District of Massachusetts

BOSTON – A Providence man and a Dominican national have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Boston on charges of fentanyl conspiracy.

Dario Bier Romero, 27, of Providence, R.I., and Luis Cirino, 35, a Dominican national residing in Lawrence, were each indicted on one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl. Romero and Cirino were arrested in June and charged by criminal complaint; both have been in custody since their arrests.

On June 21, 2018, approximately three kilograms of fentanyl were seized from Romero and Cirino during an investigation. During the execution of a search warrant at Romero’s residence in Providence, investigators seized an additional kilogram of fentanyl and drug packaging paraphernalia. 

The charge of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl carries a minimum sentence of 10 years and up to life in prison, at least five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of $10 million. Cirino will be subject to deportation proceedings upon completion of any sentence imposed. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew Lelling and Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New England Division, made the announcement today. Assistance was provided by the Massachusetts State Police and Woburn and Providence (R.I.) Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip C. Cheng of Lelling’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit is prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

BOSTON - A Mexican national with nine prior deportations pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Boston to illegally reentering the United States after being deported. The defendant, who violated federal pretrial release by testing positive for cocaine and buprenorphine, was released from custody pending sentencing. Defendant also has pending domestic assault and battery charges in state court. Prior convictions include: drug possession and illegal reentry in 2015 and 2016, respectively; escape in 2003; OUI in 2004; OUI in 2006; possession of a controlled substance in 2006; and OUI in 2007.

Bulmaro Enriquez, 32, pleaded guilty yesterday to one count of illegal reentry of a deported alien and is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 2, 2018. Following yesterday’s plea, the government moved to have Enriquez’s Order of Release revoked and have him remanded into federal custody while he awaits his sentencing. According to the government, Enriquez, while on release, provided a urinalysis sample that tested positive for cocaine and buprenorphine. Nevertheless, Enriquez was released on conditions, including a curfew, and the matter of detention was remanded to the Magistrate Judge for further proceedings.  

According to court records, Enriquez was arrested in Framingham on Nov. 23, 2017, and charged with domestic assault and battery. On April 30, 2018, immigration officers located Enriquez and determined that he was illegally present in the United States. Enriquez was charged with illegal reentry in federal court and was ordered detained. However, on June 7, 2018, he was released from federal custody after agreeing to post the equity in his girlfriend’s home.

In 2015, Enriquez was arrested in Framingham and charged with distribution of a controlled substance following the execution of a state search warrant, which resulted in the seizure of one and a half pounds of marijuana, electric scales, and other drug distribution paraphernalia. In October 2015, Enriquez was convicted, sentenced, and upon completion of his sentence, transferred into federal custody and charged with illegal reentry of a previously deported alien. Enriquez was convicted and sentenced to time served. On Jan. 19, 2016, he was deported to Mexico.

Enriquez currently faces a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, a fine of $250,000, and will be subject to deportation proceedings. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Rebecca Adducci, Interim Field Office Director, Boston, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth G. Shine of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting this case.

BOSTON – A Lexington man agreed to plead guilty in connection with his role in a long-running interstate prostitution ring. 

Kyung Song, 52, agreed to plead guilty yesterday to one count of conspiracy to engage in money laundering. On March 15, 2018, Kim was charged and arrested with co-defendants Yoon I. Kim, 36, of Haymarket, Va.; Taehee Kim, a/k/a “Hyunsook Kim,” 46, of Haymarket, Va.; Susan Bashir, a/k/a “Susan Redmon,” a/k/a “Susan Redmond,” 41, of Stone Mountain, Ga.; and Jineok Kim, 38, of Watertown, Mass.

According to court documents, from December 2017 to March 2018, Song participated in an interstate prostitution network that maintained multiple brothels in high-end apartments in Cambridge, Mass.; Atlanta, Ga.; and eastern Virginia. They advertised appointments with Asian women primarily on three websites: www.bostonasiandolls.com, www.exoticasiansatlanta.com, and www.redhotflowers69.com. The women advertised on the websites were moved from city to city within the network, working as prostitutes for the organization.

Song transported women working from brothel locations in Cambridge. Song also retrieved cash proceeds from each of the Cambridge brothel locations and allegedly laundered the proceeds according to Taehee Kim’s instructions, which included depositing the money into accounts belonging to Taehee Kim or sending postal money orders to Taehee Kim.

In June 2018, Jineok Kim and Susan Bashir agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to persuade, induce, entice, or coerce individuals to travel in interstate commerce to engage in prostitution and one count of conspiracy to engage in money laundering.

The charge of conspiracy to engage in money laundering provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $500,000 or twice the value of the laundered funds. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Andrew E. Lelling; Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Delany De Leon-Colon, Acting Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and Cambridge Police Commissioner Branville G. Bard Jr. made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys David J. D’Addio and Amy Harman Burkart of Lelling’s Civil Rights Enforcement Team are prosecuting the case. 

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. 

BOSTON - A Lowell man was arrested today and charged in federal court in Boston with firearms trafficking related to five separate sales, including selling an illegal sawed-off shotgun.

Rathsomnang Neth, 22, was charged with one count of dealing in firearms without a license and two counts of possessing and transferring an unregistered shotgun with a shortened barrel.

According to the indictment, which was unsealed today, in five separate transactions in Lowell from December 2016 through April 2017, Neth engaged in the unlawful dealing of firearms, selling four handguns and a .20 gauge pump-action shotgun with a barrel that had been sawed-off below 18 inches.

The charge of unlawful dealing in firearms provides for a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. Each charge of possession and transfer of an unregistered firearm provides for a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Mickey D. Leadingham, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Boson Field Office, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney S. Theodore Merritt of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

BOSTON – A Lawrence man and a Dominican national were charged today in federal court in Boston with fentanyl conspiracy. 

Antonio Rivera, 28, of Lawrence, and Deuris Sierra, 24, a Dominican national most recently residing in Lawrence, were each indicted on one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl and distribution of fentanyl. Both defendants are currently in state custody.

From at least May 16, 2018, through June 7, 2018, Rivera distributed fentanyl in Lawrence and Methuen. During a law enforcement operation, investigators seized five kilograms of fentanyl from the defendants.    

The charge of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl carries a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years and up to life in prison, a minimum of five years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $10 million. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew Lelling; Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Division; Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey; Colonel Kerry Gilpin, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; and Methuen Police Chief Joseph Solomon made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip C. Cheng of Lelling’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit is prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

BOSTON – A Dominican national was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for his role in a drug trafficking organization that operated in Taunton and Boston.

Yeurys Tejeda, 29, a Dominican national formerly residing in Boston, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani to time served (15 months in prison) and three years of supervised release. Tejeda will be subject to deportation proceedings. In April 2018, Tejeda pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin and fentanyl. In February 2017, Tejeda was arrested and charged along with 22 co-defendants.

From mid-2016 through February 2017, there were investigations into two drug trafficking organizations who were operating in Taunton and Boston, one led by Jose Antonio Lugo-Guerrero, and the other led by Fernando Hernandez. Hernandez’s organization was based in Taunton and sold heroin and fentanyl to customers who re-distributed a portion of the drugs they obtained. It is alleged that Hernandez obtained drugs from a network of suppliers that included Lugo-Guerrero.

According to court documents, Lugo-Guerrero operated a drug trafficking organization in Fall River and Boston that allegedly obtained a significant quantity of illegal drugs by robbing other drug traffickers. Lugo-Guerrero was assisted by a number of co-defendants including Tejeda. In November of 2016, Tejeda helped Lugo-Guerrero plan and attempt to steal heroin and money from another drug dealer operating in New Bedford. The plan was revealed by wiretaps and surveillance and foiled by law enforcement.

Hernandez pleaded guilty and was sentenced in February 2018 to 188 months in prison. Lugo-Guerrero has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Boston Field Division; Colonel Kerry A. Gilpin, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Fall River Police Chief Daniel S. Racine; New Bedford Police Chief Joseph C. Cordeiro; Taunton Police Chief Edward James Walsh; Boston Police Commissioner William B. Evans; and Bristol Country District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ted Heinrich of Lelling’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit prosecuted the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

BOSTON – A corrections officer at the Massachusetts Correctional Institute facility in Norfolk (MCI-Norfolk) pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to a conspiracy to smuggle Suboxone strips into the facility for an inmate.

William Holts, 51, of Pawtucket, R.I., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess a controlled substance. U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani scheduled sentencing for Sept. 17, 2018. Holts, an employee of the Massachusetts Department of Correction, was charged and arrested on May 9, 2018.

Beginning around April 30, 2018, Holts advised an inmate, for whom he had smuggled other contraband, that he was willing to smuggle drugs into MCI-Norfolk in exchange for cash. In a series of recorded calls, Holts arranged to meet with a source outside the correctional facility to get the cash and obtain drugs to be smuggled in. Holts agreed to bring in over 100 Suboxone strips in exchange for $2,000 in cash. 

According to court documents, Suboxone is a Class III controlled substance intended to treat heroin addiction, but some abuse the drug to get high. It is coveted contraband in prisons across the nation and particularly in New England. Suboxone strips, which dissolve under the tongue, may be tucked behind envelope seams and stamps.

The charge of conspiracy to possess a controlled substance provides for a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $500,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Commissioner Thomas A. Turco III of the Massachusetts Department of Correction made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugenia M. Carris of Lelling’s Public Corruption and Special Prosecutions Unit is prosecuting the case.

As of July 1, 2018, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts legalized the distribution of marijuana for recreational and other non-medical uses and, based on public reports, the Cannabis Control Commission is now reviewing applications for licenses to grow and sell marijuana products. 

Marijuana distribution, however, remains illegal; it is specifically prohibited by federal law.  Because I have a constitutional obligation to enforce the laws passed by Congress, I will not effectively immunize the residents of the Commonwealth from federal marijuana enforcement.  My office’s resources, however, are primarily focused on combatting the opioid epidemic that claims thousands of lives in the Commonwealth each year. 

Having considered these factors, and the experiences of other states that have legalized marijuana distribution for non-medical use, I anticipate focusing my office’s marijuana enforcement efforts in the following areas:

• Overproduction:  Despite regulatory efforts to address this problem, licensed outdoor marijuana cultivation still creates a significant risk of overproduction, which in turn creates the risk of illegal, and lucrative, marijuana sales to users in nearby states where recreational marijuana use remains illegal.  These out-of-state sales are nearly always cash transactions and so often involve federal tax fraud designed to hide the illicit cash or its true source.


• Targeted Sales to Minors:  Advocates for state-level legalization fail to emphasize the risks marijuana use poses for minors.  And, despite state-mandated age requirements, marijuana use among minors will surely now increase.  Study after study confirms that regular marijuana use is dangerous to adolescent brain development, a process that appears to continue into a person’s early 20s.  The targeted sale of marijuana to minors may warrant federal prosecution.


• Organized Crime and Interstate Transportation of Drug Proceeds:  Drug proceeds often finance organized criminal activities.  My office will continue to prosecute organized criminal groups, like MS-13, that distribute drugs in violation of federal law, regardless of whether that distribution is legal under state laws.  To that end, federal investigators will continue to police the Commonwealth for incoming or outgoing shipments of cash as well as use of the federal banking system.

