District of Maryland

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander sentenced Daquan Murphy, age 20, of Baltimore, Maryland, today to 15 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for carjacking and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.  

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Interim Chief Dennis J. Delp of the Baltimore County Police Department; and Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department.

According to his guilty plea, from February 3 to February 10, 2021, Murphy committed two armed jackings and the attempted armed robbery of a convenience store.  In all three instances, Murphy pointed a firearm at the victims.  Specifically, early in the morning on February 3, 2021, Murphy approached Victim 1 at a Randallstown, Maryland gas station and asked the victim for a ride to his mother’s house.  The victim agreed to give Murphy a ride and followed Murphy’s directions, purportedly to his mother’s house.

During the drive, Murphy told the victim to go to a specific intersection and when they arrived there, Murphy pulled a firearm from his waistband, pointed it at Victim 1, and ordered Victim 1 to get out of the car.  Fearing for his life, the victim complied with Murphy’s demands.  Murphy also ordered the victim to empty his pockets and surrender his valuables, including a smartphone.  Murphy then fled in Victim 1’s car.

Hours later, law enforcement located the stolen car on Brune Street in Baltimore and found a CashApp card bearing Murphy’s username in the car and located a latent fingerprint belonging to Murphy in the car’s center console.  Additionally, a search of the car’s telematics system revealed that Murphy connected a cell phone to the car’s system.

As detailed in the guilty plea, on February 10, 2021, Murphy approached Victim 2, who was sitting in his car in the 2900 block of Stranden Road in Baltimore, pointed a gun at Victim 2, then ordered Victim 2 to get out of the car and get on the ground.  Fearing for his safety, Victim 2 complied with Murphy’s demands.  Murphy fled in Victim 2’s car, which contained Victim 2’s valuables, including a cell phone.

Later that day, Murphy attempted to rob a convenience store in Dundalk, Maryland.  During the robbery attempt, Murphy pointed his firearm at the store clerk (Victim 3) and demanded money.  Victim 3 told Murphy to “come get the money” and that he also had a gun.  Murphy ran to the front of the store, again pointing his firearm in the direction of Victim 3.  Murphy fled in the vehicle that he had carjacked from Victim 2 earlier that day and did not obtain any money from the convenience store.

That same day, law enforcement saw Murphy operating Victim 2’s stolen car and pursued Murphy.  Murphy eventually stopped the vehicle and attempted to run away.  He was ultimately apprehended by officers. 

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI, the Baltimore County Police Department, and the Baltimore Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul A. Riley, who prosecuted the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher sentenced Donald Hildebrandt, age 52, of Bel Air, Maryland, yesterday to 25 years in federal prison, followed by lifetime supervised release, for sexual exploitation of a child to produce child pornography, and possession of child pornography.  The indictment was returned on June 3, 2021.  Hildebrandt is a former Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) officer with the Baltimore Police Department.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge James C. Harris of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore; Colonel Woodrow W. Jones III, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police; Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey R. Gahler; Lieutenant Paul Marziale of the Harford County Sheriff’s Office, Director of the Harford County Child Advocacy Center; and Harford County State’s Attorney Albert J. Peisinger, Jr.

According to his plea agreement, between 2018 and 2020, Hildebrandt purchased at least three “spy” cameras, which he hid in a shared bathroom in his home to secretly record minors showering and using the bathroom.  Hundreds of videos of minors in various stages of undress were made, and the minors who were recorded were between the ages of three and 16.  At least 10 children were recorded in videos taken in the bathroom and dozens of videos were produced that depicted children with exposed genitals, including at least five minors, four of whom were under 12 years of age.

As detailed in the plea agreement, Hildebrandt placed the cameras slightly above the seat of the toilet and at other location at a height designed to capture the victims’ genitals while getting in and out of the shower, and while using the toilet.  In order to record as many victims as possible, visitors were instructed to change clothes only in the bathroom and not in the bedrooms.  The images recorded in the videos were located on Hildebrandt’s computer which was seized during a search on October 20, 2021.  Additional images depicting children engaged in sexually explicit conduct were found on other electronic media seized during the search.

One day prior to the execution of the search warrant, Hildebrandt was notified that he was the subject of a child exploitation investigation, through a witness and when he was contacted by a member of Child Protective Services.  Sometime after that, but before the execution of the search warrant, Hildebrandt admitted that he performed a factory reset of his tablet.  Investigators also did not locate any “spy” cameras in the residence.

Finally, it was also proved that Hildebrandt sexually abused a minor, demanding that the victim engage in sex acts with him. 

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.  For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc and click on the "Resources" tab on the left of the page.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended HSI, the Maryland State Police, the Harford County Sheriff’s Office, the Harford County Child Advocacy Center, and the Harford County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation and prosecution.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul E. Budlow and Mary Setzer, who prosecuted the federal case.

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Baltimore, Maryland – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland has announced the seizure of 55 separate websites for allegedly live streaming the World Cup games, an infringement of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) copyrights.  Individuals visiting the sites will now see a message that the site has been seized by the federal government and be redirected to another site for additional information. 

The seizure of the domain names was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Special Agent in Charge James C. Harris of Homeland Security Investigations – Baltimore; and Director James R. Mancuso of the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center.

According to the affidavit filed in support of the seizures, FIFA is the international governing body of association football and holds the exclusive rights to sanction and stage the FIFA World Cup 2022, which is being hosted in multiple cities in Qatar.  Beginning in September 2022, HSI received information from a representative of FIFA identifying several sites being used to distribute and transmit copyright-infringing content, without FIFA’s authorization.  HSI Agents in Maryland reviewed World Cup games accessible from each of the subject domain names, in violation of FIFA’s copyright. 

As detailed in the affidavit, free access to live sports-related copyright-protected content can attract heavy viewing traffic, which makes websites offering such content a potentially lucrative way to serve advertisements.  Based on the pervasive use of advertising on each site, the affidavit alleges that the purpose for distributing the infringing content is the private financial gain to these websites’ operators.  By seizing the subject domain names the government prevents third parties from acquiring the name and using it to commit additional crimes, or from continuing to access the websites in their present forms.

“HSI will continue to focus on removing websites that facilitate digital piracy, and other intellectual property violations, from the internet,” said Special Agent in Charge James C. Harris III of HSI Baltimore. “While many may believe that such websites do not constitute serious threats, the infringement upon rights holders of any intellectual property is a growing threat to our economic viability. The impact can be felt across multiple industries, and it can be the conduit to other forms of criminal activity.”

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron and Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite commended HSI for its work in this investigation and thanked the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center and the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance for their assistance.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Aaron S.J. Zelinsky and Stephanie Williamson and Trial Attorneys from the Justice Department's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, who are handling the case.           

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao/md.

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Baltimore, Maryland – Former Baltimore City Assistant State’s Attorney Adam Lane Chaudry, age 43, of Baltimore, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to two counts of fraud in connection with obtaining confidential phone records.  Chaudry admitted that he committed the crime knowing that information may be used in furtherance of and with the intent to commit stalking. 

The plea agreement was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Maryland State Prosecutor Charlton T. Howard III; and Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office.

According to the plea agreement, from June 2009 to June 18, 2021, Chaudry worked as an Assistant State’s Attorney in the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office (“BSAO”).  From September 2015 until he left the BSAO Chaudry worked in the BSAO’s Homicide Division.  Chaudry maintained a romantic relationship with Victim #1 from May 2005 through January 2018; and with Victim #2 from August 2017 through September 2020.  Victims #3, #4, and #5 were long-time friends of Victim #1.  At no point were any of the victims a witness or target of any criminal investigation or prosecution by the BSAO. 

As detailed in the guilty plea, between January 3, 2019, and February 22, 2019, Chaudry caused three grand jury subpoenas to be sent to a telecommunications company in Florida requesting all subscriber information, billing information, and toll records, including incoming and outgoing calls, from October 28, 2018 through February 22, 2019, for Victim #1’s phone number.  Chaudry caused the subpoenas to appear to be related to a “special investigation in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City”; to contain no identifying case number; and to further state, “The information sought in this subpoena is relevant and material to a legitimate law enforcement inquiry.”  The subpoenas directed that the records be produced “as soon as possible” directly to Chaudry at his BSAO address and stated, “Any and all questions should be directed to him.”  The grand jury subpoenas contained Chaudry’s signature, the name of the Grand Jury Foreperson, and the signature of the Clerk of Baltimore City Circuit Court.  Other subpoenas contained similar fraudulent information. 

In a similar manner, Chaudry caused grand jury and trial subpoenas to be issued to a telecommunications company in New Jersey for the telephone records of Victim #2 between February 22, 2019 and April 12, 2021; caused multiple grand jury and trial subpoenas to be issued for the telephone records of Victim #3 between March 12, 2019 and April 21, 2020; caused multiple grand jury and trial subpoenas to be issued for the telephone records of Victim #4 between March 22, 2019 and February 8, 2021; and caused multiple grand jury and trial subpoenas to be issued for the telephone records of Victim #5 between January 21, 2019 and February 18, 2020. 

In addition, on March 26, 2019, an investigator at BSAO provided Chaudry information that Chaudry had previously requested including Victim #1’s home address, MVA information, and her driver’s license photograph.  Chaudry then used the information, including Victim #1’s driver’s license photograph to contact a hotel to request information about Victims #1 and #4’s stays at the hotel using his BSAO email address.  The hotel number appeared in Victim #1’s phone records obtained by Chaudry. 

On March 4, 2020, Chaudry sent a lengthy email to Victim #1 expressing a desire to get back together.  Victim #1 responded the same day, stating, in part, “It has been over a year now and I need you to move on.  I was hoping by ignoring the texts, calls, and flowers, you would understand how I feel but now I will make it very clear…Please do not send me any more flowers or anything else, and please do not send anything to my job.  It makes me uncomfortable as I am no longer your girlfriend… There is no future for us…Please do not stop by my house or try to “run” into me anywhere else.  I will not answer the door as there is nothing more to discuss…If you persist any further I will look into other options.”  Chaudry responded the same day with another email that ended, “every response you have ever given me has been out of anger and frustration when I asked you about [Victim #4].  Just level with me and tell me whether you are dating him.  Yes or No.”  After this email exchange, Chaudry issued a total of 23 Circuit Court subpoenas for the telephone records of Victim #1, #2, #3, and #4. 

Between January 3, 2019 and April 12, 2021, Chaudry caused 33 grand jury and trial subpoenas to be issued for the telephone records of Victim #1.  Using the phone records Chaudry received, he created a spreadsheet of the 67 phone number found in the phone records of Victim #1, including the name associated with each number and “relationship” to Victim #1.  The spreadsheet also contained physical addresses and email addresses of some of the individuals associated with those phone numbers, as well as other “associated persons” to the phone number.  The spreadsheet also tracked the method of payment for hotel room stays in Victim #1’s name.

After Victim #2 and Chaudry ended their relationship, between December 8 and December 21, 2020, Chaudry caused to be issued subpoenas for jail calls between Victim #2 and a close relative of Victim #2 who was incarcerated in another Maryland County in a case not involving the BSAO.  Chaudry also caused a subpoena to be issued for Victim #2’s relative’s visitor logs.  Notes on the jail calls found in Chaudry’s desk revealed sensitive information about Victim #2’s family and banking information.

On December 13, 202, a phone belonging to Chaudry captured 96 images of Victim #2’s social media account including lists of her contacts and photographs of Victim #2 and her friends and family.   On February 24, 2021, Chaudry further sent a letter on BSAO letterhead for 911 calls made by Victim #2 that appeared in phone record logs he had obtained.  He represented that the records were “pertinent to a legitimate law enforcement inquiry.”

In all, Chaudry caused a total of 65 fraudulent grand jury and trial subpoenas to be issued for the telephone records of the five victims.

Chaudry faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in federal prison for each of the two counts of fraud in obtaining records.   U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett has scheduled sentencing for March 9, 2023 at 2:30 p.m.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI and State Prosecutor’s Office for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean R. Delaney and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah R. David, who are prosecuting the federal case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte today sentenced Christopher Michael Cline, a/k/a “Carisa Cline,” age 46, of Gaithersburg, Maryland, to 24 years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, after the defendant pleaded guilty to bank robbery.  The defendant also admitted violating two terms of supervised release for previous federal bank robbery convictions.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Chief Marcus Jones of the Montgomery County Police Department; and Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy.

According to the plea agreement and other court documents, between January 28 and February 8, 2021, less than three months after being released from prison for a federal bank robbery conviction, Cline committed a series of bank robberies in Gaithersburg Maryland.  Specifically, Cline attempted to rob a bank in Gaithersburg, Maryland on January 28, 2021, and successfully robbed a different bank in Gaithersburg the next day.  Cline also robbed a third Gaithersburg bank on February 8, 2021. 

