorized, and that they request a fraud alert from the companies.  It is also suggested that they immediately close any accounts that have been compromised or opened fraudulently.  Those who do online banking or manage other accounts online, check these accounts regularly and be sure passwords are strong.  To report identity theft, contact the Federal Trade Commission at:  http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0277-create-identity-theft-report or the FTC Identity Theft Hotline at 1-877-438-4338 or TTY 1-866-653-4261.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.

ATLANTA – Radric Davis, an Atlanta-based rap artist who performs under the name Gucci Mane, has been charged in federal court with two separate counts of possessing a firearm while being a felon. 

“The indictment charges that on two separate occasions, this defendant, a convicted felon, threatened individuals, including the police and his attorney with a gun” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “This is how people get hurt, and we are committed to ensuring that convicted felons not have guns.”

“When offenders such as this use firearms to threaten individuals, including law enforcement officers sworn to protect our community, ATF takes this very seriously,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge Christopher Shaefer.  “ATF remains on the frontline of preventing violent crime along with our law enforcement partners and will continue to pursue those who violate the law, regardless of their celebrity status.”

“The Atlanta Police Department has made it a priority to take violent repeat offenders off our city streets and see that they are held responsible for their actions.  We are thankful for the cooperation with our partner agencies, especially the U.S. Attorney’s Office, in bringing Mr. Davis to justice.  We cannot tolerate convicted felons ignoring the law by carrying firearms and endangering our citizens,” said Atlanta Police Chief George N. Turner.

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges, and other information presented in court:  On September 12, 2013, Davis, who was a felon at the time, was found in possession of a firearm.  Then, just two days later, on September 14th, he again possessed a firearm different from the earlier gun.  On both occasions, Davis displayed the loaded firearm, acted erratically, and made threats to individuals, including police and his attorney.   

Davis, 33, of Atlanta, Ga., was indicted by a federal grand jury on November 19, 2013.  He made his initial appearance before Magistrate Judge Linda T. Walker and was detained in custody pending his trial. 

Each charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm carries a maximum sentence of 10-years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.   In determining the actual sentence, the sentencing Court will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders.

Members of the public are reminded that an indictment contains only allegations.  The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

This case is being investigated by law enforcement partner members of the Violent Repeat Offenders Initiative, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Atlanta Police Department.

Assistant United States Attorney Kim S. Dammers is prosecuting the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.

ATLANTA - Anita R. Ford, a/k/a Anita R. Dixon has pleaded guilty today for aiding or assisting in the presentation and filing of false personal income tax returns with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.

“By filing thousands of false tax returns this defendant caused the U.S. Treasury to issue millions of dollars in fraudulent refunds to her clients,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “Her scheme was stopped when she prepared a false tax return for an undercover IRS agent.  This conviction should make abusive return preparers think twice before attempting to rob the U.S. Treasury.”

“At the IRS, protecting taxpayer money is a matter we take extremely seriously. An integral part of the agency’s mission involves detecting and catching fraudulent refund claims,” stated IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge, Veronica F. Hyman-Pillot. “The message this case sends is that participation in refund fraud schemes does not pay and those who do will be prosecuted.  Additionally, taxpayers who receive fraudulent refunds, whether knowingly or not are responsible for repaying the money.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court: Between 2004 and 2012, Ford owned and operated Georgia Peach Financial & Fast Tax Service (“Georgia Peach”), an Atlanta personal income tax preparation business.  During that time Ford prepared and electronically filed (“e-filed”) thousands of Form 1040 individual income tax returns with the IRS that intentionally misstated her clients’ income in order to generate fraudulent refunds.  In particular, Ford made up fake side businesses with fake income and fake expenses, and then attached false Schedules C’s (“Profit or Loss from Business”) to the clients’ tax returns showing such made up income and expenses.  This had the effect of off-setting her clients’ income tax liability from their real salaries, as reflected in Forms W2 (“Wage & Tax Statement”) issued by their real employers, generating false credits and refunds.

In March 2011, a Special Agent of IRS-CI visited Georgia Peach in an undercover capacity, posing as a taxpayer seeking to have a return prepared.  Ford began preparing a tax return in the agent’s cover identity, based on a Form W2 in the cover identity, and informed the agent that they would owe approximately $200.  In truth, the agent would have been due a refund of almost $400.  Ford then created a fictitious Form Schedule C for a fake beauty salon business, with $30,000 in fake business expenses, generating a fraudulent refund of over $4,000, and e-filed the completed tax return with the IRS.  To prepare and e-file the return, Ford charged a fee of $510.  Ford did not provide a copy of the tax return to the undercover agent or review it with the undercover agent before e-filing it.   

The returns identified in the scheme sought fraudulent refunds ranging from several thousand dollars to tens of thousands of dollars, including at least one fraudulent refund of more than $30,000.  As part of her plea agreement with the United States, Ford agreed that she is responsible for between $2.5 and $7 million in losses to the IRS. 

Ford, 49, of Jonesboro, Ga., pleaded guilty to both counts of a two-count Criminal Information filed against her on October 4, 2013.  The charges each carry a maximum sentence of three years, for a total of six years in federal prison, and a fine of up to $250,000 on each count.   Also, as part of the plea agreement, Ford has agreed to pay $5,732,021.50 in restitution to the United States Treasury.  The sentencing has not yet been scheduled.  In determining the actual sentence, the Court will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders.

This case is being investigated by Special Agents of IRS-CI.

Assistant United States Attorney David M. Chaiken is prosecuting the case.

The IRS would like to remind people that while most preparers provide excellent service to their clients, the IRS urges taxpayers to be very careful when choosing a tax preparer. Taxpayers should be as careful as they would be in choosing a doctor or a lawyer. It is important to know that even if someone else prepares a tax return, the taxpayer is ultimately responsible for all the information on the tax return.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.

ATLANTA - Cordell Fleming, a former Claims Representative with the Social Security Administration, has been sentenced to one year and one day in prison for extortion.

“Mr. Fleming abused his position of public trust with the Social Security Administration when he extorted money from the disabled, aged, and indigent, in return for expediting their claims” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates. “The defendant earned every day of this prison sentence.”

“While employee fraud is rare in SSA’s dedicated work force, the Office of the Inspector General has no higher priority than the investigation and prosecution of the rare individual who violates the public trust.  I’m pleased to see this case brought to a successful conclusion and grateful that the U.S. Attorney’s Office shares our determination to ensure the integrity of SSA’s programs,” said Thomas Caul, Special Agent in Charge, Office of the Inspector General  for the Social Security Administration.

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court:  Fleming worked as a Claims Representative for the Social Security Administration in Morrow, Ga. As part of his duties, Fleming processed requests for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments for eligible individuals. SSI is a Federal income supplement program designed to help aged, blind, and disabled people, who have little or no income, by providing cash to meet basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter. As part of his scheme, Fleming offered to “expedite” the processing time of SSI payments to recipients in exchange for a fee.  In an attempt to make the expedited SSI payments appear legitimate, Fleming frequently created false documents that purportedly justified the expedited disbursement of the payments. From October 2012 to April 2013, Fleming extorted and attempted to extort money (in amounts ranging from approximately $500 to $1,800) from at least nine SSI recipients or their representatives.

On August 27, 2013, Fleming, 47, of Conyers, Ga., pleaded guilty to Extortion under the Color of Official Right. Today, United States District Judge Timothy C. Batten, Sr. sentenced Fleming to one year and one day in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, and full restitution.  He was also ordered to perform 120 hours of community service. 

This case was investigated by Special Agents of the Social Security Administration - Office of the Inspector General.

Special Assistant United States Attorney Diane C. Schulman and Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey W. Davis prosecuted the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.justice.gov/usao/gan.

ATLANTA – Hakeem Omar has been sentenced on charges arising out of a scheme to bribe an immigration official.   

“Many dream of obtaining their United States citizenship and pursue that dream lawfully,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “This defendant attempted to subvert the immigration process by offering bribes to a federal agent.   Now, after paying thousands of dollars in bribes, he is headed to prison and has been stripped of his fraudulently obtained citizenship.”

“Quite simply, America's immigration system is not for sale," said David P. D’Amato, special agent in charge of ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) for the Southeast Region. "OPR works closely with partners like the U.S. Attorney’s Office to ensure that those who seek to compromise the integrity of our nation's legal immigration system pay a price for their crimes."

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court:  Beginning in September 2010, and continuing until at least July 2012, Omar and co-defendant Ibrahim Barrie paid a series of bribes to a special agent with the Department of Homeland Security who was working undercover.  Over a two-year period, Omar paid thousands of dollars to the undercover special agent for what he believed was assistance with his immigration status in the United States, including obtaining United States citizenship through naturalization.   

Hakeem Omar, 31, of Atlanta, Ga., was sentenced by United States District Judge Steve C. Jones to two years in federal prison and was stripped of his fraudulently obtained United States citizenship.  He will serve three years of supervised release following his prison term and will be turned over to a duly-authorized immigration official for appropriate removal proceedings.

Omar is the second conspirator to be sentenced in this case.  On October 21, 2013, co-conspirator Ibrahim Barrie, 32, of Atlanta, Ga., was sentenced to 24 months in prison.  Upon completion of his sentence, Barrie will be turned over to a duly-authorized immigration official for appropriate removal proceedings. 

This case was investigated by Special Agents of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.

Assistant United States Attorney Skye Davis prosecuted the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.justice.gov/usao/gan.

ATLANTA – Remberto Argueta and William Espinoza have been convicted by a federal jury for committing murders, attempted murders, and armed robberies in Gwinnett and DeKalb counties.

“These two defendants set the standard for violence and disregard for human life as members of the international gang MS-13,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “They spread fear throughout the community by killing innocent pedestrians, shooting suspected rival gang members and robbing innocent people at gunpoint.  By finding them guilty, this jury has held them accountable for their crimes.”

“As active members of one of the most violent gangs in the world, these men posed a significant threat to the public safety of our communities,” said Brock D. Nicholson, special agent in charge of ICE HSI Atlanta, which is responsible for agency investigations in Georgia and the Carolinas. “HSI and our partners at the FBI and local law enforcement agencies have taken a strong stand against transnational gangs in Atlanta. These are just the latest convictions that show how successful our efforts have been.”

Mark F. Giuliano, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office, stated: "Today's conviction in federal court of two violent members of the international gang known as MS-13 adds to the list of successes for those law enforcement officers, investigators and prosecutors who are working hard to neutralize this dangerous criminal enterprise.  While these successes are important for the FBI and its various law enforcement partners, it is more important to those particular communities impacted by MS-13's violent crimes."

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court:  MS-13 is an international gang that has operated in the Atlanta area since at least 2005.  The gang members staked out Gwinnett and DeKalb Counties as their home territory.  The evidence presented at trial showed that the defendants committed the following crimes:

• Remberto Argueta, along with other gang members, planned to rob Arpolonio Rios-Jarquin, a suspected drug dealer, at a hotel in April 2007.  When Rios-Jarquin turned out to have his own gun, Argueta and his fellow MS-13 members engaged in a shootout with Rios-Jarquin that spilled outside the hotel room.  Surveillance video showed one of the MS-13 members stopping to pick up Rios-Jarquin’s weapon, which he later showed off as a trophy.

• In October 2007, Argueta and several other MS-13 members were at an apartment complex in Gwinnett County when Argueta spotted suspected rival gang members.  He approached them and asked them who they “claimed”—that is, what gang they belonged to.  When Christian Escobar responded that he and his friend, Jose Garcia-Barajas, were members of the rival gang 18th Street, Argueta said, “You’re going to die.”  Argueta pulled out a handgun and started chasing and shooting at Escobar and Garcia-Barajas.  He shot Escobar in the back and Garcia-Barajas in the hip and arm.  While shooting at them, Argueta also fired shots into the apartments of nearby residents.  An elderly woman testified that one of Argueta’s bullets hit an armchair that she had been sitting in just a few minutes earlier.

• In early July 2008, William Espinoza loaned his .380 caliber handgun to fellow gang members so that they could retaliate against a member of La Raza, a rival gang.  An MS-13 member shot a 15-year-old boy who was taking a shortcut through an apartment complex.  The boy was not a member of a gang and had traveled from Ohio with his family to visit other family members for the Fourth of July holiday.

• A few weeks later in July 2008, Espinoza and other members of MS-13 were at El Pueblito, a nightclub in DeKalb County, when a fight broke out with suspected members of the rival gang 18th Street.  Surveillance video showed Espinoza going out to the parking lot and retrieving a .380 handgun from a car.  He approached the club entrance and shot Jayro Arango-Sanchez in the stomach.  Arango-Sanchez testified that he was not a gang member and that he was at the club with his girlfriend and brother to celebrate his birthday.

• Just two days later, Espinoza and four other MS-13 members drove to an apartment complex in Gwinnett County to look for pedestrians to rob.  After spotting a victim, Espinoza and another gang member got out of their SUV and approached Aurelio Vasquez.  Espinoza put his .380 handgun to Vasquez’s head while the other MS-13 member started to search Vasquez’s pockets for money.  Vasquez, who was returning home after buying groceries, resisted being robbed, so Espinoza shot him through the head.  Espinoza and his fellow gang members wanted to rob Vasquez for beer money.

The sentencing for Remberto Argueta, also known as Pitufo, 27, of Lilburn, Ga., and William Espinoza, also known as Cheberria and Crazy, 31, of Norcross, Ga., will be scheduled at a later date before United States District Judge Richard W. Story.  Each of the defendants was convicted of RICO conspiracy involving murder.  Argueta was also convicted of Violent Crime in Aid of Racketeering and a firearms offense related to the murder of Arpolonio Rios-Jarquin.  Espinoza was also convicted of Violent Crime in Aid of Racketeering and a firearms offense related to the attempted murder of Jayro Arango-Sanchez.  Violent Crime in Aid of Racketeering for murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison, while RICO conspiracy involving murder carries a sentence up to life.  Parole has been abolished in the federal system.

This case is being investigated by Special Agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from Gwinnett County Police Department, DeKalb County Police Department, and Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office.

Assistant United States Attorney Paul R. Jones and U.S. Department of Justice, Organized Crime and Gang Section, Trial Attorney Joseph K. Wheatley are prosecuting the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.

ATLANTA – Jerome Clarence Barnes, Jr. and Jared F. Walker have been sentenced in federal court for their roles in a scheme to fraudulently issue emissions certificates for cars that would have failed the emissions inspection required by law.   

“Barnes sold his position as a licensed emissions inspector when he took payoffs to issue fake emissions certificates for cars that should have failed the test,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “Thanks to the diligent efforts of the federal EPA and state EPD criminal investigators, this case has put an end to Barnes’ fraudulent scheme and, as a result, removed a persistent threat to Atlanta’s air quality and public health.”

“Violators who submit false reports or incorrect data undermine EPA’s commitment to protect clean air for all Americans,” said Maureen O’Mara, Special Agent in Charge of EPA’s criminal enforcement program in Georgia.  “Unfortunately, this case was not an isolated incident; defendant Barnes has a history of this type of criminal behavior.  Today’s sentencing demonstrates that those who try to save money by cutting corners will be held responsible for their crimes.  EPA will continue working with its law enforcement partners to protect the public and the environment.”

“The vehicle emissions program is important to Georgia’s air quality.  EPD works hard to make sure stations and inspectors are performing the tests correctly and complying with the law,” said Jud Turner, Director of Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division.  “We appreciate DOJ, EPA and other law enforcement agencies working with us to investigate and prosecute Mr. Barnes and others like him who circumvent the program.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court:  Barnes, 35, of Lithia Springs, Ga., was responsible for issuing over 4,000 fraudulent emissions certificates to car owners in Georgia from September 2011 to September 2012, falsely stating that the owners’ cars passed the required emissions test.  Barnes worked with other individuals to open emissions inspection stations in their names that he would then use to issue fraudulent emissions certificates.  Opening stations in others’ names helped conceal Barnes’ involvement in the fraudulent activity.  He wanted to avoid detection because he previously owned two inspection stations that state authorities had shut down for fraud.  When authorities would discover emissions fraud occurring at one of the inspection stations, Barnes continued the fraud at another station that was opened under the name of a different owner.  During the scheme, Barnes used On Time Emissions in Fulton County, All Clean Emissions in Cobb County, BDH Emissions in Dekalb County, Elite Emissions in Fulton County, and Cleaner Atlanta Emissions in Cobb County, to conduct fraudulent emissions testing. 

Walker, 35, of Austell, Ga., owned All Clean Emissions.  He and co-defendants Ieka N. Jones, 33, of Winston, Ga., and Seretha Franklin, 36, of Villa Rica, Ga., were licensed emissions inspectors who worked with Barnes to issue passing emissions certificates to car owners whose cars would have otherwise failed the emissions test.  Instead of connecting the owners’ real cars to the emissions equipment, the defendants connected different cars they knew would pass the test.  During the tests, the computer system automatically transmitted emissions testing data to a statewide database accessible by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division.  The defendants manually entered other information into the system, such as the make, model, and vehicle identification number, to make it appear that they were testing the owners’ real cars, many of which had already failed an emissions test or showed equipment malfunctions.  The defendants charged $100 to $125 for a fraudulent emissions test, far more than the usual amount charged for a legitimate inspection.  Georgia law prohibits inspection stations from charging more than $25 for an emissions test.

Barnes was sentenced by United States District Judge Timothy C. Batten, Sr. to four years and six months in federal prison and three years of supervised release.  Walker was sentenced to six months in federal prison and one year of supervised release.  On September 6, 2013, Barnes pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to commit wire fraud by depriving the State of Georgia and its citizens of their right to his honest services as a licensed emissions inspector.  That same day, Walker pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Clean Air Act.  On September 30, 2013, Jones and Franklin each pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Clean Air Act.  Sentencing for Jones and Franklin is scheduled for December 20, 2013, before Judge Batten. 

The Clean Air Act is a federal law that authorizes the United States Environmental Protection Agency to establish air quality standards to protect public health and welfare and to regulate emissions of hazardous air pollutants.  As required by the Act, the State of Georgia has established a vehicle emissions testing program that requires cars in several counties be inspected to ensure that their emissions do not exceed limits for hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxide, and other compounds.  With certain exceptions, car owners must submit an emissions certificate to obtain their annual vehicle registration.  The Clean Air Act prohibits making false statements in records, including emissions certificates and database records, that are required to be maintained by the Act.

This case was investigated by Special Agents of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Criminal Investigation Division, and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Environmental Protection Division.

Assistant United States Attorney Stephen H. McClain prosecuted the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.

GAINESVILLE , Ga.– Stanley J. Kowalewski has been arrested in South Carolina after being indicted by a federal grand jury in Atlanta for defrauding investors of hedge funds of up to $8 million, and for obstructing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s subsequent investigation of his activities. 

“Kowalewski is charged with stealing from the investors who trusted him and then repeatedly lying to them and the SEC about his self-dealing,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.   “The victims of his greed include pension funds, schools, hospitals, and other non-profits who lost over $8 million in hard-earned money, which Kowalewski diverted to his own personal use.”

Mark F. Giuliano, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office, stated: “Investment fraud cases such as this remain a focus of the FBI’s criminal investigators in that these cases generate many victims and large loss amounts.  The FBI will continue to work with its many law enforcement partners in an effort to hold accountable those individuals who would victimize unsuspecting investors by diverting their funds for personal gain.”

“Theft of employee benefit assets jeopardizes the benefits of workers.  This case reaffirms the Labor Department’s commitment to protect workers’ benefits by identifying criminal activity wherever and whenever it occurs,” said Isabel Colon, Regional Director of EBSA’s Atlanta Regional Office.

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court:  Kowalewski was the sole owner and Chief Executive Officer of SJK Investment Management, LLC, in Greensboro, N.C.  Beginning in 2009, Kowalewski solicited investment money from pension funds, school endowments, hospitals, non-profit foundations, and other investors which he placed in two SJK “hedge fund of funds,” an onshore fund and an offshore fund called the Absolute Return Funds.  Almost immediately after receiving the first investor money, Kowalewski began diverting the proceeds to pay for personal and business overhead expenses.

In December 2009, Kowalewski formed a new SJK fund called the Special Opportunities Fund, which he did not disclose to investors.  He diverted millions from the Absolute Return Funds to the Special Opportunities Fund without disclosing the transfers to investors.  After he secretly transferred the funds, Kowalewski diverted millions from the Special Opportunities Fund to himself through various self-dealing transactions, including having the Special Opportunities Fund buy three homes that Kowalewski owned and in which his family, his parents, and his brother-in-law’s family lived.  Kowalewski also bought a multi-million-dollar beach house and directed that the Special Opportunities Fund pay him $4 million as a fee to which he was not entitled.  Kowalewski created and altered documents in an effort to make these transactions appear legitimate.

Also as part of the scheme, Kowalewski overvalued the assets held by the Special Opportunities Fund and used those fraudulent valuations to calculate the returns for investors in the Absolute Return Funds.  As a result, the monthly statements distributed to SJK investors showed fraudulently inflated returns.  Investors lost over $8 million as a result of Kowalewski’s fraudulent scheme.

On March 30, 2010, the SEC initiated a proceeding to determine whether there had been violations of the federal securities laws in connection with SJK.  As part of its investigation, the SEC subpoenaed Kowalewski to testify under oath.  During his sworn testimony, Kowalewski testified that, after the Special Opportunities Fund had purchased his three homes, the Fund had leased the properties to him and his relatives, each for a yearly rental payment.  He testified further that Michael J. Fulcher, the Chief Financial Officer of SJK, had drafted, and Kowalewski had signed, the leases at or near the time of the homes’ sales.  According to the indictment, however, Kowalewski and his relatives had never leased the homes back from the Special Opportunities Fund.  Prior to Kowalewski’s sworn testimony, Kowalewski and Fulcher conspired to obstruct the SEC proceeding by creating the leases and backdating them, in an effort to document the claimed lease relationships and to conceal the self-dealing transactions by Kowalewski.  The leases were not created and signed at the time of the homes’ sales but in November 2010, a few weeks before Kowalewski testified.  Kowalewski provided the fraudulent leases to the SEC as part of the investigation and then testified falsely about them to conceal his actions and obstruct the SEC’s investigation.  The indictment also alleges Kowalewski lied in his sworn testimony when he testified that he had disclosed the Special Opportunities Fund to investors and that attorneys and other professionals had approved of his self-dealing transactions. 

The indictment charges Kowalewski, 41, of Pawleys Island, S.C., with 22 counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy, and one count of obstructing the SEC proceeding.  Each wire fraud count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.  The conspiracy and obstruction charges each carry a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison.  On April 19, 2013, Fulcher pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring with Kowalewski to obstruct the SEC proceeding, which charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.  Each of these charges carries a fine of up to $250,000.  Fulcher’s sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.   In determining the actual sentence, the Court will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders.

Members of the public are reminded that the indictment contains only allegations.  The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial. 

This case is being investigated by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Investigators with the Atlanta Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), and Special Agents of the Atlanta Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of the Inspector General.  The Atlanta Division Office of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission previously brought a civil action against Kowalewski.  In that case, Kowalewski was ordered to pay over $16 million in disgorgement and civil penalties.

Assistant United States Attorneys Stephen H. McClain and Russell Phillips are prosecuting the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.

ATLANTA – Benjamin Daniel DeHaan has been sentenced on charges arising out of a scheme to defraud more than 50 clients. 

“This defendant may have started out as a legitimate investment advisor, but he got greedy and began stealing from those who trusted him with their investments,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “He diverted money from his clients’ accounts and used it to fund a lavish lifestyle. Now he is headed to prison and will never work in the securities industry again.”

Mark F. Giuliano, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office, stated: “The level of greed and disregard for his clients earns this defendant a place in prison.  While the FBI will continue to go after such individuals for investor related fraud, the damage to those investing is already done and all that is often left is the solace provided by a stiff prison sentence.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court:  DeHaan owned and operated Lighthouse Financial Partners, LLC, an investment advisory service in Atlanta, Ga.  He recruited investors by posting a series of videos on Lighthouse’s website and on YouTube.  DeHaan told investors that he had developed a proprietary software program that allowed him to determine when to buy and when to sell a particular stock.  Approximately 114 people entrusted him with money to invest on their behalf.  At its peak, Lighthouse had approximately $6.7 million in assets under management.

From January 2010 through May 2012, DeHaan misappropriated and converted to his own use more than $2.5 million of his clients’ money.  He used the fraud proceeds to purchase a new house for himself in Memphis, Tenn., and to purchase partial ownership of a restaurant and bar in Memphis.  DeHaan also used his clients’ money to fund an investment account in his own name and to pay Lighthouse’s overhead and operating expenses.  He attempted to cover-up his theft by emailing fraudulent account statements to investors.  This provided victims a false sense of security and delayed their complaints to law enforcement.

Benjamin Daniel DeHaan, 37, of Decatur, Ga., was sentenced by United States District Judge Steve C. Jones to seven years and three months in federal prison, and was remanded immediately to the custody of the U.S. Marshal.  He will serve three years of supervised release following his prison term, and was ordered to pay $6,931,619.13 in restitution to the victims.  On February 1, 2013, DeHaan pleaded guilty to a Criminal Information charging him with wire fraud.

This case was investigated by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Assistant United States Attorney Russell Phillips prosecuted the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the HomePage for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.justice.gov/usao/gan.

ATLANTA - Hugh Maddux, the former owner of a dental practice in Newnan, Ga., has been sentenced for drug distribution. 

"Opiate abuse has risen to epidemic levels both in Georgia and nationally with deadly consequences," said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “In a small dental practice where the defendant had known many of his patients for years, things quickly spiraled out of control as the number of prescriptions and addicted patients grew.  This dentist, whether he was motivated by greed or was simply blind to the consequences, completely abandoned his responsibility as a health care provider, dispensing controlled substances to his patients without any regard for medical necessity.”

Harry S. Sommers, the Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Field Division commented on the sentencing, “It is disturbing when healthcare providers break the law by unlawfully distributing pain medications. This individual distributed highly addicting opiates with total ill-will and disregard for the safety of those receiving them.  The success of this investigation is a direct result of the hard work put forth by dedicated DEA Atlanta Field Division Diversion investigators and the United States Attorney’s Office.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court: Maddux owned a dental practice in Newnan, Ga., until he sold it.  Shortly after his practice was sold, it came to light that Maddux had written hundreds of prescriptions for controlled substances to his patients, many of whom were addicted to the drugs he prescribed. In October 2011, DEA Diversion Investigators received a complaint from a source who wished to remain anonymous that Maddux was writing illegal prescriptions from his dental office.  In response to the complaint, DEA Investigators examined prescriptions from three pharmacies for controlled substances issued by Maddux to several patients named in the original complaint.  Investigators discovered an unusually large number of narcotic prescriptions had been issued to these patients. 

Shortly thereafter, Investigators interviewed one of Maddux’s patients who had been named in the original complaint as an abuser of opiate pain pills.  This patient was a long-time dental patient at Maddux’s dental clinic.  The patient explained that she received numerous controlled substance prescriptions from Maddux’s dental office, even though she had not been examined by him for at least eight months.  She admitted to being addicted to opiate pain pills.  

In January 2012, Investigators interviewed the owner of a nearby pharmacy.  The owner told investigators that in early 2011 he became suspicious of the numerous prescriptions called in by Maddux’s clinic.  The pharmacy owner told Maddux that his pharmacy would no longer accept prescriptions from his dental office unless Maddux spoke with pharmacy staff and approved it.  Investigators soon discovered that Maddux had issued hundreds of prescriptions for Schedule II narcotics between October 2009 and October 2011.

From March 2012 to October 2012, Investigators interviewed several former patients, most of whom admitted to seeking Schedule II pain pills from Maddux for the purpose of supporting their drug addictions.  Most of these patients routinely received prescriptions from Maddux without being examined, and many stated that prescriptions were left for them outside of the clinic for them to pick up after regular business hours.  One patient even admitted to obtaining the prescriptions for the purpose of selling pills on the street.

On March 21, 2013, Investigators interviewed Maddux.  He confirmed his signature on numerous prescriptions that could not be accounted for in the patient's chart.  Maddux also confirmed that he left prescriptions for controlled substances taped to the back door of his practice for his patients to pick up after business hours – a practice he conceded was ripe for abuse.  He acknowledged that many of the narcotic prescriptions he wrote were not medically necessary or supported by sound medical judgment.   

Maddux, 62, of Newnan, Ga., has been sentenced by United States District Judge William S. Duffey to one year, one month in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, an $8,000 fine, and 250 hours of community service.  Maddux was convicted on these charges on August 14, 2013, after he pleaded guilty. 

This case is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Assistant United States Attorney Kurt R. Erskine prosecuted the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.

ATLANTA - Rex Anyanwu has been found guilty of deceiving Immigration officials by helping aliens enter into fraudulent marriages to U.S. citizens and guilty of obtaining his own citizenship in violation of the law and of conspiracy to commit visa fraud and alien harboring.

"For at least eleven years, the defendant ran a fraudulent marriage factory," said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “He paid U.S. citizens to marry aliens and then lied to Immigration officials to assist the aliens in their illegal efforts to stay in the United States.  Anyanwu's illegal business has been shut down and he will now lose his own citizenship.”

“By undermining the integrity of our immigration system, the defendant caused numerous people to receive immigration benefits to which they were not entitled, including the ability to fraudulently naturalize as U.S. citizens in some cases,” said Special Agent in Charge Brock D. Nicholson, head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations in Georgia and the Carolinas. “By enlisting vulnerable homeless and destitute citizens in his scheme, the defendant exposed them to a criminal conspiracy in which they otherwise would likely never have been involved in.”           

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court:  Beginning in February 2001 and continuing until April 2012, Rex Anyanwu conspired with aliens and U.S. citizens to defraud immigration officials to obtain lawful status for the aliens in the United States.  At trial, the United States called numerous U.S. citizen witnesses from Huntsville, Ala. who testified how they were recruited and paid $700 by Anyanwu to marry aliens, predominantly from Kenya and Nigeria.  Alien witnesses were also called to testify that they had agreed to pay Anyanwu as much as $10,000 to find them a U.S. citizen willing to marry them, but not live with them.

The U.S. citizens and aliens testified that they typically did not meet each other until the very day of the wedding when they were introduced, sometimes on the court house steps, by Anyanwu.  The defendant told the “couple” to bring multiple changes of clothes and in one case provided the U.S. citizen with the shirt off of his own back.  He would then take pictures of the supposedly happily married couple in different clothing for use in proving to Immigration officials that the couple shared a life. 

A true marriage, one where the couple intends to remain together, is one path through which an alien can become a U.S. citizen.  Engaging in a marriage solely for immigration purposes is a crime.  Evidence at trial showed that Anyanwu continued his scheme by filing fraudulent applications for visas with Citizenship and Immigration Services.  Many witnesses testified the defendant would forge the U.S. citizens' names on the paperwork submitted to Immigration.  For an additional fee, Anyanwu would create fraudulent documents to show the couple lived together, including false Form 1040 tax returns, false W-2s, fraudulent verification of employment letters, fraudulent leases and bills all intended to demonstrate that the couple was in fact sharing their life and living together. 

When Immigration scheduled an interview with the couple, Anyanwu would then send the U.S. citizen spouse in to a Department of Motor Vehicles’ office to obtain a fraudulent Driver's License or Identification card.  The U.S. citizens testified they were again paid by the defendant to do this and were told by him what address to put on the identification document.  These documents were intended to deceive Immigration into believing the couple actually lived together when, in fact, they never did. 

Lastly, Anyanwu would again contact the U.S. citizen spouse when it was time for the “couple” to go in for their Immigration interview.  The defendant would meet with the couple and go through the questions, and the answers to questions, typically asked by Immigration to determine if a marriage is valid; simple questions that any legitimately married couple that lived with each other would know.  However, since these couples did not live together and share their lives, they needed Anyanwu's coaching to pass the interview.  The U.S. citizens testified that they were paid more money by the defendant for attending the interviews.  The aliens testified that they paid Anyanwu additional money before the interview. 

One Huntsville, Ala., witness testified that she was made to pose as another person and go to Immigration pretending to be the spouse of an alien.  When she was arrested for using fraudulent identification, Anyanwu abandoned her in Atlanta, Ga., and later threatened her not to tell anyone about him.  Another witness testified that she referred 50 U.S. citizens to Anyanwu to get paid to marry people born in Africa. 

The charges in this case - visa fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1546(a), conspiracy to engage in visa fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. 371, alien harboring in violation of 8 U.S.C. 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv) and (v)(II) and (B)(i), conspiracy to do the same in violation of 8 U.S.C. 1324(a)(1)(A)(v)(I),  and procuring naturalization for himself in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1425(a) - carry a maximum sentence of up to 5 years in prison for the 371 conspiracy charge and 10 years in prison for the remaining charges, and a fine of up to $250,000 on each count.   In determining the actual sentence, the Court will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but which provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders.

Sentencing for Rex Anyanwu, 51, of Lithia Springs, Ga., is scheduled for sentencing on January 27, 2014, at 2:00 p.m. before United States District Judge Thomas W. Thrash.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.  U.S. Citizenship and Immigration’s Fraud Detection National Security Unit and U.S. Department of State, Diplomatic Security Service also assisted in the case.

Assistant United States Attorney Susan Coppedge, Special Assistant United States Attorney Njeri Maldonado, and Intern Annalise Lisson are prosecuting the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.

ATLANTA – Mark Megalli pleaded guilty on Thursday to participating in a multi-million dollar insider trading conspiracy involving Carter’s, Inc. stock.

“This conviction marks a tragic fall for a defendant who worked at top investment, law, and consulting firms and rose to a prominent position at a multi-billion dollar New York hedge fund,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “But, there is one set of rules, and they apply to everyone.  Rigging the system by trading on inside information undermines the public’s confidence in our financial system – and it’s a violation of the law.”

Mark F. Giuliano, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office, stated: “Laws are in place to regulate investment firms and individual investors and to ensure that a level playing field is maintained for those engaging our financial markets.  This case illustrates clearly why those laws are in place and the hard consequences for those that choose to disregard them.  Today’s guilty plea of Mr. Megalli will begin the process of holding him accountable from his criminal actions involving Carter’s, Inc. stock trades.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court:  Megalli was employed as the portfolio manager for the consumer sector at Level Global Investors, LP (“Level Global”), a multi-billion dollar hedge fund headquartered in New York, NY, between August 2009 and its dissolution in February 2011.  Megalli was responsible for managing and making trading decisions on behalf of a multi-million dollar portfolio of consumer industry stocks.  Megalli had previously obtained undergraduate and JD/MBA degrees from one of the country’s top universities, passed the New York bar and the Chartered Financial Analyst (“CFA”) examinations, and worked at top investment, consulting, and law firms.

In September 2009, Megalli caused Level Global to hire Eric M. Martin as a paid consultant to Level Global to advise Megalli on consumer sector stocks for $25,000 per quarter.  Until March 2009, Martin had been employed as the Vice President of Investor Relations for Atlanta-based Carter’s, Inc., the major children’s clothing company.  Carter’s is a public company registered with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and its common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Beginning in mid-September 2009 and continuing through the end of July 2010, Martin provided Megalli with inside information about Carter’s quarterly and annual financial results and other events in advance of the public announcement of the information.  Megalli in turn caused Level Global to execute transactions in Carter’s securities between September 2009 and July 2010, based in whole or in part on the inside information received from Martin, earning illegal profits and illegally avoiding losses for Level Global.  As part of his guilty plea, Megalli agreed that he is responsible for illegal insider trading gains and losses avoided for Level Global between $2.5 million and $7 million.

Martin obtained the inside information from a Carter’s executive, Richard T. Posey, who was employed as the company’s Vice President of Operations at that time.  Martin also provided inside information to several other individuals and investment firms for which he had been hired as an outside consultant, directly and through an expert networking firm.

By way of example, Posey tipped Martin, and Martin tipped Megalli and others, in advance of Carter’s October 27, 2009 announcement that it was conducting an internal investigation into accounting irregularities and would be delaying its earnings release for the third quarter of 2009.  After business hours on October 22, 2009, Posey and Martin had an in-person meeting during which Posey disclosed inside information about the investigation and earnings delay to Martin.  As soon as the meeting ended, Martin placed a telephone call to a former Wall Street equity research analyst previously identified as “Cooperator Number 1,” during which Martin passed on the information that he had received from Posey.  Martin asked Cooperator Number 1 to wait to trade on the information until Martin could warn his clients.  The next morning, at 9:42 a.m. on Friday, October 23, 2009, Martin sold his entire position in Carter’s stock, over 35,000 shares valued at approximately $1 million.  Later that morning, at 11:23 a.m., Martin placed a 7-minute call to Megalli, during which Martin disclosed inside information about the investigation to Megalli.  Less than two minutes into the call, Megalli sent an instant message to Level Global’s head of trading in which Megalli ordered the liquidation of Level Global’s entire position in Carter’s stock, 300,000 shares valued at nearly $9 million.

The next trading day, Monday, October 26th, Cooperator Number 1 placed a 12-minute call to Martin.  Immediately after the call ended, Cooperator Number 1 sold his entire position in Carter’s stock -- 15,000 shares valued at over $400,000 -- and bought November 30th put options, thereby betting on Carter’s stock price to decline significantly.  The next morning, Tuesday, October 27th, Carter’s shocked the market with the news of its internal investigation and earnings delay, and its stock price fell over 20% in one day.  The internal investigation ultimately resulted in a multi-year financial restatement by Carter’s, criminal indictments of two of its former top executives for securities fraud and related offenses, and three SEC enforcement actions.

Megalli, 41, of New York, NY, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud.  The charge to which he pleaded guilty carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.  In determining the actual sentence, the Court will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders.

Megalli is the third individual to be convicted in a criminal investigation into insider trading in Carter’s stock, and the fifth person overall to be criminally charged in connection with the accounting fraud and insider trading investigations arising out of Carter’s October 27, 2009 earnings delay and multi-year financial restatement.

Martin, 43, of Roswell, Georgia, was indicted on November 7, 2012, for conspiracy, securities fraud, and wire fraud in connection with his participation in an insider trading conspiracy and for his own insider trading in Carter’s stock between 2005 and 2009, while Martin was still employed as Carter’s head of investor relations.  The conspiracy charge alleged that Martin repeatedly provided inside information about Carter’s to Cooperator Number 1 ahead of the company’s earnings releases and other events between 2005 and 2009.  This included tipping Cooperator Number 1 about Carter’s May 2005 acquisition of competitor Oshkosh B’Gosh before the news became public.  Martin pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge on December 8, 2012.

Posey, 48, of Duluth, Ga., was charged by Criminal Information and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud on June 19, 2012.  The conspiracy charge against Posey related to his disclosure of insider information to Martin ahead of quarterly and annual earnings releases and other events between early 2009 and July 2010, after Martin’s separation from Carter’s.

Sentencing for Megalli, Martin, and Posey has not yet been scheduled.

The case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Assistant United States Attorneys David M. Chaiken and Stephen H. McClain are prosecuting the case.

The Atlanta Regional Office of the SEC has conducted a separate investigation into potential civil violations of the U.S. securities laws relating to insider trading in Carter’s stock. In connection with its investigation, the SEC has filed civil enforcement actions against multiple individuals.

Today’s announcement is part of efforts underway by President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (FFETF) which was created in November 2009 to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. attorneys’ offices and state and local partners, it’s the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations. Over the past three fiscal years, the Justice Department has filed more than 10,000 financial fraud cases against nearly 15,000 defendants including more than 2,700 mortgage fraud defendants. For more information on the task force, visit www.stopfraud.gov.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.

ATLANTA – Douglas Ballard, Guy Mitchell and Joseph Todd Foster have been sentenced for their roles in a conspiracy to commit bribery and bank fraud, insider trading and tax evasion that occurred at the now-failed Integrity Bank.
 
“Our nation’s financial crisis was fueled in part by bank insiders and major borrowers whose greed led them to break the law,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates. “The conduct of these defendants, two of whom once held prominent positions in banking, helped pave a path to the shocking number of bank failures Georgia has experienced in the last ten years.”  

Mark F. Giuliano, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office, stated:  “The magnitude and impact of this financial institution based fraud case clearly illustrates why these types of criminal investigations are a priority matter at the FBI.  We will continue to work with our various investigative partners to identify, investigate, and present for prosecution those individuals who betray their positions of trust within these institutions for the sake of personal greed.”

“The sentence today does not replace the losses that were incurred due to this scheme,” stated Veronica F. Hyman-Pillot, Special Agent in Charge with IRS Criminal Investigation.  “However, today’s sentence is a message to others that regardless of who you are, there are consequences for committing these types of crimes.”

“The FDIC OIG is pleased to join the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement colleagues in announcing the sentencing of individuals whose criminal actions caused serious harm to Integrity Bank,” said Fred W. Gibson, Jr., Acting Inspector General, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.  “It is particularly troubling to the FDIC OIG when a bank insider like Mr. Ballard, who is entrusted with operating the bank in a safe and sound manner, violates that trust and engages in activities that contribute to losses to the Deposit Insurance Fund.  Mr. Mitchell’s sentencing should deter others who face similar opportunities to conspire with bank insiders in such criminal behavior.  Today’s sentencing confirms that those who undermine the integrity of the financial system will be brought to justice and held accountable for their crimes.” 

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court: Ballard, a former Executive Vice-President at the now-failed Integrity Bank, formerly headquartered in Alpharetta, Ga., received more than $200,000 in cash bribes from Mitchell, the bank’s largest borrower. At the same time in 2006, when Ballard was being bribed, he allowed Mitchell to draw more than $7 million from a loan that was supposed to be used for renovation and construction at the Casa Madrona Hotel in Sausalito, Calif., despite the fact that no renovation or construction work was done. Instead, Mitchell used the money to buy an island in the Bahamas, travel by private jet, purchase Miami Heat basketball tickets, buy fancy jewelry and expensive cars, and a mansion in Coconut Grove, Fla.

Mitchell received $20 million in additional business loans from Integrity Bank after the Casa Madrona loan proceeds were exhausted, and he continued to use some of that money for impermissible, personal expenses. Mitchell defaulted on the loans and Integrity Bank eventually failed.

Foster was Integrity Bank’s Vice President in charge of Risk Management. He sold nearly all of his Integrity stock in August of 2006 based on materially adverse information about the company that was not available to the public. Specifically, Foster knew that the bank was in an increasingly precarious position because of Mitchell’s financial difficulties and pending default.

Ballard, Mitchell, and Foster were sentenced by United States District Judge Julie Carnes. 

Douglas Ballard, 44, was sentenced to serve two years and six months in federal prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release.  He was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,000,000, and a special assessment of $200. Ballard pled guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and bribery, and income tax evasion, on July 6, 2010.  

Guy Mitchell, 54, of Miami, Fla., was sentenced to five years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. He was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $5,661,650, a fine of $250,000, and a special assessment of $100.  Mitchell pled guilty to conspiring to commit bank fraud and bribery on July 1, 2013.

Joseph Todd Foster, 46, of Blakely, Ga., was sentenced to three years of probation, and 120 hours of community service. He was also ordered to pay a $100 special assessment.  Foster pled guilty to securities fraud on July 6, 2010. 

This case was investigated by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General, and the Internal Revenue Service. 

Assistant United States Attorneys Douglas W. Gilfillan and Christopher C. Bly prosecuted the case.

Today’s announcement is part of efforts underway by President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (FFETF) which was created in November 2009 to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. attorneys’ offices and state and local partners, it’s the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations. Over the past three fiscal years, the Justice Department has filed more than 10,000 financial fraud cases against nearly 15,000 defendants including more than 2,700 mortgage fraud defendants. For more information on the task force, visit www.stopfraud.gov.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.justice.gov/usao/gan.

ROME, Ga. - Michael Henderson, a former Captain with Murray County Sheriff’s Office, has been sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison for obstructing a public corruption investigation. 

“By lying to his fellow law enforcement officers, Mr. Henderson obstructed a public corruption investigation,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates. “But, in addition to violating the law, Mr. Henderson also violated the trust given to him by Murray County’s citizen.”

Mark F. Giuliano, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office, stated: “Today’s sentencing of former Captain Henderson marks the end of an otherwise successful and promising career in law enforcement with the Murray County Sheriff’s Office. Actions that betray an officer’s sworn oath and the overall public trust bestowed upon them cannot be tolerated. With today’s sentencing, former Captain Henderson is being held accountable for those actions.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court:  In April 2012, a female citizen of Murray County, Ga., met with then-Chief Magistrate Judge Bryant Cochran regarding a legal matter. The citizen claimed that during that meeting, Mr. Cochran made inappropriate sexual overtures towards her.  Following the complaint, Mr. Cochran called several local police officers to pass along a “tip” that the citizen carried drugs in her white Dodge vehicle.

Sometime in mid-July 2012, Mr. Cochran provided then-Captain Henderson with the tip that the citizen carried drugs in her white Dodge vehicle. After receiving the tip, Henderson provided the tip to, and discussed the tip with, other members of the Murray County Sheriff’s Office.

On August 14, 2012, Henderson and separately-convicted former Deputy Sheriff Joshua L. Greeson participated in a traffic stop of the white Dodge car. During the stop, Greeson found methamphetamine in a metal tin hidden under the wheel well of the car. After finding the drugs, Henderson and Greeson arrested the female citizen and another occupant of the vehicle.

Shortly thereafter, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) received information that the drugs had been planted on the vehicle by another individual, in an attempt to falsely implicate the female citizen. As a result, the state drug charges against the citizen were dismissed.

On August 22, 2012, agents from the GBI interviewed Henderson in connection with a public corruption investigation. During the interview, Henderson falsely stated to the GBI agents that he had never told any other members of the Murray County Sheriff’s Office that he had received a tip that the white Dodge was allegedly carrying drugs.

On August 31, 2012, Henderson was fired from the Murray County Sheriff’s Office.

On March 27, 2013, Henderson, 41, of Murray County, Ga., pleaded guilty to tampering with a witness by lying to the GBI agents. United States District Judge Harold L. Murphy sentenced Henderson to 12 months and one day in prison to be followed by one year of supervised release. 

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Assistant United States Attorneys Jeffrey W. Davis and Michael Herskowitz prosecuted the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.justice.gov/usao/gan.

ATLANTA - Amberula Levitt pleaded guilty today to two counts of filing false personal tax returns for the 2004 and 2005 tax years. 

“Remarkably, this defendant was preparing tax returns for others while cheating on her own,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “She used her knowledge and expertise of the tax system to try and defraud it.”

“Individuals who evade their tax obligations cheat their country and their fellow citizens,” said Kathryn Keneally, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Tax Division.  “The Justice Department will investigate and prosecute tax professionals who use their skills to defraud the Internal Revenue Service.”

"Each of us is responsible for filing correct and accurate tax returns, “stated IRS CI Special Agent in Charge, Veronica F. Hyman-Pillot.  "IRS CI will continue to investigate those individuals who intentionally evade their tax obligations."

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court:  From 2004 through 2010, Levitt owned and operated Tax Time Tax Service (“Tax Time”), a tax preparation business with multiple locations throughout metro Atlanta.  Levitt fraudulently under-reported the earnings from Tax Time on her personal tax returns.  For the years 2004 through 2009, Levitt owes approximately $620,000 in back taxes to the IRS.

The charges for filing a false tax return in this case carry a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on each count.   In determining the actual sentence, the Court will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders.

Sentencing for Levitt, 44, of East Point, Ga., is scheduled for January 23, 2014, at 10:30 am before United States District Judge Amy Totenberg.

This case is being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation.

Trial Attorney Christopher J. Maietta of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Assistant United States Attorney Steven D. Grimberg are prosecuting the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.

ATLANTA – Jennifer C. Alsdorf has pleaded guilty to health care fraud for filing fraudulent claims with the Georgia Medicaid program. 

“This defendant cheated the Medicaid program by sending in thousands of fraudulent claims for medical services that were never performed,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “We will continue to partner with the Georgia Attorney General’s Office in fighting the costly effects of health care fraud in this State.”

Mark F. Giuliano, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office, stated: “Individuals who engage in extensive schemes to defraud healthcare fraud and compromise our publicly funded programs such as Medicare and Medicaid need to be identified and held accountable. With today's plea, Ms. Alsdorf will be held accountable for her criminal actions.”

“Fighting Medicaid fraud is a top priority for my office,” said Attorney General Sam Olens.  “This case sends a strong message that we take every complaint received seriously, and we will aggressively investigate and prosecute those who overbill Medicaid.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court:  Jennifer C. Alsdorf was the owner, President, and CEO of Hand in Hand Speech & Language Services, Inc.  The medical business was located in Tampa, Fla. (and prior to 2005 in Vidalia, Ga.) and offered speech-language therapy services for children covered by Medicaid.  Acting on behalf of Hand in Hand, Alsdorf contracted with speech-language pathologists to perform the services under independent contractor agreements.  Alsdorf would bill Medicaid for the services provided by the pathologists, and then send a portion of the amount she received from Medicaid to them.

In the contracts, Alsdorf agreed to pay a set fee to the pathologists for each initial evaluation and each subsequent therapy visit rendered by the pathologists to Medicaid recipients.  The fees that Alsdorf paid to the pathologists for those two services were based on the amounts that Medicaid reimbursed for the services. 

After rendering services to patients, the pathologists would send Alsdorf treatment notes showing which patients they had seen, how long they had provided therapy, and which services they had provided.  Alsdorf was supposed to use these notes to prepare the claims to submit to Medicaid.  Unbeknownst to the speech-language pathologists, however, in addition to billing Medicaid for initial evaluations and therapy visits, Alsdorf also billed Medicaid for “sensory integration” therapy, a service the pathologists had not provided.  Many of the pathologists did not even know what sensory integration therapy was and had never heard of such a service.  Alsdorf did not send any of the money she received from Medicaid for this service to the pathologists.  She instead kept all of the money she received for sensory integration therapy.

Alsdorf also submitted claims to Medicaid for patient visits that never occurred.  She submitted claims under pathologists’ names for services during times when they were not working with Hand in Hand.  She also submitted claims representing that the pathologists had treated certain patients when, in fact, the pathologists had never seen or treated the patients at any time.  Alsdorf submitted thousands of fraudulent claims to Medicaid.

Alsdorf pleaded guilty to one count of health care fraud.  The charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.  In determining the actual sentence, the Court will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders.

As part of the plea agreement, Alsdorf has agreed to a restitution judgment of $200,000 to the Georgia Medicaid program, which includes forfeiture of a 2013 Mercedes Benz, thousands of dollars that were previously seized from two retirement accounts and a bank account, and two pieces of real estate located in Montgomery County, Ga.    

Sentencing for Alsdorf, 44, of Tampa, Fla., is scheduled for January 8th, 2014, at 10:30 a.m. before United States District Judge Amy Totenberg.

This case is being investigated by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Investigators from the Georgia Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the Georgia Department of Community Health.

Assistant United States Attorneys Stephen H. McClain and G. Jeffrey Viscomi, and Georgia Assistant Attorney General Henry A. Hibbert, are prosecuting the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.justice.gov/usao/gan.

ATLANTA - Otis Henry has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for trafficking over 700,000 pills of BZP, a drug similar to ecstasy.

“Based on the staggering amount of drugs in the case, the defendant earned every day of his prison sentence,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “To those tempted by the allures of the drug trade like cars, cash, and jewelry – think twice. It’s more likely that you’ll be wearing an orange jumpsuit than a gold watch.”

Harry S. Sommers, the Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Field Division commented,  “The use of a number of synthetic designer drugs continues to be a major concern in this country. Benzylpiperine, like any other synthetic stimulant, is dangerous and can lead to adverse effects such as severe convulsions or even death. Because of the hard work and dedication of all of the law enforcement agencies involved, Henry will not be able to see the outside of prison for a long time.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court:  From at least February 2010 to October 2010, Henry was a major distributor of BZP and marijuana in the metropolitan Atlanta area.  In one instance, on October 1, 2010, law enforcement officers obtained a warrant to search Henry’s residence in DeKalb County.  Inside the home, officers seized approximately 700,000 tablets of BZP which was one of the largest domestic seizures of the drug in U.S. history.  In particular, officers found the pills hidden in the walls of the house, behind insulation, under seat cushions, and in crawl spaces. Officers also recovered a handgun, 2 pounds of marijuana, $39,000 in cash, and over 150 grams of methamphetamine from the residence. The street value of the drugs is estimated at $2.8 million.

After agents executed the search warrant, Henry fled and evaded authorities for over a year. Ultimately, in January 2012, Henry was arrested in Tampa, Fla. Thereafter, agents searched Henry’s hotel room and recovered 4 pounds of marijuana and $3,300 in cash.

Henry, 43, of DeKalb County, Ga., was sentenced to 14 years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release.  Henry pleaded guilty on July 24, 2013.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the DeKalb County Police Department.

Assistant United States Attorneys Jeffrey W. Davis, Dahil Goss, Jeffrey Viscomi, and Skye Davis prosecuted the case.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta recommends parents and children learn about the dangers of drugs at the following web site: www.justthinktwice.com.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.

ATLANTA - Jeffrey David Shamp has been arraigned on federal charges of fraud and money laundering.  He was indicted by a federal grand jury on Oct. 15, 2013.

“This defendant is charged with using corporate American Express gift checks to pay personal expenses,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “We will continue to ferret out those who abuse positions of trust for personal gain.”

“The United States Secret Service and our law enforcement partners work tirelessly to thoroughly investigate cases like this.  We will continue to take an aggressive approach towards those who violate the faith and trust of businesses to further their financial crime activity,” said Reginald G. Moore, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Secret Service, Atlanta Field Office.

“Mr. Shamp used deceit and fraud, in the misuse of a marketing tool intended to promote the good name of Coca-Cola, for his own personal benefit,” stated Veronica F. Hyman-Pillot, Special Agent in Charge, IRS-Criminal Investigation.  “IRS-CI is committed to unraveling financial transactions and money laundering schemes where individuals attempt to conceal the true source of their money.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges, and other information presented in court:  Jeffrey Shamp worked for The Coca-Cola Company from approximately July 2002, to November 2011, most recently as a Senior National Account Executive based in Massachusetts.  In his position, Shamp was authorized to order American Express (“Amex”) gift checks to be used as part of a sales incentive program for Coca-Cola’s customers.  From approximately November 2005, through September 2011, Shamp fraudulently obtained Amex gift checks under the false pretense that the checks would be used as part of Coca-Cola’s sales incentive program, when in fact Shamp used them to pay for over $400,000 in personal expenses.

Shamp, 40, of Cincinnati, Ohio, was arraigned today before United States Magistrate Judge E. Clayton Scofield III.

The wire fraud charges in this case each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.  The money laundering charges each carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.  In determining the actual sentence, the Court will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders.

Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only contains charges.  The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

This case is being investigated by the United States Secret Service and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation. 

Assistant United States Attorney Steven D. Grimberg and Intern Ryan Freeman are prosecuting the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the HomePage for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.justice.gov/usao/gan.

ATLANTA - William Villemez has been sentenced to five years in prison for receiving and possessing child pornography.

“Child pornography is a horrendous crime that involves the sexual abuse and exploitation of the most innocent members of society,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “It is particularly distressing when a teacher purchases and downloads child pornography.  Thanks to the vigilance of our law enforcement partners, this teacher will no longer be around students but will be going to federal prison.”

“Postal Inspectors are charged with protecting the U.S. mail from illegal use.  As long as criminals use the U.S. mail to exploit children, the Postal Inspection Service will continue to make these types of investigations a top priority,” said Keith Morris, Postal Inspector in Charge of the Atlanta Division.

“Crime against children continues to be a top priority for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.  We are committed to work with our federal law enforcement counterparts and bring to justice those who exploit children,” said Vernon M. Keenan, Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director.

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court:  Between July 2008 and March 2011, Villemez ordered 32 DVD’s containing images of child pornography and child erotica from a website based outside the United States.  He spent more than $750 for those DVD’s.  Law enforcement traced those orders to Villemez’s home in Smyrna, Ga.  During the execution of a search warrant in October 2012, agents found that Villemez had not only purchased the DVD’s but had also downloaded child pornography onto his computer.  During the period that he was receiving DVD’s in the mail and downloading computer images of child pornography, Villemez taught drama and dance to middle-school students at Pace Academy in Atlanta.

Villemez, 30, of Acworth, Ga., has been sentenced to five years in prison to be followed by 10 years of supervised release.  He was convicted on these charges on April 19, 2013, after he pleaded guilty.

This case is being investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service with assistance from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Cobb County Police Department.

Assistant United States Attorneys Paul R. Jones and Brent A. Gray prosecuted the case.

This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, the Attorney General launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse.  Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices around the country, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.justice.gov/usao/gan.

NEWNAN, Ga. - Justin D.  Corley was sentenced today to serve five years in federal prison for receiving child pornography. 

“This defendant collected a large number of horrible images and videos portraying the sexual abuse of young children.  The fact that he apparently traded some of these images with other collectors while he was on duty as a municipal firefighter is particularly troubling,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “Mr. Corley has justly earned a significant sentence for his role in victimizing these children and by violating his public position.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court: In November 2011, the United States Department of Homeland Security/Homeland Security Investigations (DHS/HSI) initiated a peer-to-peer file sharing operation in an effort to identify people in the Atlanta area who were involved in receiving or distributing child pornography via the internet.  HSI investigators determined that Justin Corley made child pornography files available to other collectors using a wireless internet protocol address assigned to the Union City (Ga.) Fire Department.  On January 19, 2012, a federal agent downloaded files containing child pornography from Corley who was then using an internet protocol address associated with a family member. 

On February 7, 2012, federal agents executed a search warrant at Corley’s home in Newnan, Ga., and seized his laptop computer.  A forensic examination of Corley’s computer revealed more than 9,000 images of child pornography in the form of photographs and videos.

Corley, 31, of Newnan, Ga., has been sentenced by United States District Judge Timothy C. Batten, Sr., to five years in prison to be followed by 15 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,000.  Corley was convicted on these charges on July 9, 2013, after he pleaded guilty.

This case is being investigated by Special Agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations

Assistant United States Attorney Brent Alan Gray prosecuted the case.

This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, the Attorney General launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse.  Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices around the country, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.justice.gov/usao/gan.

ROME, Ga. - Joshua Lamar Greeson has been sentenced to 10 months in prison for obstructing a public corruption investigation. 

“This defendant took an oath to uphold the law and protect the citizens of Murray County,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “Instead, he lied to GBI agents investigating an ongoing public corruption case, betraying the community he swore to protect.”  

Mark F. Giuliano, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office, stated: “The criminal conduct of former Murray County Deputy Sheriff Greeson is unconscionable and unthinkable for those serving faithfully within the criminal justice community.  Today’s sentencing of Greeson will provide many opportunities for him to reflect on those actions and to serve as notice to others that this conduct will not be tolerated.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court: In April 2012, a citizen of Murray County, Ga., had a meeting with then-Chief Magistrate Judge Bryant Cochran related to a legal matter. The citizen claimed that during that meeting, Mr. Cochran made inappropriate sexual overtures towards her.  In the days and weeks following the complaint, then-Judge Cochran called several local police officers to pass along a Atip@ B that the citizen carried drugs in her white Dodge vehicle. 

On August 9, 2012, Cochran called Greeson, who at the time was a Deputy with the Murray County Sheriff=s Department.  Five days after the call, on August 14, 2012, Greeson conducted a traffic stop of the white Dodge vehicle.  During the traffic stop, Greeson found methamphetamine in a metal can hidden under the tire well of the car.  After locating the drugs, Greeson arrested the driver as well as the citizen who was the owner of the vehicle sitting in the front passenger seat. 

On August 15, 2012, Greeson met with a Superior Court Judge to obtain a search warrant for a urine sample from the citizen.  During the meeting, Greeson falsely stated to the judge, in sum and substance, that he had not received any prior information about the white Dodge vehicle prior to stopping it.

Shortly thereafter, the GBI received information that the drugs had been planted on the vehicle by another individual in an attempt to falsely inculpate the citizen.  As a result of that information, the local district attorney’s office dismissed the charges against the citizen.

GBI agents interviewed Greeson on August 23, 2012, in connection with an investigation of public corruption and civil rights violations. During the interview, Greeson falsely stated to the GBI agents that he had not received any information about the white Dodge car before he pulled it over.

He met with the GBI for a second interview on August 27, 2012.  During this meeting, Greeson admitted to the GBI that he had lied – in that prior to stopping the white Dodge he had, in fact, been provided with information that the vehicle was supposed to be carrying drugs.

Greeson, 26, of Chatsworth, Ga., was convicted on these charges after pleading guilty on April 12, 2013.  On August 29, 2012, he was terminated from the Murray County Sheriff’s Department.  United States District Judge Harold L. Murphy sentenced him to 10 months in prison to be followed by one year of supervised release. 

This case was investigated by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Assistant United States Attorneys Michael Herskowitz and Jeffrey W. Davis prosecuted the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Rome Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.

ATLANTA - Darrell Mathis has been charged with distributing marijuana and using and carrying a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense. 

“This defendant used his position as a police officer to openly violate the very laws that he was sworn to uphold,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.   “Selling marijuana out of his police car while wearing a badge and uniform is outrageous.  This case is a reminder that no one is above the law.”

Mark F. Giuliano, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office, stated: “Allegations of law enforcement officers actually engaged in the distribution of drugs is a rare occurrence.  When those allegations came to the FBI concerning Newton County Deputy Sheriff Mathis, the FBI swiftly took action.  The FBI considers such allegations of criminal conduct by law enforcement officers to be a priority investigative matter and we continue to ask the public to contact their nearest FBI field office with information concerning such activities.”

Ezell Brown, Newton County Sheriff, stated:  “My office is completely cooperating with the FBI in this investigation. This is an embarrassment to the Newton County Sheriff’s Office, as well as law enforcement in general. Mr. Mathis has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation”.

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges, and other information presented in court:  In April 2013, it came to the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation that Darrell Mathis, a deputy sheriff with the Newton County Sheriff’s Office, was engaged in distributing marijuana.  From May through September 2013, Mathis sold various quantities of marijuana to a confidential source who was working with the FBI, as well as to an undercover FBI agent.  On at least two occasions, Mathis sold marijuana from his marked patrol vehicle while wearing his Newton County Sheriff’s Office uniform. 

On August 8, 2013, Mathis sold one pound of marijuana to an undercover FBI agent.  Following that sale, Mathis and the undercover FBI agent went to meet with another undercover FBI agent to discuss the sale of additional quantities of marijuana.  Mathis brought his NCSO badge and his firearm to the meeting.  During the meeting, Mathis told the undercover agent, who he believed was a drug dealer, that he was a police officer, pulled out his badge, and stated, "Don't worry, I'm on your side." 

Mathis, 40, of Lithonia, Ga., made his initial appearance before Magistrate Judge Russell G. Vineyard and was released on bond.  He was arrested on September 19, 2013, when he met with the undercover agent in possession of one pound of marijuana.  Mathis has been a sworn deputy sheriff with Newton County since December 2008.

The charge of possession with intent to distribute and distribution of marijuana carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.  The charge of using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking offense carries a maximum term of life in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. 

Members of the public are reminded that a criminal complaint contains only allegations.  The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Assistant United States Attorney Jamie L. Mickelson is prosecuting the case.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta recommends parents and children learn about the dangers of drugs at the following web site: www.justthinktwice.com.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.

ATLANTA – Five members of an Atlanta-based gang have been charged by a federal grand jury with extortion, drug trafficking, and firearms offenses. 

“These defendants, whose calling cards were violence and intimidation, allegedly terrorized local businesses by shaking them down for cash in return for ‘protection,’” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates. “The community does not need this kind of protective service, or any of the other illegal services the defendants allegedly offered.”

Mark F. Giuliano, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office, stated: “This investigation provides a very good look inside the activities of an organized and violent criminal enterprise that focused that violence on the Asian-American community here in the metro Atlanta area.  The FBI’s investigation into this gang was extensive and the resulting arrests and indictments are a testament to the hard work of those dedicated individuals who are committed toward making our communities safer.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges, and other information presented in court:  Eugene Thomas Chung, a/k/a Yoo Jin Chung (“Chung”), Athith A. Vorasith, a/k/a Andy Vorasith (“Vorasith”), Jong Sung Kim, a/k/a John Kim (“Kim”), Ye El Choi, a/k/a David Choi (“Choi”), and Thomas Jungwon Lee, a/k/a Tommy Lee (“Lee”) are alleged to have conspired together and with others to extort money and property from legitimate business people, using threats, force, violence, and firearms in furtherance of their criminal enterprise. 

In about July 2009, Chung and his crew allegedly visited the Gah Bin Korean bar and restaurant in Gwinnett County, Ga., and demanded a monthly share of the restaurant’s profits in exchange for “protection.”  Chung promised that, unless a victim made the demanded payments, Chung and his crew would assault this victim, harass his/her customers and employees, and otherwise damage the restaurant.  To reinforce their threats, Chung told the victim his crew routinely carried firearms and terrorized other Korean businesses in the community.  Over the next four months, Chung and his criminal associates allegedly strong-armed the victim into making monthly protection payments, ranging from $400 to $800.

Shortly after the victim was assaulted, the FBI opened an investigation, and the victim resumed making protection payments under FBI surveillance.

As part of the ongoing undercover investigation, on about March 10, 2010, the victim introduced an undercover agent to Chung, Vorasith, and Lee.  During the recorded meeting, Chung explained to the undercover officer that he ran a marijuana distribution business and offered a menu of other illegal services as well, including gambling, extortion, and debt collection.  Chung offered to help the undercover officer if he ever needed money collected and stated, “If you need us to beat up anybody, we’re professionals at that.” Chung added that he and his associates were “best at making people crippled,” and said they could also make people “permanently limp, blind, or deaf.” Upon hearing that the undercover officer supposedly was owed $200,000 by a businessman in Houston, Texas, who was behind in payments (and who was actually an undercover officer as well), Chung offered to collect the debt.

On September 17, 2013, a federal grand jury in Atlanta returned a 13-count indictment charging the following individuals with extortion, drug trafficking, and firearms offenses:

•Eugene Thomas Chung, a/k/a Yoo Jin Chung, 39, of Duluth, Ga.; •Athith A. Vorasith, a/k/a Andy Vorasith, 24, of Auburn, Ga.; •Jong Sung Kim, a/k/a John Kim, 48, of Suwanee, Ga.; •Ye El Choi, a/k/a David Choi, 30, of Norcross, Ga.; and
•Thomas Jungwon Lee, a/k/a Tommy Lee, 32, of Duluth, Ga.

On September 19, 2013, initial searches and arrests were conducted in connection with an unsealed indictment.  The defendants made their initial appearances in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia before Magistrate Judge Russell G. Vineyard. 

If convicted, Chung and Vorasith face a maximum sentence of up to life imprisonment; Kim, Choi, and Lee face up to 20 years of imprisonment. They also are potentially subject to fines of over $1,000,000 dollars.

Members of the public are reminded that the indictment contains only allegations. A defendant is presumed innocent of the charges, and it will be the government’s burden to prove a defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

This case is being investigated by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Assistant United States Attorneys John S. Ghose, Kurt R. Erskine, and Ryan Scott Ferber are prosecuting the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.justice.gov/usao/gan.

Cora Ford Used Stolen Identities of the Homeless and Disabled to File Fraudulent Tax Returns for Refunds

ATLANTA - Cora Cadia Ford has been found guilty by a jury following a three-day trial on 30 counts of mail fraud, aggravated identity theft, and filing false claims with the Government.

“This defendant took advantage of some of the most disadvantaged members of our community,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “Her greed drove her to use the identities of people who were homeless, mentally challenged, and physically disabled.  She not only stole taxpayer money, she callously left her victims without their much-needed disability payments.”

IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Veronica Hyman-Pillot said, “Individuals who commit refund fraud and identity theft of this magnitude and with this degree of trickery, dishonesty and deceit, deserve to be punished to the fullest extent of the law. IRS Criminal Investigation, along with our law enforcement partners and the United States Attorney’s Office, remain vigilant in identifying, investigating and prosecuting those individuals who seek to willfully defraud the United States Treasury and blatantly disregard the victims of their schemes.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court:  from approximately January 2007 to May 2011, Ford prepared and filed false tax returns with the IRS, using the names and social security numbers of the poor, homeless and disabled.  Ford intentionally prepared each tax return with false information so that it would generate a tax refund.  Ford obtained the tax refund checks and deposited them into her own bank account or cashed the checks at check-cashing stores, and used the money for her own benefit.  As a result of Ford’s crimes, many of the victims whose names and social security numbers were stolen had their social security disability benefits reduced or eliminated for a period of time. 

Ford obtained the victims’ names and social security numbers in a variety of ways.  In some instances, Ford convinced the victims to provide her with their identifying information so that she could apply on their behalf for a homeless grant with the Government.  In fact, no such Government grant existed.  In other instances, Ford, who also ran a small church with her now-deceased husband, told her victims that she would file a tax return on their behalf and it would be “a gift from God.”  In fact, Ford used the victims’ identifying information to prepare and file false tax returns, and kept the entire tax refund for herself.  One victim, who testified that her social security disability benefits were reduced to approximately $27 per month as a result of Ford’s crimes, causing her to be unable to afford her own medications, stated that the defendant’s crimes had ruined her life.

The mail fraud charges each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and each false claim charge carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison.  The aggravated identity theft charges carry at least one mandatory two-year consecutive sentence to any other sentence imposed.  Each count also carries a fine of up to $250,000.  In determining the actual sentence, the Court will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders.

Sentencing for Ford, 55, of Stone Mountain, Ga., is scheduled for December 16, 2013, at 10:30 am before United States District Judge Thomas W. Thrash.

This case is being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation.

Assistant United States Attorneys Thomas J. Krepp and Steven D. Grimberg are prosecuting the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the HomePage for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.justice.gov/usao/gan.

ATLANTA – Twelve members of a national cocaine trafficking organization have been charged in a large-scale investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation code-named “Operation Holy Trap.”

  “Today’s takedown is another chapter in this Office’s ongoing commitment to hold significant narco-traffickers to account and to dismantle their operations and infrastructure,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates. “Our streets are safer with these serious offenders off them.  The arrests also serve as a valuable reminder to those who might use their seemingly legitimate businesses to support narco-traffickers.  You are not above the law.  You will be prosecuted.”

Mark F. Giuliano, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office, stated: “While the import and distribution of dangerous drugs such as methamphetamines, cocaine, and heroin continue to be carried out by highly organized criminal enterprises covering large territories within the U.S., law enforcement continues to go after these groups in an equally organized manner as demonstrated by the David G. Wilhelm Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Strike Force, based in Atlanta.  The FBI, as part of this federally led group of local, state, and other federal investigators and analytical staff, brings forward its expertise in helping dismantle these criminal enterprises and seizing their assets.  The indictments and arrests resulting from Operation Holy Trap are a result of many months of hard work by this dedicated Strike Force and required much coordination with other law enforcement entities in other states.  The cocaine distribution in this case was extensive and the money generated by this group is an indicator as to how active and established this group was in the U.S.  The fight to keep our communities safe from this corrosive criminal influence continues and the FBI remains a committed and steadfast partner in this effort.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges, and other information presented in court: For over 18 months, the FBI has been investigating a drug trafficking organization with ties to Georgia, Florida, Massachusetts, Texas, and Louisiana.

The organization is alleged to have been overseen by Edwin Rivera, a/k/a Neno, a/k/a Nano (“Rivera”), a Boston-based drug dealer, who used vehicles outfitted with hydraulic concealed compartment (or traps) to smuggle multiple kilograms of cocaine and hundreds of thousands of dollars throughout the United States.  Rivera employed Hector Ramon DeJesus, who operated a seemingly legitimate auto shop in Atlanta, to install the traps in the load vehicles.  Juan Manuel Santana Baez, a/k/a “Robin,” worked with and for DeJesus in the trap business, including on vehicles used by Rivera.

Rivera is alleged to have used a syndicate of couriers to transport the organization’s drugs and drug proceeds, including Pedro Angel Morales, a/k/a “Tito;” Glenny Difo; Militza Negron; Jose Ramon Medina Bravo, a/k/a “Lynx;” Jose M. Vellon Rios, a/k/a Javier Luis R Mercado; Jennifer Medina; and Alex Jonathan Tejada Avelino, a/k/a “Jonathan.”  Maximo Stiven Bernabel Pena, a/k/a “Pablo,” and Freddy Pena also were members of Rivera’s cocaine trafficking organization. 

To date, investigators have seized over 70 kilograms of cocaine and approximately $1,000,000 in drug proceeds.

On July 9, 2013, a federal grand jury in Atlanta returned a five-count indictment charging the following individuals with various drug offenses, including conspiring to traffick over five kilograms of cocaine and substantive drug trafficking charges:Edwin Rivera, a/k/a “Neno,” a/k/a “Nano,” 43, of Hyde Park, Mass.;

• Maximo Stiven Bernabel Pena, a/k/a “Pablo,” 23, of Roxbury, Mass.;
• Juan Manuel Santana Baez, a/k/a “Robin,” 38, of Duluth, Ga.;
• Glenny Difo, 37, of Orlando, Fla.;
• Militza Negron, 41, of Orlando, Fla.;
• Jose Ramon Medina Bravo, a/k/a “Lynx,” 28, of Tamarac, Fla.;
• Jose M. Vellon Rios, a/k/a Javier Luis R Mercado, 32, of Hazelton, Pa.;
• Jennifer Medina, 31, of Gretna, La.;
• Alex Jonathan Tejada Avelino, a/k/a “Jonathan,” 30, of Jamaica Plain, Mass.;
• Freddy Pena, 24, of Jamaica Plain, Mass.; and
• Pedro Angel Morales, a/k/a “Tito,” 49, of Springfield, Mass.

In addition, a criminal complaint was issued against Hector Ramon DeJesus, 67, of Lawrenceville, Ga., charging him with conspiring to traffic over five kilograms of cocaine.

On September 12, 2013, initial searches and arrests were conducted in connection with an unsealed indictment and criminal complaint.  Federal, state, and local law enforcement officers fanned out across Atlanta, Ga., Boston, Mass., Scranton, Pa., Orlando and Tamarac, Fla., to seek to arrest the charged defendants.  The takedown, which is ongoing, so far has ensnared nine defendants.  Over the next two days, initial appearances are scheduled to occur in this District, as well as in the Middle District of Florida and District of Massachusetts.    

The investigation of the case was led by FBI agents from the David G. Wilhelm OCDETF-Atlanta Strike Force, which consists of federal, state, and local drug officers and focuses on dismantling international drug organizations operating in the United States.  The investigation also included participation from the Strike Force members: the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the United States Marshals Service, the Department of Homeland Security, the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS), the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), Lawrenceville Police, Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office, Clayton County Police, and Barrow County Sheriff’s Office.

If convicted, the charged defendants face a maximum sentence of up to life imprisonment, as well as fines of over $10 million dollars. 

Members of the public are reminded that the indictment and criminal compliant contain only allegations.  A defendant is presumed innocent of the charges, and it will be the government’s burden to prove a defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

Assistant United States Attorneys Ryan Scott Ferber and C. Brock Brockington are prosecuting the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the HomePage for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.justice.gov/usao/gan.

NEWNAN, Ga. - Herbert Dix has been sentenced in federal district court for defrauding the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and possessing forged “WIC” vouchers.
 
“Families most in need rely on government funds for basic subsistence,” United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “This defendant stole from the USDA and tax payers, depriving some of the neediest families of funds meant to help them survive.”

“It is unfortunate that people continue to defraud nutritional programs that have been created to provide assistance in times of need.  USDA-OIG remains committed to working with DOJ and its law enforcement partners in ensuring that those who steal from nutritional programs, such as the WIC program, and the taxpayers are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.  People who defraud these programs foolishly think they will never be caught, but USDA is assiduous in investigating program fraud and bringing the perpetrators of such fraud to justice”, stated Karen Citizen-Wilcox, Special Agent-in-Charge.

"The enduring cooperation between the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH), local law enforcement and the U.S. Attorney’s Office should send a clear signal to those contemplating WIC fraud,” said Brenda Fitzgerald, M.D., DPH’s commissioner, who commended a conviction three years in the making. “We are committed to working together to detect and eliminate fraud, and to preserve precious funds for those who need it most.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court: Dix owned and operated Spanks Quick Stop, a store front grocery store in Griffin, Ga.  Spank’s Quick Stop was authorized by the State of Georgia to redeem Woman, Infant, and Children (WIC) vouchers for specified food items, such as infant formula, milk, and cheese, etc.  The Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) issues WIC vouchers to low income, at risk families, who can use the vouchers to purchase specified food items from authorized grocers.  Contrary to federal law and state regulations, Dix and his employees paid cash for the WIC vouchers instead of accepting them as payment for the food items listed on the vouchers.

On 18 separate occasions, an undercover law enforcement officer entered Spank’s Quick Stop, where Dix and his employees illegally redeemed blank WIC vouchers for cash.  Dix then filled in an amount on the vouchers significantly greater than what he paid for the vouchers and deposited the vouchers into his bank account.  In December 2010, federal, state and local law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Spank’s and seized over 100 forged blank WIC vouchers.  An analysis of Dix’s bank records revealed that between 2010 and 2011 he had defrauded the USDA out of more than $150,000.

Dix, 49, of Riverdale, Ga., has been sentenced to one year and ten months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, 100 hours of community service, $14,100 restitution, and a special assessment of $10,100.  Dix was indicted in July 2012 on 18 counts of WIC fraud and 83 counts of possession of forged securities.  In May, he pleaded guilty to the entire indictment.

This case was investigated by Special Agents of the United States Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General, Georgia Department of Public Health, Office of Inspector General, and the Griffin Police Department.

Assistant United States Attorney David Leta prosecuted the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the HomePage for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.justice.gov/usao/gan.

ATLANTA - Michael Rothenberg, a former candidate for a seat on the DeKalb County Superior Court, pleaded guilty today to a charge of defrauding the owners of WinterHawk Energy and Development Corporation.

“This defendant stole from investors who trusted his judgment,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “His fraud is particularly egregious because he was involved in defrauding investors at the very time he was seeking to be elected as a DeKalb County Superior Court Judge, and because he used a portion of the illegal proceeds to fund his political campaign.  Ultimately, his fraud scheme was uncovered, and his quest to be elected ended in failure.”

Mark F. Giuliano, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office, stated: “Investment fraud schemes often have at their core individuals who appear very credible.  These schemes often end with those individuals being revealed as greedy and uncompassionate for those devastated investors whose trust they betrayed.  Today’s guilty plea will ensure that Mr. Rothenberg will be held accountable for his criminal actions.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court:  Michael Rothenberg, 35, of DeKalb County, Ga., deceitfully persuaded the owners of WinterHawk Energy and Development Corporation (“WinterHawk”) into investing a total of $1.35 million.  Rothenberg represented that the invested money would be placed in a trust account, controlled by Rothenberg, which would be used to fund the trading of notes by large financial institutions.  These notes, according to Rothenberg, would be split into “tranches,” and a ten percent profit would be earned each time a note or “tranch” was traded.  Rothenberg told the investors that the investment involved no risk.

In fact, no investment existed and Rothenberg used the money paid by WinterHawk to fund his political campaign for a seat on the DeKalb County Superior Court as well as to pay personal expenses.  Rothenberg ultimately was unsuccessful in his bid for a judgeship.  During the scheme, Rothenberg placated the investors’ concerns and lulled them into believing that the investment opportunity was real by emailing them fabricated bank statements, which made it appear as if the money they had invested remained in his trust account and that Rothenberg himself was wealthy.  From time to time Rothenberg returned some of the money to the investors in response to their demands, and claimed falsely that he was making up for the shortfall by personally investing his own money.  But Rothenberg did not invest his own money, and in fact spent the remaining proceeds – approximately $800,000 – without the investors’ knowledge or consent.

The charge of wire fraud in this case carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.  In determining the actual sentence, the Court will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders.

Sentencing is scheduled for November 18, 2013 at 10:00 a.m. before United States District Judge Steve C. Jones.

This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Assistant United States Attorney Steven D. Grimberg is prosecuting the case.  The DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office has provided valuable assistance.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the HomePage for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.justice.gov/usao/gan.

Two Employees Allegedly Diverted Funds to Their Personal Bank Accounts

ATLANTA - Joysha Flucker has been arraigned on charges in an indictment that a federal grand jury returned on May 21, 2013, for allegedly stealing over $900,000 from Cox Communications.

“Those who shamelessly steal from their employer should expect to be held accountable,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “Companies must be able to trust their employees, especially when those employees are entrusted with handling money.  The charges against these defendants reflect that they violated the law as well as their employer’s confidence.”

  Mark F. Giuliano, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office, stated: “The federal indictments of these two former Cox employees represent the FBI’s commitment to partner with and provide assistance to the corporate sector. Those individuals who engage in such wide spread and high dollar thefts run the very real risk of becoming targets in a federal investigation.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court: Joysha Flucker, 36, of Decatur, Ga., and Sakia Allen, 38, of Jonesboro, Ga., previously worked for Cox Communications, where they had access to the company’s electronic invoicing system that tracked the company’s payments to various third parties.  Flucker and Allen manipulated the electronic invoicing system so that Cox Communications would issue duplicate payments to the third parties.  However, the duplicate payments were directed into bank accounts under the control of the defendants.  As a result of the defendants’ actions, Cox Communications suffered losses of at least $943,865.46. 

Flucker was arraigned before United States Magistrate Judge Russell G. Vineyard today on the charges and was detained.  Allen previously entered a plea of guilty to one count of wire fraud on July 25, 2013, before United States District Judge William S. Duffey, Jr.

 The indictment charges the defendants with multiple counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy.  Each wire fraud count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and the conspiracy count carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison.  Each count also carries a fine of up to $250,000.  In determining the actual sentence, the Court will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders.

The United States is also seeking the forfeiture of all funds derived from this scheme.  The United States previously forfeited a house and luxury automobiles as proceeds of the alleged offense. 

Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only contains charges.  The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with the assistance of the Sandy Springs Police Department.

Assistant United States Attorneys Mary F. Kruger and Thomas J. Krepp are prosecuting the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the HomePage for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.justice.gov/usao/gan.