This list is not exclusive, but only intended to clarify which aspects of the state-level marijuana industry are most likely to warrant federal involvement.  My office will continue to review all potential marijuana enforcement matters on a case-by-case basis, guided by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Principles of Federal Prosecution.

BOSTON – A Milford woman pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to stealing approximately $2.7 million from her employer, and then using the money to purchase luxury items, many of which she resold to consignment shops.

Debra Mulloy, a/k/a Debra Depaul, 57, pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV scheduled sentencing for Oct. 9, 2018.

From 2004 through 2016, Mulloy was responsible for most of the financial and organizational duties at the company for which she was employed. On multiple occasions from April 2012 to December 2016, Mulloy used the company’s credit card account in the name of another employee to make hundreds of unauthorized charges totaling nearly $2.4 million. Most of those unauthorized purchases were for clothing, furs, and jewelry at boutique stores in the Boston area. Mulloy then sold many of the luxury items at consignment shops. As part of her scheme, Mulloy also caused company checks to be issued for her personal benefit, primarily to pay her personal credit card bills. In total, Mulloy defrauded her employer of approximately $2.7 million.  

The charge of wire fraud provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater, and restitution. The charge of aggravated identity theft provides for a mandatory two-year sentence that must run consecutively to any other sentence imposed, one year of supervised release, a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater, and restitution.  Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark J. Balthazard of Lelling’s Economic Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.

BOSTON – A Malden man pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Boston to his role in a wide-ranging conspiracy to defraud his employer, a large facilities services company with offices in the Greater Boston area.

Lou Amaral, 52, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit honest services mail fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of money laundering, and one count of tax evasion. U.S. District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock scheduled sentencing for Oct. 9, 2018. Co-defendant Vence Pires, 58, also of Malden, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and is scheduled to plead guilty on July 12, 2018.

Amaral and Pires worked for the same facilities services company in the Greater Boston area. Amaral was the supervisor of the Special Services Department, and as such, he had the ability to hire employees and to contract with third-parties to provide temporary labor. Pires was an account manager who worked for Amaral in Special Services. Amaral first began taking bribes from a temporary labor company in order to steer contracts to that company. In 2014, Amaral opened up his own temporary labor company and, with the help of Pires, awarded himself the temporary labor contracts. Through this scheme, Amaral made approximately $10 million in revenue over a three-year period, resulting in harm to his employer of more than $4 million. 

Amaral faces a maximum sentence on the conspiracy and money laundering counts of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 on each count. The charge of tax evasion provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, one year of supervised release, and a fine of $100,000. Amaral has agreed to forfeit approximately $2 million that has been seized from him. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston; and Delany De Leon-Colon, Acting Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, made the announcement today.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Rosen of Lelling’s Economic Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.

BOSTON – An MS-13 member was sentenced today in federal court in Boston on drug trafficking and RICO conspiracy charges.  

Edgar Pleitez, a/k/a “Cadejo,” 28, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV to five years in prison and four years of supervised release.  In March 2018, Pleitez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to conduct enterprise affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity, more commonly referred to as RICO conspiracy, and conspiracy to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin.

Pleitez, who was a “homeboy” or full member of MS-13’s East Boston Loco Salvatrucha clique, conspired with other MS-13 members to distribute heroin and further the criminal activities of MS-13. In 2015, a cooperating witness made three separate purchases of heroin from Pleitez. Pleitez was arrested and charged in January 2016 following a three-year investigation which targeted dozens of leaders, members, and associates of MS-13 in Massachusetts. While numerous defendants committed violent acts on behalf of the gang, other defendants, including Pleitez, engaged in other criminal activity, such as drug trafficking, to help finance the operations of the gang.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Colonel Kerry A. Gilpin, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Commissioner Thomas Turco of the Massachusetts Department of Corrections; Essex County Sheriff Kevin F. Coppinger; Suffolk County Sheriff Steven W. Thompkins; Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley; Middlesex County District Attorney Marian T. Ryan; Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett; Boston Police Commissioner William Evans; Chelsea Police Chief Brian A. Kyes; Everett Police Chief Steven A. Mazzie; Lynn Police Chief Michael Mageary; Revere Police Chief James Guido; and Somerville Police Chief David Fallon made the announcement.

BOSTON - A Guatemalan national was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for illegally reentering the United States after being deported.  

Jose Antonio Alarcon-Mazariegos, 44, a Guatemalan national formerly residing in Cambridge, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock to 15 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Upon his release, Alarcon-Mazariegos will be subject to deportation proceedings. On April 3, 2018, Alarcon-Mazariegos pleaded guilty to one count of illegal reentry of a deported alien.

According to court documents, law enforcement officers in Cambridge encountered Alarcon-Mazariegos on Oct. 7, 2017, and determined him to be illegally present in the United States. Alarcon-Mazariegos was previously deported on April 2, 2004, Aug. 5, 2004, and May 28, 2005.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Rebecca Adducci, Interim Field Office Director, Boston, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Soivilien of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.

A Cypriot national was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for money laundering.

Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Andrew E. Lelling for the District of Massachusetts, Special Agent in Charge Brian D. Boyle of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) New England Division, Special Agent in Charge Harold H. Shaw of the FBI Boston Field Division and Special Agent in Charge Kristina O’Connell of IRS’s Criminal Investigation in Boston, made the announcement.

Esam Sakkal, 40, a national of Cyprus, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Rya W. Zobel to 27 months time served and ordered to pay forfeiture of $19, 248.  In April 2018, Sakkal pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering conspiracy and two counts of laundering of monetary instruments.

In June 2017, Sakkal and his brother, Nabeel Sakkal, aka Traycho Marinov Mitchov, Nabil Cieckal and Nabil Imadein Bazul Siggal, a dual national of Cyprus and Jordan, were indicted. Nabeel Sakkal remains a fugitive.

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

At the plea hearing, Sakkal admitted that on numerous occasions between 2009 and 2016, the Sakkals met with a U.S. undercover law enforcement agent posing as a member of a drug organization whose role was to launder money from drug sales.  Sakkal admitted that in 2014, he advised his brother Nabeel on methods to transport cash obtained from an undercover agent, which was subsequently laundered by the Sakkals through wire transfers to the United States.  Sakkal also admitted that he attempted to launder approximately €1 million euros he believed to be the proceeds from illegal drug sales when he met with an undercover agent in Warsaw, Poland in April 2016.  Sakkal further admitted that he agreed to obtain money from the undercover agent, and agreed to cause the money to be wired to the United States.

Trial Attorney Randall Warden of the Justice Department’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Linda Ricci of Lelling’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit prosecuted the case. 

BOSTON – Two employees of Cambridge-based biopharmaceutical companies were convicted today by a federal jury of engaging in an insider trading scheme. 

Schultz “Jason” Chan, 54, of Newton, the Director of Biostatistics at a Cambridge-based biopharmaceutical company, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and three counts of securities fraud. Songjiang Wang, 54, of Westford, the Director of Statistical Programming at a different biopharmaceutical company, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and two count of securities fraud. U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani scheduled Chan’s and Wang’s sentencings for Oct. 4 and 5, 2018, respectively.

From August 2013 to September 2015, Wang and Chan, who were friends, conspired to commit securities fraud by trading insider information regarding successful clinical drug trials at their respective companies. Specifically, Wang traded on inside information Chan provided regarding a clinical study conducted by Chan’s employer. In addition, over a period of several months, Wang tipped Chan of clinical trial results of a Phase 3 clinical trial being conducted by his employer. Furthermore, Wang gave Chan cash, which Chan used to purchase stock shares of Wang’s employer. Chan subsequently sold those shares and paid back Wang.

The charge of securities fraud provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $5 million. The charge of conspiracy to commit securities fraud provides for a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. 

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division, made the announcement today. The United States Attorney’s Office received valuable assistance from the Securities and Exchange Commission. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jordi de Llano Campos, Deputy Chief of Lelling’s Economic Crimes Unit, and Assistant United States Attorney Kriss Basil, also of the Economic Crimes Unit, are prosecuting the case.

BOSTON – The owner of King’s Roast Beef in Salem pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to failing to pay approximately $383,000 in taxes.

John Kalantzis, 52, of Lynn, pleaded guilty to two counts of aiding and assisting in filing a false tax return. U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young scheduled sentencing for Oct. 2, 2018.

During tax years 2011 through 2015, Kalantzis underreported the gross receipts and expenses of King’s Roast Beef in order to improperly reduce the federal income taxes owed by the restaurant. Kalantzis did so by diverting some of the restaurant’s cash receipts to himself, paying for some of the restaurant supplies with cash, and paying a portion of his employee’s wages in cash. Kalantzis then failed to report this conduct to his tax preparer. As such, during each of the tax years 2011 through 2015, Kalantzis failed to report cash receipts of approximately $275,000 and cash expenses of approximately $115,000 on King’s Roast Beef’s tax returns. As a result, Kalantzis failed to report a total of $855,000 to the IRS during those years, thereby avoiding paying corporate and personal taxes of $383,000.

The charge of aiding and assisting the filing of false tax returns provides for a sentence of no greater than three years in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.  

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark J. Balthazard of Lelling’s Economic Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case. 

BOSTON – A former Massachusetts State Trooper pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Boston in connection with the ongoing investigation of overtime abuse at the Massachusetts State Police (MSP). 

Per an agreement unsealed today, Gregory Raftery, 47, of Westwood, pleaded guilty to one count of embezzling funds from a state agency receiving federal funds. U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young scheduled sentencing for Sept. 25, 2018. On June 26, 2018, Raftery was charged by Information which was unsealed today.

At the plea hearing, Raftery admitted that in 2015 and 2016, he was not present and did not work for hundreds of hours of overtime shifts for which he had been paid by the Massachusetts State Police. Raftery admitted that he frequently left overtime shifts early, and, on occasion, did not work overtime shifts at all. To hide this conduct, Raftery submitted bogus motor vehicle citations that were never issued to operators, and then claimed on the citations and internal MSP paperwork that they had been written during overtime shifts that, in reality, Raftery did not work.    

Raftery acknowledged that in 2015 he was paid over $24,000, and in 2016, he was paid over $30,000 for overtime hours that he did not work.  

On Wednesday, June 27, 2018, three members of the MSP – two recently retired and one recently suspended – were arrested and charged in criminal complaints with embezzling funds from a state agency receiving federal funds. Former Lieutenant David Wilson, 57, of Charlton; Trooper Gary Herman, 45, of Chester; and Former Trooper Paul Cesan, 50, of Southwick, pleaded not guilty during an initial appearance in federal court in Boston and are scheduled to appear for a detention/probable cause hearing on Tuesday, July 10, 2018.

The charge of embezzling funds from a state agency receiving federal funds provides for a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Douglas Shoemaker, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dustin Chao and Mark Grady of Lelling’s Public Corruption Unit and Neil Gallagher of Lelling’s Economic Crimes Unit are prosecuting the case.