As detailed in court documents, on February 23, 2000, Cline was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for a 1999 bank robbery in Berwyn Heights, Maryland.  On October 14, 2004, while serving the final months of that sentence at a residential re-entry facility, Cline absconded and began committing bank robberies the next day.  From October 15, 2004, through November 16, 2004, Cline committed a total of 12 bank robberies and one attempted bank robbery.  Cline was subsequently convicted of federal bank robbery a second time and sentenced to 188 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release.  Cline was released from prison on November 9, 2020, and began serving the three-year term of supervised release for each of those convictions.  By committing the 2021 bank robbery, Cline’s third such conviction, Cline violated the terms of supervised release for both previous bank robbery convictions.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron praised the FBI the Montgomery County Police Department, and the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in this investigation and prosecution.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey J. Izant, who prosecuted the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.   

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Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced Trayvon Hall, a/k/a “Tru,” and “G Tru,” age 31, of Baltimore, yesterday to 454 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for racketeering and drug conspiracy charges, related to his activities as the leader of the Eight Tray Gangster (ETG) Crips gang in Baltimore.  Judge Bennett also sentenced ETG Crips member Marcus Williams, a/k/a “Gangsta C,” and “GC,” age 34, of Baltimore to 87 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, on the same charges.

The sentences were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; and Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department.

The ETG Crips were a violent subset of the Crips gang that originated in California in the 1970s, eventually operating on the streets and in correctional facilities in Maryland beginning in the 2000s.  For many years, the ETG Crips controlled the drug trade in particular territories in Baltimore City, including the area around the intersection between West Baltimore Street and South Hilton Street in West Baltimore (the “Baltimore Hilton neighborhood”), the area around the intersection between West Lexington Street and North Fremont Avenue (the “Lexington Terrace neighborhood”), and the area around the intersection between Frankford Avenue and Sinclair Lane in North Baltimore (the “Frankford Sinclair neighborhood”).  The ETG Crips members from the Baltimore Hilton and Lexington Terrace neighborhoods referred to themselves as the Baccwest ETG Crips—modeling themselves after the Baccwest ETG Crips in Los Angeles—and ETG Crips members from the Frankford Sinclair neighborhood called themselves the Nutty North Side ETG Crips.  The two groups worked together for common criminal purposes.

According to their guilty pleas, Trayvon Hall was the leader of the Baccwest ETG Crips in Baltimore, referred to as the “G” of the gang and Williams was a member of the gang.  In about 2013, Hall flew to California to meet with West Coast leaders of the ETG Crips and gain their official approval for his Baccwest ETG Crips set in Baltimore.  The Baccwest ETG Crips operated street-level drug distribution “shops” primarily in the Baltimore Hilton neighborhood, the Lexington Terrace neighborhood and the Franklin Sinclair neighborhood, distributing heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine, and marijuana.  Non-members of the gang who attempted to sell drugs in the ETG Crips’ territories were targeted for violence by ETG Crips members.

The ETG Crips used social media websites to assert their claim to drug territories, intimidate rival gangs and witnesses against gang members, and to enhance the status of the ETG Crips and of individual members within the gang.  Members of the ETG Crips posted photos and rap videos to social media websites flaunting weapons and threatening to kill those who stood in the way of the gang.  By participating in criminal activities in furtherance of the gang, particularly violent acts directed by the ETG Crips leadership, ETG Crips members earned respect from fellow members and maintained or advanced their position within the gang.

As detailed in the plea agreements, Hall his co-defendants, including Williams, conspired to distribute and distributed drugs, including heroin and crack cocaine, and committed robberies to earn money for the enterprise.  From May 2016 through November 2016, Hall and other ETG Crips conspired to murder members of the Black Guerilla Family (BGF) gang who operated a rival drug shop in the Lexington Terrace neighborhood.  During a conversation with fellow gang members on May18, 2016, Williams  agreed to “take the lead in a drill” that night to shoot BGF members by approaching the basketball court at Lexington Terrace from “behind,” catching the BGF members unaware.  On June 23, 2016, ETG Crips members attempted to murder two BGF gang members, instead shooting two victims who were in the area at the time.  On July 18, 2016, Hall murdered BGF member Albert Pittman, shooting him to death in the 4800 block of Midline Road.  On November 11, 2016, in the 800 block of West Lexington Street, Hall opened fire on members of the rival BGF gang, killing BGF member Shyheim Brown and wounding two other victims.  Immediately afterward, Hall sent an unindicted co-conspirator a series of text messages about the shooting, saying he had “Jus bashed the monkeys” (a derogatory term for members of BGF), and they “Wasn’t exspecting [sic] me be out early lmGCao [laughing my Gangster Crip ass off].”

Further, from July 2017 through July 2019, Hall and other members of the ETG Crips conspired to murder members of the Abington Avenue drug trafficking organization, whose territory the ETG Crips had taken over.  Hall directed the ETG Crips to use violence to retaliate against anyone who refused to respect the boundaries of their newly claimed turf.  Hall admitted that on July 6, 2018, he opened fire on members of the Abington Avenue organization who were playing dice in the unit block of Abington Avenue, killing Steven McKnight and wounding an additional victim.  During a recorded telephone call on July 28, 2017, Williams used coded language to discuss the murder of ETG Crips member, Mitch Finney, with a fellow ETG Crips member and co-defendant, advising him that Finney’s murder was in retaliation for the murder of a BGF member from Abington Avenue. 

According to his plea agreement, Hall and other ETG members conspired to murder an individual who they believed had cooperated with law enforcement and threatened a witness who testified against a fellow gang member in a state murder trial.  On April 13, 2019, a newly recruited gang member drove ETG Crips members through the unit block of Abingdon Avenue while they shot at Victim 15 using a 9mm caliber firearm and a .45 caliber firearm. Victim 15 was hit in the shoulder but survived.  An hour later, Williams sent a co-conspirator a screenshot of a news article about the shooting.

This case was made possible by investigative leads generated from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ (ATF) National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN).  NIBIN is the only national network that allows for the capture and comparison of ballistic evidence to aid in solving and preventing violent crimes involving firearms.  NIBIN is a proven investigative and intelligence tool that can link firearms from multiple crime scenes, allowing law enforcement to quickly disrupt shooting cycles.  For more information on NIBIN, visit https://www.atf.gov/firearms/national-integrated-ballistic-information-network-nibin.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

This case is also part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI and the Baltimore Police Department for their work in the investigation and thanked the Drug Enforcement Administration, the ATF, the Maryland Attorney General’s Office, the Baltimore County Police Department, and the Anne Arundel County Police Department for their assistance.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Peter J. Martinez and Kim Y. Oldham, who are prosecuting the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-neighborhoods-psnexile and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Baltimore, Maryland – On November 30, 2022, a federal grand jury in Maryland returned an indictment charging four members of La Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) with racketeering conspiracy involving murder, attempted murder, and drug trafficking.  Three of the defendants are scheduled to have initial appearances beginning at 3:00 p.m. today in U.S. District Court in Baltimore.  The following defendants, all from Baltimore, are charged with racketeering conspiracy:

Wilson Arturo Constanza-Galdomez, a/k/a “Humilde” and “Marco Saravia,” age 23; Edis Omar Valenzuela-Rodriguez, a/k/a “Little Felon,” age 22; Jonathan Pesquera-Puerto, a/k/a “Truney,” age 21; and
Wualter Orellana-Hernandez, a/k/a “Solotario” and “Little Diablo,” age 21.

The indictment was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Special Agent in Charge James C. Harris of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore; Interim Chief Dennis J. Delp of the Baltimore County Police Department; Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department; Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger; and Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby.

According to court documents, La Mara Salvatrucha gang, also known as “MS-13”, is an international criminal organization composed primarily of immigrants or descendants of immigrants from El Salvador, with members operating in the State of Maryland, including in Baltimore City and Baltimore County, and throughout the United States.  In Maryland and elsewhere, MS-13 members are organized in “cliques,” smaller groups that operate in a specific city or region.  MS-13 members are required to commit acts of violence to maintain membership and discipline within the gang.  One of the principal rules of MS-13 is that its members must attack and kill rivals, known as “chavalas,” whenever possible.  In Baltimore City and Baltimore County, MS-13 maintained rivalries with the 18th Street Gang, the Cruddy Boys, the Highlandtown Boys, the Surenos Gang, and the Bloods gang, among others. 

Constanza-Galdomez and Pesquera-Puerto allegedly were members or associates of the Carlington Locos Salvatrucha (CALS) clique and Valenzuela-Rodriguez and Orellana-Hernandez allegedly were members of the Huntington Criminales Locos Salvatrucha (HCLS) clique.  The indictment alleges that, from June 2019 through at least October 2021, the defendants participated in the racketeering activities of MS-13, including two murders, four attempted murders, drug trafficking offenses, and witness tampering.

As detailed in the indictment, on April 25, 2020, Constanza-Galdomez, Valenzuela-Rodriguez, Orellana-Hernandez and other members and associates of MS-13 conspired to assault Victim 1, whom they suspected was a rival gang member.  That same day, they allegedly assaulted Victim 1 in Baltimore, by striking him with machetes multiple times.  Other members and associates of MS-13 subsequently reported the assault to MS-13 leadership.  On May 14, 2020, Valenzuela-Rodriquez and another MS-13 member allegedly attempted to lure Victim 2 to Patterson Park, where Constanza-Galdomez, Valenzuela-Rodriguez, and other MS-13 members and associates attempted to murder Victim 2 by stabbing him with a knife.

The indictment alleges that on May 29, 2020, the defendants lured Victim 3, whom they suspected of associating with rival gang members, to a park in Cockeysville, Maryland, where they stabbed her multiple times, murdering her.  Another MS-13 member served as a look-out to make sure they were not arrested by law enforcement while they murdered Victim 3.

On June 5, 2020, Constanza-Galdomez, Valenzuela-Rodriguez, Orellana-Hernandez, and other MS-13 members and associates allegedly lured Victim 4, whom they suspected was a rival gang member that cooperated with law enforcement, to an area near the CSX Bayview Yard in Baltimore, where they murdered her.  As detailed in the indictment, Victim 4 was stabbed numerous times with sharp objects.  After the murder, members and associates of MS-13 reported the murder to MS-13 leadership in an effort to get credit for participating and to increase their status within MS-13.

The indictment also details the conspiracies to commit murder and the attempted murders of two other victims.  Specifically, the indictment alleges that the defendants conspired to murder Victim 5, whom they believed was a rival gang member.  On June 6, Constanza-Galdomez and other MS-13 members forced Victim 5 to go to an area in Baltimore, where Victim 5 was stabbed multiple times.  Similarly, in June 2020, the defendants and other MS-13 members conspired to murder Victim 6, who had been previously “greenlit” (ordered to be killed for a serious violation of MS-13 rules).  On June 6, 2020, Constanza-Galdomez, Pesquera-Puerto, and other MS-13 members and associates forced Victim 6, at knifepoint, to go to Dundalk, Maryland to murder him.  The defendants then attempted to murder Victim 6 by stabbing him multiple times with knives.  Both Victim 5 and Victim 6 survived the attacks.

Further, the indictment alleges that from 2019 through 2020, the defendants conspired to distribute marijuana, cocaine, and fentanyl, to raise funds for MS-13 to purchase drugs and weapons for the gang and to send proceeds of the drug sale to MS-13 members and associates in Maryland and other states and in El Salvador to support the gang.

If convicted, the defendants face maximum sentences of life in federal prison for the racketeering conspiracy.  A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. 

An indictment is not a finding of guilt.  An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings. 

Anyone with information about MS-13 is encouraged to provide their tips to law enforcement.  The FBI and Homeland Security Investigations both have nationwide tiplines that you can call to report what you know.  You can reach the FBI at 1-866-STP-MS13 (1-866-787-6713), or you can call HSI at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  PSN, an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime, is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.  As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

This case is also part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.    

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron and Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. commended the FBI, HSI, the Baltimore County Police Department, the Baltimore City Police Department, and the Baltimore County and Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Offices for their work in the investigation and thanked the United States Marshals Service for its assistance.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Anatoly Smolkin and Trial Attorney Matthew K. Hoff of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section, who are prosecuting the federal case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-neighborhoods-psnexile and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte today sentenced Sirron Little, age 32, of Washington, D.C., to 10 years in federal prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release, for sex trafficking of a minor to engage in commercial sex acts.  Little recruited the victim, a homeless 15-year-old girl, to work for him as a prostitute.  Judge Messitte also ordered Little to pay restitution to the victim in the amount of $20,122.20.  Upon his release from prison, Little will also be required to register as a sex offender in the places where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; and Chief Malik Aziz of the Prince George’s County Police Department.

According to his plea agreement, Little recruited the victim to work for him as a sex worker in April 2018, when she was 15 years old and homeless.  The victim worked for Little, engaging in sex acts for money, until December 4, 2018.  Little used his cell phone to communicate with the victim regarding the prostitution business, to post scantily clad photos of her on online dating services to solicit commercial sex clients and to advertise the victim as a prostitute, and to arrange “dates” with commercial sex clients, in Washington D.C. and in Maryland.  Little initially had the victim meet clients for “car dates” or had someone drive the victim to a client’s residence.  Eventually, Little moved the sex trafficking operation to motels in Prince George’s County, Maryland.  In addition to meeting clients for car dates and at hotels, Little directed the victim to walk along a specific street in Maryland to solicit clients directly. 

As detailed in the plea agreement, Little directed the victim where to meet the clients, what services the victim would provide, and the agreed-upon payment for the sex acts.  The victim would typically see multiple clients per day, generating as much as $1,500 in a day.  Little required the victim to give him all the proceeds she received and threatened to stop providing the victim with food, transportation, and shelter if she did not meet the monetary goals he set for her.  Little physically assaulted the victim on multiple occasions, threatened her with a firearm on at least one occasion, and engaged in sex acts with the minor victim on multiple occasions. 

On December 4, 2018, the victim called emergency services and reported that Little had threatened her with a firearm and had an open warrant and that she feared for her safety.  When law enforcement responded to the hotel where the victim and Little were staying, the victim advised that she was having a fight with Little and that he was armed.  Little was arrested and a loaded .40-caliber handgun was seized from the hotel room, along with a 20-round box of ammunition and two cellular phones. 

The case was investigated by the FBI-led Maryland Child Exploitation Task Force (MCETF), created in 2010 to combat child prostitution, with members from10 state and federal law enforcement agencies.  The Task Force coordinates with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Maryland State Police Child Recovery Unit to identify missing children being advertised online for prostitution.

MCETF partners with the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force, formed in 2007 to discover and rescue victims of human trafficking while identifying and prosecuting offenders.  Members include federal, state, and local law enforcement, as well as victim service providers and local community members.  For more information about the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force, please visit http://www.mdhumantrafficking.org/.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI and the Prince George’s County Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Sarma and Jennifer Wine, who prosecuted the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/human-trafficking and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Baltimore, Maryland – A federal grand jury has returned a superseding indictment adding two new defendants to the nine defendants previously charged in relation to a Maryland and California unemployment insurance scheme.  The superseding indictment charges the defendants with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and stealing a post office key.  The superseding indictment was returned on November 30, 2022.  Charged in the superseding indictment are:

            Michael Akame Ngwese Ay Makoge, a/k/a “2Hype”, age 28, of Laurel, Maryland;             Dementrous Von Smith, a/k/a “Meecho” and “El Meecho”, age 26, of Waldorf, Maryland;             Nadine Mahoro Mwamikazi, age 25, of Silver Spring, Maryland;             Sky Tiffany Lawson, age 28, of Bowie, Maryland;             Christopher Thomas Yancy, a/k/a “Lil Bhris”, age 30, of Laurel, Maryland;             Sayquan Leon Bridges, a/k/a “Quan”, age 27, of Bowie, Maryland;             Christian Malik Adrea, a/k/a “Lil Leak”, age 24, of Mitchellville, Maryland;             Stephawn Malik Watson, a/k/a “O-Dawg”, age 27, of District Heights, Maryland;             Aiyanna Mone Washington, a/k/a “Yanna”, age 27, of Glenarden, Maryland;             Trez Anthony Hendy, a/k/a “Torch,” age 29, of Silver Spring, Maryland; and
            Tayonna Sonora Johnson, age 28, of Silver Spring, Maryland.

The superseding indictment was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Postal Inspector in Charge Damon E. Wood of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service - Washington Division (USPIS); Acting Special Agent in Charge Troy W. Springer, of the Washington Regional Office, U.S. Department of Labor - Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG); and Chief Amal E. Awad of the Anne Arundel County Police Department; Special Agent in Charge James C. Harris of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore; Colonel Woodrow W. Jones III, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police (MSP); and Special Agent in Charge Toni M. Crosby of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division.

The 46-count indictment alleges that, from February 2020 to October 2021 the defendants conspired to impersonate victims to submit fraudulent claims for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits in Maryland and California.  As part of the scheme to defraud, the defendants allegedly obtained the birthdates, social security numbers, and other personal identifying information of numerous victims which they used to prepare and submit fraudulent applications for UI benefits.  According to the indictment, the applications contained false information, including the victims’ contact information, states of residence, and availability for work.  These fraudulent applications allegedly caused financial institutions to load UI benefits onto debit cards and mail the cards to physical addresses provided and monitored by the defendants.  The indictment alleges that once the defendants received the fraudulently obtained benefits on the debit cards, they used them for cash withdrawals and other transactions for their own financial benefit.  As alleged in the indictment, the defendants submitted over 200 fraudulent UI claims, resulting in more than $1.6 million in losses.

Further, the indictment alleges that in October 2021, Yancy unlawfully possessed a Postal Service key and intended to improperly use the key.

If convicted, all the defendants face a maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison for the conspiracy and for each count of wire fraud in which they are charged; and a mandatory two years in federal prison, consecutive to any other sentence imposed, for aggravated identity theft.  Yancy also faces a maximum sentence of 10 years for unlawfully possessing a U.S. Postal Service key.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. 

An indictment is not a finding of guilt.  An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings. 

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud.  The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts.  For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.  

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the USPIS, DOL-OIG, the Anne Arundel County Police Department, HSI, MSP, and ATF, for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked the United States Marshals Service, the Prince George’s County Police Department, the Montgomery County Police Department, the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and the Charles County Sheriff’s Office for their assistance.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen McGuinn, who is prosecuting the federal case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm sentenced Tiffany Renea Edmundson, age 34, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, yesterday to 94 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for three armed commercial robberies and for violating her supervised release for a previous federal conviction on the same commercial robbery charge.  Judge Grimm also ordered Edmundson to pay $1,035 in restitution to the victim businesses.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; and Chief Malik Aziz of the Prince George’s County Police Department.

According to her plea agreement, beginning late on August 30, 2020, to the early morning hours of August 31, 2020, Edmundson robbed three Prince George’s County convenience stores at gun point.  In each robbery, Edmundson stole cash and in the third robbery she also stole approximately $535 in lottery tickets.  Following the third robbery, PGPD identified the vehicle used in the robbery as a white Hyundai Sonata bearing a Virginia license plate. 

Approximately 15 minutes after the third robbery was reported, officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop on the Sonata, but the driver refused to stop and sped away, with police following.  The Sonata subsequently crashed in the 3100 block of Bellbrook Court in Temple Hills, Maryland.  Police pursued Edmundson as she ran away, tossing a blue/black book bag towards the rear of a nearby house.  Edmundson was arrested and the book bag was recovered.  The bag contained a cell phone, stolen lottery tickets, cash and a Maryland driver’s license that displayed Edmundson’s name.  Edmundson was wearing clothing that matched the description given by the victims of the clothing worn by the person who committed the robberies.  On September 3, 2020, a search warrant was executed for the Sonata, which was leased to Edmundson.  Law enforcement recovered a neon yellow and orange glove and a black ski mask with a silver spider web pattern, that matched the mask and gloves worn during the robberies. 

Law enforcement recovered a total of approximately $323 in cash from the Sonata, from Edmundson’s person, and from her book bag.

At the time of the robberies, Edmundson was on federal supervised release for a previous armed robbery conviction.  The conditions of her supervised release included mandatory conditions that she not commit any new crime and that she not own, possess, or have access to a firearm.  By committing the convenience store robberies, Edmundson violated those conditions of her supervised release.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI and the Prince George’s County Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared Engelking and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes, who prosecuted the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-neighborhoods-psnexile and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis sentenced Jose David Navarro Cervellon, age 41, of Norcross, Georgia, today to life in federal prison, on charges related to a murder-for-hire that occurred on November 30, 2016, in Hyattsville, Maryland.  On July 20, 2022, after an eight-day trial, a federal jury convicted Navarro for a murder-for-hire conspiracy.  Navarro was also convicted for the use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of a murder-for-hire and for murder resulting from the use, carrying, brandishing and discharging of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Postal Inspector in Charge Damon E. Wood of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service - Washington Division; and Chief Malik Aziz of the Prince George’s County Police Department.

According to court documents and the evidence presented at his trial, Navarro was an associate of co-defendant Miguel Angel Ayala Rivera, the leader of the Pinos Locos Salvatrucha clique La Mara Salvatrucha, also known as the MS-13 gang (“MS-13”) and co-defendant Miguel Antonio Renderos, whom Navarro knew from El Salvador.  In November 2016, Renderos was looking for someone to murder Victim 1 in exchange for $10,000.  Navarro introduced Renderos to Ayala Rivera, who agreed to commit the murder.

The evidence presented at trial proved that Renderos wanted Victim 1 to be killed because in 2012, after Renderos allowed the victim to move into the basement of Renderos’s home, Victim 1 began to have a romantic relationship with Renderos’s wife.  With Navarro serving as the middleman between Renderos and Ayala Rivera, the defendants exchanged phone calls to arrange the murder.

As detailed at trial and in court documents, between November 1 and November 30, 2016, Navarro paid for a hotel room for Ayala Rivera and another MS-13 member, Luis Cruz Hernandez, at a hotel in College Park.  During that time, Ayala Rivera, Navarro and Cruz Hernandez conducted surveillance of Victim 1 in and around Victim 1’s residence.  On November 30, 2016, Navarro drove Ayala Rivera and Cruz Hernandez to Victim 1’s residence, where Ayala Rivera shot and killed Victim 1.  After the murder, Navarro drove Ayala Rivera and Cruz Hernandez to collect payment from Renderos for the murder of Victim 1.

Co-defendants Miguel Angel Ayala Rivera, age 28, of Silver Spring, Maryland, and Miguel A. Renderos, age 48, of Hyattsville, Maryland, each pleaded guilty to their roles in the murder-for-hire and are awaiting sentencing.  In a related case, Luis Cruz Hernandez, age 28, of Silver Spring, Maryland, previously pleaded guilty to his role in the murder-for-hire and was sentenced to 51 years in federal prison.

This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Prince George’s County Police Department for their work in the investigation and thanked the Montgomery County Police Department and the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office for their assistance.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys William D. Moomau and Leah B. Grossi, who are prosecuting the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Greenbelt, Maryland – Jaleel Phillips, age 25, of Capital Heights, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to a federal wire fraud conspiracy, in relation to a scheme to unlawfully obtain COVID-19 relief loans and unemployment benefits.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Acting Special Agent in Charge Troy W. Springer, of the Washington Regional Office, U.S. Department of Labor - Office of Inspector General; Special Agent in Charge Darrell J. Waldon of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, Washington, D.C. Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Amaleka McCall-Brathwaite of the Small Business Administration - Office of Inspector General, Eastern Region, and Acting Special Agent in Charge Quenton Sallows, of the Mid-Atlantic Region, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG).

According to his plea agreement, electronic records linked Jaleel Phillips and his co-conspirator to a number of fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program loan applications (PPP), Economic Injury Disaster loan applications (EIDL), and unemployment insurance claims.  As detailed in the statement of facts, Phillips and his co-conspirator created fictitious aliases, used the personal identifying information of real people, and used defunct corporate entities or new business entities with no actual business operations to apply for EIDL and PPP loans, and unemployment benefits.

Phillips admitted that as part of the conspiracy, several financial accounts and email accounts were opened using aliases that had been used to apply for the fraudulent benefits, including “Kenneth Williams,” “Allen Gator,” “Lawrence Robinson,” and “Jordan Gilmore.”  The fraudulently obtained PPP and EIDL loans and unemployment insurance claims were deposited into the bank accounts opened in the names of the aliases.  The money was then withdrawn by Phillips and his co-conspirator through ATM withdrawals and purchases made on the associated debit and credit cards or transferred between the various financial accounts established in the aliases’ names.  For example, Phillips engaged in multiple online and in-store transactions using debit cards embossed with the names of multiple fake identities and tied to bank accounts used in the fraud.  Phillips admitted that he had access to accounts and debit cards receiving more than $750,000 in fraudulently obtained COVID-19 benefits. 

“This was a brazen scheme of staggering proportions,” said Darrell J. Waldon, IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge of the Washington D.C. Field Office. “The defendant and his co-conspirator prioritized their own greed, submitting a number of fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program loan applications, Economic Injury Disaster loan applications, and unemployment insurance claims. Today’s plea sends a clear message that the IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agents and our law enforcement partners, remain vigilant and will vigorously pursue those who attempt to enrich themselves through fraudulent means.”

Jaleel Phillips faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison for the wire fraud conspiracy.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.  A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.  No sentencing date has been set by the Court.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the DOL-OIG, IRS-CI, SBA-OIG, FDIC-OIG, and the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Harry M. Gruber, who is prosecuting the federal case.  He also thanked the Office of Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch-Public Integrity Division, for its assistance. 

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to report fraud, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/report-fraud.

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Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher today sentenced Rashaud Nesmith, a/k/a Shaud, age 21, of Baltimore, Maryland, to 40 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for a racketeering conspiracy charge in connection with Nesmith’s participation in a group that conspired to commit multiple armed carjackings and robberies throughout Baltimore City, as well as for a second racketeering charge in connection with his participation in the violent street gang known as Cruddy Conniving Crutballs or Triple C, a group that conspired to commit other violent acts, including attempted murder and murder, in Baltimore City. 

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Toni M. Crosby of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF); and Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department.

“Rashaud Nesmith’s mayhem is over and he’s now being held responsible for his actions,” said United States Attorney Erek L. Barron.  “I want to express my appreciation to our law enforcement partners for the tremendous investigation that led to this prosecution.  We will hold accountable those who commit violence in our communities, but we also offer a helping hand to assist at-risk individuals to avoid this result.”

“Rashaud Nesmith participated in murders, non-fatal shootings, carjackings, armed robberies, and more.  The victims were innocent, simply going about their lives in the city and attacked without provocation.  Now he will spend decades in prison what he’s done,” said ATF Baltimore Special Agent in Charge Toni M. Crosby.  “By applying the crime gun intelligence model of investigating, ATF and our law enforcement partners will continue to do everything in our power to remove violent offenders from Baltimore's streets.”

“I want to extend my gratitude to the U.S. Attorney’s Office and all of our law enforcement partners for their tireless efforts.  This case is another great example of the collaborative work in using all the tools in our toolbelt to continue to identify, arrest and convict violent offenders,” said Commissioner Michael Harrison.  “I hope that this sentence will bring some closure to the families, friends and loved ones.”

Nesmith admitted that in connection with the carjacking and robbery conspiracy, he participated in a carjacking, two armed robberies and an attempted armed robbery.  During the commission of the crimes, two victims were shot and killed, and one victim was shot and seriously injured.  Specifically, Nesmith participated in a carjacking on April 19, 2019, where a firearm was brandished; the July 23, 2019 robbery of Devon Chavis during which at least one member of the conspiracy discharged a firearm, striking and killing Chavis; the August 1, 2019, attempted robbery of Kendrick Sharpe, during which at least one member of the conspiracy fired a gun, striking and killing Sharpe; and the August 8, 2019 robbery of a victim, during which at least one member of the conspiracy fired a gun, striking and severely injuring the victim.  In addition, Nesmith knew that his co-conspirators would commit other acts that he did not participate in, including a carjacking on June 12, 2019, where an individual was shot and killed, and five additional carjackings committed from June 12, 2019, through July 29, 2019.

Nesmith also admitted to participating in the Triple C conspiracy.  According to Nesmith’s plea agreement, as a member of Triple C, Nesmith and other gang members engaged in a pattern of criminal racketeering activity between 2015 and 2020, including more than a dozen murders and numerous non-fatal shootings, robberies, and carjackings, in order to promote the reputation of Triple C and to command respect from the neighborhood.  Other spin-offs of the gang are “SCL” and recently, “TRD.”

As detailed in the plea agreement, the gang benefitted financially from, and affected interstate commerce by, selling narcotics, murdering drug dealers, taking contract killings, and engaging in street robberies.  Nesmith acknowledged that as part of his activities with Triple C, he distributed controlled substances, including crack cocaine.  Triple C members also robbed dice games for cash and occasionally carjacked vehicles. Members divided the proceeds of the robberies and murders among members who participated, and they often contacted each other to commit a robbery if that member needed money.  

Also, according to the plea agreement, Triple C members routinely used social media to identify and locate victims and to communicate with each other and share information concerning possible retaliation for violent crimes committed by gang members.  Triple C members and associates used at least 14 firearms to commit crimes, often trading firearms with each other or other groups to avoid detection through ballistic evidence.  They limited conversations about criminal plans to members of Triple C and critiqued each other after committing crimes regarding ways to improve their actions.  Nesmith admitted that it was reasonably foreseeable to him that members of the conspiracy would commit additional murders, attempted murders, carjackings, and robberies.

This case was made possible by investigative leads generated from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ (ATF) National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN).  NIBIN is the only national network that allows for the capture and comparison of ballistic evidence to aid in solving and preventing violent crimes involving firearms.  NIBIN is a proven investigative and intelligence tool that can link firearms from multiple crime scenes, allowing law enforcement to quickly disrupt shooting cycles.  For more information on NIBIN, visit https://www.atf.gov/firearms/national-integrated-ballistic-information-network-nibin.  

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime.  Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.  As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the ATF and the Baltimore Police Department for their work in these investigations and thanked the FBI and the Office of the Baltimore City State’s Attorney for their assistance in the investigations and prosecution.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patricia C. McLane and Brandon K. Moore, who prosecuted the case.

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Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge George L. Russell, III today sentenced Ryan Odell Oliver, a/k/a “Dre,” “Fame,” and “Foreign,” age 40, of Baltimore, Maryland, to 15 years in federal prison, followed by 15 years of supervised release, for sex trafficking at least three victims.    

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge James C. Harris of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore; and Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department.  

According to Oliver’s guilty plea, in December 2018 a female victim (Victim 1) texted a non-profit sex trafficking prevention agency that she was forced into prostitution and was being held against her will by Oliver.  An Alexandria, Virginia Police Department undercover detective followed up on the report and made a commercial sex date with Victim 1 in order to find her.  Officers located Victim 1 at the location given for the sex date.  Oliver was also at the location, but fled before he could be arrested.  A second female (Victim 2) was also found at that location.

During the investigation, law enforcement spoke with three women whom Oliver was trafficking or attempting to traffic.  Victim 1 and Victim 2 told law enforcement that they were trying to leave but Oliver refused to let them go.  The victims stated that Oliver had trafficked Victim 1 and a third woman, Victim 3, for his prostitution business and was attempting to sex traffic Victim 2.  Oliver physically and sexually assaulted Victim 1 and Victim 2.  Victim 1 and Victim 3 worked for Oliver in the Washington D.C. and Maryland area, including surrounding states.  Oliver advertised all three victims online for commercial sex dates and kept all of the money made by his victims on their commercial sex dates.  Oliver also arranged for a tattoo artist to tattoo his nicknames “Fame” and “Foreign” on one of his victims.

As detailed in his guilty plea, Oliver gave Victim 1 daily quotas for commercial sex dates and refused to provide for Victim 1 if she did not meet the quotas.  Oliver also made Victim 1 take pictures of other sex trafficking victims to advertise them for commercial sex dates.  Oliver used violence against Victim 1 when she did something he thought was wrong and Oliver told Victim 1 that she was his property.  Victim 3 advised that Oliver provided her with drugs, including heroin.

According to Oliver’s plea agreement, after meeting Victim 2 on a social media platform in December 2018, Oliver paid for a car to drive Victim 2 from Pennsylvania to his Baltimore residence.  There, Oliver forced Victim 2 to have sex with him and choked Victim 2 when she would not comply with his sexual demands.  After the assault, Victim 2 met one of Oliver’s co-conspirators, now deceased, who took her to a hotel, forced her to watch another sex trafficking victim conduct a sex date, and warned Victim 2 not to try to escape because Oliver would find her and that Oliver had a gun. 

Oliver was arrested on January 11, 2019, in Baltimore.  A search warrant executed at his residence recovered three cell phones, a hand-held recorder, a laptop, a ledger, a 9mm firearm, and ammunition.  Additionally, law enforcement discovered images of Victim 1 and Victim 3 on Oliver’s phone.

This case was investigated by law enforcement agencies that are members of the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force, formed in 2007 to discover and rescue victims of human trafficking while identifying and prosecuting offenders.  Members include federal, state, and local law enforcement, as well as victim service providers and local community members.  For more information about the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force, please visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/md/priorities_human.html.

Report suspected instances of human trafficking to HSI's tip line at 866-DHS-2ICE (1-866-347-2423) or by completing its online tip form.  Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended HSI, the Baltimore Police Department, and the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen E. McGuinn, who prosecuted the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Baltimore – A federal jury convicted Jarvis Antonio Coleman-Fuller, age 35, of Hagerstown, Maryland and Eric Tyrell Johnson, a/k/a E, age 38, of Owings Mills, Maryland, late on November 17, 2022, on federal charges related to a conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, specifically fentanyl and heroin in Washington County, Maryland. 

The guilty verdict was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget of the Drug Enforcement Administration - Washington Division; Special Agent in Charge James C. Harris of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore; Washington County Sheriff Douglas Mullendore; Chief Paul “Joey” Kifer of the Hagerstown Police Department; and Washington County States’ Attorney Charles P. Strong.

According to the evidence presented at their two-week trial, beginning in about April 2019 and continuing to about November 2019, the defendants and their co-conspirators conspired to distribute heroin and fentanyl in the Washington County area.  During the investigation, law enforcement seized narcotics, including at least 1.3 kilograms of fentanyl, five firearms, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, and more than $12,534 in cash.  Witnesses testified that Johnson and Coleman-Fuller distributed fentanyl and illegally possessed firearms.  Johnson and Coleman-Fuller both had previous felony convictions and were prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition.  The trial evidence also proved that Coleman-Fuller possessed a firearm in furtherance of his drug trafficking crimes.

Eight co-defendants have previously pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy and are awaiting sentencing. 

Coleman-Fuller and Johnson each face a mandatory minimum sentence of at least five years in federal prison and up to 40 years in prison for the drug charges and up to 10 years in federal prison and up to life in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm.  Coleman-Fuller also faces a mandatory minimum of five years in federal prison, consecutive to any other sentence, and up to life in federal prison for possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties, after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.  U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow has scheduled sentencing for Coleman-Fuller and Johnson for March 10, 2023 at 9:30 a.m.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

This case is also part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the DEA, HSI, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, the Washington County Narcotics Task Force, and the Washington County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation and prosecution  Mr. Barron also thanked the Baltimore County Police Department and the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office for their assistance in the case.  Mr. Barron commended Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christina A. Hoffman, Joan C. Mathias, and Adeyemi Adenrele, who are prosecuting this case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-neighborhoods-psn.

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Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang today sentenced Edward T. Buford III, age 70, of Silver Spring, Maryland, to 30 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiracy to commit mail fraud and healthcare fraud.  Judge Chuang also ordered Buford to pay $1,267,630 in restitution.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Wayne Jacobs of the Federal Bureau of Investigation - Washington Field Office Criminal Division; Special Agent in Charge Maureen Dixon, Office of Investigations, Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services; Special Agent in Charge Michael McGill of the Social Security Administration - Office of Inspector General, Philadelphia Field Division; and Daniel W. Lucas, Inspector General for the District of Columbia.

Buford was a licensed dentist in Washington, D.C. and the owner and Chief Executive Officer of International Dental Associates, Inc. (IDA), a dental clinic located in Washington, D.C.  According to his guilty plea, from January 2013 to May 2018, Buford led a scheme to file fraudulent Medicaid claims for dental services to Medicaid beneficiaries and recruited Medicaid beneficiaries to fuel the scheme through the payment of kickbacks and bribes.

Buford caused the submission of Medicaid claims for a variety of dental services, including dentures.  As part of the conspiracy, Buford paid kickbacks to patient recruiters in exchange for referring Medicaid beneficiaries to IDA for dental services.  At Buford’s direction, the recruiters offered cash bribes to beneficiaries to visit IDA and accept dental services.  Medicaid paid substantially more for dentures than for many other dental services, including dental cleanings.  Buford paid larger cash kickbacks to recruiters—approximately $50 per beneficiary—for beneficiaries that agreed to be fitted for dentures, and typically paid the recruited beneficiaries $20 to be fitted for dentures.  Buford knew that Medicaid would not have paid the claims had it known they were procured through kickbacks and bribes.

As detailed in the plea agreement, even though dentures required multiple visits to fit and deliver, Buford caused the recruiters and beneficiaries to be paid only for the initial visit—after which Buford could bill Medicaid for the dentures—and numerous beneficiaries never returned to IDA after receiving the cash bribe.  Buford stored hundreds of undelivered dentures on IDA’s premises, many of which had been billed to and paid for by Medicaid.  As part of the scheme, Buford maintained a post office box in Silver Spring, Maryland as IDA’s billing address and received the fraudulently obtained payments at that location.  

Based on the amount that Medicaid paid to Buford and IDA for dentures that were not delivered, the actual loss to Medicaid was at least $1,267,630. 

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI, HHS-OIG, the D.C. Office of the Inspector General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and SSA-OIG for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica C. Collins and Kelly O. Hayes, who prosecuted the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach. 

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Baltimore, Maryland – United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron announced that twenty-two employees of the United States Attorney’s Office and the Department of Justice, four law enforcement officers, and two civilians were honored today with the Office’s most prestigious awards.  At a ceremony held to announce the awards this morning at the United States Courthouse in Baltimore, U.S. Attorney Barron also introduced 24 new Assistant United States Attorneys and other employees who have joined the Office since last year. 

During today’s awards ceremony, U.S. Attorney Barron also announced that every criminal federal prosecutor in the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office will be assigned a firearms case in addition to their regular caseloads.  This is the most expansive anti-firearms initiative in terms of resource commitment in the history of the United States Attorney’s Office.    

“It is a pleasure to be able to recognize and celebrate the impactful work done by today’s award recipients,” said United States Attorney Erek L. Barron.  “Since my arrival as U.S. Attorney just over a year ago, we have hired and promoted the most diverse supervisory and legal staff in the history of the Office and we have increased our efforts to reduce violent crime through innovative and coordinated strategies with our law enforcement partners.  I believe that assigning at least one firearms case to every criminal Assistant United States Attorney and Special Assistant United States Attorney demonstrates to the community and to our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners our continued commitment and focus on making Maryland communities safer.  We have also committed to keep our communities safer by establishing a Violent and Organized Crime Section, including 30 new state-funded prosecutors and administrative staff positions; by establishing a Civil Rights and Special Victims’ Section; by being named a national Department of Justice COVID-19 CARES Act Strike Force and an Elder Justice Strike Force; as well as expanding our National Security and Cyber Crimes Section.”   

Annual Awards

The following awards were announced by United States Attorney Barron:

Gary Jordan Award

Recipient:        Assistant United States Attorney Kathleen O. Gavin

Gary P. Jordan served with distinction for many years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, as First Assistant from March 29, 1987 until his death on October 25, 1996, and as interim U.S. Attorney in 1993. This is an honorary award presented annually to an employee for exemplary performance that demonstrates the highest traditions of the office: integrity, ingenuity, dedication to public service and fairness.

Deborah A. Johnston Profile in Courage Award

Recipient:        Assistant United States Attorney Thomas M. Sullivan

In her 23 years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Chief of the Southern Division and Senior Litigation Counsel in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Deborah A. Johnston fearlessly took on the most challenging prosecutions in pursuit of justice.  Established in 2019, the Deborah A. Johnston Profile in Courage Award is presented to one or more assistant U.S. attorneys who demonstrate extraordinary courage and commitment to duty while representing the United States of America. 

Barnet D. Skolnik Award

Recipients:    Assistant United States Attorney Kenneth Clark
                       Assistant United States Attorney Anatoly Smolkin

Barnet D. (Barney) Skolnik was an Assistant U.S. Attorney who led teams that prosecuted numerous white-collar criminals and corrupt public officials in the 1970s, including Vice President Spiro T. Agnew. This is an honorary award presented annually to one or more Assistant U.S. Attorneys who demonstrate outstanding professionalism, determination and creativity in a case of unusual public significance.

Employee of the Year Award

Recipient:        Information Technology Specialist Derek Johnson

The Employee of the Year Award recognizes sustained superior performance and outstanding achievements by a non-attorney employee. The award also recognizes the recipient's professionalism, dedication, and comprehensive knowledge in their area of expertise.

Pete Twardowicz Award

Recipients:    Special Agent Adam Eaton, Defense Criminal Investigative Service
                       Special Agent Robert Petrole, Defense Criminal Investigative Service
                       Special Agent August Merker, Homeland Security Investigations

The Pete Twardowicz Award was established in honor of Eugene P. (Pete) Twardowicz, who rendered many years of outstanding service to the U.S. Attorney’s Office as an IRS criminal investigator and a Special Investigator for this Office. This award recognizes law enforcement agents or officers for outstanding cooperation and achievement while working with the U.S. Attorney’s Office on a significant case.

Excellence in Civil Advocacy

Recipient:        Assistant United States Attorney Vickie LeDuc

The U.S. Attorney’s Award for Excellence in Civil Advocacy, established in 2007, is presented annually to an Assistant U.S. Attorney for outstanding advocacy in civil litigation.

Excellence in Prosecution of Fraud

Recipients:    Assistant United States Attorney Harry M. Gruber
                       Assistant United States Attorney Paul A. Riley

The U.S. Attorney’s Award for Excellence in Prosecution of Fraud, established in 2007, is presented annually to an Assistant U.S. Attorney for outstanding work in prosecuting fraud.

Excellence in Prosecution of Violent Crime

Recipients:    Assistant United States Attorney Patricia C. McLane
                       Special Assistant United States Attorney Patrick Kibbe

The U.S. Attorney’s Award for Excellence in Prosecution of Violent Crime, established in 2007, is presented annually an Assistant U.S. Attorney for outstanding work in prosecuting violent crime.

Rod J. Rosenstein Award

            Recipient:        Detective Carl Walder, Baltimore County Police Department

            The Rod J. Rosenstein Award, established in 2017, is presented annually to a state and/or local investigator whose cooperative efforts and excellent work reflect the highest traditions of the law enforcement profession.

Excellence in Prosecution of Organized Crime

Recipients:    Assistant United States Attorney Timothy Hagan
                       Assistant United States Attorney William Moomau
                       Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Sarma
                       Julie Finocchiaro, Trial Attorney, Department of Justice
                       Alex Gottfried, Trial Attorney, Department of Justice

The U.S. Attorney’s Award for Excellence in Prosecution of Organized Crime, established in 2007, is presented annually to an Assistant U.S. Attorney for outstanding work in prosecuting organized criminal activity.

Excellence in Legal Support

Recipient:      Paralegal Specialist Lesley Dunlap
                       Paralegal Specialist Stacey Thompson

The U.S. Attorney’s Award for Excellence in Legal Support, established in 2007, is presented annually to one or more non-attorney employees for outstanding work in support of the mission of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Outstanding Contributions to a Law Enforcement Initiative

Recipients:    Assistant United States Attorney David Salem
                       Assistant United States Attorney Ellen Nazmy
                       Assistant United States Attorney Shabnam Aryana
                       Assistant United States Attorney Bijon Mostoufi
                       Special Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan Tsuei

The U.S. Attorney’s Award for Outstanding Contributions to a Law Enforcement Initiative, established in 2007, is presented annually to one or more employees for outstanding work in support of an initiative of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Carl S. Lackl Award

The Carl S. Lackl Award for Exemplary Perseverance and Fortitude in Pursuit of Justice was established in 2008 in honor of Carl Stanley Lackl, Jr. Mr. Lackl witnessed a murder in Baltimore in 2006 and agreed to testify against the suspect he identified. After the suspect was arrested by police and charged in state court with the murder, he used a contraband cellular telephone to contact co-conspirators and arranged to murder Mr. Lackl, who was shot to death outside his house in front of his daughter. All of the conspirators were convicted on federal charges. 

This year the award was presented to two women who assisted with a case in the Greenbelt Office. 

New Employees

In addition, United States Attorney Barron welcomed new employees who joined the office last year. Assistant United States Attorneys:  Adeyemi Adenrele, Ariana Arnold, Shabnam Aryana, Michael Aubin, Steven Brantley, Geonard Butler, Joel Crespo, Ryan Dietrich, Ariel Evans, Darren Gardner, Robert Goldaris, Melissa Goldmeier, LaShanta Harris, Coreen Mao, Colleen McGuinn, Calvin Miner, Bijon Mostoufi, Christopher Sarma, Matthew Shea, Alicia Shelton, Beatrice Thomas, John Truex-Chung, Joseph Wenner, Michael Wilson.  Special Assistant United States Attorneys:  Keelan Diana, Jared Engelking, Jacob Gordin, Patrick Kibbe, Jeffrey Maylor, Alena Mosier, Nicholas Potter, Joshua Rosenthal, Laura Ruppersberger, Sarah Simpkins. Administrative Staff:  Robin Blumenshine, Marissa Crockett, Fernando Dominguez, Juliette Frase, Brandon Haynes, Anna Jones, Jose Lopez-Berrios, Jill Pegues, Aleta Sacksteder, Angelina Thompson, Scott Wilson.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge George L. Russell, III sentenced Vashawn Watkins, age 22, of Baltimore, Maryland, today to nine years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for federal charges of illegal possession of a firearm in a school zone and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances.  

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget of the Drug Enforcement Administration - Washington Division; Baltimore City Sheriff John W. Anderson; Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department; and Chief Melissa R. Hyatt of the Baltimore County Police Department.

According to his guilty plea, from October 2020 through March 1, 2021, Watkins was engaged in drug trafficking involving large amounts of fentanyl and other controlled substances.  Watkins and his associates operated a stash house in the unit block of Clovelly Street in Pikesville, Maryland, where they processed fentanyl and other drugs, mixed the drugs with cutting agents, and packaged the drugs for re-sale.  Watkins and his associates then drove the packaged drug products to drug shops operated by their drug trafficking organization, along Stricker Street, School Street, and Gilmor Street in Baltimore.  Watkins sometimes oversaw the drug trafficking operations at the Stricker Street drug shop.

As detailed in his plea agreement, on February 11, 2021, while Watkins was overseeing operations at the Stricker Street drug shop, law enforcement officers saw Watkins place a firearm inside a vehicle parked in the 1500 block of North Stricker Street.  Law enforcement obtained a search warrant for the vehicle and recovered a loaded .45-caliber firearm.  Also found inside the vehicle was Watkins’ state-issued identification card.  Watkins admitted that he knowingly possessed this.45-caliber loaded firearm within 1,000 feet of a public elementary school. 

On March 1, 2021, Watkins was seen leaving a residence in the 1500 block of Stricker Street and taking possession of approximately one kilogram of fentanyl from an associate who had brought the drugs from the Pikesville stash house.  Watkins took the fentanyl into the residence.  Law enforcement obtained and executed a search warrant for the residence, recovering the drugs, which were in close proximity to Watkins.  Law enforcement also recovered two loaded 9mm handguns from the residence.  A search warrant was subsequently executed at the Pikesville stash house and law enforcement recovered 6.8 kilograms of fentanyl, along with cutting agents and other drug paraphernalia.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  PSN, an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime, is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.  As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the DEA, the Baltimore City Sheriff’s Office, the Baltimore Police Department, and the Baltimore County Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason D. Medinger, who prosecuted the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-neighborhoods-psnexile and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Deborah L. Boardman sentenced Steven Martin Bickling, age 48, of Baltimore, Maryland to 12 years in federal prison, followed by 15 years of supervised release, for coercion and enticement of a minor to produce child pornography. 

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; and Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department.

According to his guilty plea, in 2018 Bickling visited a website that offered live chat rooms with foreign women.  After hearing children in the background of chat rooms, Bickling asked a female performer to show her daughter nude for $50.  After agreeing to Bickling’s request, the female performer posed her prepubescent daughter on video chat as Bickling masturbated.  Bickling estimated that this conduct occurred 12 to 15 times within a two-year period. 

As stated in his plea agreement, on August 19, 2020, Baltimore City detectives and members of the FBI Violent Crimes Against Children Task Force executed a search and seizure warrant at Bickling’s residence.  Bickling was present at the time.  During an interview with law enforcement, Bickling admitted that he possessed pornographic videos of children between five and twelve years of age saved on his laptop.  Bickling also informed law enforcement that he paid for access to a restricted child pornography website.

A subsequent review of Bickling’s email account revealed numerous conversations in which Bickling solicited images or videos of female children engaging in sexually explicit conduct.  For example, in an email communication on May 7, 2019, Bickling wrote “I watch a lot of child prn . . . I like when they cry.”  In chats dating back to 2018, Bickling solicited live video sessions of adult men engaging in explicit sexual activity with their younger sisters or nieces. 

As detailed in his plea agreement, a forensic analysis of the items seized from Bickling’s residence revealed a total of 21 images and 50 videos that depicted minors, including prepubescent minors, engaged in sexually explicit conduct. 

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.  For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc and click on the "Resources" tab on the left of the page.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI and the Baltimore Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen McGuinn, who prosecuted the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-childhood and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Baltimore, Maryland – At a press conference yesterday, U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron, joined by federal, state, and local partners announced new initiatives to fight violent crime in Maryland.  These efforts build on previous successes and are intended to prevent and reduce violent crime in Baltimore City.  Partners at yesterday’s announcement included:

            U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron;             Governor Larry Hogan;             Colonel Woodrow W. “Jerry” Jones III, Superintendent, Maryland State Police;             Colonel Kevin Anderson, Chief, Maryland Transportation Authority Police;             Colonel Joseph Conger, Baltimore County Police Department; and
            Deputy Chief Gerard Fleming, Anne Arundel County Police Department.   

This announcement was also following consultation with federal, state, and local partners including Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison.

U.S. Attorney Erek Barron stated, “I have consulted and discussed these plans with Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, who provided ideas regarding strategy and implementation.  I have also been in close communication with Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison who welcomed these new initiatives and our ongoing partnership.”

As discussed at the press conference, as part of our continued partnership with federal, state, and local law enforcement, we are initiating a Feeder Route Task Force, which draws upon the federal resources of the United States Attorney’s Office in tandem with the Maryland State Police, the Maryland Transportation Authority Police, Anne Arundel County Police and Baltimore County Police.  If you are driving with a gun or drugs on a Maryland road know that task force members will be on the lookout.  Prosecutors in the United States Attorney’s Office will screen any related traffic stops for potential federal prosecution. 

One of the cornerstones of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods is Community Outreach and Prevention.  U.S. Attorney Barron, Governor Hogan, and Secretary Green of the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services also announced a new strategy focusing on a “knock and talk” initiative involving unannounced home visits to parolees by a team that includes law enforcement and a social worker, to provide opportunities for education and job training and to connect parolees and their families with needed services while in their communities. 

In addition, the U.S. Attorney’s Office is sponsoring and attending reentry events for returning citizens; participating in call-ins for those at risk of re-offending; and engaging the community members and youth through gang and internet safety training. 

“All of us in law enforcement are committed to trying new and innovative ways to reduce violent crime.  As we end 2022, we must continue to focus on preventing and reducing violent crime,” U.S. Attorney Barron concluded.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Baltimore, Maryland – Malcolm Goods, age 31, of Baltimore, Maryland, pleaded guilty yesterday to a federal charge for illegal possession of a firearm within a school zone.  

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Toni M. Crosby of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division; and Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department.

According to Goods’ guilty plea, on September 12, 2021, Baltimore Police officers received a call for an armed person at the intersection of Pennsylvania and Cumberland Avenues in Baltimore.  The person was carrying a gun, wearing a white construction hat and orange safety vest, and riding a bicycle.  An officer monitoring a closed-circuit television camera located an individual, later identified as Goods, matching that description in the 600 block of Cumberland Avenue.

When officers arrived on scene, Goods got on a bicycle and rode on the sidewalk for a few blocks.  Near the 1600 block of N. Carey Street, officers pulled over next to Goods told Goods to stop.  They needed to speak with him because riding his bicycle on the sidewalk was prohibited by a local ordinance.  The area is about one block away from Sandtown-Winchester Achievement Academy, a Baltimore public elementary and middle school.  Goods initially agreed to stop, then rode away on the bicycle.

After briefly losing sight of Goods, officers found him knocking on someone’s front door and placed him into custody.  An officer saw the grip of a firearm in Goods’ waistband and recovered a.40 caliber pistol with an obliterated serial number, loaded with 15 rounds of ammunition.  During his arrest, including after he was read his Miranda rights, Goods made several spontaneous, incriminating statements which indicated that he was aware that he possessed a firearm.

Goods and the government have agreed that, if the Court accepts the plea agreement, Goods will be sentenced to two years in federal prison.  U.S. District Judge George L. Russell, III has scheduled sentencing for March 3, 2023 at 2:00 p.m.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the ATF and the Baltimore Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Moore and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Simpkins, who are prosecuting the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-neighborhoods-psnexile and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Greenbelt, Maryland – On November 8, 2022, U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm sentenced Darran Malik Butler, age 23, of Baltimore, to 25 years in federal prison, followed by four years of supervised release, for participating in a violent racketeering conspiracy, specifically, the NFL Criminal Enterprise, including committing a murder.  The term NFL stands for Normandy, Franklin, and Loudon, which are three adjacent streets that run through the Edmondson Village.  Members of NFL have social and family ties to the Edmondson Village neighborhood in southwest Baltimore. 

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Washington Division; Chief Marcus Jones of the Montgomery County Police Department; and Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department.

According to his guilty plea, from at least 2018 through March 26, 2020, Darran Butler was a member of the NFL Criminal Enterprise, which engaged in a pattern of criminal racketeering activity including murder, narcotics trafficking and smuggling, illegal firearms possession, bribery, witness intimidation, and witness retaliation.  Butler participated in illegal activities with other NFL Enterprise members, including committing a murder on the enterprise’s behalf.  As detailed in Butler’s plea agreement, in October 2018, a co-conspirator solicited Butler to murder Leonard Shelley so that the co-conspirator and Butler could collect a bounty that had been placed on Shelley.  On October 31, 2018, Butler and a co-conspirator followed Shelley into a convenience store and shot Shelley numerous times, killing him.  Following the murder, Butler posted a picture on Instagram of himself holding the bounty proceeds for Shelley’s murder.  

More than 30 defendants in this and related cases have pleaded guilty to their roles in the racketeering conspiracy.

This case was made possible by investigative leads generated from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ (ATF) National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN).  NIBIN is the only national network that allows for the capture and comparison of ballistic evidence to aid in solving and preventing violent crimes involving firearms.  NIBIN is a proven investigative and intelligence tool that can link firearms from multiple crime scenes, allowing law enforcement to quickly disrupt shooting cycles.  For more information on NIBIN, visit https://www.atf.gov/firearms/national-integrated-ballistic-information-network-nibin.  

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

This case is also part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI, the DEA, the Montgomery County Department of Police and the Baltimore Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron commended the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; the City of Rockville Police Department; the Baltimore County and Howard County Police Departments; the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office; the Maryland State Police; the West Virginia State Police; the Virginia State Police; the Warren County (VA) Sheriff’s Department; the Winchester (VA) and Front Royal (VA) Police Departments; and the Frederick County and Howard County State’s Attorney’s Offices for their assistance in the investigation and prosecution.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys John W. Sippel, Jr., James T. Wallner, and Robert I. Goldaris, who are prosecuting the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-neighborhoods-psnexile and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.   

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Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander today sentenced Billy Wesson, age 20, of Baltimore, Maryland, late yesterday to 125 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for possession with intent to distribute cocaine and to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.  Wesson also participated in a series of armed robberies of convenience stores.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; and Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department.

According to his guilty plea, between August 4 and August 7, 2020, Wesson and a co-conspirator committed three armed robberies of convenience stores.  In the first robbery on August 4, the store clerk began to run to the rear of the store when she saw the robbers enter.  Wesson chased after the employee, caught up with her and walked her back to the cash register, which she opened at gunpoint.  In the second robbery on August 6, Wesson approached a store employee from behind and placed the gun to the back of the employee’s head, telling her to “go to the register and open it.”  Wesson walked the employee to the register area and again ordered her to open the register, which she did.  In the third robbery on August 7, which was committed less than an hour after the second robbery, Wesson pointed a gun at a store employee immediately upon entering the store.  Wesson ordered the employee to open the register, which he did, but the employee could only open the first cash drawer and not the second drawer.  As in the two previous robberies, Wesson took the cash from the drawer and fled the store.

As detailed in his plea agreement, on the evening of August 8, 2020, four Baltimore Police Department officers were conducting routine patrol in an unmarked vehicle in 5100 block of Midwood Avenue in the Winston-Govans neighborhood in Northwest Baltimore.  There was a party in the area and individuals were in the street and on the sidewalk.  The officers saw an individual, later identified as Wesson, wearing a satchel across the right side of his body and conducting a “security check,” indicating that Wesson was armed.

The officers stopped and began to get out of their car to approach Wesson.  Wesson fled, followed by the four officers.  As he ran from the officers, Wesson threw his satchel on the sidewalk not far from one of the homes on Midwood Avenue, where it was almost immediately recovered by law enforcement.  The satchel was searched and was found to contain a loaded firearm that matched the gun used in the robberies.  The satchel also contained multiple baggies of cocaine packaged for street-level distribution.
Wesson was caught and searched.  On Wesson’s person, law enforcement recovered $279 in cash—proceeds from his drug trafficking—and suspected marijuana.  Wesson was arrested and subsequently admitted that he possessed the firearm in connection with and in furtherance of his illegal business selling cocaine and that he knew he was prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  PSN, an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime, is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.  As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI and the Baltimore Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul A. Riley and Colleen McGuinn, who prosecuted the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-neighborhoods-psnexile and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Baltimore, Maryland – Michael Odell Anderson, age 64, of Crystal Beach, Florida and Dun Lorring, Virginia, pleaded guilty today to a federal charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in relation to his participation in an elder fraud scam.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron and Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office.

According to his plea agreement, from April 2020 to December 2020, Anderson conspired with others to persuade elderly victims to give them thousands of dollars under false pretenses.  Specifically, members of the conspiracy called elderly victims posing as a police officer, lawyer, or relative and convinced victims to send money for the purported legal expenses of a loved one, generally a grandchild, who had been incarcerated in connection with a car accident or traffic stop involving a crime.  

If victims provided cash as directed by conspirators, conspirators fabricated additional reasons for them to send more money, claiming the additional funds were necessary for their grandchild’s legal expenses, bail costs, fines, or to pay damages.  Conspiracy members continued to call victims and demand additional funds, regularly obtaining tens of thousands of dollars from the retirement savings of victims.  Additionally, conspirators falsely told the victims that the money they sent would be returned to them at a later date.  To conceal the crime, the co-conspirators often told the victims that there had been a “gag order” placed on the case requiring secrecy and that the victim could not share the information with others. 

Anderson admitted that he and other conspirators posed as bail bondsmen or couriers and received cash directly from the victims, taking approximately seven percent of the proceeds as their payment and distributing the remaining fraud proceeds to other conspirators.  To conceal their identities, Anderson and the other conspirators used fake names and would not park directly in front of the victims’ homes when retrieving cash from the victims.  When Anderson was recruited into the conspiracy in April 2020, he traveled to the Maryland area to perpetrate the scheme, collecting money from victims in Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, and other states.  As part of the conspiracy, Anderson recruited additional participants to join the conspiracy and assist in retrieving cash from the victims. Anderson directed the recruited conspirators to pay him a percentage of their earnings from the fraud scheme. 

For example, Anderson, posing as a bail bondsman, traveled to Sykesville, Maryland on December 4, 2020, and collected $29,000 in cash from Victim 3, who had received a call from a co-conspirator telling her that her nephew had been arrested and needed money for his bail.  The next day, Victim 3 received another call and was told that she needed to pay an additional $10,000 in cash for bail money.  Anderson again traveled to Victim 3’s home to collect the cash and was arrested while attempting to retrieve the money.

As a result of the scheme, Anderson and the other conspirators caused at least 49 victims to pay at least $842,670 through materially false pretenses, representation, and promises.  Of that amount, approximately $578,170 was not returned to the victims

As part of his plea agreement, Anderson will be required to pay restitution in the full amount of the victims’ losses, which does not exceed $578,170 and to forfeit any property or assets derived from, or obtained as a result of, his criminal activity, including $70,327 seized from Anderson’s residence on December 18, 2020.

Anderson faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.  U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett has scheduled sentencing for March 16, 2023, at 11:00 a.m.

The Department of Justice runs the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311), has an interactive tool for elders who have been financially exploited to help determine to which agency they should report their incident, and also has a senior scam alert website.  Victims are encouraged to file a complaint online with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at this website or by calling 1-800-225-5324.  Elder fraud complaints may be filed with the FTC at www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov or at 877-FTC-HELP.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI for its work in the investigation and thanked the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office for its assistance.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean R. Delaney, who is prosecuting the federal case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/elder-justice-initiative.

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Greenbelt, Maryland – Late yesterday a federal jury convicted Darryl Colton Frazer, age 34, of Silver Spring, Maryland, on federal gun and drug conspiracy charges.  Frazer’s co-defendant, Shamire Moore, age 31, of Bowie, Maryland, pleaded guilty on October 31, 2022, to possession with intent to distribute marijuana and to possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.

The guilty verdict and plea were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Toni M. Crosby of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division; and Chief Marcus Jones of the Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD).

According to the evidence presented at his three-day trial, on July 25, 2019, MCPD officers investigating a recent shooting approached Frazer and co-defendant Shamire Moore after noting that Moore appeared to match the description of an individual involved in the shooting.  When Frazer and Moore saw the officers, they ran into a nearby residential area.  Officers followed them and found Frazer in a nearby apartment building.

Witnesses testified that Frazer was ordered to stop and to drop the black bag that he was carrying.  Instead, Frazer threw the black bag from the stairwell and away from himself.  The black bag was immediately recovered by police, and Frazer was arrested.  The black bag contained: a loaded 9mm semi-automatic pistol; 103 grams of marijuana packaged into four separate plastic bags; a digital scale, and latex gloves. 

At the time of his arrest, Frazer was on supervised release for a previous federal conviction.  Frazer also knew that as a result of his previous conviction, he was prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition. 

According to Moore’s plea agreement, officers found Moore lying on the ground in a nearby wooded area.  They ordered Moore to stand up and surrender, but instead, Moore scaled a fence and jumped onto an adjacent government property.  Moore was eventually caught and arrested after a struggle.  The black bag that Moore was carrying contained a loaded .38 caliber revolver, 106 grams of marijuana packaged into four separate plastic bags inside a larger Ziploc bag, and a digital scale, among other items.  During a search of Moore’s clothing and effects, law enforcement also recovered $579 in cash, which represented proceeds of Moore’s drug trafficking offense.  Moore admitted that he possessed the marijuana with intent to distribute it and that the firearm was in furtherance of drug trafficking since it was intended, at least in part, to defend his drug inventory and drug proceeds.

Frazer faces up to 20 years in federal prison for his conviction on charges of participating in a drug conspiracy, possession with intent to distribute marijuana, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.  Separately, Frazer will be facing a maximum of two years in prison for violation of his supervised release in his previous federal case. 

Moore and the government have agreed that, if the Court accepts the plea agreement, Moore will be sentenced to at least five years, but not more than six years, in federal prison. 

U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm has not scheduled a sentencing for date for Frazer or Moore.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the ATF and the Montgomery County Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Adam K. Ake and Joel Crespo and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Kibbe, who are prosecuting the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-neighborhoods-psnexile and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander sentenced Matthew K. Walsh, age 25, of Baltimore, Maryland, today to 20 years in federal prison, followed by 30 years of supervised release, for sexual exploitation of a minor in order to produce child pornography.  Specifically, Walsh created fictitious online profiles purporting to be a teenage girl to contact and induce minor males between the ages of 12 and 17 to send sexually explicit images and videos to the individual they believed to be a minor female, but was, in fact, Walsh.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; and Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department.

According to his plea agreement, from at least 2016 through 2021, Walsh created fictitious profiles on several online platforms posing as a minor female to make contact with minor males between the ages of twelve and seventeen to induce them to produce sexually explicit images and videos to send to the purported minor female.  Once Walsh obtained the sexually explicit images and videos, he extorted the minor males into producing more sexually explicit images and videos at his instruction and threatened that if they failed to do so, Walsh would send the previously provided images and videos to the minor victims’ friends, family, and classmates.  Walsh directed the minor males to send him the images and videos he directed them to produce, and that the images and videos needed to include their face.

In some of the communications, by text, email, and video, the minor victims are crying and begging Walsh not to send the images and videos to their families and classmates, to leave them alone, and not to make them do more, but Walsh persisted with his threats and demands.  Walsh admitted that he harassed some of the victims for years and obtained hundreds of files depicting sexually explicit conduct from some of the victims.  In total, Walsh obtained approximately 2000 images and videos depicting sexually explicit conduct of the various minor males.

As detailed in the plea agreement, once Walsh received the sexually explicit files from the victims, he saved them into folders of fake names or a variation of the victim’s real name in a cloud storage account.  Walsh also uploaded the minor males’ files to various Twitter accounts and sold the sexually explicit files of the minors to others, obtaining approximately $8000 from the sale of the files.  Specifically, Walsh communicated with at least 50 different Twitter users interested in purchasing either individual files of child sex abuse material (CSAM), or Walsh’s “collections” of CSAM.  The “collections” contained over 100 different victims’ files.  In several messages, the Twitter users were aware that some of the individuals in the sexually explicit files were as young as 14-years-old.  Several Twitter users exchanged “tips” with Walsh on how to evade law enforcement and discussed methods for enticing and extorting victims’ nude images and videos.  Walsh was also a member of online groups which included other offenders who would post, sell, and trade CSAM. 

During the investigation, federal search warrants were executed on 17 Google accounts, 22 Twitter accounts, 4 Facebook accounts, 7 Instagram accounts, 6 Snapchat accounts, 3 Dropbox accounts, 3 TextNow accounts, a Kik account, an Apple account, and an Oath/Yahoo! account, all created and utilized by Walsh.   To date over 40 minor males have been positively identified as victims of Walsh’s conduct.  At least 30 victims’ pictures and videos were sold and/or distributed to others by Walsh.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.  For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc and click on the "Resources" tab on the left of the page.         

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI and Baltimore Police Department for their work in the investigation and thanked the Noblesville, Indiana Police Department for its assistance.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul E. Budlow, who prosecuted the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-childhood and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Baltimore, Maryland – Robert A. DiNoto, age 48, of Huntington, New York, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in connection with a fraudulent billing scheme involving a manufacturing company with facilities in Harford County, Maryland.    

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Darrell J. Waldon of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, Washington, D.C. Field Office.

According to his guilty plea, Robert A. DiNoto, is the owner and President of American Pride Distributors (“American Pride”), located in, Woodbury, New York.  American Pride sold commercial drum containers used by manufacturers to store and transport products.  Robert DiNoto is the brother of Eugene DiNoto (E. DiNoto), a former longtime employee of Company 1, a family-owned global business headquartered in New York, but with manufacturing facilities in Belcamp and Abingdon, Maryland, both in Harford County. 

As detailed in his plea agreement, beginning no later than 2014, Robert and E. DiNoto agreed to execute a fraudulent billing scheme to defraud Company 1, through the submission of false invoices for undelivered drums.  As the facility manager for Company 1, E. DiNoto oversaw the purchasing and storing of drums for use at the Harford County manufacturing facilities and had the authority to review drum invoices and authorize payments to the drum vendors.  Robert DiNoto approached E. DiNoto about how he could start his own drum vending company.  E. DiNoto subsequently told Robert DiNoto about other drum vendors that were defrauding Company 1 using a fraudulent billing scheme.  Robert DiNoto, who was in the real estate business at the time, decided to use a company he owned, called Sandpiper Properties, Inc., trading as American Pride Distributors, to facilitate the scheme to defraud Company 1. 

Once American Pride Distributors was formed, Robert DiNoto began receiving drum purchase orders from E. DiNoto for Company 1 to establish a legitimate pattern of drum sales between American Pride and Company 1.  However, because Robert DiNoto was never in the business of manufacturing or reconditioning drums, he filled Company 1’s orders by buying the requisite number of drums from an actual drum manufacturer and arranging to ship them to Company 1’s facilities in Harford County, Maryland.  Robert DiNoto billed Company 1 for the drums using American Pride invoices, which E. DiNoto approved for payment via emails to Company 1’s accounting department in New York.    

Soon thereafter, Robert DiNoto began fraudulently invoicing Company 1 for drums that he and American Pride never delivered to the company.  To conceal the fraudulent invoices, he would intermittently send the bogus invoices before and after sending legitimate ones.  For example, in 2017, Robert DiNoto sent legitimate invoices #1555 through #1558 between February 15 and April 12 in the amounts of $19,223, $19,419, $18,038, and $20,908, respectively.  He then submitted a fraudulent invoice, #1559, and received a payment from Company 1 for $19,448 for a shipment of 358 “NEW 55 GALLON STEEL DRUMS” that were never delivered. 

Between December 2016 and August 2019, Robert DiNoto used American Pride’s invoices to bill and receive a total of approximately $257,181 from Company 1 for nonexistent drum deliveries.  Robert DiNoto used the proceeds from the fraudulent billings for personal expenses, including to pay his credit card bills. 

To avoid scrutiny throughout the conspiracy, the DiNotos kept their familial relationship with American Pride a secret from Company 1 employees.  Despite their best efforts, third-party vendors used by American Pride would sometimes inadvertently forward an email or invoice intended for the Robert DiNoto to Company 1.  E. DiNoto would criticize Robert DiNoto for the mistake and ask him to remind his third-party vendors never to send correspondence to Company 1’s address.  On at least one occasion, Robert DiNoto used an alias to conceal his identity when communicating with Company 1 employees.   

Robert DiNoto faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud.  He will also be required to forfeit and pay restitution in the full amount of the loss, $257,181.  U.S. District Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby has scheduled sentencing for Robert DiNoto on March 21, 2023 at 2:00 p.m.

Eugene Andrew DiNoto, age 51, of Bel Air, Maryland, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, engaging in an illegal monetary transaction, and filing a false tax return, in connection with schemes that defrauded his employer of more than $29 million.  He is awaiting sentencing. 

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI and IRS-CI for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Martin J. Clarke and Harry M. Gruber, who are prosecuting the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to report fraud, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/report-fraud.

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Greenbelt, Maryland – On October 28, 2022, U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm sentenced Bobby Cannon, a/k/a Freaky, age 24 of Baltimore, to 29 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for participating in a violent racketeering conspiracy, specifically, the NFL Criminal Enterprise, including committing two murders.  The term NFL stands for Normandy, Franklin, and Loudon, which are three adjacent streets that run through the Edmondson Village.  Members of NFL have social and familial ties to the Edmondson Village neighborhood in southwest Baltimore. 

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Washington Division; Chief Marcus Jones of the Montgomery County Police Department; and Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department.

According to his guilty plea, from at least 2016 through March 26, 2020, Bobby Cannon was a member of the NFL Criminal Enterprise, which engaged in a pattern of criminal racketeering activity including murder, narcotics trafficking and smuggling, illegal firearms possession, bribery, witness intimidation, and witness retaliation.  Cannon admitted that he participated in illegal activities with other NFL Enterprise members, including committing two murders and an attempted murder, and distributing large quantities of heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine. 

As detailed in Cannon’s plea agreement, in 2018, co-defendant James Roberts and other NFL members offered money for the murder of an individual who was believed to be a federal witness cooperating with law enforcement regarding NFL.  On June 16, 2018, Cannon walked up to the porch of a house in Edmondson Village, where the individual and his girlfriend were sitting.  Cannon shot them both multiple times, killing them.  Cannon was subsequently paid by Roberts for committing the murders, which Cannon agrees was in furtherance of the NFL Criminal Enterprise.

In late 2018, Cannon was recruited by NFL to murder another individual in exchange for money and in furtherance of the NFL Criminal Enterprise.  Cannon planned the murder for several weeks and learned that the individual resided in a halfway house in East Baltimore.  On January 4, 2019, Cannon borrowed a car from a female associate in southwest Baltimore and later drove the car to the vicinity of the halfway house, where Cannon waited for the individual.  After several hours, Cannon saw the individual on the street and shot the individual multiple times in the arm, back, neck, and buttocks.  The individual sustained life-threatening injuries but survived the shooting.

Following the shooting, Cannon abandoned the car and notified the female associate, who then falsely reported to the Baltimore Police that her car was stolen.  Cannon then notified the NFL Criminal Enterprise that he attempted to murder the individual but failed to kill him.

In April 2019, the FBI arrested members of the NFL Criminal Enterprise, but not Cannon.  On a recorded jail call following the arrests, incarcerated NFL members instructed Cannon to continue distributing narcotics for the NFL.  Cannon took over a drug phone used by the NFL Criminal Enterprise so that he could continue to sell narcotics to drug customers of the organization.

On December 28, 2019, Baltimore Police officers found Cannon unconscious in a parked van. During their interaction, officers saw that Cannon had a gun, which they recovered from his jacket pocket.  Officers then searched Cannon’s van and recovered over 98 grams of fentanyl, which Cannon agrees he possessed with the intent to distribute it.

Cannon admitted in his plea agreement that over the course of the racketeering conspiracy, Cannon and his co-conspirators distributed over one kilogram of heroin, more than 400 grams of fentanyl, and more than 280 grams of crack cocaine.

More than 30 defendants in this and related cases have pleaded guilty and been sentenced to between 15 years and time served.  NFL member James Henry Roberts, a/k/a “Bub,” age 32, of Baltimore, Maryland, pleaded guilty on October 3, 2022, along with gang leader Gregory Butler, a/k/a “Gotti,” “Sags,” and “Little Dick,” age 31, also of Baltimore, to conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise related to their activities in the NFL gang.  They are expected to be sentenced to 30 years in federal prison.  On October 7, 2022, the final defendant in the case, D’Andre Preston, age 26, of Baltimore, pleaded guilty to his participation in the NFL racketeering conspiracy, including a murder, and is expected to be sentenced to 25 years in federal prison.  Judge Grimm has scheduled sentencing for all three defendants on December 9, 2022.

This case was made possible by investigative leads generated from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ (ATF) National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN).  NIBIN is the only national network that allows for the capture and comparison of ballistic evidence to aid in solving and preventing violent crimes involving firearms.  NIBIN is a proven investigative and intelligence tool that can link firearms from multiple crime scenes, allowing law enforcement to quickly disrupt shooting cycles.  For more information on NIBIN, visit https://www.atf.gov/firearms/national-integrated-ballistic-information-network-nibin.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

This case is also part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI, the DEA, the Montgomery County Department of Police and the Baltimore Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron commended the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; the City of Rockville Police Department; the Baltimore County and Howard County Police Departments; the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office; the Maryland State Police; the West Virginia State Police; the Virginia State Police; the Warren County (VA) Sheriff’s Department; the Winchester (VA) and Front Royal (VA) Police Departments; and the Frederick County and Howard County State’s Attorney’s Offices for their assistance in the investigation and prosecution.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys John W. Sippel, Jr., James T. Wallner, and Robert I. Goldaris, who are prosecuting the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-neighborhoods-psnexile and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.   

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Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis sentenced Angela Marie Farr, age 36, of Lexington Park, Maryland, yesterday to 30 months in federal prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, for conspiracy to commit theft of government property and for theft of government property, in connection with a scheme to obtain fraudulently disability benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”) and the Social Security Administration (“SSA”).  Judge Xinis also ordered Farr to forfeit an amount equal to the proceeds obtained as a result of the fraud by paying a money judgment of $475,751, and ordered Farr pay restitution in the full amount of the government’s losses, which is at least $1,010,702.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Kim R. Lampkins, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Inspector General (OIG), Mid-Atlantic Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Michael McGill of the Social Security Administration - Office of Inspector General (SSA-OIG), Philadelphia Field Division.

According to her guilty plea, Farr organized a conspiracy in which she submitted false and fraudulent documents to the VA in support of her disability compensation claims, as well as for the disability claims for her then-husband, Michael Vincent Pace, and for her father, Individual 1.  The fraudulent documents stated that Farr, Pace, and Individual 1 were homebound and required full-time assistance for basic tasks such as eating, bathing, and dressing.  In fact, all three individuals lived active lives and did not require such assistance.

Farr served in the U.S. Navy from August 2, 2005 until April 19, 2007, when she was administratively discharged.  In 2009, Farr filed a claim to the VA for disability compensation stating that she suffered post-traumatic stress disorder after being sexually assaulted while on duty three years earlier.  At the same time, Farr also falsely claimed to the VA that she was seriously injured in a traffic accident when she was struck by a drunk driver while driving on duty in 2006.  Farr claimed that she suffered from chronic neck and back pain as a result of the accident.

In support of these claims, Farr filed an entirely fabricated medical record allegedly from the Navy consisting of over 70 pages of documents purportedly authored by criminal investigators, psychologists, and physical therapists.  Based on the injuries claimed and the forged supporting medical documentation, on October 6, 2007, the VA rated Farr 70 percent disabled.

In 2015, Farr sought additional compensation claiming that she suffered a traumatic brain injury and other grave health consequences as a result of the 2007 vehicle accident.  Farr again submitted dozens of forged fraudulent medical documents in support of her claim, using the names of both real and fictitious physicians.  The documents claimed that Farr was paralyzed from the waist down, suffered multiple seizures daily, required round-the-clock care for basic functions such as toileting and showering, and claimed that she also suffered from an aneurysm, heart attack, and leukemia.  Based on the fraudulent documentation, VA increased Farr’s disability rating to 100 percent, and awarded Special Monthly Compensation (SMC) for her in-home nursing care requirements.

In approximately April 2016, Farr applied online for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits on the basis of the same disabilities she cited in her VA claims.  In that application, Farr claimed that she was unable to work, despite the fact that she was working for the Department of Defense at the time she applied, but claimed she was forced to medically retire.  The Social Security Administration awarded SSDI benefits to Farr on September 17, 2016.

Farr also conspired with and assisted Pace, a former member of the United States military, to exaggerate his existing condition using forged and fraudulent documents, resulting in an increased rating of 100%.  Pace received the highest amount of disability compensation and SMC paid by the VA, in addition to a Caregiver Stipend he received in the amount exceeding $2,500 monthly, for purportedly serving as Farr’s caregiver, despite claiming to be completely disabled himself.

Farr also conspired with her mother, Mary Francis Biggs, age 65 of Lexington Park, Maryland, to exaggerate Individual 1’s claims, which involved the submission of fraudulent and fictitious medical documents.  As a result, the VA rated Individual 1 to be 100 percent disabled and awarded him SMC.  Biggs and Farr also conspired to conceal from VA the fact that Individual 1 was working, and as part of a VA field interview on September 13, 2017, Biggs did not disclose the fact that Individual 1was employed and completed a form stating that Individual 1 had no employment income.  Biggs spent the fraudulently received disability compensation payments on daily living expenses, cruise vacations, and a kitchen renovation, even though she was aware that her husband was not entitled to the payments. 

Farr received approximately $440,085 in VA benefits and approximately $35,666 in Social Security benefit payments, resulting in a loss to the United States of $475,751 on Farr’s claims alone.  Pace received $370,912 in VA benefits to which he was not entitled.  Biggs and her husband received more than $168,000 in VA benefits to which they were not entitled.

Pace previously pled guilty, and Biggs was convicted on August 15, 2022 after a jury trial, for conspiracy and for theft of government property in connection with the scheme.  Biggs faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for the conspiracy and a maximum of 10 years in federal prison for theft of government property.  U.S. District Judge Xinis has scheduled sentencing for November 16, 2022.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the VA OIG and SSA OIG for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Coreen Mao, who is prosecuting the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources to report fraud, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/report-fraud. 

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Greenbelt, Maryland – A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging Jolen Michael Ghorbani, a/k/a “Jay,” age 28, formerly of Fairfax, Virginia, for bribery of a witness and obstruction of justice, in connection with a criminal trial in which Ghorbani was a witness.  The indictment was returned on October 19, 2022, and unsealed today upon Ghorbani’s arrest. 

The defendant is expected have an initial appearance tomorrow in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The indictment was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Wayne Jacobs of the Federal Bureau of Investigation - Washington Field Office Criminal Division; and Chief Malik Aziz of the Prince George’s County Police Department.

According to the three-count indictment, on February 3, 2021, Ghorbani was the victim of a kidnapping, assault, and robbery committed by Tray David Sherman and Sherman’s co-conspirators.  During the kidnapping, Ghorbani was transported from Maryland to Washington, D.C. where Sherman and his co-conspirators assaulted and robbed Ghorbani.  Sherman was indicted and arrested on March 31, 2021, for conspiracy to commit kidnapping.  

The indictment alleges that Ghorbani used a social meida account to send a series of direct messages to Sherman, including a message where Ghorbani sent his telephone number to Sherman and said “[C]all me If you want to finesse trial.”  Approximately three weeks before the scheduled start of Sherman’s trial, Ghorbani sent another series of messages to Sherman through his social media account, this time soliciting a payment of $5,000 from Sherman in exchange for Ghorbani’s agreement to testify falsely or to refuse to testify at all at Sherman’s trial.  Ghorbani shared the messages he sent to Sherman with another individual, bragging that he (Ghorbani) was “[d]ancing with the devil,” and telling that person, “I’m auctioning off his freedom.”

If convicted, Ghorbani faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in federal prison for bribery and a maximum of 10 years in federal prison for obstruction of justice.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.  A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.  

An indictment is not a finding of guilt.  An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings. 

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI Washington Field Office and the Prince George’s County Police Department for their work in the investigation and thanked the FBI Miami Field Office for its assistance.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey J. Izant and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared C. Engelking, who are prosecuting the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Baltimore, Maryland - United States Attorney Erek L. Barron announced today that Assistant United States Attorney (AUSAs) Leo J. Wise and Geonard Butler will lead the efforts of his Office in connection with the Justice Department’s nationwide Election Day Program for the upcoming November 8, 2022, general election.  AUSAs Wise and Butler have been appointed to serve as the District Election Officers (DEOs) for the District of Maryland, and in that capacity they are responsible for overseeing the District’s handling of election day complaints of voting rights concerns, threats of violence to election officials or staff, and election fraud, in consultation with Justice Department Headquarters in Washington.

United States Attorney Barron said, “The Department of Justice works tirelessly to ensure that every citizen is able to vote without interference or discrimination and to have that vote counted in a fair and free election.  Nor will we tolerate unlawful threats of violence to election officials and staff, who are integral to our country’s election process.  The right to vote is the cornerstone of American democracy.  We will bring to justice those who seek to corrupt that right.” 

The Department of Justice has an important role in deterring and combatting discrimination and intimidation at the polls, threats of violence directed at election officials and poll workers, and election fraud.  The Department will address these violations wherever they occur.  The Department’s longstanding Election Day Program furthers these goals and also seeks to ensure public confidence in the electoral process by providing local points of contact within the Department for the public to report possible federal election law violations.

Federal law protects against such crimes as threatening violence against election officials or staff, intimidating or bribing voters, buying and selling votes, impersonating voters, altering vote tallies, stuffing ballot boxes, and marking ballots for voters against their wishes or without their input.  It also contains special protections for the rights of voters, and provides that they can vote free from interference, including intimidation, and other acts designed to prevent or discourage people from voting or voting for the candidate of their choice.  The Voting Rights Act protects the right of voters to mark their own ballot or to be assisted by a person of their choice (where voters need assistance because of disability or inability to read or write in English).  

United States Attorney Barron stated that: “In order to respond to complaints of voting rights concerns and election fraud during the upcoming election, and to ensure that such complaints are directed to the appropriate authorities, AUSAs Wise and Butler will be on duty in Maryland while the polls are open.  AUSA Wise can be reached by the public at 410-209-4800 and AUSA Butler can be reached at 301-344-4433. Any allegation of election fraud or voting rights violations will be reviewed in consultation with state and federal authorities where appropriate, and we will pursue any case that warrants prosecution.”         

In addition, the FBI will have special agents available in each field office and resident agency throughout the country to receive allegations of election fraud and other election abuses on election day.  The local FBI field office can be reached by the public at 410-265-8080.

Complaints about possible violations of the federal voting rights laws can be made directly to the Civil Rights Division in Washington, DC by phone at 800-253-3931 or by complaint form at https://civilrights.justice.gov/ .

United States Attorney Barron said, “Ensuring free and fair elections depends in large part on the assistance of the American electorate.  It is important that those who have specific information about voting rights concerns or election fraud make that information available to the Department of Justice.”

Please note, however, in the case of a crime of violence or intimidation, please call 911 immediately and before contacting federal authorities.  State and local police have primary jurisdiction over polling places, and almost always have faster reaction capacity in an emergency.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Baltimore, Maryland - Chief United States District Judge James K. Bredar sentenced Angel Gabriel Arroyo-Angelino (“Arroyo”), age 34, a Mexican citizen residing in Easton, Maryland, today to 18 years in federal prison, followed by lifetime supervised release, for coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity.  Arroyo admitted that he pretended to be a teenage boy on social media accounts, in order to induce minor females to produce and send to him, sexually explicit images and videos of themselves.  Chief Judge Bredar also ordered that, upon his release from prison, Arroyo will be required to register as a sex offender in the places where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (“SORNA”). 

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Chief Alan Lowrey of the Easton Police Department; and Talbot County State’s Attorney Scott G. Patterson.

According to his guilty plea, from December 24, 2017 through September 11, 2018, Arroyo used the alias “Elias Garcia” to create a social media account.  Arroyo used the social media account to persuade, induce, and coerce four minor victims to produce and send him sexually explicit images and videos of themselves.  Arroyo initiated contact with each of the minor victims on social media and told the victims that he was 16 years old.  Arroyo used a profile picture depicting a teenaged boy to manipulate the minors he met online.  Arroyo complimented the minors, sent them images of flowers and money, and made other romantic overtures to the minor victims.  From these communications, Arroyo knew that the victims were underage minors.  Despite that knnowledge, Arroyo persuaded the victims to send him nude images, often sending them cash in the mail if they sent the sexually explicit images and videos he requested.

The social media platform became aware of Arroyo’s misconduct in May of 2018 and terminated his Elias Garcia account.  The social media platform also submitted a Cybertip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (“NCMEC”) detailing a sexually explicit online conversation that Arroyo had with one of the victims, a 15-year-old female (Victim #3), which culminated in the minor sending Arroyo a sexually explicit video of herself. 

After receiving the Cybertip, investigators at the Easton Police Department obtained a series of search warrants for online and phone accounts associated with the “Elias Garcia” persona, and after gathering additional information, obtained a search warrant to search Arroyo’s residence in Easton, Maryland on September 11, 2018.  While executing the search warrant, detectives discovered a white envelope in Arroyo’s bedroom that contained a $50.00 bill.  The envelope was addressed to an individual later identified as a 12-year-old female and Victim #3’s name was handwritten in the area where “sender” information is customarily placed.  Investigators discovered that Arroyo had been engaging in communications with the 12-year-old minor through social media, offering her money in exchange for sexually explicit photos. 

In addition to the white envelope, investigators also discovered a black cell phone hidden in Arroyo’s bedroom.  A subsequent review of the contents of the cell phone revealed sexually explicit images of several of the minor victims, as well as evidence linking Arroyo to the “Elias Garcia” communications and to another alias “Emiel Quiross” Arroyo used to create an additional social media account after the social media platform shut down his “Elias Garcia” account.  Investigators obtained a search warrant and discovered that Arroyo used the “Emiel Quiross” account to coerce and entice two additional minor victims, Victim #5 and Victim #6, to produce and send him sexually explicit images of themselves.  Arroyo employed a similar pattern to manipulate Victim #5 and Victim #6, by pretending to be a 16-year-old boy and offering the minor females cash in exchange for sending him close-up images of the victims’ genitals. 

On September 11, 2018, after voluntarily waiving his Miranda rights, Arroyo agreed to speak with investigators.  During the interview, Arroyo used another alias when identifying himself to investigators and did not provide his real name.  Arroyo admitted that the cell phone and white envelope found in his bedroom belonged to him.  Arroyo claimed that he was mailing the money to his “ex-girlfriend.”  When asked why Victim #3’s name was handwritten on the top-left “sender” portion of the envelope, Arroyo denied knowing Victim #3, and claimed that he made up the name of a female to place on the envelope so his “ex-girlfriend’s” new boyfriend would not become suspicious regarding the source of the money she received in the envelope. 

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.  For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc and click on the “Resources” tab on the left of the page.         

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI, the Easton Police Department and the Talbot County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation and prosecution.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen E. McGuinn, who prosecuted the federal case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-childhood and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Greenbelt, Maryland – A federal criminal complaint has been filed charging Jason Michael Leidel, age 42, an active-duty commissioned officer of the United States Navy and Sarah Elizabeth Sorg, age 43, a Senior Trial Attorney for the United States Department of Transportation, both of Silver Spring, Maryland, with aggravated identity theft, fraud related to a protected computer, cyberstalking and conspiracy to commit cyberstalking.  The criminal complaint was filed on October 17, 2022, and unsealed today upon the arrest of the defendants. 

The defendants are scheduled to have initial appearances beginning at 3:00 p.m. today, in U.S. District Court in Baltimore before U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Mark Coulson.

The federal charges were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Alison F. Zavada of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS); Special Agent in Charge Craig Miles of the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General (USDOT OIG); Chief Marcus Jones of the Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD); and Chief Paul W. Neudigate of the Virginia Beach, Virginia Police Department (VBPD).

As detailed in the affidavit, