Western District of Louisiana

ALEXANDRIA, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that an Alexandria man was sentenced Monday to 54 months in prison for selling methamphetamine.

Franklin Drake Smith, 25, of Alexandria, La., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dee D. Drell on one count of distribution of methamphetamine. He was also sentenced to three years of supervised release. According to the August 19, 2015 guilty plea, agents conducted controlled buys of methamphetamine from Smith on February 2, 2015 and February 11, 2015 at different locations in Alexandria. The total weight of the methamphetamine sold exceeded 50 grams.  Smith was held accountable for the distribution of approximately 680 grams of methamphetamine based on further investigation.

The FBI Central Louisiana Safe Streets Task Force with assistance from the Louisiana State Police conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Allison D. Bushnell prosecuted the case.

ALEXANDRIA, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that a federal jury found a Rwandan national guilty of refusing to leave the country after being ordered to depart.

Innocent Safari Nzambereka, 37, of Rwanda, was found guilty of two counts of failure to depart for resisting removal after final deportation orders.  United States District Judge Dee D. Drell presided over the trial. The defendant’s trial started Thursday and ended today with the jury returning the guilty verdict after deliberating for approximately 45 minutes.  Evidence admitted at trial revealed that on March 12, 2013 and April 11, 2013, Nzambereka refused to sign visa applications necessary for him to be sent back to the Republic of Rwanda where he had been ordered to return.

Nzambereka faces four years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine for each count.  Sentencing has been set for February 29, 2016.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Enforcement and Removal Operations conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Howard C. Parker and Dominic A. Rossetti are prosecuting the case.

SHREVEPORT, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a Mexican national pleaded guilty Tuesday to re-entering the United States after removal.

Saul Abundis Cordova, 39, of Mexico, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote to one count of re-entry of a removed alien. According to evidence presented at the guilty plea, Shreveport Police arrested Cordova on January 15, 2015 for driving while intoxicated, and on July 22, 2015, was convicted of driving while intoxicated for the fourth time. Cordova had been removed from the United States to Mexico on at least three previous occasions in 2008, 2009 and 2014. The removal on June 12, 2014 occurred after Cordova was convicted of felony possession of Schedule II control substances, cocaine, which results in a sentencing enhancement of a convicted felon.

Cordova faces 10 years in prison, one to three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. A sentencing date of March 8, 2016 was set.

Homeland Security Investigations-Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and the Shreveport Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael O’Mara is prosecuting the case.

SHREVEPORT, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that a Bossier City man pleaded guilty to receiving child pornography.

Christopher J. Leger, 52, of Bossier City, La., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge S. Maurice Hicks Jr. to one count of receiving child pornography.  According to evidence presented at the guilty plea, federal agents executed a search warrant on March 13, 2014 on Leger’s residence. Child pornography had previously been downloaded from a computer at the address. After examining media devices from the residence, agents found 76 images and two videos of child pornography.

Leger faces 15 to 40 years in prison, five years to life of supervised release, a $250,000 fine, mandatory registration as a sex offender and forfeiture of property seized during the investigation. A sentencing date of March 3, 2016 was set.

This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a U.S. Department of Justice nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood combines federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Homeland Security Investigations/Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) also encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at (866) DHS-2ICE.  Investigators are available at all hours to answer hotline calls. Tips or other information can also be submitted to ICE online by visiting their website at www.ice.gov/exec/forms/hsi-tips/tips.asp or through the Operation Predator smartphone application (http://www.ice.gov/predator/smartphone-app). Tips also may be submitted anonymously.

Homeland Security Investigations and Louisiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force conducted the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth D. Reeg is prosecuting the case.

SHREVEPORT, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a Mexican national was sentenced last week to 14 months in prison for reentering the country after having been previously deported twice.

Jesus Isas-Medina, 41, of Guadajara, Mexico, was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge S. Maurice Hicks Jr. on one count of illegal reentry after being deported. According to evidence presented at the July 28, 2015 guilty plea, Bossier Parish Sheriff’s deputies arrested the defendant on April 6, 2015. Upon further investigation, it was learned that Isas-Medina had been previously deported in April of 2001 and July of 2012.

The U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement-Immigration Enforcement and the Bossier Parish Sheriff’s Office conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth D. Reeg prosecuted the case.

SHREVEPORT/LAFAYETTE/ALEXANDRIA/LAKE CHARLES/MONROE, La.:  United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that the U.S. Attorney’s Office will honor the men and women of the Western District of Louisiana and their family members who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces with a video presentation.

The presentation features employees from the U.S. Attorney’s offices, courthouse employees and their family members in all five divisions of the District, Shreveport, Lafayette, Alexandria, Lake Charles and Monroe. The video will be available for public viewing from November 10th to November 20th in the lobby of the U.S. federal courthouses in Shreveport and Lafayette. There will be an honor board in all five courthouses.

“There is never enough that we can say or do that adequately thanks the men and women who have heeded the call to serve,” Finley stated. “This presentation is just a small way to honor them.  As a member of the U.S. Air Force, I am aware of how special and significant it is to have these veterans in our communities and how important it is for us to recognize their service. We owe them a debt of gratitude for their unwavering willingness to put service before self and safeguard our freedoms. This Veterans Day, I hope everyone remembers those who continue to serve. We salute them and celebrate their service to this Great Nation!”

Western District of Louisiana employees being honored for their service are:

United States Army - Aaron J. Broussard, F. Michael Campbell, U.S. District Judge Dee D. Drell, Robert W. Gillespie Jr., U.S. District Judge Richard T. Haik, David C. Joseph, Deborah Ritchey Mahony, C. Vincent Mangum, Joseph T. Mickel, Howard C. Parker, Edward Prokopf, Victor Sheppard, U.S. District Judge Tom Stagg (deceased), Fifth Circuit Chief Judge Carl E. Stewart, Chris Turner and U.S. District Judge Donald E. Walter.

United States Navy - Joseph G. Jarzabek, Daniel J. McCoy and Ryan Turner.

United States Coast Guard - Dennis K. Austin and U.S. Magistrate Judge Patrick Hanna.

United States Marin Corps - Angelo Iorio.

United Stated Air Force - Mitzie Cochrane, U.S. Attorney Stephanie A. Finley, Samuel W. Glass Sr., John S. Odom Jr., F. Michael O’Mara, Ryan Peck, Charlene Pullum, U.S. District Judge James T. Trimble Jr. and U.S. Marshal Henry L. Whitehorn Sr.

Immediate family members of the personnel in the Western District of Louisiana U.S. Attorney’s Office and U.S. District Court System being honored for their service are:

United States Army - Gerald Champagne, Steven L. Dupont, Doyce Ray Hebert, Eric Iorio, Shelton Julian, Joseph LeJeune, David A. McBride, Joseph R. Nolan, Michael E. Schaff and Barney W. Skipper.

United States Navy - Kyle Alwert, Thomas P. Cagney, David Cochrane, Leon Gordon Jones and John L. Witt.

United States Air Force - John T. Julian and Alan Williams.

United States Marine Corps - Stephen Box.

Of those listed above, two have received Purple Hearts and other medals for their actions during various wars. Shelton Julian, the grandfather of Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen King, served in the U.S. Army during World War II.  He was assigned to the 92nd Infantry, Buffalo Division. During his service, he received the Purple Heart and one Oak Leaf Cluster. United States District Court Judge Tom Stagg served in the U.S. Army during WWII in Europe from 1944-1946.  During his service, he received the Combat Infantry Badge, the Bronze Star for Valor, the Bronze Star for Meritorious Service and two Purple Hearts. Judge Stagg died on June 23, 2015. Steven Dupont, son of FDA Investigator Charles Dupont, served in the U.S. Army from 2008 until 2010 and was stationed at Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3d Squadron, 2d Stryker Cavalry Regiment at Rose Barracks in Vilseck, Germany. He was assigned to Ghostrider Company as a Forward Observer during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.  Dupont was killed in action on October 24, 2010, in Rangrizan, Afghanistan.  Specialist Dupont was awarded the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the NATO Medal and the Combat Action Badge, posthumously. While on active duty, he received the National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon and the Overseas Service Ribbon.

The Purple Heart is given to military members who are wounded or killed in action. The Bronze Star of Valor is awarded for acts of heroism, acts of merit or meritorious service in a combat zone and is the fourth-highest combat decoration awarded to military members. The Oak Leaf Cluster denotes subsequent decorations and awards.

Information about the location of the five federal courthouses within the Western District can be found at the following link: http://www.justice.gov/usao-wdla/contact-us.

MONROE, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that a Benton attorney pleaded guilty to collecting filing fees from clients without informing the bankruptcy court.

Glay H. Collier II, 53, of Benton, La., entered a conditional guilty plea to one count of bankruptcy fraud before U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen L. Hayes. The plea will become final when accepted by U.S. District Judge Robert G. James. According to evidence presented at the guilty plea, Collier filed records into the bankruptcy court stating that he would accept “No Look” fees as payment for his services. The “No Look” fee caps attorney’s fees in bankruptcy proceedings to $2,800. In excess of that limit, Collier charged up to $281 in filing fees to some clients, which he did not disclose to the court. Between March 2010 and November 2013, Collier filed 983 Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases in Monroe, and during the same time period, he filed 2,160 Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases in Shreveport. In approximately 479 of these cases, Collier fraudulently collected and attempted to collect filing fees.

Collier faces up to five years in prison, three years supervised release and a $250,000 fine. A sentencing date of March 1, 2016 was set.

The FBI and the U.S. Trustee’s Office, Region 5, conducted the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Cytheria D. Jernigan is prosecuting the case.

SHREVEPORT/ LAFAYETTE/ALEXANDRIA/MONROE/LAKE CHARLES, La.  – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley and the Department of Justice announced that 16 grants totaling more than $2.4 million have been awarded to 15 agencies within the Western District of Louisiana.

Two grants totaling $1.1 million were awarded to the Wellspring Alliance for Families in Monroe; more than $500,000 was awarded to the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe in Marksville; and more than $224,000 was awarded to the Lafayette Consolidated Government. The remaining 12 grants were awarded to law enforcement agencies within the District.

Law enforcement agencies receiving the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance include:

Alexandria: Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office: $75,460 to increase arrests and successful prosecutions;

Bastrop: Morehouse Parish Sheriff’s Office: $11,831 to support policing operations;

Bossier City: Bossier City: $25,693 to purchase supplies, equipment and new technology;

Franklin: St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office: $13,194 to purchase equipment;

Lafayette: Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office: $92,126 to support law enforcement initiatives;

Lake Charles: Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office: $61,468 to support essential law enforcement services;

Monroe: Ouachita Parish Sheriff’s Office: $63,758 to purchase equipment to increase officer safety;

Natchitoches: City of Natchitoches: $12,062 to purchase equipment;

New Iberia: Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office: $16,846 to purchase computer equipment;

Opelousas: St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office: $36,444 to purchase supplies, equipment and new technology;

Shreveport: City of Shreveport: $115,505 to improve officer safety and increase law enforcement services; and

Sulphur: City of Sulphur: $12,422 to purchase law enforcement related-equipment.

Agencies receiving other grants this year in the District include:

Lafayette: Lafayette City/Parish Consolidated Government (Lafayette Police Department): $224,668 through the Grants to Encourage Arrest Policies and Enforcement of Protection Orders Program, through the Office of Violence Against Women, to be used with Faith House Inc. to improve safety for domestic violence victims in Lafayette Parish.

Marksville: Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana: $544,768 through the FY 2015 Indian Alcohol and Substance Abuse Program (IASAP), from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, to be used to implement an IASAP.

Monroe: Wellspring Alliance for Families: $600,000 through the Legal Assistance for Victims Grant Program, from the Office of Violence Against Women, to be used to strengthen civil and criminal legal assistance programs for adult and youth victims of abuse or violence, which includes hiring attorneys and support staff. The Wellspring Alliance for Families will also receive $500,000 through the Justice for Families Program, from the Office of Violence Against Women, to be used to provide victim services and training for employees and government officials.

“These grants will help to strengthen law enforcement agencies and other organizations, which will benefit the public throughout this District,” Finley stated. “The purchase of equipment, upgrade of technology and improvement to law enforcement safety that these grants will fund demonstrates the commitment the Department of Justice and my office have to help local agencies meet the challenges facing them.”

The Office of Justice Programs (OJP) provides federal leadership in developing the nation’s capacity to prevent and control crime, administer justice and assist victims. The OJP has six bureaus and offices: the Bureau of Justice Assistance; the Bureau of Justice Statistics; the National Institute of Justice; the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; the Office for Victims of Crime; and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking (SMART). For more information on grant award programs, visit www.bja.gov.

LAKE CHARLES, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a Mexican national who was arrested in Vinton, La., pleaded guilty last week to charges that he reentered the United States multiple times without obtaining permission.

Luis Alberto Roblero-Escalante, 25, of Mexico, pleaded guilty Friday before U.S. District Judge Patricia Minaldi to one count of illegal reentry of a deported alien. According to the guilty plea, Vinton police found the defendant walking along Interstate 10 on June 10, 2015. After talking to police, he admitted he was a Mexican national.  It was later discovered that Roblero-Escalante was previously removed from the United States on January 9, 2009, March 15, 2011, May 19, 2011 and January 13, 2015.

Roblero-Escalante faces 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. A sentencing date of February 4, 2015 was set.

Homeland Security Investigations-U.S. Border Patrol and the Vinton Police Department conducted the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Dominic A. Rossetti is prosecuting the case.

LAKE CHARLES, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a Lake Charles man pleaded guilty last week to attempting to possess child pornography.

Jerry Junior Logg, 26, of Lake Charles, pleaded guilty Friday before U.S. District Judge Patricia Minaldi to one count of attempted possession of child pornography. According to the guilty plea, Logg communicated in October of 2012 with a minor female from New Jersey using an internet chat service. Logg pretended to be two different young people online and attempted to convince the minor to send sexually explicit images of herself.

Logg faces up to 10 years in prison, five years to life supervised release and a $250,000 fine. He is also required to register as a sex offender. A sentencing date of February 4, 2016 was set.

The FBI investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Myers P. Namie is prosecuting the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a U.S. Department of Justice nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Those concerned may also leave tips with the FBI at tips.fbi.gov. Tips may be submitted anonymously.  The Lake Charles FBI office number is (337) 433-6353.

LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a man from Alabama was sentenced last week to 120 months in prison for transporting sexually explicit pictures of a minor.

Mario Duran, 50, of Jemison, Ala., was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Richard T. Haik on one count of transporting child pornography. He was also sentenced to five years of supervised release and ordered to register as a sex offender.  According to evidence presented at the guilty plea, Acadia Parish Sheriff’s deputies, while investigating another case, made contact with Duran in April of 2014 while he was parked in his truck in the Crowley, La., Wal-Mart parking lot. Present with Duran were two minor females. The minors said they did not know Duran, and that he had picked them up in Alabama and was transporting them to Texas to meet their father. The vehicle was searched, and three cell phones were found. Upon further investigation, law enforcement agents found sexually explicit pictures of a minor on one of the phones. The images on the phone were not of the minors Duran was transporting.

“I would like to thank the Acadia Parish Sheriff’s officers and ICE agents for apprehending and removing this child predator from our streets,” Finely stated. “Our office will continue to aggressively prosecute these types of crimes to protect our community.”

This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a U.S. Department of Justice launched nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Homeland Security Investigations/Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) encourage the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at (866) DHS-2ICE.  Investigators are available at all hours to answer hotline calls. Tips or other information can also be submitted to ICE online at www.ice.gov/exec/forms/hsi-tips/tips.asp or through the Operation Predator smartphone app (http://www.ice.gov/predator/smartphone-app). Tips may be submitted anonymously.

Homeland Security Investigations and the Acadia Parish Sheriff’s Office conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jamilla A. Bynog and Myers P. Namie prosecuted the case.

SHREVEPORT, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a Honduran national was sentenced Monday to 30 months in prison for reentering the country after having been previously deported for committing an aggravated felony.

Timoteo Gonzalez-Leiva, 42, of Las Ceiba Atlantia, Honduras, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Donald E. Walter on one count of illegal reentry after being deported as an aggravated felon. He was also ordered deported once his prison term is served. According to evidence presented at the July 28, 2015 guilty plea, Shreveport Police arrested Gonzalez-Levia on October 26, 2014. On October 28, 2014, he was convicted of simple battery and sentenced to jail. On January 7, 2015, at the completion of his jail sentence, the Caddo Parish Sheriff notified U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement of his pending release. ICE agents found that the defendant had been deported and then unlawfully returned to the United States multiple times. He was arrested in March of 1998 for first degree robbery in Delaware and sentenced to two years in prison. After serving the prison sentence, he was deported as an aggravated felon to Honduras. He later unlawfully reentered the United States again, was arrested and removed in April of 2004, and again in February of 2006.

The U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement-Immigration Enforcement, the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Department and the Shreveport Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert W. Gillespie Jr. prosecuted the case.

SHREVEPORT, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a Shreveport resident pleaded guilty Thursday to receiving child pornography.

Byron Morris, 57, of Shreveport, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge S. Maurice Hicks Jr. to one count of receiving child pornography.  According to evidence presented at the guilty plea, law enforcement officers detected someone downloading and sharing child pornography in August of 2014 in Shreveport on a computer. After further investigation, officers were led to Morris’ residence, which was searched, and pornography was found on computers and other electronic storage media he owned.

Morris faces five to 20 years in prison, not less than five years of supervised release, a $250,000 fine, mandatory registration as a sex offender and forfeiture of property seized during the investigation. A sentencing date of February 17, 2016 was set.

This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a U.S. Department of Justice nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood combines federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Homeland Security Investigations/Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) also encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at (866) DHS-2ICE.  Investigators are available at all hours to answer hotline calls. Tips or other information can also be submitted to ICE online by visiting their website at www.ice.gov/exec/forms/hsi-tips/tips.asp or through the Operation Predator smartphone application (http://www.ice.gov/predator/smartphone-app). Tips also may be submitted anonymously.

Homeland Security Investigations and Louisiana State Police conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon B. Brown is prosecuting the case.

LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a Lafayette man was sentenced Wednesday to 24 months in prison for possessing a stolen handgun.

Cordera Dean Felix, 28, of Lafayette, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard T. Haik on one count of possession of a stolen firearm. He was also sentenced to one year of supervised release. According to evidence presented at the June 24, 2015 guilty plea, Lafayette Police arrested Felix on June 27, 2014, near the 900 block of East Simcoe Street on an active warrant. Officers recovered a Glock model 36, .45 caliber pistol from Felix.  He stated that he was approached by juveniles who showed him a bag containing approximately eight handguns. He purchased the .45 caliber pistol from them. The handgun was reported stolen from Dave’s Gun Shop in Lafayette.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, which is a Department of Justice initiative designed to reduce firearm crimes by removing dangerous and persistent felons from the community and promote firearm safety.

The ATF and the Lafayette Police Department conducted the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Dominic A. Rossetti prosecuted the case.

SHREVEPORT, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a Mexican national pleaded guilty Monday to re-entering the United States after removal as an aggravated felon.

Jose Juan Rodriguez-Guarda, 32, of Mexico, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote to one count of re-entry of a removed alien.  According to evidence presented at the guilty plea, Rodriguez-Guarda had illegally re-entered the United States multiple times since 2009 after being removed.  In June 2012, Rodriguez-Guarda was removed as an aggravated felon from the United States after being convicted of attempted human smuggling in Arizona.

Rodriguez-Guarda was arrested in Virginia on January 25, 2013, two days after he had kidnapped his girlfriend at knife point in Bossier Parish and took her to Virginia where he already had their 7-year-old daughter.  The defendant pleaded guilty to simple kidnapping in Bossier Parish District Court on June 22, 2015.

Rodriguez-Guarda faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, one to three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. A sentencing date of February 19, 2016 was set.

Homeland Security Investigations-Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and the Bossier City Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael O’Mara is prosecuting the case.

SHREVEPORT, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that a Natchitoches man was sentenced to 72 months in prison for possessing methamphetamine.

Alfred Joseph Jackson, 40, of Natchitoches, La., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote on one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. He was also sentenced to three years of supervised release. According to evidence presented at the July 30, 2015 guilty plea, a Sabine Parish K-9 officer stopped an 18-wheeler Jackson was driving for a traffic violation on March 2, 2015. After further investigation, the officer found methamphetamine, marijuana and cocaine inside of the vehicle.

The DEA and Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon B. Brown prosecuted the case.

LAKE CHARLES, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that a Lake Charles man was sentenced to 235 months in prison for wire fraud in connection with a Ponzi scheme used to defraud investors out of more than $5.8 million.

John Steven Blount, 55, of Lake Charles, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Patricia Minaldi on one count of wire fraud. He was also sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $4.3 million restitution. According to the July 16, 2015 guilty plea, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) barred Blount from working as an investment adviser in December of 2003. In spite of this prohibition, Blount resumed work illegally as an investment adviser and securities broker from June of 2007 to December of 2014. During that time, he used his company, Professional Consultants LLC, to operate a Ponzi scheme that defrauded at least 73 investors out of approximately $5.8 million. Blount would offer investments in fictitious companies, bonds and IRAs that promised to pay an above-market rate of return. However, instead of investing the money in securities, Blount transferred the payments into his own bank accounts for his personal use and to support his other business interests.

In order to avoid detection and to continue operation of the Ponzi scheme, Blount emailed investors false account statements that purported to show the value of their investments.  As necessary, Blount would also provide his victims with monetary payments, which Blount falsely represented to be interest payments or principal withdrawals from the investments.  In fact, these “lulling payments” were actually investments Blount received from other victims of the Ponzi scheme.  Over the course of the scheme, Blount paid $1,743,198.84 “lulling payments” to investors.

The victims of Blount’s scheme were primarily retirees residing along the Louisiana and Texas Gulf Coast who invested large portions of their retirement savings in Blount’s scheme. Blount recruited his victims through his website, through his own personal and family relationships, and through his involvement in various Lake Charles area charities.

“Through his fraudulent investment operation, Mr. Blount stole the life savings of dozens of retirees,” stated Finley.  “Financial crimes are devastating to our citizens, creating lasting effects and hardships.  Federal prosecutors along with our federal partners will continue to vigorously prosecute these crimes.”

“John Blount’s sentencing represents a victory for those individuals who were defrauded out of millions of dollars, and in most cases, their life savings,” said Special Agent in Charge Jerome R. McDuffie, IRS – Criminal Investigation. “This victory would not have been possible without the collaboration of law enforcement.  Both local and federal law enforcement have represented the citizens of this community well, and IRS - Criminal Investigation is very proud to have been a part of this team of fine investigators.   While we realize John Blount’s sentencing and restitution orders will not make the victims in this case whole, we hope that it will aid their peace of mind to know that he will be serving a lengthy prison term for his wrongdoings.”

The FBI and IRS Criminal Investigations investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney David C. Joseph prosecuted the case.

LAKE CHARLES, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a Lake Charles man and a Texas man were sentenced Monday to 66 months in prison for their roles in a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy that stretched from Lake Charles to Houston.

Chumphai Bob Mireles, 52, of Lake Charles, and Michael Wayne Giese, 37, of Pearland, Texas, were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Donald E. Walter on one count of conspiracy to distribute or possess with intent to distribute controlled dangerous substances. They were also sentenced to five years of supervised release. According to evidence presented at the guilty pleas, law enforcement agents identified Mireles as a trafficker of methamphetamine. In July of 2014, law enforcement agents followed Mireles to Houston where he bought methamphetamine from Giese. Agents arrested Mireles as he traveled back to Louisiana and located 86.53 grams of methamphetamine inside his vehicle.

Homeland Security Investigations and the Calcasieu Parish Combined Anti-Drug Task Force conducted the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert C. Abendroth prosecuted the case.

LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a Moss Bluff man was sentenced Thursday to 98 months in prison for operating a marijuana sales and transport conspiracy that stretched from Texas to Louisiana.

Daniel Cantu-Lopez, 43, of Moss Bluff, La., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard T. Haik on one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana. He was also sentenced to five years of supervised release. According to evidence presented at the March 11, 2015 guilty plea, Cantu-Lopez was warehousing large quantities of marijuana in Houston and distributing it out of his trailer in Moss Bluff.  He directed the transport and sales of marijuana from June 2013 to September of 2013 from locations in Texas and Louisiana. During the course of the investigation, 4.9 kilograms of marijuana were seized from Juan Antonio Garcia on June 25, 2013 during a traffic stop in Vinton, La.; 453 grams of marijuana were seized on July 1, 2013 from Bertoldo Tolo Labra while being delivered to Moss Bluff; 380 kilograms of marijuana were seized on July 13, 2013 in George West, Texas, from Jamie Garza who was driving a truck and horse trailer; 4.5 kilograms of marijuana were purchased by an undercover agent on July 17, 2013 from Cantu-Lopez’s associate Lisa Diane Long in Moss Bluff; and 537 kilograms of marijuana were seized in Houston on September 13, 2013 from a pickup truck driven by Garcia.

Long, 51, of Lake Charles, was sentenced on November 11, 2014 to time served and one year of supervised release for one count of possession with intent to distribute marijuana. On February 5, 2015, Garcia, 59, of Nueva Laredo, Mexico, was sentenced to 44 months in prison and three years of supervised release, and Labra 32, of Morelos, Mexico, was sentenced to time served and two years of supervised release for one count of possession with intent to distribute marijuana. Garza, 47, of Edinburg, Texas, was sentenced on August 11, 2015 to 83 months in prison and four years of supervised release for one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana.

The defendants were arrested as part of Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Operation “Cajun Gallo.” The DEA, the George West Texas Police Department, and the Houston Police Department participated in this OCDETF investigation. The OCDETF program is a joint federal, state and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nation’s primary tool for disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations, targeting national and regional level drug trafficking organizations, and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources to disrupt or dismantle the targeted criminal organization and seize their assets.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Howard C. Parker and Robert F. Moore prosecuted the case.

SHREVEPORT, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that a Shreveport community mental health center, Westwood Mental Health LLC, and its parent company, MedSouth LLC, have agreed to pay $3.5 million to settle False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute allegations.

The settlement results from Westwood’s self-disclosure to the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS OIG) through the OIG’s Provider Self-Disclosure Protocol. According to the self-disclosure and the investigation that followed, from 2006 through 2009, the United States alleged that Westwood falsified patient records, billed for services not medically necessary, billed for services that were not rendered, provided bribes to Medicare beneficiaries who did not qualify for partial hospitalization services and provided bribes and/or kickbacks to employees to further or conceal the fraud.

“Reaching this settlement through the self-disclosure process demonstrates what the health care community and law enforcement can achieve by working together,” Finley stated. “When Westwood discovered the problems, it brought the matter to the attention of the HHS Office of Inspector General, and in doing so avoided the costs associated with a protracted investigation and the risk of potential fines under the False Claims Act.”

Healthcare fraud poses a serious risk to the integrity of our health care system, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office remains committed to aggressively pursuing healthcare providers who seek public funds through unlawful means. The United States encourages all health care providers to self-disclose any known violations that have resulted in the submission of improper claims to federal health care programs.

This case was handled by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Louisiana.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen J. King represented the United States.

The claims resolved by this settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.

ALEXANDRIA, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that an Ethiopian national was sentenced Tuesday to 27 months in prison for refusing to leave the country twice after being ordered to depart.

Henok Dejene Retta, 30, of Addis, Ethiopia, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dee D. Drell on two counts of failure to depart. Retta was found guilty on both counts after a two-day trial that ended July 1, 2015. Evidence admitted at trial revealed that on two occasions U.S. Immigration Enforcement agents attempted to remove Retta from the country via the Alexandria International Airport by putting him on a commercial flight.  The defendant hampered agents’ ability to remove him by verbally and physically resisting agents on November 19, 2013. The defendant also hampered attempts to put him on a commercial flight at the airport on January 7, 2014, when he told those present that he had terrorist ties in Africa and would have the plane attacked should he be put on the plane. These incidents prevented him from boarding the flights because of airline and Transportation Security Administration safety policies.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Enforcement and Removal Operations conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert F. Moore and Howard C. Parker prosecuted the case.

ALEXANDRIA, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a Baton Rouge man pleaded guilty Tuesday to his role in a Natchitoches bank fraud scheme in which more than $305,000 was stolen.

Joe Lee Colbert Jr., 38, of Baton Rouge, La., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Dee D. Drell to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. According to evidence presented at the guilty plea, Colbert and bank branch manager Deirdre Christophe Nelson, 36, of Natchez, La., conspired to steal more than $305,000 from 2011 until July of 2014 from a Natchitoches bank. Nelson would steal cash money and issue money orders from the bank to be deposited into Colbert’s account. Nelson and bank teller Valerie K. Culpepper, 35, of Natchitoches, falsified bank records in order to hide the money that was stolen during that time period.

Colbert faces up to 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release, a $1 million fine, forfeiture and restitution. A sentencing date of January 22, 2016 was set.

Nelson pleaded guilty on September 10, 2015 to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. She faces up to 30 years in prison, five years supervised release, a $1 million fine and restitution. A sentencing date of December 17, 2015 was set. Culpepper pleaded guilty on July 17, 2015 to one count of conspiracy to make false statements in bank records. She faces up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, a $250,000 fine and restitution. A sentencing date of October 23, 2015 was set.

The FBI and conducted the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Cytheria D. Jernigan is prosecuting the case.

LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a Melville man pleaded guilty last week to storing child pornography on electronic devices.

Russell Guillory, 34, of Melville, La., entered a conditional guilty plea Friday for one count of possession of child pornography before U.S. Magistrate Judge Patrick Hanna. The plea will become final when accepted by U.S. District Judge Richard T. Haik. According to the guilty plea, Guillory’s home was searched in January of 2015. The investigation uncovered four electronic devices Guillory owned containing 75 videos and six images of child pornography.
 

Guillory faces up to 10 years in prison, five years to life supervised release and a $250,000 fine. He is also required to register as a sex offender and forfeit the devices and images seized during the investigation. A sentencing date was not set.

Homeland Security Investigations and the Louisiana State Police investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jamilla A. Bynog and John Luke Walker are prosecuting the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a U.S. Department of Justice nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood combines federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Homeland Security Investigations/Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) also encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at (866) DHS-2ICE.  Investigators are available at all hours to answer hotline calls. Tips or other information can also be submitted to ICE online by visiting their website at www.ice.gov/exec/forms/hsi-tips/tips.asp or through the Operation Predator smartphone application (http://www.ice.gov/predator/smartphone-app). Tips also may be submitted anonymously.

The Justice Department announced today that the former Mamou, Louisiana, Police Chief Gregory W. Dupuis was sentenced to one year and one day in prison, and former Mamou Police Officer and Chief Robert McGee pleaded guilty to one count of the deprivation of rights under color of law, both for their roles in a series of incidents in which they deployed TASERs on non-resistant inmates at the Mamou Jail.  Dupuis’s and McGee’s guilty pleas are the result of a federal investigation into the illegal use of excessive force upon inmates at the Mamou jail.

Dupuis, 57, of Mamou, pleaded guilty to one count of violation of an individual’s civil rights on Apr. 13, 2015, and was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Richard T. Haik of the Western District of Louisiana.

According to evidence presented at Dupuis’s plea hearing, Dupuis served as police chief from 1994 to 1997 and from 2004 to 2014.  During his tenure as chief, officers, including McGee, repeatedly administered TASER shocks as a form of punishment on inmates who were being disruptive, even if the inmates’ disruption was purely verbal, and on inmates who were calm and compliant when the officer deployed the TASER.  On Apr. 25, 2010, Dupuis went to the department’s jail to deal with a verbally disruptive detainee.  Dupuis ordered the detainee to get down from his bunk and put his hands on the far wall.  The detainee complied.  Dupuis then entered the cell and deployed the TASER on the detainee’s back, causing the detainee to fall to the ground, suffer pain and injure his knee.  At his plea hearing, Dupuis admitted that he knew at the time that his actions were unlawful.

McGee, 44, of Mamou, pleaded guilty today to one count of violation of an individual’s civil rights committed as an officer in 2010, prior to his 2014 election as chief of the Mamou Police Department.  According to McGee’s guilty plea, McGee was called to the Mamou Police Department on multiple occasions in 2010 and 2011 to deal with disruptive inmates.  On Aug. 6, 2010, McGee and an inmate were engaged in a conversation.  Although the inmate posed no threat to himself or the officers, McGee fired the TASER at the inmate, causing the inmate to fall and experience pain.  McGee, who was elected Mamou police chief after this incident, resigned his position as chief on Oct. 8, 2015, as a result of the federal investigation. McGee faces up to 10 years in prison, three years supervised release and a $250,000 fine. A sentencing date was not set.

“The defendants abused the trust given to them as law enforcement officers when they engaged in a pattern of repeatedly tasing compliant detainees,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the the Civil Rights Division.  “The Justice Department will vigorously prosecute those who violate the civil rights laws to ensure that the rights of all individuals, including those in custody, are protected.”

“Law enforcement officers have a duty to ensure that detainees are treated fairly and humanely when taken into custody,” said U.S. Attorney Stephanie A. Finley of the Western District of Louisiana.  “Mr. Dupuis and Mr. McGee breached that trust and violated their oaths by using excessive force on incarcerated individuals.”

The FBI and the Louisiana State Police conducted the investigation.  Trial Attorneys Stephen Curran and Sanjay Patel of the Civil Rights Division, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Myers P. Namie and Robert Abendroth of the Western District of Louisiana are prosecuting the case.

LAFAYETTE, La. – The Justice Department and U.S. Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that the former Mamou Police Chief Gregory W. Dupuis was sentenced to one year and one day in prison, and former Mamou Police Officer and Chief Robert McGee pleaded guilty to one count of the deprivation of rights under color of law, both for their roles in a series of incidents in which they deployed TASERs on non-resistant inmates at the Mamou Jail.  Dupuis’s sentencing and McGee’s plea are the result of a federal investigation into the illegal use of excessive force upon inmates at the Mamou jail.

Dupuis, 57, of Mamou, La., pleaded guilty to one count of violation of an individual’s civil rights on April 13, 2015, and was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Richard T. Haik.

According to evidence presented at Dupuis’s plea hearing, Dupuis served as police chief from 1994 to 1997 and from 2004 to 2014.  During his tenure as chief, officers, including McGee, repeatedly administered TASER shocks as a form of punishment on inmates who were being disruptive, even if the inmates’ disruption was purely verbal, and on inmates who were calm and compliant when the officer deployed the TASER.  On Apr. 25, 2010, Dupuis went to the department’s jail to deal with a verbally disruptive detainee.  Dupuis ordered the detainee to get down from his bunk and put his hands on the far wall.  The detainee complied.  Dupuis then entered the cell and deployed the TASER on the detainee’s back, causing the detainee to fall to the ground, suffer pain and injure his knee.  At his plea hearing, Dupuis admitted that he knew at the time that his actions were unlawful.

McGee, 44, of Mamou, pleaded guilty today to one count of violation of an individual’s civil rights committed as an officer in 2010, prior to his 2014 election as chief of the Mamou Police Department.  According to McGee’s guilty plea, McGee was called to the Mamou Police Department on multiple occasions in 2010 and 2011 to deal with disruptive inmates.  On Aug. 6, 2010, McGee and an inmate were engaged in a conversation.  Although the inmate posed no threat to himself or the officers, McGee fired the TASER at the inmate, causing the inmate to fall and experience pain.  McGee, who was elected Mamou police chief after this incident, resigned his position as chief on Oct. 8, 2015, as a result of the federal investigation.

McGee faces up to 10 years in prison, three years supervised release and a $250,000 fine. A sentencing date was not set.

“The defendants abused the trust given to them as law enforcement officers when they engaged in a pattern of repeatedly tasing compliant detainees,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta of the Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department will vigorously prosecute those who violate the civil rights laws to ensure that the rights of all individuals, including those in custody, are protected.”

“Law enforcement officers have a duty to ensure that detainees are treated fairly and humanely when taken into custody,” Finley stated. “Mr. Dupuis and Mr. McGee breached that trust and violated their oaths by using excessive force on incarcerated individuals.”

The FBI and the Louisiana State Police conducted the investigation. Trial Attorneys Stephen Curran and Sanjay Patel of the Civil Rights Division, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Myers P. Namie and Robert Abendroth of the Western District of Louisiana are prosecuting the case.

SHREVEPORT/LAFAYETTE, La. – Western District of Louisiana U.S. Attorney’s Office staff members and other local law enforcement and community leaders met in neighborhoods throughout Caddo and Lafayette parishes Tuesday as part of their annual National Night Out crime and drug prevention events.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook and other members of the office, Mike Campbell, Law Enforcement Community Coordinator (LECC), and Robert W. Gillespie Jr., Assistant U.S. Attorney/Project Safe Neighborhoods Coordinator (PSN), joined Shreveport Mayor Ollie Tyler, Shreveport Police Chief Willie Shaw, Caddo Parish Sheriff Steve Prator’s Office and the Shreveport Fire Department for events in Northwest Louisiana. Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Luke Walker and Joseph T. Mickel joined the Lafayette Police Department, Lafayette Sheriff’s Department, Lafayette Parish Fire Department and other agencies for National Night Out events in South Central Louisiana.

Residents unlocked their doors, turned on porch lights and spent the evening outside with family, friends, neighbors, emergency response personnel and city officials. Many neighborhoods throughout Caddo Parish hosted a variety of special events such as block parties, cookouts, parades, flashlight walks, contests, youth activities and anti-crime rallies. In Lafayette, residents met at Neyland Park on Eraste Landry Road and the Martin Luther King Center near Willow Street. The events included music, food, games, fun jumps and displays by the Lafayette Fire Department, the Lafayette Sheriff’s Office, the Lafayette Police Department SWAT Team, Horse Patrol, Motorcycle Unit, Bicycle Patrol and the Police Command Bus.

National Night Out is designed to heighten crime and drug prevention awareness, generate support for local anti-crime efforts, strengthen neighborhood spirit and police ­community partnerships, and send a clear message that neighbors are orga­nized and fighting back.

      
 “National Night Out is a way for neighbors to join with their law enforcement and community partners to demonstrate that crime does not rule the night and that criminals have no safe haven when the sun goes down,” Finley stated. “The ‘Night Out’ is also a great way to acknowledge the accomplishments of neighborhood organizations that keep communities safe, and especially to thank and acknowledge our law enforcement community for putting their lives on the line for us every day.”

As the District’s LECC, Mike Campbell acts as a liaison between the U.S. Attorney=s Office and local, state and federal law enforcement.  He assists with grants, coordinates and provides law enforcement training and assists law enforcement agencies with special and community needs.  The mission of the LECC is to develop coordination, communication and cooperation between local, state and federal law enforcement agencies throughout the Western District of Louisiana by providing education, training and technical assistance to all federal, state and local law enforcement agencies in the district.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert W. Gillespie Jr. is the District’s coordinator for the Project Safe Neighborhoods Program.  Project Safe Neighborhoods is the anti-gang, anti-gun violence initiative of the U.S. Department of Justice.  It is a comprehensive, strategic approach to reducing gun violence and promoting safe communities around the country.  Project Safe Neighborhoods combats gun violence by bringing together local, state and federal law enforcement officials, prosecutors and community leaders to implement a multi-faceted strategy to deter and punish gun violence.

Thousands of communities across the United States took part in the 32nd Annual National Night Out starting in August. To find out more about National Night Out, visit the National Association for Town Watch at http://www.natw.org.

SHREVEPORT/LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that the U.S. Attorney’s Offices in Shreveport and Lafayette collected more than 275 pounds of food and non-perishable items this week that were delivered to two local food pantries.

In all, federal employees contributed 275 pounds of food to the Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana in Shreveport and the FoodNet: The Greater Acadiana Food Bank, in Lafayette. The Shreveport U.S. Attorney’s Office gathered 118 pounds of the total and the Lafayette U.S. Attorney’s Office gathered 157 pounds. Donation boxes for the Feds Feed Families food drive campaign were located at the federal courthouses in Shreveport and Lafayette.  The food drive campaign ended October 2, 2015.

“This food drive campaign is our way of giving back to those most in need in our communities,” Finley said.  “Food pantries need help throughout the year and not just during the holidays. Feds Feed Families assists by being there to donate food during the summer before the holiday season begins. I want to thank all federal employees in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, U.S. Courts and other agencies that donated food, time and other resources to make this possible.”

The Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana began in 1995 when a group of individuals from churches with food pantries and benevolent organizations met to discuss the need to establish a local food bank to serve the parishes of Northwest Louisiana. The Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana is the largest distributor of donated food for the seven-parish area and is one of only five food banks in the state. They sort, warehouse and distribute food to more than 120 non-profit organizations in the seven-parish region, which includes: Caddo, Bossier, Bienville, Claiborne, Desoto, Red River, and Webster parishes. For more information about the Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana, visit their website at www.foodbanknla.org or call (318) 675-2400.

FoodNet: The Greater Acadiana Food Bank, a non-profit food bank serving Lafayette Parish, was established in October 1987.  FoodNet has distributed tens of thousands of tons of food since opening, and presently serves several agencies including: Faith House of Acadiana women’s shelter, the Children’s Shelter, St. Joseph Shelter for Men, Acadiana Youth Shelter for Girls, St. Joseph Diner, the Red Cross, Alleman Center, Acadiana Cares, St. Francis Foundation for Substance Abuse, and the Arc.  For more information, visit www.foodnetacadiana.org or call (337) 232-3663.

In the United States, 50 million people are challenged with hunger, including 17 million children. Feds Feed Families was started when Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) and former Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry realized that food donations were dropping during the summer months because many families were on vacation.  The campaign has run every summer since 2009, and to date, it has collected more than 39 million pounds of food, including 14.8 million pounds last year alone. The Department of Justice has contributed more than 73,425 pounds to food banks across the country.

For more information visit www.usda.gov/fedsfeedfamilies or call the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Louisiana, at 337-262-6618.

SHREVEPORT, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that a man from Texas pleaded guilty to bringing a minor to Shreveport to engage in prostitution.

Larry D. Bluitt, 26, of Dallas, Texas, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote to one count of transportation of a minor with intent to engage in prostitution. According to evidence presented at the guilty plea, a law enforcement agent working in an undercover capacity responded to an online ad for prostitution on December 17, 2014. The undercover agent arranged to meet an individual at a Shreveport hotel for the purpose of prostitution. Agents observed Bluitt driving a 14-year-old female to the hotel to meet the undercover agent for sex. After he dropped off the juvenile, Bluitt was arrested by members of the FBI Violent Crimes Against Children Task Force. Bluitt admitted he drove the minor female from Dallas to Shreveport for prostitution.

Bluitt faces 10 years to life in prison, five years or life of supervised release, a $250,000 fine, forfeiture of property and mandatory registration as a sex offender. A sentencing date of January 28, 2016 was set.

This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a U.S. Department of Justice nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood combines federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Those concerned may leave tips with the FBI at tips.fbi.gov. Tips may be submitted anonymously.  The Shreveport FBI office number is (318) 861-1890.

The FBI-Violent Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Shreveport Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth D. Reeg is prosecuting the case.

LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a Palmetto man pleaded guilty Monday to his role in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine in St. Landry Parish.

Steven Paul Banks, 47, of Palmetto, La., entered a conditional guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine and more than 28 grams of cocaine base before U.S. Magistrate Judge Patrick Hanna. The plea will become final when accepted by U.S. District Court Judge Richard T. Haik. According to evidence presented at the guilty plea, law enforcement agents recorded Banks and other co-conspirators from September to August of 2013 negotiating the purchase of cocaine for later sale in Melville, La.

Banks faces five to 40 years in prison, four to five years of supervised release and a $5 million fine.  A sentencing date was not set.

The DEA conducted the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Howard C. Parker and Robert F. Moore are prosecuting the case.

LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a Mexican national pleaded guilty Monday to submitting false information when applying for a passport.

Federico Vargas Mares, 28, of Mexico, entered a conditional guilty plea for one count of false statement on a passport application before U.S. Magistrate Judge Patrick Hanna. The plea will become final when accepted by U.S. District Judge Richard T. Haik. According to the guilty plea, Mares filed an application at the Iberia Parish Clerk of Court in New Iberia, La., on May 17, 2013 under a different name. He also listed his home of origin as Puerto Rico instead of Mexico. After further investigation, it was discovered that the defendant had multiple immigration-related arrests and was charged with smuggling aliens in January of 2006. He was removed from the United States in October of 2007 and was barred from returning.

Mares faces 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. A sentencing date was not set.

Homeland Security Investigations and the Diplomatic Security Service conducted the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamilla A. Bynog is prosecuting the case.

SHREVEPORT, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that a federal jury found a Shreveport man guilty of possessing a firearm after being convicted of a felony.

Marcus Milton, 38, of Shreveport, La., was found guilty of one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.  United States District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote presided over the trial. The defendant’s trial started Monday and ended today with the jury returning the guilty verdict after deliberating for approximately 45 minutes.  Evidence admitted at trial revealed that after executing a probation violation warrant at Milton’s home on December 4, 2014, law enforcement agents found a Tanfoglio semiautomatic pistol and .40 caliber ammunition in the trunk of his vehicle that was parked in front of his residence.  Prior to this offense, Milton had other felony convictions, which precluded him from lawfully possessing a weapon.

Milton faces up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a $250,000 fine and forfeiture of the weapon seized. A sentencing date of January 28, 2016 was set.

This investigation and prosecution is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, which is a Department of Justice initiative to reduce firearm crimes by preventing the possession and use of firearms by dangerous and persistent felons and others not authorized to possess a firearm and to promote firearm safety.

The ATF and Louisiana Probation and Parole investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Earl M. Campbell is prosecuting the case.

SHREVEPORT, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that a Shreveport resident pleaded guilty to producing child pornography.

Jason Carl Fruge, 45, of Shreveport, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote to one count of production of child pornography.  According to evidence presented at the guilty plea, during the course of investigating Fruge for other offenses, agents found a video on Fruge’s computer of a minor male child engaged in a sexually explicit sex act.  Fruge pretended to be an attractive female in order to convince the minor to engage in the sexual act.  Fruge directed the minor child to commit the sexual explicit act and recorded the minor using an online video chat service similar to Skype on June 9, 2014.

Fruge faces 15 to 30 years in prison, five years to life of supervised release, a $250,000 fine and mandatory registration as a sex offender. A sentencing date of January 28, 2016 was set.

This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a U.S. Department of Justice nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood combines federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Those concerned may leave tips with the FBI at tips.fbi.gov. Tips may be submitted anonymously.  The Shreveport FBI office number is (318) 861-1890.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Homeland Security Investigations/Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) also encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at (866) DHS-2ICE.  Investigators are available at all hours to answer hotline calls. Tips or other information can also be submitted to ICE online by visiting their website at www.ice.gov/exec/forms/hsi-tips/tips.asp or through the Operation Predator smartphone application (http://www.ice.gov/predator/smartphone-app). Tips also may be submitted anonymously.

The FBI and ICE Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert W. Gillespie Jr. is prosecuting the case.

SHREVEPORT, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that a man from Bossier City pleaded guilty to possessing shotgun shells and bullets even though he was prohibited from doing so because he had prior felony convictions.

Sidney Joseph Patterson, 44, of Bossier City, La., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge S. Maurice Hicks Jr. to one count of possession of ammunition by a convicted felon. According to evidence presented at the guilty plea, on January 9, 2015, Bossier Parish Sheriff’s deputies began investigating the discharge of a homemade “zip gun” firearm at Patterson’s residence which wounded Patterson in his back. Found at the residence was the discharged “zip gun” and three other “zip guns” loaded with two rounds of 12 gauge shotgun ammunition and one round of .380 caliber ammunition. Prior to this offense, Patterson had other felony drug convictions.

Patterson faces up to 10 years in prison, one to three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. A sentencing date of February 17, 2016 was set.

This investigation and prosecution is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, which is a Department of Justice initiative to reduce firearm crimes by preventing the possession and use of firearms by dangerous and persistent felons and others not authorized to possess a firearm and to promote firearm safety.

The ATF and the Bossier Parish Sheriff’s Office conducted the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert W. Gillespie Jr. is prosecuting the case.

          SHREVEPORT, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley and Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division announced that a Kenyan child pornography producer was sentenced late yesterday to life in prison for participating in the Dreamboard child sexual exploitation website.

          Brian Musomba Maweu, 52, who was extradited from Kenya to the United States in September 2014, pleaded guilty in April 2015 before U.S. District Judge S. Maurice Hicks Jr. of the Western District of Louisiana to one count of engaging in a child exploitation enterprise. In addition to serving life in prison, Judge Hicks ordered that Maweu will be required to register as a sex offender.

          In connection with his guilty plea, Maweu admitted that, while using the online alias “Catfish,” he posted 121 messages on the Dreamboard website – a private, members-only online bulletin board that promoted pedophilia and encouraged the sexual abuse and exploitation of very young children in an environment designed to avoid detection by law enforcement – including 34 posts containing child pornography that he produced. Maweu was considered a “Super VIP” member of Dreamboard, a designation that was given to members who were prominent on the site and produced their own child pornography.

          This defendant, and people like him, who advertise, participate, distribute or exploit children to access child pornography work hard to evade law enforcement and disguise what they are doing,” said U.S. Attorney Finley. “Their sole purpose is to view children hurting for their own sexual satisfaction. We want them to know, that like Mr. Maweu, they will face serious consequences for their actions. Our office will continue to vigorously prosecute this type of criminal activity to the fullest extent of the law. We want the community to know that the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Department of Justice, along with our federal, state and local partners, are committed to protecting children from these vile criminals.”

         The prosecution of Maweu was the result of Operation Delego, an investigation launched in December 2009 that targeted individuals around the world for their participation in Dreamboard. A total of 72 individuals, including Maweu, were charged as a result of Operation Delego. To date, 57 of those defendants have been arrested either in the United States or abroad, and 49 have either pleaded guilty or been convicted after trial.  Sentences have ranged between five years to life in prison.

         The investigation was conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), the Child Exploitation Section of ICE’s Cyber Crime Center, the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), CEOS’ High Technology Investigative Unit, and 35 ICE offices in the United States and 11 ICE attaches offices in 13 countries around the world, with assistance provided by numerous local and international law enforcement agencies across the United States and throughout the world.

          The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Luke Walker and Michael O’Mara of the Western District of Louisiana, and Trial Attorney Keith Becker of the Department of Justice Criminal Division, Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs provided substantial assistance.

           This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.              

           ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. This hotline is staffed around the clock by investigators. Tips or other information can also be submitted to ICE online at www.ice.gov/exec/forms/hsi-tips/tips.asp. Tips may be reported anonymously. 

A Kenyan child pornography producer was sentenced late yesterday to life in prison for participating in the Dreamboard child sexual exploitation website, announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Stephanie A. Finley of the Western District of Louisiana.

Brian Musomba Maweu, 52, who was extradited from Kenya to the United States in September 2014, pleaded guilty in April 2015 before U.S. District Judge S. Maurice Hicks Jr. of the Western District of Louisiana to one count of engaging in a child exploitation enterprise.  In addition to serving the prison term, Maweu will be required to register as a sex offender.

In connection with his guilty plea, Maweu admitted that, using the online alias “Catfish,” he posted 121 messages on the Dreamboard website – a private, members-only online bulletin board that promoted pedophilia and encouraged the sexual abuse and exploitation of very young children in an environment designed to avoid detection by law enforcement – including 34 posts containing child pornography that he produced.  Maweu was considered a “Super VIP” member of Dreamboard, a designation that was given to members who were prominent on the site and produced their own child pornography.

The prosecution of Maweu was the result of Operation Delego, an investigation launched in December 2009 that targeted individuals around the world for their participation in Dreamboard.  A total of 72 individuals, including Maweu, were charged as a result of Operation Delego.  To date, 57 of those defendants have been arrested either in the United States or abroad, and 49 have either pleaded guilty or been convicted after trial.  Sentences have ranged between five years to life in prison.

The investigation was conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), the Child Exploitation Section of ICE’s Cyber Crime Center, the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), CEOS’ High Technology Investigative Unit, and 35 ICE offices in the United States and 11 ICE attaches offices in 13 countries around the world, with assistance provided by numerous local and international law enforcement agencies across the United States and throughout the world.

The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Keith Becker of CEOS and Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Luke Walker and Michael O’Mara of the Western District of Louisiana.  The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs provided substantial assistance.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE.  This hotline is staffed around the clock by investigators.  Tips or other information can also be submitted to ICE online at www.ice.gov/exec/forms/hsi-tips/tips.asp.  Tips may be reported anonymously.

LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a Ville Platte man was sentenced Thursday to 70 months in prison for possessing and receiving more than a thousand images of child pornography using an internet file sharing program.

Bradley Smith, 60, of Ville Platte, La., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote on two counts of possession of child pornography and three counts of receiving child pornography. He was also sentenced to 10 years of supervised release and ordered to register as a sex offender. A federal jury found Smith guilty after deliberating for 40 minutes after a two-day trial that ended on July 14, 2015. Evidence admitted at trial revealed that in September of 2012, law enforcement detected Smith using an internet file sharing program to download child pornography. The software is used to trade files on the internet among its members. Law enforcement searched Smith’s residence on September 24, 2012 and seized his computer and computer hard drives. After a forensic examination of the hardware, a total of 40 videos and 1,100 images of child pornography were found.

The FBI and Louisiana State Police conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Luke Walker and Robert C. Abendroth prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a U.S. Department of Justice nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Those concerned may also leave tips with the FBI at tips.fbi.gov. Tips may be submitted anonymously.  The Lafayette FBI office number is (337) 232-2164.

SHREVEPORT, LAFAYETTE, MONROE, ALEXANDRIA, LAKE CHARLES, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley urges the public to get out this weekend and throw out unused prescription drugs.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and more than 4,200 national, tribal and community law enforcement partners nationwide promote National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day with events all across the nation this weekend. The National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day aims to provide a safe, convenient and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, while also educating the general public about the potential for abuse of medications.  Unused medications in homes create a public health and safety concern because they are highly susceptible to accidental ingestion, theft, misuse and abuse.  The DEA reports that almost twice as many Americans (6.8 million) currently abuse prescription drugs than the number of those using cocaine, hallucinogens, heroin and inhalants combined, according to the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.  More Americans died in 2010 from overdoses of prescription medications (22,134, including 16,651 from narcotic painkillers) than from motor vehicle accidents, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Studies show that the majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet.

“Rates of prescription drug abuse in the United States are alarmingly high,” Finley stated.  “The DEA reported that last April that Americans turned in 2,411 tons of prescription drugs, and since the DEA’s first National Drug Take-Back event in September of 2010, consumers have disposed of more than 4.8 million pounds of unwanted medication.”

The DEA will have collection sites across the country on Saturday, September 26th, for those who are interested in bringing their unused or expired prescription drugs for proper disposal.  Only pills and other solids, like patches, can be brought to the collection sites – liquids and needles or other sharp objects will not be accepted.  The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

Prescription drugs can be dropped off from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, at the following sites:

Shreveport

• Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office, 8910 Jewella Avenue,

Bossier City

• Bossier Parish Sheriff’s Office Viking Drive Substation, 2510 Viking Drive,
• Louisiana State Police Troop G office, 5300 Industrial Drive, Extended,

Monroe

• Monroe Police Department, 700 Wood St.,
• Louisiana State Police Troop F office, 1240 Highway 594,

Alexandria

• Louisiana State Police Troop E office, 1710 Odom St.,

Broussard

• Broussard Police Department at Walgreen’s Parking Lot, 105 St. Nazaire,

Lake Charles

• Lake Charles Police Department at the Lake Charles Civic Center Parking Lot, 900 Lakeshore Drive,
• Louisiana State Police Troop D office, 805 Main St.,

The public can also find a nearby collection site by visiting www.dea.gov, clicking on the “Got Drugs?” icon, and following the links to a database where they enter their zip code or they can call 800-882-9539.

SHREVEPORT, LAFAYETTE, MONROE, ALEXANDRIA, LAKE CHARLES, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley urged residents of the Western District of Louisiana to register to vote in observance of National Voter Registration Day.

National Voter Registration Day (NVRD) is dedicated to ensuring every American is registered to vote at their current address in time for the next election. National Voter Registration Day is celebrated on the fourth Tuesday of every September by thousands of volunteers, celebrities, organizations, businesses and elected officials from all over the country. More than 600 voter registration events were hosted nationwide as part of this year’s NVRD. To find out more about NVRD, visit nationalvoterregistrationday.org.

In Louisiana, registering can be done in person, by mail or online and is open throughout the year.  Registration to be eligible to vote in the October 24th election has ended, but registration to be eligible to vote in the November 21st election is open until October 22nd.  Eligibility to register to vote in an election ends 30 days before that election. To find out more, call the Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office at 225-922-0900.

Upcoming elections for Louisiana are October 24th for the primary and November 21st for general. Early voting is October 10th to October 17th (except Sunday) from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. for the October 24th primary election, and November 7th to November 14th (except Sunday) from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. for the November 21st general election.  Residents should contact their local Registrar of Voters’ Office to determine their voting location.  Download a sample ballot or obtain other election information by visiting the Louisiana Secretary of State’s web page at www.sos.la.gov/ElectionsAndVoting.

“The right to vote is essential to maintaining our system of democracy,” Finley stated. “One of the Department of Justice’s most sacred responsibilities is ensuring access to the ballot box for every eligible American in the Western District of Louisiana.”

Federal law protects against such crimes as intimidating or bribing voters, buying and selling votes, altering vote tallies, stuffing ballot boxes and marking ballots for voters against their wishes or without their input.

Complaints of election fraud or voting rights violations should be directed to the FBI, who will have special agents available in each field office and resident agency throughout the country to receive allegations.  The local FBI field offices can be reached by the public at the following telephone numbers: Shreveport at 318-861-1890, Lafayette at 337-233-2164, Monroe at (318) 387-0773, Alexandria at (318) 443-5097 and Lake Charles at (337) 433-6353. For a complete list of FBI field offices in Louisiana visit www.fbi.gov/neworleans/contact-us/territory-jurisdiction. The U.S. Attorney’s Office can be reached by the public at 318-676-3600 (Shreveport) or 337-262-6618 (Lafayette).

Complaints about ballot access problems or discrimination can also be made directly to the Civil Rights Division=s Voting Section in Washington, D.C., at 1-800-253-3931 or 202-307-2767. The division’s email address is voting.section@usdoj.gov, and voter complaints also can be filed online at www.justice.gov/crt/complaint/votintake.

The Civil Rights Division=s Voting Section enforces six federal statutes. They are the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act of 1984, the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act of 1986, the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, and the Help America Vote Act of 2002. For more information on the acts that the division enforces, visit www.justice.gov/crt/about/vot/overview.php.

LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that private investigator Robert Williamson was sentenced to 78 months in prison on charges related to his role in a pay-for-plea scheme that garnered favorable treatment for defendants charged with OWI and various state crimes.

Williamson, 67, of Lafayette, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote on one count of conspiracy, one count of bribery and one count of Social Security fraud. He was also sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $77,677.20 in restitution.  According to the June 8, 2015 guilty plea, Williamson, who is not licensed to practice law, was part of a conspiracy from March 2008 to February 2012 that solicited thousands of dollars from individuals with pending criminal charges in the 15th Judicial District. Williamson promised favorable resolutions to pending felony and misdemeanor cases, the majority of which were OWI cases.

Williamson paid bribes in cash and other things of value to personnel within the District Attorney=s Office for the 15th Judicial District and employees with other organizations associated with the OWI program, including Acadiana Outreach. Williamson also obtained false and fraudulent certifications from Acadiana Outreach, which certified that his clients completed court-ordered community service, when in fact the individuals had not. Williamson would obtain fraudulent driver safety training certificates showing that Williamson=s Aclients@ completed court-mandated driver improvement programs when they had not.  Some of those monies were for fines, penalties and other expenses. During the course of the scheme, Williamson also received approximately $77,677.20 from the Social Security Administration that he was not entitled to receive.

“The public good was circumvented by the greed and lies perpetrated by Williamson and his associates,” Finley stated. “People who should have been dissuaded from drunk driving by receiving jail time and other penalties were instead given a pass to endanger lives again and again. The damage that this conspiracy has wrought cannot be quantified. We hope that this sentence brings an end to this type of practice and serves as a warning to anyone who would try to conduct a similar scam and circumvent the legal process.”

Co-defendants Barna D. Haynes, 61; Greg Williams, 47; and Sandra Degeyter, 64, all of Lafayette, were sentenced July 10, 2015 by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote on one count of conspiracy to commit bribery. Co-defendants Denease Curry, 49, of Broussard, and Elaine Crump, 62, of Lafayette, were also sentenced by Foote July 10, 2015 on one count of misprision of a felony for failure to report bribes offered and received by employees of the 15th Judicial District Attorney’s Office. Haynes received 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine. Williams, Degeyter, Curry and Crump received two years of probation. Additionally, Williams and Degeyter were sentenced to six months of home confinement. Hanyes, Williams and Curry are former employees of the District Attorney’s Office. Degeyter and Crump are former employees of Acadiana Outreach.

The FBI and the Social Security Administration – Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Luke Walker and Robert C. Abendroth prosecuted the case.

LAKE CHARLES, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a Lake Charles man was sentenced Thursday to 210 months in prison for receiving child pornography on his home computer.

Ricky Joseph Guidry, 31, of Lake Charles, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Patricia Minaldi on one count of receiving child pornography. He was also sentenced to serve a lifetime of supervised release and must register as a sex offender. According to evidence presented at the March 14, 2015 guilty plea, a witness told law enforcement agents there was child pornography on Guidry’s computer. After conducting an examination of the computer, it was determined that the defendant downloaded child pornography on October 2nd and 3rd of 2014. The images included prepubescent child pornography that was sadistic in nature.

Homeland Security Investigations and the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney John Luke Walker prosecuted the case.

“The internet is no longer a safe haven for child predators to view illegal images and encourage child abuse,” Finley stated. “This office will prosecute those who download, view and distribute child pornography. Law enforcement officers and prosecutors will continue in their work to bring these abusers to justice.”

“Criminals who trade in child pornography steal the innocence of children and contribute to the destruction of innocent lives,” said HSI New Orleans Special Agent in Charge Raymond R. Parmer Jr. “HSI special agents are actively working to identity and arrest those who abuse children as well as those who further exploit them by recording the abuse.”

This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a U.S. Department of Justice nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Homeland Security Investigations/Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) encourage the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at (866) DHS-2ICE.  Investigators are available at all hours to answer hotline calls. Tips or other information can also be submitted to ICE online at www.ice.gov/exec/forms/hsi-tips/tips.asp or through the Operation Predator smartphone app (http://www.ice.gov/predator/smartphone-app). Tips may be submitted anonymously.

ALEXANDRIA, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that a Catahoula Parish man pleaded guilty to possessing unregistered explosives and illegally possessing firearms.

Bill W. Womack, 56, of Manifest, La., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Dee D. Drell to one count of possessing unregistered explosive devices and one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. According to information presented at the guilty plea, agents seized machine guns, destructive devices, silencers, a short barreled rifle and more than a kilogram of marijuana. The weapons were not registered as required by law. In addition, law enforcement destroyed improvised explosive devices at the scene over a five-day period.

Womack faces up to 10 years in prison for the explosive device charge and a mandatory five years in prison for the firearm/drug trafficking charge. He also faces three years of supervised release, a $250,000 fine and forfeiture of the weapons seized. A sentencing date of December 18, 2015 was set.

The ATF, FBI, Louisiana State Police and Catahoula Parish Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Seth D. Reeg and William J. Flanagan are prosecuting the case.

SHREVEPORT, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that a Bossier City man was sentenced to 180 months in prison for receiving child pornography.

Kenneth Ray Jurls, 40, of Bossier City, La., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote on one count of receiving child pornography. He was also sentenced to five years of supervised release and must register as a sex offender. According to evidence presented at the May 20, 2015 guilty plea, law enforcement agents detected someone downloading child pornography using a peer-to-peer internet file sharing program. Law enforcement agents searched Jurls’ home on July 16, 2014 and seized his computer. A forensic examination of the computer revealed Jurls had been downloading child pornography for years. More than 1,000 images and videos of child pornography were found on his computer.

“Sooner or later a child predator’s illegal activity will come to light,” Finley stated. “This defendant contributed to the abuse of children by downloading and trading massive amounts of child pornography online. My office will hold those accountable who possess, trade and view this type of material.”

Homeland Security Investigations, Louisiana Attorney General’s Office and the Bossier City Marshal’s Office investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney F. Michael O’Mara prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a U.S. Department of Justice nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Homeland Security Investigations/Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) encourage the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at (866) DHS-2ICE.  Investigators are available at all hours to answer hotline calls. Tips or other information can also be submitted to ICE online at www.ice.gov/exec/forms/hsi-tips/tips.asp or through the Operation Predator smartphone app (http://www.ice.gov/predator/smartphone-app). Tips may be submitted anonymously.

SHREVEPORT, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that Richard Z. Johnson Jr. pleaded guilty to filing a false federal income tax return.

Johnson, 58, of Mansfield, La., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge S. Maurice Hicks Jr. to a one count bill of information charging him with making or subscribing a false tax return. According to the guilty plea, Johnson reported a total income of $126,197 on his 2011 U.S. individual tax return but willfully failed to report additional income in the amount of $78,717.

Johnson faces up to three years in prison, one year of supervised release, a $250,000 fine and restitution of taxes owed to the U.S. Treasury. A sentencing date of February 17, 2016 was set.

The IRS conducted the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys William J. Flanagan and Seth D. Reeg are prosecuting the case.

LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a Lafayette man pleaded guilty last week to firing a gun at a postal worker.

David C. Sonnier, 40, Lafayette, La., pleaded guilty Wednesday before U.S. District Judge Richard T. Haik to one count of discharging a firearm during commission of a crime of violence. According to the guilty plea, Sonnier shot a Hi Point 9 mm semi-automatic pistol on March 27, 2014 at the door of the postal worker’s vehicle passing in front of Sonnier’s home. The bullet passed through the driver’s side door and the postal worker’s pant leg before becoming lodged in the opposite side of the vehicle, which caused approximately $1,178 of damage.

Sonnier faces up to 10 years to life in prison, five years of supervised release, a $250,000 fine and restitution. A sentencing date was not set.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the FBI and the Lafayette Police Department investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph T. Mickel is prosecuting the case.

SHREVEPORT, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a Shreveport optometrist pleaded guilty Monday to writing prescriptions for non-patients and non-medical purposes.

Charles D. Shanks, 63, of Shreveport, entered a conditional guilty plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark L. Hornsby for one count of distributing or dispensing a controlled substance.  The plea will become final when accepted by U.S. District Judge Donald E. Walter. According to evidence presented at the guilty plea, Shanks, a Shreveport optometrist, wrote dozens of prescriptions for codeine and hydrocodone in 2012 and 2013 from pharmacies and wholesale distributors that were for non-patients and not for valid medical purposes.

Shanks faces up to 10 years in prison, two years of supervised release and a $500,000 fine. A sentencing date of January 11, 2016 was set.

The DEA conducted the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth D. Reeg is prosecuting the case.

LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that a Morgan City man pleaded guilty to stealing loan money from a federally funded nonprofit.

Timothy Daigle, 32, of Morgan City, La., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Richard T. Haik to one count of fraud concerning program receiving federal funds. According to the guilty plea, while working as a loan officer and agent at the nonprofit Southern Mutual Help Association (SMHA) in New Iberia, La., Daigle stole more than $90,000. On four separate occasions from September 2013 until February 2014, Daigle, acting as an agent of SMHA, helped to fraudulently approve loans in the names of friends and associates in New Iberia and Morgan City.

Daigle faces up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a $250,000 fine and restitution. A sentencing date was not set.

The FBI investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys David C. Joseph and Kelly P. Uebinger are prosecuting the case.

LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that a Lafayette man was sentenced to 54 months in prison for possessing eight stolen firearms.

Rico D. King, 39, of Lafayette, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard T. Haik on one count of possession of stolen firearms. He was also sentenced to three years of supervised release. According to evidence presented at the May 7, 2015 guilty plea, during an investigation into Lafayette burglaries and after developing leads as to the location of the stolen firearms, agents executed a search warrant in September of 2014 at a residence in Lafayette where King was an occupant.  During the search, agents found King in possession of the stolen firearms including a .26-06 caliber rifle, two .25-06 caliber rifles, a .410 gauge shotgun, two .12 gauge shotguns, a .22 caliber semi-automatic rifle and a .270 caliber rifle. Victims of the burglaries reported all eight firearms as stolen.

Multiple agencies including the ATF, FBI, Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office and Lafayette Metro Narcotics Task Force conducted the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert C. Abendroth prosecuted the case as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods.  Project Safe Neighborhoods is a nationwide program designed to reduce violence by aggressively enforcing existing federal firearms laws.

SHREVEPORT, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that a Louisiana resident pleaded guilty to selling firearms to an out-of-state resident.

Thomas Cleve Veillon, 68, of Bossier City, La., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge S. Maurice Hicks Jr. to one count of sale of a firearm to an out-of-state resident. According to evidence presented at the guilty plea, Veillon had numerous firearms for sale at a June 27, 2015 gun show in Shreveport.  He was not a federally licensed firearms dealer.  Veillon sold a .270 caliber rifle and a Glock .45 caliber pistol to a resident of Arkansas, knowing that the buyer resided out-of-state.

Veillon faces up to five years in prison, one to three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. A sentencing date of January 4, 2016 was set.

This investigation and prosecution is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, which is a Department of Justice initiative to reduce firearm crimes by preventing the possession and use of firearms by dangerous and persistent felons and others not authorized to possess a firearm and to promote firearm safety.

The ATF conducted the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert W. Gillespie Jr. is prosecuting the case.

U.S. Attorney Stephanie Finley stated that the Western District of Louisiana remembers all of those who lost their lives on 9/11 and who gave the ultimate sacrifice in service of our country.  Finley stated “This never gets easy.  We all remember it clearly, where we were when we found out; the horror we saw, and the bravery displayed by so many first responders and courageous citizens who represented strength and grit of this nation in those critical days and hours after the attacks.  We also recognize and honor all of the fallen soldiers from the Western District of Louisiana who answered the call to defend this nation.  They are in our thoughts every time the Department of Justice works to eliminate threats to national security.  No aspect of our work is more important or more urgent.  As we reflect on this day, let’s take a moment to remember all of those who have died here and abroad and continue to keep their families in our prayers.”

Below is a list of Louisiana’s Fallen Heroes who served Honorably in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operating Enduring Freedom.  Thank you to all of those who continue to serve!

✶   ✶   ✶

Army Sgt. 1st Class Andrew T. Weathers, of DeRidder, La, Marine Lance Cpl. Christopher O. Grant, 20, of Richwood, La., Army Spc. Christopher R. Drake, 20, of Tickfaw, La., Army Chief Warrant Officer Bryan J. Henderson, 27, of Franklin, La., Air Force Tech. Sgt. Larry Bunn, 43, of Bossier City, La., Marine Sgt. Michael J. Guillory, 28, of Pearl River, La., Army Capt. Aaron D. Istre, 37, of Vinton, La., Naval Aircrewman (Helicopter) 1st Class Joseph P. Fitzmorris, 31, of West Monroe, La., Navy Lt. Cmdr. (SEAL) Jonas B. Kelsall, 32, of Shreveport, La., Navy Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Robert J. Reeves, 32, of Shreveport, La., Army Sgt. Christopher P. Soderlund, 23, of Pineville, La., Army Staff Sgt. Michael J. Garcia, 27, of Bossier City, La., Air Force Tech. Sgt. Daniel L. Douville, 33, of Harvey, La., Marine Cpl. Matthew T. Richard, 21, of Acadia, La., Army Staff Sgt. Quadi S. Hudgins, 26, of New Orleans, Army Spc. Christian J. Romig, 24, of Kenner, La., Marine Lance Cpl. Dakota R. Huse, 19, of Greenwood, La., Army Spc. Steven L. Dupont, 20, of Lafayette, La., Army Spc. Matthew C. Powell, 20, of Slidell, La., Marine Sgt. Joseph A. Bovia, 24, of Kenner, La., Marine Sgt. Joe L. Wrightsman, 23, of Jonesboro, La., Army Sgt. Jordan E. Tuttle, 22, of West Monroe, La., Army Pfc. Bryant J. Haynes, 21, of Epps, La., Army Maj. Ronald W. Culver Jr., 44, of Shreveport, La., Army Sgt. Joshua A. Tomlinson, 24, of Dubberly, La., Army Sgt. Patrick O. Williamson, 24, of Broussard, La., Army Pfc. Brian R. Bates Jr., 20, of Gretna, La., Army Spc. Michael S. Cote Jr., 20, of Denham Springs, La., Army Pfc. Matthew E. Wildes, 18, of Hammond, La., Army Pfc. Jason R. Watson, 19, of Many, La., Army Chief Warrant Officer 4 Milton E. Suggs, 51, of Lockport, La., Air Force Senior Airman Omar J. McKnight, 22, of Marrero, La., Army Sgt. 1st Class David J. Todd Jr., 36, of Marrero, La., Marine Staff Sgt. Danny P. Dupre, 28, of Lockport, La., Army Pfc. Bryan M. Thomas, 22, of Lake Charles, La., Army Sgt. 1st Class David R. Hurst, 31, of Kenner, La., Army Cpl. Justin R. Mixon, 22, of Bogalusa, La., Army Sgt. Joseph A. Richard III, 27, of Lafayette, La., Army Sgt. Terrell W. Gilmore, 38, of Baton Rouge, La., Army Staff Sgt. Michael J. Gabel, 30, of Crowley, La., Army Staff Sgt. Jarred S. Fontenot, 35, of Port Barre, La., Army Pvt. Justin T. Sanders, 22, of Watson, La., Army Spc. Charles E. Leonard Jr., 29, of Monroe, La., Army Sgt. 1st Class John M. Hennen, 26, of Vinton, La., Army Cpl. William J. Crouch, 21, of Zachary, La., Marine Cpl. Willie P. Celestine Jr., 21, of Lafayette, La., Army Pvt. Mark W. Graham, 22, of Lafayette, La., Army Staff Sgt. Ronnie L. Sanders, 26, of Thibodaux, La., Army Spc. Johnathan B. Chism, 22, of Gonzales, La., Army Staff Sgt. Jacob G. McMillan, 25, of Lafayette, La., Marine Lance Cpl. Myles C. Sebastien, 21, of Opelousas, La., Army Spc. Joshua B. Madden, 21, of Sibley, La., Army Sgt. Jay R. Gauthreaux, 26, of Thibodaux, La., Army Pvt. Joshua C. Burrows, 20, of Bossier City, La., Army Cpl. Joseph C. Dumas Jr., 25, of New Orleans, La., Marine Lance Cpl. Jon E. Bowman, 21, of Dubach, La., Marine Lance Cpl. John E. Hale, 20, of Shreveport, La., Army Cpl. Marcus A. Cain, 20, of Crowley, La., Army Sgt. Matthew J. Vosbein, 30, of Metairie, La., Marine Lance Cpl. Donald E. Champlin, 28, of Natchitoches, La., Army Sgt. 1st Class Terry O.P. Wallace, 33, of Winnsboro, La., Corpsman 3rd Class Lee Hamilton Deal, 23, of West Monroe, La., Army Spc. Brandon L. Teeters, 21, of Lafayette, La., Marine Lance Cpl. Derrick J. Cothran, 21, of Avondale, La., Marine Pfc. Chase A. Edwards, 19, of Lake Charles, La., Army Staff Sgt. Bryan A. Lewis, 32, of Bunkie, La., Marine 1st Lt. Brandon R. Dronet, 33, of Erath, La., Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew R. Barnes, 20, of West Monroe, La., Army Spc. William S. Hayes III, 23, of St. Tammany, La., Marine Lance Cpl. Billy D. Brixey Jr., 21, of Ferriday, La., Marine Lance Cpl. Ryan S. McCurdy, 20, of Baton Rouge, La., Army Sgt. Julia V. Atkins, 22, of Bossier City, La., Army Pfc. Benny S. Franklin, 19, of Hammond, La., Army Staff Sgt. Jens E. Schelbert, 31, of New Orleans, La., Army Sgt. Willard T. Partridge, 35, of Ferriday, La., Marine Cpl. David S. Stewart, 24, of Bogalusa, La., Navy Chief Fire Controlman (SEAL) Jacques J. Fontan, 36, of New Orleans, La., Marine Cpl. Chad W. Powell, 22, of West Monroe, La., Army Sgt. David J. Murray, 23, of Clinton, La., Army Sgt. 1st Class Peter J. Hahn, 31, of Kenner, La., Army Sgt. Robin V. Fell, 22, of Shreveport, La., Army Sgt. Bernard L. Sembly II, 25, of Bossier City, La., Army 1st Sgt. Michael J. Bordelon, 37, of Morgan City, La., Marine Cpl. Richard P. Schoener, 21, of Hayes, La., Army Sgt. Maj. Barbaralien Banks, 41, of Harvey, La., Army Sgt. Isiah J. Sinclair, 31, of Natchitoches, La., Army Sgt. Lee M. Godbolt, 23, of New Orleans, La., Army Sgt. Paul M. Heltzel, 39, of Baton Rouge, La., Army Sgt. Nicholas J. Olivier, 26, of Ruston, La., Army Spc. Seth R. Trahan, 20, of Crowley, La., Army Sgt. Rene Knox Jr., 22, of New Orleans, La., Army Spc. Christopher J. Ramsey, 20, of Batchelor, La., Army Spc. Michael S. Evans II, 22, Marrero, La., Army Staff Sgt. Jonathan R. Reed, 25, of Opelousas, La., Army Staff Sgt. William F. Manuel, 34, of Kinder, La., Army Sgt. Robert W. Sweeney III, 22, of Pineville, La., Army Spc. Warren A. Murphy, 29, of Marrero, La., Army Spc. Armand "Luke" Frickey, 20, Houma, La., Army Spc. Huey P.L. Fassbender, 24, of LaPlace, La., Army Spc. Bradley J. Bergeron, 25, of Houma, La., Army Sgt. Christopher J. Babin, 27, of Houma, La., Army Sgt. 1st Class Kurt J. Comeaux, 34, of Raceland, La., Army Sgt. Craig L. Nelson, 21, of Bossier City, La., Army 1st Lt. Christopher W. Barnett, 32, of Baton Rouge, La., Army Pfc. Lionel Ayro, 22, of Jeanerette, La., Marine Sgt. Jeffrey L. Kirk, 24, of Baton Rouge, La., Marine Lance Cpl. Justin D. McLeese, 19, of Covington, La., Marine Pfc. David P. Burridge, 19, of Lafayette, La., Army Spc. Joseph C. Thibodeaux 24, of Lafayette, La., Marine Lance Cpl. Larry L. Wells 22, of Mount Hermon, La., Army Pfc. Torey J. Dantzler 22; of Columbia, La., Army Pfc. Charles C. Persing 20, of Albany, La., Army Spc. Robert L. DuSang 24, of Mandeville, La., Army Spc. Jeremy M. Heines 25, of New Orleans, La., Army Cpl. David M. Fraise 24, of New Orleans, La., Army Staff Sgt. Robert J. Mogensen 26, of Leesville, La., Army Pfc. James P. Lambert 23, of Ascension Parish, La., Army Command Sgt. Maj. Edward C. Barnhill 50, of Shreveport, La., Army Staff Sgt. Toby W. Mallet 26, of Kaplan, La., Army Staff Sgt. Craig Davis 37, of Opelousas, La., Army Pfc. Kristian E. Parker, 23, of Slidell, La., Army Sgt. Taft V. Williams, 29, of New Orleans, La., Army Sgt. Floyd G. Knighten Jr., 55, of Olla, La., Army Spc. Levi B. Kinchen, 21, of Tickfaw, La., and Army Pfc. Wilfred D. Bellard, 20, of Lake Charles, La.

✶   ✶   ✶

This year the Department of Justice’s commemoration included a ceremonial planting of a seedling of the famed “Survivor Tree”—the Callery pear tree that once stood on the original World Trade Center Plaza.  The collapse of the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001 nearly destroyed it, but it was nursed back to health, and today it stands strong again at the 9/11 Memorial in Manhattan, where it is often adorned with tributes from the Memorial’s millions of visitors.  It is known around the world as the “Survivor Tree.”

Fruit from the Survivor Tree was harvested in the fall of 2011.  In the summer of 2013, the students of John Bowne High School in Flushing, Queens, New York, took custody of the seedlings and have continued to care for them.  The project is a learning experience for the students, teaching about the agriculture of the trees and the history of 9/11. The 9/11 Memorial graciously donated one of these very special Survivor Tree seedlings to the Department of Justice.

Find out more about the 9/11 Memorial at http://www.911memorial.org.

MONROE, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that a federal jury found a Monroe tax preparer guilty of filing multiple false tax returns.

The jury found Richard Allan Scott, 38, of Monroe, guilty of multiple counts of aiding or subscribing a false tax return. United States District Judge Robert G. James presided over the trial, which started Wednesday and ended today. The jury deliberated for approximately an hour and a half. Evidence admitted at trial revealed that more than 50 false tax returns for years 2011 and 2012 were prepared. Many of the returns contained fictitious information pertaining to W-2 withholdings, dependent care expenses and tax credits. The total amount stolen during the scheme was approximately $338,380.

“We are pleased with today’s conviction,” Finley stated. “Our tax system is built on the premise that taxpayers voluntarily file accurate and timely tax returns. Mr. Scott used his knowledge of this system to fraudulently manipulate tax returns to steal from the U.S. Treasury and now will have to pay for this crime.  To ensure confidence in the tax system, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the IRS remain committed to the aggressive pursuit and prosecution of individuals who intentionally violate the nation’s tax laws.”

Scott faces up to three years in prison, five years supervised release, a $250,000 fine and restitution for each count. A sentencing date of January 4, 2016 was set.

The IRS-Criminal Investigations and the Monroe Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Earl M. Campbell is prosecuting the case.