BOSTON – A Pennsylvania woman was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for smuggling drugs into the United States on a commercial flight from the Dominican Republic.

Natalia Alexander Duran, 23, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Rya W. Zobel to one year and one day in prison and three years of supervised release. In March 2018, Duran pleaded guilty to two counts of importation of a controlled substance - heroin and cocaine, and two counts of possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute - heroin and cocaine. The U.S. Attorney’s Office sought a sentence of 30 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

“Trafficking drugs is risky enough, but swallowing dozens of pellets full of heroin and cocaine is just reckless,” said United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling. “Moreover, it didn’t work, because of the diligence and professionalism of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers who encountered Ms. Duran when she arrived at Logan. These officers stopped nearly a kilogram of cocaine and over 100 grams of heroin from hitting our streets.”

“This arrest exemplifies the drastic and dangerous means criminals will take to smuggle illicit drugs into our country,” said William A. Ferrara, Director of Field Operations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection. “The experience, training and constant vigilance of the CBP Officers here in Boston prevented these dangerous drugs from reaching our communities and I commend their great work.”

On May 30, 2017, Duran arrived at Logan International Airport on a flight from the Dominican Republic. Upon arrival, Duran, a U.S. citizen, was referred for a secondary baggage examination. Duran stated that she needed to use the restroom and was told that she would have to be “pat frisked” before she could do so. Duran was then pat frisked by a female U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer, who felt an abnormality in Duran’s groin area. Duran subsequently admitted that she had drugs concealed in her clothing. 41 pellets of suspected cocaine were removed from a bodysuit worn by Duran. Concerned that Duran may have ingested additional pellets of drugs, she was transported to a local hospital and given an x-ray, which revealed numerous pellets inside her abdominal area. While at the hospital, Duran excreted an additional 68 pellets. A combined total of 109 pellets were recovered, tested and determined to be approximately 971 grams of cocaine and approximately 109 grams of heroin.

During a subsequent interview, Duran admitted that in April 2017 she smuggled 75 pellets of drugs from the Dominican Republic into the United States in the same way. On the first trip, Duran flew into New York City and spent two days in a hotel passing the pellets through her digestive tract. In total, Duran smuggled approximately 1,720 grams of cocaine and 109.3 grams of heroin into the United States. 

 U.S. Attorney Lelling and CBP Director of Field Operations Ferrara made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney David G. Tobin of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.

BOSTON – A former Quincy man, who had been a fugitive for more than 20 years prior to his arrest in April 2017, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston in connection with a $1.7 million real estate investment fraud scheme in Quincy. 

Scott J. Wolas, 69, pleaded guilty to seven counts of wire fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft, misuse of a Social Security number, and tax evasion. U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV scheduled sentencing for Oct. 2, 2018. Wolas remained a fugitive for more than 20 years until his arrest in Delray Beach, Fla., in April 2017.

From at least 2009 through 2016, Wolas, using the name Eugene Grathwohl, operated a real estate business known as Increasing Fortune Inc. and worked as a licensed real estate agent for Century 21 in Quincy. From 2014 through 2016, he solicited investments for the development of the Beachcomber Bar property on Quincy Shore Drive and for the construction of a single-family home on the adjacent property. He collected more than $1.7 million from at least 20 investors and promised each of them a significant return on their investments. He further promised to pay out at least 125% of the profits related to the single-family home construction.  However, Wolas used the money mostly for personal expenses unrelated to development of the real estate projects.

Wolas was scheduled to close on the Beachcomber property on Sept. 15, 2016. A week before, however, he left Quincy and ceased all contact with his then-girlfriend, his co-workers, and his investors. Law enforcement then discovered that Grathwohl was actually Wolas, a former lawyer who had been a fugitive since 1997 after being charged with fraud and grand larceny in New York. The real Eugene Grathwohl resided in Florida and was known to Wolas.

On Nov. 17, 2016, law enforcement officers interviewed Wolas’ ex-wife, Cecily Sturge, of Delray Beach, Fla., who stated that she had not been in contact with her ex-husband for approximately 15 years. Sturge continued to say that this was so, despite evidence of contact between her cell phone and one known to belong to Wolas that demonstrated more recent communication between the two.

After further investigation, Wolas was arrested on April 7, 2017, at a condominium he was renting in Delray Beach, Fla. Investigators learned that Wolas had first rented the room in the condo from Nov. 12 through Nov. 21, 2016, through an online rental website in the name of Cecily Sturge. Messages exchanged between the condo owner and Sturge depicted a photo of Sturge and messages claiming that Wolas (using the name Cameron Sturge) was Sturge’s brother and a retired paleontologist in need of a place to stay. The owner of the condo told authorities that Sturge and Wolas arrived at the condo together in the same car on Nov. 12, 2016, five days before Sturge’s interview with law enforcement.  

Sturge was divorced from Wolas in 2001 by default judgment in Palm Beach County, Fla. In February 2017, Sturge filed a petition to modify the judgment in order to obtain the contents of Wolas’ retirement account, which had a balance of approximately $647,000, from the New York law firm where he worked prior to being indicted in 1997 by New York authorities. In pleadings filed in February and March 2017 regarding that matter, Sturge swore that Wolas’ whereabouts were unknown to her, despite telephone records showing frequent contact between the two. In addition, copies or drafts of documents filed in the Florida proceeding, along with a thumb drive, were found in the room where Wolas was arrested. The United States previously obtained a court order freezing the retirement account pending the resolution of the criminal proceedings.

Sturge previously pleaded guilty to making a materially false statement to a federal agent and was sentenced in May 2018 to one year of probation.

The charge of wire fraud provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss. The charge of aggravated identity theft provides for a minimum of two years in prison, which must be served consecutively to any other sentence imposed, one year of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of misuse of a Social Security number provides for a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain/loss whichever is greater. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the US sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.           

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston; Scott Antolik, Special Agent in Charge of the Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations, Boston Field Division; and Quincy Police Chief Paul Keenan made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sandra S. Bower of Lelling’s Criminal Division and David G. Lazarus of Lelling’s Civil Division are prosecuting the case.

BOSTON – A Canadian national pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Springfield to enticing children over the internet to produce child pornography and to send the sexually explicit pictures to him.

Justin Carl Wong, 35, of Ontario, Canada, pleaded guilty to 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni scheduled sentencing for Oct. 4, 2018. Wong was indicted in August 2014 and has been in custody since his arraignment on Aug. 10, 2017, after being extradited from Canada.

In December 2012, Wong used a Voxer account to communicate with two girls, aged eight and 10, in Hampshire County. Wong first sent text and voice messages to the 10-year-old girl, knowing that she was a minor. Wong offered to be her “pretend boyfriend” and to help her “get a boyfriend in” her “real life.” Wong asked the girl to send him sexually explicit pictures of herself, but the child initially refused. Wong used psychological pressure to persuade and then to bully the girl to send him sexually explicit pictures by threatening to never speak to her again and telling her she would live a “lonely life” and to “have a nice life being alone” without Wong in her life. Wong repeatedly referred to her as a “bitch” and said she was a “loser” because she refused to send the pictures.

On Dec. 19, 2012, the 10-year-old girl succumbed to Wong’s repeated demands and took and sent three sexually explicit pictures of herself, as well as two sexually explicit photographs with the eight-year-old girl. Later that day, Wong engaged in a series of online communications with the eight-year-old girl in which Wong demanded specific kinds of sexually explicit pictures. The girl responded by taking and sending to Wong five such photographs.

Each count of sexual exploitation provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and up to 30 years in prison, a minimum of five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.   

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling, Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Colonel Kerry A. Gilpin, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; and Granby Police Chief Alan Wishart made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Grant of Lelling’s Springfield Branch Office is prosecuting the case.

BOSTON – A Boston man was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for robbing five banks throughout April and June 2017.

Thomas W. Nee, 47, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. to 92 months in prison and three years of supervised release. In September 2017, Nee pleaded guilty to five counts of bank robbery. Nee’s federal sentence will begin after he completes a three-year state sentence he is currently serving.

Between April and June 2017, Nee robbed five Boston banks of over $8,200. The robberies occurred on April 21, at Santander Bank on Commonwealth Avenue; on May 5, at Citizens Bank on Tremont Street; on May 8, at Century Bank on State Street; on May 22, at Randolph Savings Bank on School Street; and on June 8, at Eastern Bank on West Broadway. Nee committed each of the robberies by handing a teller a note demanding money.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Boston Field Office, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Wichers of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.

BOSTON – Two men were arrested today and charged in federal court in Boston in connection with illegally using the identity of another individual to apply for two business loans. 

Igor Mosieev, 59, of Newton, was indicted on two counts of bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. Alexander Grinis, 47, of Jamaica Plain, was charged in the same indictment with one count of false statements on loan applications. Mosieev and Grinis were arrested this morning and will appear this afternoon in federal court in Boston.  

According to the indictment, Grinis was the manager of Eastern Bank in Auburndale. Among his responsibilities were assisting customers with opening and closing accounts and applying for loans and lines of credit. In approximately February 2015, Grinis assisted Mosieev in opening a checking and savings account at Eastern Bank with the license and Social Security card of another individual, without the knowledge or consent of that person. Later that year, Grinis assisted Mosieev in adding the individual to a business account in the name of TFC Enterprises, LLC. Thereafter, Moiseev forged the individual’s name on applications for two purported business loans. On each loan application, Grinis falsely certified that he had complied with all bank procedures and, as a result, the loans were approved. The proceeds of the two loans were subsequently distributed to the business checking account and Moiseev forged the individual’s name on checks and withdrew money from the account to pay for his own personal expenses. In addition, Moiseev, with Grinis’ assistance, caused proceeds from the business checking account to be wire transferred to Russia, Canada, and elsewhere overseas using the individual’s name. Both loans defaulted and were never paid back to Eastern Bank, resulting in a loss of over $90,000.

The charges of bank fraud and false statements provide for a sentence of no greater than 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release, and up to a $1 million fine. The aggravated identity theft charge provides for a mandatory sentence of two years in prison, to be served consecutive to any other sentence imposed, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura J. Kaplan of Lelling’s Organized Crime and Gang Unit is prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

BOSTON – A Boston-area investment adviser was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for using his clients’ funds to make his own investments and to pay personal expenses.

Cornelius Peterson, 29, of Newton, was senteced by U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton to 20 months in prison, two years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $462,000. Peterson previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and investment adviser fraud and three counts of bank fraud. Co-defendant James Polese, 51, of Wenham, pleaded guilty in April 2018 to one count of conspiracy and investment adviser fraud, eight counts of bank fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 2, 2018.

From approximately 2014 to June 2017, Polese and Peterson misappropriated approximately half a million dollars from their clients by transferring funds out of their clients’ accounts without their knowledge or consent. Specifically, on Aug. 20, 2014, Polese and Peterson used $100,000 from a client’s account to invest in a wind farm project despite the fact that it was not an investment opportunity authorized by their company. On May 15, 2015, Polese and Peterson used $400,000 from another client’s account to back a letter of credit in support of the wind farm project. On multiple occasions in 2017, Polese transferred funds from a client’s account to pay personal expenses, including college tuition payments and credit card bills. Polese and Peterson were terminated from the company in June 2017.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today. The U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission also provided valuable assistance with the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Miron Bloom of Lelling’s Economic Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.

BOSTON – A Worcester man pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Boston to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Franklin Safo-Agyare, 25, pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. U.S. District Court Chief Judge Patti B. Saris scheduled sentencing for Sept. 26, 2018.

Following a two-year investigation, Safo-Agyare and eight others were charged in January 2018 in connection with illegal activity within and near the Mildred C. Hailey Apartments in Jamaica Plain, formerly known as the Bromley Heath Housing Development. On June 6, 2018, Safo-Agyare, who was previously convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison, sold a Jennings Model J22 .22 caliber pistol containing five rounds of ammunition to another individual in the vicinity of the housing development.  

The investigation and arrests sought to reduce violence and improve the quality of life in and around the Mildred C. Hailey Apartments for residents by removing individuals who engaged in criminal activity. Safo-Agyare is the fifth defendant to plead guilty in this case.

The charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition provides for a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Mickey D. Leadingham, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division; and Boston Police Commissioner William Evans made the announcement. Assistance was also provided by the Boston Housing Authority’s Department of Police and Public Safety.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The remaining defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.       

BOSTON – Three members of the Massachusetts State Police (MSP) were arrested and charged today with theft from an agency receiving government funds, as part of an ongoing investigation.  Two recently retired, one recently suspended.

Former Lieutenant David Wilson, 57, of Charlton; Trooper Gary Herman, 45, of Chester; and Former Trooper Paul Cesan, 50, of Southwick, were charged in three separate criminal complaints unsealed today. All three men were assigned to Troop E, which is responsible for enforcing criminal and traffic regulations along the Massachusetts Turnpike, Interstate I-90.  They will appear in U.S. District Court in Boston later today.

Wilson, who served as the Officer-in-Charge of several overtime shifts, along with Troopers Herman and Cesan are alleged to have received overtime pay for hours they either did not actually work at all, or shifts in which they departed one to seven hours early.   

The alleged conduct involves overtime pay for selective enforcement initiatives, including the Accident and Injury Reduction Effort program (AIRE) and the “X-Team” initiative. Both initiatives are intended to reduce accidents, crashes, and injuries on I-90 through an enhanced presence of MSP Troopers and targeting vehicles traveling at excessive speeds.  Wilson, Herman and Cesan were required to work the entire duration of the shifts – either four or eight hours – and truthfully report the date, time and sector of deployment on the citations issued during the shift. As alleged, they concealed the fraud by submitting citations that were issued previously, altered to create the appearance that the citation was issued during the overtime shift, and/or submitted citations that were never issued and never took place. 

According to court documents, investigators were able to corroborate the alleged conduct through spreadsheets compiled during MSP’s audit of Troop E’s overtime, along with data from MSP cruiser radios and other MSP records, to observe individual Trooper radio activity/inactivity patterns, as well as radio transmission location patterns. 

In 2016, Lt. Wilson earned approximately $230,000, claiming to have worked approximately 170 AIRE overtime shifts – equating to about $68,000 in overtime pay. The investigation revealed that out of those overtime hours worked in 2016, Lt. Wilson earned approximately $12,450 in overtime pay that he in fact, did not work. Trooper Herman earned $227,826 in 2016, which included approximately $63,000 in overtime, of which $12,468 was attributable to AIRE and X-Team shifts for which Herman either left early or did not show up to work. Trooper Cesan earned approximately $163,500, which included approximately $50,866 in overtime pay, $29,000 of which included pay for AIRE and X-Team overtime shifts that Cesan did not work.

In 2015 and 2016, MSP received annual benefits from the U.S. Department of Transportation in excess of $10,000, which were funded pursuant to numerous federal grants. 

The charge of theft of government funds provides for a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Douglas Shoemaker, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dustin Chao and Mark Grady of Lelling’s Public Corruption Unit and Neil Gallagher of Lelling’s Economic Crimes Unit are prosecuting the case.

BOSTON – A Randolph man pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to being a previously convicted felon in possession of a firearm.

Dararong James Heang, 28, pleaded guilty to being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. U.S. District Court Chief Judge Patti B. Saris scheduled sentencing for Oct. 3, 2018.

Shortly after midnight on June 16, 2017, law enforcement officers stopped Heang and two other individuals in the area of Shirley Avenue in Revere, which had been the scene of recent gang violence. Heang was known to officers as being previously involved with gang activity. During a subsequent search, Heang was found to be in possession of a semi-automatic firearm and seven rounds of ammunition. At the time, Heang was on state probation and had previously been convicted of multiple felonies in state court, including assault and battery and possession with intent to distribute drugs.

The charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm provides for a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley; and Revere Police Chief James R. Guido made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kunal Pasricha of Lelling’s Organized Crime & Gang Unit is prosecuting the case.

BOSTON – A businessman, who owned and operated five real estate development companies in Pittsfield, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Springfield to defrauding a credit union.

Jeffrey Pierce, 51, of Pittsfield, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to receive money through transactions of a credit union with intent to defraud the credit union and to make false statements to a federal credit union. U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni scheduled sentencing for Oct. 3, 2018.

Between 2005 and 2008, a former Vice President of Greylock Federal Credit Union (GFCU) authorized approximately $4 million in various loans and modifications to Pierce and his companies in violation of GFCU’s loan policies. By circumventing GFCU’s policies, the Vice President caused GFCU to provide Pierce and his companies with funds far in excess of what Pierce and his companies could reasonably receive or repay. In exchange for improperly authorizing these loans, Pierce agreed to provide - and did provide - the Vice President with $134,773 in check payments from Pierce’s companies derived from GFCU loans that were paid to a front company created by the employee; the free use of a home constructed by one of Pierce’s companies with a GFCU loan; and the free use of a BMW automobile purchased by one of Pierce’s companies with a GFCU loan. Around March 2010, at the Vice President’s direction and for the purpose of influencing the action of GFCU upon the loans, Pierce falsely stated to GFCU that the money paid by his companies to the front company were payments for design work that the Vice President’s wife provided to Pierce’s construction projects.

The conspiracy charge provides for a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.   

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, New England Field Division, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven H. Breslow of Lelling’s Springfield Branch Office is prosecuting the case.

BOSTON – A Lawrence man was sentenced in federal court in Boston today for his role in an opioid trafficking conspiracy involving the distribution of fentanyl, heroin, and oxycodone across Massachusetts and Florida.

Juan Reyes, 29, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper to 55 months in prison and three years of supervised release. In March 2018, Reyes pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute oxycodone and one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments.

Reyes and several co-conspirators were arrested in March 2017 for their roles in a widespread conspiracy involving opioid trafficking and money laundering offenses in Massachusetts and Florida. Their arrests were the result of a three-year federal investigation into opioid-trafficking in New England.

From at least 2014, Reyes and co-conspirator Craig Drummond, of Sunny Isles Beach, Fla., transported sizeable quantities of oxycodone from Miami, Fla., to Massachusetts, where it was distributed in the greater Boston area. Proceeds from the illicit oxycodone sales were then transported back to Florida and laundered in various ways.     

Drummond pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 12, 2018.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Boston Field Division; Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston; Delany De Leon-Colon, Acting Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; John Gibbons, U.S. Marshal for the District of Massachusetts; and Mickey D. Leadingham, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Massachusetts State Police and the Biddeford (Maine), Framingham, Haverhill, Lawrence, Manchester (N.H.), Methuen, Millis, Natick, Stoughton, and Waltham Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nadine Pellegrini and Craig Estes of Lelling’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit prosecuted the case.

BOSTON – An Illinois man, who previously lived in Massachusetts, was arraigned today in federal court in Worcester on charges associated with a wire fraud scheme whereby victims were told they owed money to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Ashokkumar Patel, a/k/a Andy Patel, 28, of Hoffman Estates, Ill., and formerly of Plainville, Mass., was indicted on June 14, 2018, on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, two counts of wire fraud, and one count of money laundering. In June 2017, Patel was arrested and charged by criminal complaint. He was released from custody on conditions.

According to the charging documents, from December 2013 to October 2014, Patel was part of a conspiracy whereby victims in the United States were contacted by individuals, primarily in India, and falsely told that they owed money to the IRS. The victims were told that in order to avoid imminent arrest, they had to purchase MoneyPak, or other types of prepaid stored value cards, load thousands of dollars onto the cards, and provide the serial numbers to the callers. After doing so, the victims’ money was quickly transferred to a prepaid debit card, such as Green Dot Debit Cards, and then the prepaid debit cards were used to purchase money orders. Patel was responsible for purchasing the prepaid debit cards, using the prepaid debit cards to purchase money orders and depositing the purchased money orders into various bank accounts, including his own.

The charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud each provide for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of money laundering provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $500,000, or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle L. Dineen Jerrett of Lelling’s Worcester Branch Office is prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

A former executive vice president of State Street Bank & Trust was convicted today by a federal jury in Boston in connection with engaging in a scheme to defraud at least six of the bank’s clients through secret commissions applied to billions of dollars of securities trades. 

Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Andrew E. Lelling of the District of Massachusetts and Special Agent in Charge Harold H. Shaw of the FBI’s Boston Field Division made the announcement.

After a three-week trial, Ross McLellan, 47, of Hingham, Massachusetts, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud, two counts of securities fraud and two counts of wire fraud.  U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin of the District of Massachusetts, who presided over the trial, scheduled sentencing for Oct. 10.

“State Street’s clients, including institutional investors managing pensions for retirees, entrusted McLellan and his subordinates to transition billions of dollars in assets,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General John Cronan.  “Rather than living up to the responsibility to act in their clients’ best interests, McLellan and his coconspirators stole from these victims by charging hidden commissions and then lying about the scheme to cover their tracks.  This conviction is a testament to the dedication of the FBI and prosecutors in the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney’s Office to protecting innocent investors by investigating and prosecuting complex financial crimes.”

“Mr. McLellan defrauded State Street clients, violating his fiduciary duties and abusing his clients’ trust along the way,” said U.S. Attorney Lelling.  “With systematic precision, Mr. McLellan and his conspirators added secret commissions to securities trades and took steps to conceal the scheme.  In doing so, beyond directly defrauding institutional investors, Mr. McLellan chipped away at the savings of thousands of retirees whose pensions he was supposed to safeguard.  After only five hours of deliberations, a jury found Mr. McLellan guilty of five of six counts in the indictment.” 

“Motivated by sheer greed, Mr. McLellan devised an elaborate bait and switch scheme to defraud State Street’s clients out of millions of dollars, and now he’s finally being held accountable for his actions,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Shaw.  “This case should serve as a warning to others, the FBI and our law enforcement partners will aggressively pursue and bring to justice those who undermine our financial markets.”

In April 2016, McLellan, a former executive vice president of State Street who served as global head of its Portfolio Solutions Group and president of its U.S. broker-dealer, was indicted with Edward Pennings, 47, of Surrey, England, a former senior managing director of State Street and the head of its Portfolio Solutions Group for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.  

As established by the evidence at trial, between February 2010 and September 2011, McLellan, Pennings and Richard Boomgaardt, 44, of Sevenoaks, England, a former managing director of State Street, conspired to add secret commissions to fixed income and equity trades performed for at least six clients of the bank’s “transition management” business, which helps institutional clients move their investments between and among asset managers or liquidate large investment portfolios.  The commissions were charged on top of fees the clients had agreed to pay the bank, and despite written instructions to the bank’s traders that generally reflected that the clients were not to be charged trading commissions.  McLellan, Pennings and Boomgaardt took steps to hide the commissions from the clients and others within the bank, including by directing that the commissions not be broken out in post-trade reports. 

For example,

• In a telephone call in March 2010, Pennings instructed Boomgaardt not to talk about the plans to charge hidden commissions on one transaction “with anyone . . . because it’s not going to help our story.  Don’t even share it with the rest of the team, to be honest.”
• In June 2010, McLellan and Boomgaardt requested that the bank’s traders provide them with the reported daily high and low prices of securities the bank had traded for the client so that they could determine the amount of the commissions to be applied to each security without attracting the client’s attention.
• In March 2011, McLellan instructed a U.S. fixed income trader to charge a commission of one basis point (0.01 percent) of yield to each trade conducted for another client – notwithstanding that the written trading instructions for the transaction said to charge zero commissions – and subsequently instructed the trader to delete any reference to the commissions from the trading results he sent to the transition manager assigned to the project.

In June 2011, when one of the affected clients inquired about whether it had, in fact, been charged commissions in breach of its agreement with the bank, Pennings initially denied that any commissions had been charged.  Later – at McLellan’s direction – Pennings acknowledged only that “inadvertent commissions” had been applied to securities traded in the United States, but did not disclose that they had, in fact, been intentionally charged in both the United States and in Europe.  McLellan and Pennings sought to mislead the bank’s compliance staff into believing that the commissions had been charged in error and that the amount of the overcharges was limited to the commissions applied on U.S. securities, the evidence showed.

In June 2017, Pennings pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced on July 18.  Boomgaardt was charged separately and pleaded guilty in July 2017 to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud.  Boomgaardt is scheduled to be sentenced on July 31.

The case was investigated by the FBI.  Trial Attorney William Johnston of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney/Economic Crimes Chief Stephen E. Frank of the District of Massachusetts are prosecuting the case.  Valuable assistance was provided by the Securities & Exchange Commission and the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs.

BOSTON – A former executive vice president of State Street Corporation was convicted today by a federal jury in Boston in connection with engaging in a scheme to defraud at least six of the bank’s clients through secret commissions applied to billions of dollars of securities trades. 

Ross McLellan, 47, of Hingham, Mass., was convicted of one count of conspiring to commit securities fraud and wire fraud, two counts of securities fraud and two counts of wire fraud. U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin scheduled sentencing for Oct. 10, 2018.

“Mr. McLellan defrauded State Street clients, violating his fiduciary duties and abusing his clients’ trust along the way,” said Andrew E. Lelling, United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts. “With systematic precision, Mr. McLellan and his conspirators added secret commissions to securities trades and took steps to conceal the scheme. In doing so, beyond directly defrauding institutional investors, Mr. McLellan chipped away at the savings of thousands of retirees whose pensions he was supposed to safeguard. After only five hours of deliberations, a jury found Mr. McLellan guilty of five of six counts in the indictment.” 

“State Street’s clients, including institutional investors managing pensions for retirees, entrusted McLellan and his subordinates to transition billions of dollars in assets,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General John Cronan.  “Rather than living up to the responsibility to act in their clients’ best interests, McLellan and his coconspirators stole from these victims by charging hidden commissions and then lying about the scheme to cover their tracks.  This conviction is a testament to the dedication of the FBI and prosecutors in the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney’s Office to protecting innocent investors by investigating and prosecuting complex financial crimes.”

“Motivated by sheer greed, Mr. McLellan devised an elaborate bait and switch scheme to defraud State Street’s clients out of millions of dollars, and now he’s finally being held accountable for his actions,” said Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Office. “This case should serve as a warning to others, the FBI and our law enforcement partners will aggressively pursue and bring to justice those who undermine our financial markets.”

In April 2016, McLellan, a former executive vice president of State Street who served as global head of its Portfolio Solutions Group and president of its U.S. broker-dealer unit, was indicted with Edward Pennings, 47, of Surrey, England, a former senior managing director of State Street and the head of its Portfolio Solutions Group for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In June 2017, Pennings pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced on July 18, 2018. Also in June 2017, Richard Boomgaardt, 44, of Sevenoaks, England, a former managing director of State Street, was charged separately and pleaded guilty in July 2017 to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud. Boomgaardt is scheduled to be sentenced on July 31, 2018.

Between February 2010 and September 2011, McLellan, Pennings, and Boomgaardt conspired to add secret commissions to fixed income and equity trades performed for at least six clients of the bank’s “transition management” business, which helps institutional clients move their investments between and among asset managers or liquidate large investment portfolios. The commissions were charged on top of fees the clients had agreed to pay the bank, and despite written instructions to the bank’s traders that generally reflected that the clients were not to be charged trading commissions. McLellan, Pennings, and Boomgaardt took steps to hide the commissions from the clients and others within the bank, including by directing that the commissions not be broken out in post-trade reports. 

For example,

• In a telephone call in March 2010, Pennings instructed Boomgaardt not to talk about the plans to charge hidden commissions on one transaction “with anyone . . . because it’s not going to help our story. Don’t even share it with the rest of the team, to be honest.”
• In June 2010, McLellan and Boomgaardt requested that the bank’s traders provide them with the reported daily high and low prices of securities the bank had traded for the client so that they could determine the amount of the commissions to be applied to each security without attracting the client’s attention. 
• In March 2011, McLellan instructed a U.S. fixed income trader to charge a commission of one basis point (0.01%) of yield to each trade conducted for another client – notwithstanding that the written trading instructions for the transaction said to charge zero commissions – and subsequently instructed the trader to delete any reference to the commissions from the trading results he sent to the transition manager assigned to the project.

In June 2011, when one of the affected clients inquired about whether it had, in fact, been charged commissions in breach of its agreement with the bank, Pennings initially denied that any commissions had been charged. Later, at McLellan’s direction, Pennings acknowledged only that “inadvertent commissions” had been applied to securities traded in the United States, but did not disclose that they had, in fact, been intentionally charged in both the United States and in Europe. McLellan and Pennings sought to mislead the bank’s compliance staff into believing that the commissions had been charged in error and that the amount of the overcharges was limited to the commissions applied on U.S. securities.

The charge of conspiracy provides for a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss. The charge of wire provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss. The charge of securities fraud provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $ 5 million. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. Attorney Lelling, Acting Assistant Attorney General Cronan, and FBI SAC Shaw made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Securities & Exchange Commission and the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen E. Frank, Chief of Lelling’s Economic Crimes Unit and Trial Attorney William Johnston of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.

BOSTON – A former Roslindale Post Office employee was arrested today and charged in federal court in Boston in connection with embezzling mail.

Megan Hawes, 28, of Roslindale, was indicted on one count of theft of mail matter by a Postal Service employee. She appeared in federal court in Boston this afternoon and was released on conditions.

According to the indictment, which was unsealed today, the offenses occurred from approximately March 2017 to May 10, 2018, while Hawes was an employee of the Postal Service in Roslindale.    

The charge provides for a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Matthew Modafferi, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Postal Service, Office of Inspector General, Northeast Area Field Office; and Weymouth Police Chief Richard C. Grimes made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Suzanne Sullivan Jacobus of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.   

BOSTON – A Canadian national who worked as an accountant for a Massachusetts company pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to stealing nearly $600,000 from her employer.

Thanh Tam Tao Huynh, a/k/a Tiffany Huynh, 30, most recently of Quincy, Mass., pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud in connection with a scheme to steal nearly $600,000 from her employer. U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper scheduled sentencing for Oct. 4, 2018.

Huynh was employed as the accountant/bookkeeper by the company from approximately March 2016 through December 2017. Huynh used her position and access to the company’s bank accounts to wire about $425,000 from a company account at the Royal Bank of Canada to accounts in the United States that Huynh and her associates controlled. She also used a company credit card to make unauthorized purchases for herself and her friends. To conceal her actions, Huynh provided her employer with false balance information for the Canadian account, and withheld the personal charge information from the credit card statements she submitted for review. In total, Huynh defrauded her employer of approximately $588,278.

The wire fraud statute provides a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark J. Balthazard of Lelling’s Economic Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.

BOSTON – A Brazilian national pleaded guilty and was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston in connection with an ATM skimming operation.

Karem Kawamura, 25, pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting the use of a counterfeit access device and was immediately sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns to time served (three months) and one year of supervised release. Kawamura has agreed to be deported.

In November 2017, Kawamura and her husband, Alexandre Kawamura, entered the U.S. on six-month tourist visas. They traveled to Texas, where, with his wife’s knowledge, Mr. Kawamura placed skimming devices on ATMs in several cities. In January they traveled to the Boston area, and Mrs. Kawamura checked them into a hotel in Chelsea using a fake ID with the alias “Sheyla Porto.” She used this alias to receive two packages from Brazil, each containing ATM skimming equipment. Mr. Kawamura rented a storage unit in Everett using a fake ID with the alias “Alex Justo.” With his wife’s knowledge, he used the storage unit to store ATM skimming equipment. Also with his wife’s knowledge, between February 24 and March 15, 2018, Mr. Kawamura placed skimming devices on drive-up ATMs at Eastern Bank branches in Saugus, Medford, Stoneham, and Malden.

On March 16, 2018, the Kawamuras shopped at Dick’s Sporting Goods in Medford. Mr. Kawamura went to the register and used a credit card bearing his “Alex Justo” alias to pay for a shirt, jacket, and hat. The magnetic strip on the card contained a victim’s stolen bank account information, which Mrs. Kawamura knew about. Mr. Kawamura was arrested later that day and is facing federal charges. He has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial. Mrs. Kawamura was arrested two weeks after her husband.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Office; Medford Police Chief Leo Sacco; Milton Police Chief John E. King; Saugus Police Chief Domenic J. DiMella; Stoneham Police Chief James T. McIntyre; and Woburn Police Chief Robert J. Ferullo Jr. made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Wichers of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the cases.

BOSTON – Three MS-13 members have been indicted on charges of racketeering and illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.

Nelson Cruz Rodriguez Cartagena, a/k/a “Inquieto,” 24, a Salvadoran national illegally residing in Everett, was indicted on one count of conspiracy to conduct enterprise affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity, commonly referred to as RICO conspiracy. Cartagena, who was previously deported, was arrested yesterday in Everett after law enforcement determined that he had reentered the United States. Cartagena was detained following an initial appearance in federal court in Boston. In a separate indictment, Nery Rodriguez Diaz, 18, and Elmer Alfaro Hercules, 19, both Salvadoran nationals, were each charged with one count of being illegal aliens in possession of firearms and ammunition.

As alleged in court documents, MS-13 is a violent, transnational criminal organization whose branches, or “cliques,” operate throughout the United States, including Massachusetts. MS-13 members are required to commit acts of violence to maintain membership and discipline within the group. Most of the MS-13 cliques in Massachusetts, including the Everett Loco Salvatrucha (ELS) clique, belonged to MS-13’s East Coast Program, and that these cliques worked both independently and cooperatively to engage in criminal activity and to assist one another in avoiding detection by law enforcement.

Cartagena is alleged to be a full member, or “homeboy,” in MS-13’s Everett Loco Salvatrucha (ELS) clique. On recorded prison calls with a detained ELS clique leader, Cartagena discussed buying guns for the Everett clique, maintaining and supervising the clique’s marijuana trafficking business, the need to collect dues from clique members, the need to send money to MS-13 leaders in El Salvador due on the 13th of each month, and reporting on the clique’s day-to-day racketeering activities.

When the clique leader began to suspect that a member of the ELS clique had cooperated with law enforcement leading to his arrest, he allegedly enlisted Cartagena’s help to ferret out the informant. Cartagena provided the true names of two young Everett clique members, and the leader concluded that one of them, Jose Aguilar Villanueva, a/k/a “Fantasma,” was the clique member responsible for his arrest. Once ELS (incorrectly) identified Villanueva as an informant, members of the Everett clique, including Cartagena, allegedly met at the clique’s “destroyer house” – a residence where clique members stored knives, machetes, marijuana, and money – and met to discuss gang business and plan the murder of Villanueva. Ultimately, on the night of July 5, 2015, two young ELS probationary members, or “chequeos,” lured Villanueva into a park in Lawrence and stabbed him to death. Villanueva was 16-years-old.

Diaz and Hercules were charged in a separate indictment in connection with being illegal aliens in possession of firearms and ammunition. Specifically, on May 22, 2018, Diaz and Hercules were arrested in possession of loaded firearms in Bremen Street Park in East Boston, a location where numerous MS-13 gang members have been observed and where gang-on-gang violence frequently occurs. As Diaz was escorted to a waiting police cruiser to be transported for booking, Diaz allegedly shouted “La Mara! La Mara!” to a person in the park.

Diaz and Hercules each separately and unlawfully entered the United States in 2014 as unaccompanied minors. In April 2015, an immigration judge ordered Hercules deported in absentia. On May 11, 2017, Diaz was charged as a juvenile youthful offender with armed assault with intent to murder and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. According to incident reports, Diaz and two other men allegedly held a juvenile victim down in a wooded area in Everett and stabbed him twenty-two times. On March 18, 2018, the case against Diaz was dismissed when the victim did not appear in court.

The charge of RICO conspiracy provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of being an alien in possession of a firearm and ammunition provides for a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The defendants also face deportation proceedings upon completion of any sentence imposed. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Harold H. Shaw; Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Colonel Kerry A. Gilpin, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Commissioner Thomas Turco of the Massachusetts Department of Corrections; Essex County Sheriff Kevin F. Coppinger; Suffolk County Sheriff Steven W. Thompkins; Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley; Middlesex County District Attorney Marian T. Ryan; Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett; Boston Police Commissioner William Evans; Chelsea Police Chief Brian A. Kyes; Everett Police Chief Steven A. Mazzie; Lynn Police Chief Michael Mageary; Revere Police Chief James Guido; and Somerville Police Chief David Fallon made the announcement today.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations.  The defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

BOSTON – A Providence man and a Dominican national were arrested yesterday and charged in federal court in Boston today with fentanyl conspiracy.

Dario Bier Romero, 27, of Providence, R.I., and Luis Cirino, 35, a Dominican national residing in Lawrence, were arrested and charged with conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.

On June 21, 2018, investigators seized approximately three kilograms of fentanyl from Romero and Cirino during a federal investigation in Woburn. During the execution of a search at Romero’s residence in Providence, investigators seized an additional kilogram of fentanyl and drug packaging paraphernalia. 

The charge of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl carries a minimum sentence of 10 years and up to life in prison, at least five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of $10 million. Cirino will be subject to deportation proceedings upon completion of any sentence imposed. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew Lelling and Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New England Division, made the announcement today. Assistance was provided by the Massachusetts State Police Department, Woburn Police Department, and Providence (R.I.) Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip C. Cheng of Lelling’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit is prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

BOSTON – Francis “Cadillac” Salemme, a former boss of the New England Family of La Cosa Nostra (NELCN), and former NELCN associate Paul Weadick, were convicted today by a federal jury in connection with the 1993 murder of Steven A. DiSarro.

Francis P. Salemme, 84, and Paul M. Weadick, 63, were convicted of one count of murder of a federal witness. U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs scheduled sentencing for Sept. 13, 2018.

“Today, one of the last New England mafia bosses, Frank “Cadillac” Salemme along with an accomplice, Paul Weadick, have been brought to justice, ending a long, dark chapter in our city’s history,” said United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling. “After many years of pain, we hope that this verdict gives Mr. DiSarro’s family some peace, knowing that the defendants have been held accountable. I would like to acknowledge the commitment of the prosecutors and investigators for bringing this case – and the other organized crimes cases that preceded it – to a successful conclusion.”

“Tragically, this case demonstrates the savagery of organized crime and the extent Salemme and Weadick were willing to go for their own self-preservation,” said Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division. “Today’s verdict ensures that both men will finally pay the price for killing Steven DiSarro in cold blood. They took his life in order to ensure his silence. The FBI and our law enforcement partners will continue to use every available resource to pursue criminals who attack, intimidate, retaliate, and even go as far as murdering, witnesses.”

In the early 1990s, Salemme was the boss of the NELCN.  At the time, DiSarro managed a South Boston night club, known as “The Channel,” in which Salemme and his son, Francis P. Salemme, Jr. had a financial interest. As a federal investigation was narrowing in on the Salemmes, DiSarro’s connection to the mafia boss was discovered and he was approached by federal investigators to cooperate. Knowing this, Salemme had DiSarro murdered on May 10, 1993, in Salemme’s Sharon residence. Salemme, who had ordered the murder to prevent DiSarro from cooperating with law enforcement, watched as Salemme Jr. and Weadick strangled DiSarro.  Salemme then ordered DiSarro’s body transported to Providence, R.I. and buried. In March 2016, DiSarro’s remains were recovered by federal authorities behind a mill in Providence, R.I.  

In 1995 Salemme was indicted on federal racketeering charges and convicted in 1999. He was subsequently convicted of obstruction of justice in 2008 for lying to federal authorities about the murder of DiSarro.  Salemme Jr. died in 1995. 

The charge of murder of a federal witness provides for a sentence of life in prison. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. Attorney Lelling; Interim United States Attorney Stephen G. Dambruch for the District of Rhode Island; FBI SAC Shaw; Kerry A. Gilpin, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; and Ann C. Assumpico, Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police, made the announcement today. Assistance was also provided by the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office and the Providence, R.I. Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Fred M. Wyshak, Jr., Chief of Lelling’s Public Corruption Unit and William J. Ferland of Dambruch’s Office are prosecuting the case.

BOSTON – A real estate attorney was sentenced today in connection with a sweeping conspiracy to defraud banks and mortgage companies by engaging in sham “short” sales of residential properties in Merrimack Valley.

Jasmin Polanco, 37, of Methuen, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock to 15 months in prison, three year of supervised release and ordered to pay $1,224,489 in restitution. In March 2018, Polanco pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. 

Co-defendants Vanessa Ricci, 41, of Methuen, a  mortgage loan officer, pleaded guilty in March 2018 to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and was sentenced to six months in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution of $963,730; Greisy Jimenez, 50, of Methuen, a real estate broker, pleaded guilty to two counts of bank fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and is awaiting sentencing; Hyacinth Bellerose, 51, of Dunstable, a real estate closing attorney, was sentenced in March 2017 to time served and one year of supervised release to be served in home detention after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud.  

The charges arose out of a scheme to defraud various banks via bogus short sales of homes in Haverhill, Lawrence and Methuen in which the purported sellers remained in their homes with their debt substantially reduced. A short sale is a sale of real estate for less than the value of any existing mortgage debt on the property. Short sales are an alternative to foreclosure that typically occur only with the consent of the mortgage lender. Generally, the lender absorbs a loss on the loan and releases the borrower from the unpaid balance. By their very nature, short sales are intended to be arms-length transactions in which the buyers and sellers are unrelated, and in which the sellers cede their control of the subject properties in exchange for the short-selling bank’s agreement to release them from their unpaid debt.

The conspiracy began in approximately August 2007 and continued through June 2010, a period that included the height of the financial crisis and its aftermath. Home values in Massachusetts and across the nation declined precipitously, and many homeowners found themselves suddenly “underwater” with homes worth less than the mortgage debt they owed. As part of the scheme, Polanco, Jimenez, Ricci, Bellerose and others submitted materially false and misleading documents to numerous banks in an effort to induce them to permit the short-sales, thereby releasing the purported sellers from their unpaid mortgage debts, while simultaneously inducing the purported buyers’ banks to provide financing for the deals. In fact, the purported sellers simply stayed in their homes, with their debt substantially reduced.

The conspirators falsely led banks to believe that the sales were arms-length transactions between unrelated parties; in fact, the buyers and sellers were frequently related, and the sellers retained control of (and frequently continued to live in) the properties after the sale. The conspirators also submitted phony earnings statements in support of loan applications that were submitted to banks in order to obtain new financing for the purported sales. In addition, the defendants submitted phony “HUD-1 Settlement Statements” to banks that did not accurately reflect the disbursement of funds in the transactions. (HUD-1 Settlement Statements are standard forms that are used to document the flow of funds in real estate transactions. They are required for all transactions involving federally related mortgage loans, including all mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration.)

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Christina Scaringi, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General, New York Field Office; and Christy Goldsmith Romero, Special Inspector General of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen E. Frank, Chief of Lelling’s Economic Crimes Unit, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sara Miron Bloom and Victor A. Wild, also of the Economic Crimes Unit, prosecuted the cases.

BOSTON – Following a multi-week trial in federal court in Boston, an MS-13 member was found guilty today of racketeering conspiracy involving murder.  This is the government’s 49th conviction in the case.  Defendant is 16th person found responsible for murder.  Of the 16 individuals held accountable for murder, 15 were in the United States illegally. 

Edwin Gonzalez, a/k/a “Sangriento,” 22, a Salvadoran national, was found guilty of conspiracy to conduct enterprise affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity, more commonly referred to as RICO or racketeering conspiracy. In addition, the jury found that Gonzalez’s racketeering activity on behalf of MS-13 included his participation in the Sept. 7, 2015, murder of a 15-year-old in East Boston and the Jan. 10, 2016, murder of a 16-year old in East Boston.  U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV scheduled sentencing for Sept. 26, 2018.

After a multi-year investigation, Gonzalez was one of dozens of leaders, members, and associates of MS-13 named in a superseding indictment unsealed in January 2016 that targeted MS-13’s criminal activities in Massachusetts.  According to court documents, MS-13 members in Massachusetts engaged in a variety of racketeering acts and crimes of violence, including six different murders committed by members of MS-13 in Massachusetts between October 2014 and January 2016. 

Gonzalez was the 49th defendant to be convicted as part of this case. All nine defendants who went to trial were convicted and 40 others pleaded guilty.  Of the 16 defendants held responsible for murder, 15 defendants, including Gonzalez, were in the United States illegally at the time the murders were committed. The conviction of Gonzalez brings to end this series of prosecutions; the remaining defendants are fugitives and will be prosecuted upon arrest. 

The multi-year investigation revealed that multiple MS-13 cliques operate in East Boston, Chelsea, Everett, Somerville, and other parts of Massachusetts. Gonzalez was a member of the Molinos Locos Salvatrucha clique of MS-13. 

On Sept. 7, 2015, Gonzalez and three other MS-13 members lured a 15-year-old boy through social media to Constitution Beach in East Boston. Convinced that the victim was a gang rival, Gonzalez and others targeted him by pretending to be a girl on Facebook and lured the victim to the beach for a date. When the victim arrived at Constitution Beach, Gonzalez and three other MS-13 members took turns stabbing the victim repeatedly, killing him and leaving him dead on a public beach. The victim had approximately 33 sharp force injuries and multiple blunt force injuries. The other three MS-13 members who committed this murder with Gonzalez – Carlos Melara, a/k/a “Chuchito,” a/k/a “Criminal;” Henry Parada Martinez, a/k/a “Street Danger;” and Rene Mejia Flores a/k/a “Gasper,” – have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.

On Dec. 6, 2015, Gonzalez was promoted to “homeboy,” or full-member of the gang, to reward him for the murder he committed on behalf of MS-13. Melara and Mejia Flores were also promoted to “homeboys” for their role in the murder.

On Jan.10, 2016, Gonzalez and three other MS-13 members lured a 16-year-old boy through social media to Falcon Street in East Boston. Again, convinced that the victim was a gang rival, Gonzalez and others targeted him by pretending to be a girl on Facebook. Gonzalez then went to pick up the victim, pretending to be a relative of the girl that the victim was supposed to meet for a date. When Gonzalez arrived with the victim in East Boston, the MS-13 members attacked the victim. Three of the MS-13 members, including Gonzalez, were armed with large knives and stabbed the victim repeatedly, while the fourth MS-13 member fired multiple gunshots into the victim. Gonzalez and the other MS-13 members then ran away, leaving the teenager dead on a public street. The victim had approximately 48 sharp force injuries, multiple gunshot wounds, and multiple blunt force injuries. The other three MS-13 members who committed this murder with Gonzalez – Edwin Diaz, a/k/a “Demente;” Jairo Perez, a/k/a “Seco;” and Rigoberto Mejia, a/k/a “Ninja” – have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Colonel Kerry A. Gilpin, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Commissioner Thomas Turco of the Massachusetts Department of Corrections; Essex County Sheriff Kevin F. Coppinger; Suffolk County Sheriff Steven W. Thompkins; Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley; Middlesex County District Attorney Marian T. Ryan; Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett; Boston Police Commissioner William Evans; Chelsea Police Chief Brian A. Kyes; Everett Police Chief Steven A. Mazzie; Lynn Police Chief Michael Mageary; Revere Police Chief James Guido; Somerville Police Chief David Fallon; and Wes Adams, State’s Attorney, Anne Arundel County (Maryland), Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office, made the announcement today.

BOSTON – A Dominican national, residing illegally in the United States, was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for identity theft and related charges.

Willy Antonio Hernandez Camilo, 34, a Dominican national previously residing in Lawrence, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs to two years and a day in prison and three years of supervised release. Hernandez Camilo will be subject to deportation proceedings upon completion of his sentence. In March 2018, Hernandez Camilo pleaded guilty to one count of passport fraud, two counts of misuse of a Social Security number, and two counts of aggravated identity theft.

In 2014, Hernandez Camilo applied for a passport at a Methuen post office purporting to be a U.S. citizen. On the application he represented that the name, Social Security number, and date of birth of a Puerto Rican man were his. He supported the application with a birth certificate and a 2012 Massachusetts driver’s license, both in the victim’s name. In 2016, Hernandez Camilo went to a Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles office in Haverhill and applied to renew his Massachusetts driver’s license. Again, he represented the victim’s identity to be his own. Hernandez Camilo admitted that he knew the identity he used was not fabricated but belonged to a real person.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; and William B. Gannon, Special Agent in Charge of the Boston Field Office of the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Wichers of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.

BOSTON – A Dominican national, living illegally in the United States, pleaded guilty yesterday and was sentenced in federal court in Boston in connection with misusing a Social Security number and identity theft.

Saly Romero Aquino, a/k/a Saly Nicaury Romero Aquino, a/k/a Saly Nicauri Romero Aquino, a/k/a Saly Nicauri Romero Tejada, 33, a Dominican national residing in Lawrence, pleaded guilty to one count of misuse of a Social Security number and one count of aggravated identity theft. U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani accepted Romero Aquino’s plea and immediately sentenced her to two years and a day in prison and 18 months of supervised release. Romero Aquino will be subject to deportation upon completion of her sentence.

On Feb. 25, 2013, Romero Aquino walked into a Social Security Administration field office in Lawrence and applied for a replacement Social Security card in the name of a U.S. citizen who was born in Puerto Rico and later moved to upstate New York. Romero Aquino claimed that the victim’s Social Security number was her own. As proof of identity, she presented a Massachusetts driver’s license that was in the victim’s name but contained a photo of herself. The application was granted. A replacement card bearing the victim’s name and Social Security number was mailed to the Lawrence address that Romero Aquino had used on her application.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; and Scott Antolik, Special Agent in Charge of the Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations, Boston Field Division, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Wichers of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.

BOSTON - A Dominican national pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to illegally reentering the United States after being deported.  

Juan Laboy, 44, a Dominican national residing in Lawrence, pleaded guilty to one count of illegal reentry of a deported alien. U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young scheduled sentencing for Sept. 15, 2018.

Laboy, who is currently on federal supervised release for a 2016 illegal reentry conviction, has previously been deported five times: Oct. 18, 2006; Jan. 12, 2008; April 7, 2010; Dec. 3, 2013; and April 5, 2016.

On Nov. 14, 2017, law enforcement arrested Laboy and charged him with trafficking in cocaine. Laboy’s prints were obtained and found to match the prints in his Alien file. The cocaine trafficking charges are currently pending in Lawrence District Court. 

Immediately following his plea hearing before Judge Young, Laboy appeared before U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs for a hearing related to violating his supervised release. Judge Burroughs found Laboy in violation of his supervised release and sentenced him to eight months in prison.

The charge of illegal reentry provides for a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a fine of $250,000, and Laboy will be subject to deportation upon completion of his sentence. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. 

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Rebecca J. Adducci, Interim Field Office Director, Boston, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth G. Shine of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.

BOSTON – A Dominican national, who is illegally in the United States, pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Boston to charges related to identity theft.

Kelny Andujar, a/k/a Kelny Alberto Andujar Pinales, 36, a Dominican national residing in Lawrence, pleaded guilty to one count of passport fraud, one count of misusing a Social Security number, and two counts of aggravated identity theft. U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs scheduled sentencing for Sept. 13, 2018. Andujar has been in custody since his arrest in March 2018.

In March 2016, Andujar went to a post office in Lawrence and applied for a U.S. passport. He applied in the name of a U.S. citizen who lives in Puerto Rico and listed that citizen’s date of birth, place of birth and Social Security number. Andujar supported his application with a certified copy of the victim’s birth certificate, a Social Security card bearing the victim’s name and Social Security number, and a Massachusetts ID card bearing Andujar’s photo but the victim’s name. The passport application was denied.

In November 2016, Andujar went to the Registry of Motor Vehicles in Wilmington and applied for a duplicate Massachusetts ID card in the victim’s name. Andujar represented that the victim’s name, date of birth, and Social Security number were his own. The application was granted, and Andujar was issued a replacement ID card bearing his photo with the victim’s name.

The charge of aggravated identity theft provides for a mandatory sentence of two years in prison to be served consecutive to any other sentence imposed, up to one year of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of passport fraud provides for a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of misuse of a Social Security number provides for a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. Andujar will be subject to deportation proceedings upon completion of his sentence. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and William B. Gannon, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of State, Diplomatic Security Service, Boston Field Office, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Wichers of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.

BOSTON - A Colombian national pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Boston to illegally reentering the United States after being deported.

Alejandro Suarez, 45, pleaded guilty to one count of illegal reentry of a deported alien. U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani scheduled sentencing for June 22, 2018.

On March 22, 2018, law enforcement officers discovered Suarez and determined him to be illegally present in the United States. Suarez was previously deported on July 26, 2000.

Suarez faces a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, a fine of $250,000, and will be subject to deportation proceedings upon completion of any sentence imposed. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Rebecca J. Adducci, Interim Field Office Director, Boston, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Soivilien of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting this case.

BOSTON – A Chinese national was arrested today and charged in connection with violating export laws by conspiring with employees of an entity affiliated with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to illegally export U.S. origin goods to China, as well as making false statements to obtain a visa to enter the United States and to become a lawful permanent resident under the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa Program.

Shuren Qin, 41, a Chinese national residing in Wellesley, Mass., was charged in a criminal complaint with one count of visa fraud and one count of conspiring to commit violations of U.S. export regulations. Qin was arrested today and will appear in federal court in Boston on June 22, 2018.

According to charging documents, Qin was born in the People’s Republic of China and became a lawful permanent resident of the United States in 2014. Qin operates several companies in China, which purport to import U.S. and European goods with applications in underwater or marine technologies into China.  It is alleged that Qin was in communication with and/or receiving taskings from entities affiliated with the PLA, including the Northwestern Polytechnical University (NWPU), a Chinese military research institute, to obtain items used for anti-submarine warfare.

In 2001, the Department of Commerce designated NWPU on its Entity List because of the national security risks it poses to the U.S. NWPU has worked closely with the PLA on the advancement of its military capabilities. From at least July 2015 to December 2016, Qin allegedly exported approximately 78 hydrophones (devices used to detect and monitor sound underwater) from the United States to NWPU without obtaining the required export licenses from the Department of Commerce, in violation of U.S. export laws. Qin did so by concealing from the U.S. supplier that NWPU was the end-user and causing false information to be filed with the United States Government.

As alleged in court documents, in 2014, Qin made false statements on his visa application. Specifically, he falsely certified that he had never “engaged in export control violations or other unlawful activity.”  However, it is alleged that Qin engaged in numerous violations of U.S. export laws since 2012. In his petition to become a legal permanent resident of the U.S., Qin again falsely certified that he had never committed any crime. Furthermore, during a November 2017, interview with Customs and Board Patrol Officers, Qin stated that he “only” exported instruments that attach to a buoy. However, Qin had allegedly exported remotely-operated side scan sonar systems, unmanned underwater vehicles, unmanned surface vehicles, robotic boats, and hydrophones. These items have military applications and can be used for weapon delivery systems, anti-submarine warfare, mine counter-measures as well as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance activities.

The charge of conspiring to violate U.S. export laws provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $1 million. The charge of visa fraud provides for a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew Lelling; Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent in Charge of the Homeland Security Investigation, Boston Field Office; Leigh Alistair-Barzey, Special Agent in Charge of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Northeast Field Office; William Higgins, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Commerce, Office of Export Enforcement, Boston Field Office; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Leo Lamont, Special Agent in Charge of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Northeast Field Office made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney B. Stephanie Siegmann, Chief of Lelling’s National Security Unit is prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the indictment are allegations.  The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

BOSTON – An executive of a California-based biopharmaceutical company was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston in connection with trading on insider information and profiting nearly $1 million.

Robert Gadimian, 48, of Burbank, Calif., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young to 27 months in prison, two years of supervised release and ordered to pay a fine of $25,000. In November 2017, Gadimian pleaded guilty to seven counts of securities fraud and insider trading.

From November 2011 to October 2014, Gadimian was the Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs at Puma Technology Inc., a biopharmaceutical company based in California whose principal focus was the development of a breast cancer drug called neratinib. Puma was involved in several ongoing drug trials for neratinib including one that a Massachusetts-based consulting firm was conducting for Puma.

By virtue of his position at Puma, including his attendance at steering committee meetings and project team meetings related to ongoing drug trials, Gadimian learned sensitive, non-public information about the ongoing trials. Gadimian traded on that inside information and made significant profits, in violation of Puma’s insider trading policy. For example, in July 2014, Gadimian purchased a series of short-term Puma call options in advance of a July 22, 2014, public announcement that Puma achieved positive results during one of the trials. The following day, Puma’s stock price jumped approximately 295 percent, and Gadimian then sold all the call options he purchased and profited $910,000 from his illegal trades. In total, Gadimian made profits of $95,000 in 2013 and $1,060,000 in 2014. 

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission provided assistance in bringing this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil J. Gallagher Jr. of Lelling’s Economic Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.

BOSTON – An alleged member of the Latin Gangsta’ Disciples gang in Lawrence was sentenced yesterday to three years in prison for federal firearms trafficking. Defendant sold 11 firearms, 18 magazines and 359 rounds of ammunition (including 59 rounds of hollow point ammunition, sometimes referred to on the street as “cop killers).

Eric Valentin, a/k/a “Jefe,” 22, of Nashua, N.H., was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Rya W. Zobel to three years in prison and three years of supervised release. In April 2018, Valentin pleaded guilty to dealing firearms without a license and conspiracy to deal firearms without a license. In February 2018, Valentin was charged along with co-defendants Jose Ilarraza, a/k/a “Kae-Kae,” 26, of Newburyport, and Bryan Torres-Almanzar, a/k/a “Flex,” 19, of Nashua, N.H.

According to court documents, in September 2017, a cooperating witness working for federal investigators was approached by an individual in the Middleton House of Corrections, after that individual learned that the cooperator was interested in obtaining firearms for shipment to the Dominican Republic. The cooperating witness was instructed to contact Torres-Almanzar, who was allegedly heavily involved in firearms trafficking.

Investigators used this information and another cooperating witness to purchase firearms from Torres-Almanzar and his partner, Valentin, on six occasions between Sept. 12, 2017, and Oct. 19, 2017.  For example, on Sept. 14, 2017, the cooperating witness arranged to purchase a 9mm semiautomatic pistol with a laser sight, three magazines and 50 rounds of 9mm ammunition for $1,000 from Torres-Almanzar and Valentin. During the sale, Torres-Almanzar and Valentin talked about future gun purchases and told the cooperating witness that “we do business and will take care of you.” They also said that they were in the business of “growing our organization” and repeatedly urged the cooperating witness to buy more firearms.

During the course of the investigation, the cooperating witness purchased a total of 11 firearms, 18 magazines and 359 rounds of ammunition (including 59 rounds of hollow point ammunition, sometimes referred to on the street as “cop killers”) from Torres-Almanzar and Valentin for a total of $12,300. During an Oct. 4, 2017 sale, Valentin provided the cooperating witness with a “price list” that indicated the range of firearms that Valentin and Torres-Almanzar allegedly had for sale.

Torres-Almanzar previously pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 26, 2018. Ilarraza’s case remains pending.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Mickey D. Leadingham, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Boston Field Division; Lawrence Police Chief Roy P. Vasque; Essex County Sheriff Kevin F. Coppinger; Essex County District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett; Lowell Police Chief Jonathan C. Webb; and Nashua (N.H.) Police Chief Andrew J. Lavoie made the announcement today. 

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations.  The remaining defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

BOSTON – Three Holyoke men were arrested today and charged in federal court in Springfield with distributing drugs.

Pedro Colon Amadeo, 35, and Jean Carlos Rivera, 29, were charged in separate indictments with distribution and possession with intent to distribute cocaine base, also known as crack cocaine. Anthony Rivera, 35, was charged in a third indictment with distribution and possession with intent to distribute heroin.

According to the indictments that were unsealed today, each defendant distributed the drugs in Holyoke between November of 2017 and January of 2018. The indictments are the result of a seven month law enforcement investigation into cocaine and heroin trafficking in Holyoke by members of La Familia gang.

Colon- Amadeo faces up to 40 years in prison, up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of up to $1 million; Anthony Rivera faces up to 30 years in prison, up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of up to $2 million; and Jean Carlos Rivera faces up to 20 years in prison, a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of up to $1 million. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. 

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Colonel Kerry A. Gilpin, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; and Holyoke Police Chief James M. Neiswanger made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd E. Newhouse of Lelling’s Springfield Office is prosecuting the cases.

The details contained in the indictments are allegations. The defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

BOSTON – A Fitchburg woman and a Saugus man were sentenced today in federal court in Boston for their roles in a steroid trafficking conspiracy.

Elizabeth Green, 30, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs to two years of probation. In December 2017, Green pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. Brian Petzke, 49, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton to two years in prison and two years of supervised release. In February 2018, Petzke pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. Petzke and six others, including Green’s sister, were charged in April 2017 for their roles in the conspiracy. Green was later charged by Information. 

From approximately May 2015 until April 12, 2017, the conspirators manufactured steroid products made from raw materials that they purchased overseas and marketed as “Onyx” steroids using “Onyx” labels that were also ordered from overseas suppliers. Onyx, now owned by Amgen Inc., is a legitimate pharmaceutical company that does not manufacture steroids. 

The defendants sold the steroids to customers across the United States using email and social media platforms, collected payment through money remitters, such as Western Union and MoneyGram, and used false identifications and multiple remitter locations to pick up the proceeds. Some of the defendants laundered proceeds from the steroid sales through Wicked Tan LLC, a tanning business in Beverly, which they owned and operated specifically to launder the proceeds of the steroid operation.

Green’s role in the conspiracy was to collect customer payments from money remitters using false identifications and provide those proceeds to another member of the organization. Green retrieved more than $220,000 in customer payments for steroid purchases.

Petzke’s principal roles in the conspiracy were receiving packages containing raw steroid powder; shipping steroids to customers throughout the United States at the direction of co-defendants Tyler Baumann and Phillip Goodwin; and picking up steroid proceeds from money remitters at the direction of Baumann and Goodwin. 

Baumann and Goodwin each pleaded guilty and were sentenced in March 2018 to 10 years and 130 months in prison, respectively.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Delany De Leon-Colon, Acting Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and Jeffrey Ebersole, Special Agent in Charge of the Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations, New York Field Office, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amy Harman Burkart and David J. D’Addio of Lelling’s Cybercrime Unit are prosecuting the cases. 

BOSTON - A Dominican national pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to illegally reentering the United States after being deported.  

Herminio Polanco-Huma, 26, a Dominican national formerly residing in Lawrence, pleaded guilty to one count of illegal reentry of a deported alien. U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel Gorton scheduled sentencing for Sept. 20, 2018.

In February 2017, federal law enforcement encountered Polanco-Huma in Florida and determined that he was illegally present in the United States. Polanco-Huma was placed into removal proceedings, and on Feb. 21, 2017, he was deported to the Dominican Republic.

In November 2017, Polanco-Huma was encountered awaiting trial at the Essex County House of Corrections having been arrested for distribution of cocaine. Polanco-Huma’s prints were obtained and found to be a positive match to prints contained in his Alien File. In May 2018, Polanco-Huma was convicted in Essex Superior Court of distribution of cocaine and sentenced to three years and one day in prison.  

Polanco-Huma faces a sentence of no greater than two years in prison, three years of supervised release, a fine of $250,000, and will be subject to deportation upon completion of his sentence. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Rebecca J. Adducci, Interim Field Office Director, Boston, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth G. Shine of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.

BOSTON – A Boston man was convicted yesterday in federal court in Boston of his role in a heroin conspiracy operating in Norwood.

Luis Guzman-Ortiz, 25, was convicted by a federal jury of one count of conspiring to distribute heroin. Guzman-Ortiz has been released pending his sentencing hearing, which has not been set.

In early 2015, federal agents conducted a wiretap investigation of Eddyberto Mejia-Ramos, a regional heroin trafficker operating in Taunton. In May and June, Soto-Peguero was identified as Mejia-Ramos’ primary source of supply. On July 6, 2015, calls were intercepted during which Mejia-Ramos asked Soto-Peguero to send him something “heavy,” and Soto-Peguero replied that his girlfriend, Mercedes Cabral, was on her way. Federal agents then conducted surveillance outside Soto-Peguero’s Norwood apartment and observed Cabral exit the apartment and drive towards Taunton. Law enforcement officers stopped Cabral and found 10 blocks of heroin (918 grams) protruding from her purse. 

After seizing the heroin, law enforcement attempted to secure Soto-Peguero’s apartment in anticipation of obtaining a federal search warrant; they knocked on the door and announced the presence of police, but no one answered. As officers began a forced entry through the front door, there was a disturbance. According to evidence provided at the April 2018 trial of Soto-Peguero, Soto-Peguero fired a gunshot through the front door. Fortunately, no one was hurt. 

This evidence was not presented at Guzman-Ortiz’s trial after the Court found it was irrelevant to Guzman-Ortiz’s case and potentially prejudicial. 

Law enforcement eventually gained entry and arrested Soto-Peguero and Guzman-Ortiz. The next day, officers executed a search warrant at the home and seized two kilograms of heroin, two hydraulic drug presses, and other evidence that showed the apartment was being used to prepare and package heroin. A firearm was also seized, and forensic testing revealed that Soto-Peguero had fired the weapon.   

Soto-Peguero was convicted by a federal jury in April 2018 of drug offenses involving over a kilo of heroin. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 2, 2018. Cabral pleaded guilty and was sentenced in May 2017 to time served (22 months), and Mejia-Ramos pleaded guilty and was sentenced in August 2016 to 90 months in prison.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division, made the announcement.  Valuable assistance was provided by the Massachusetts State Police, the Massachusetts State Police Criminal Laboratory, the Norwood and Taunton Police Departments; and the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Theodore Heinrich of Lelling’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit prosecuted the case.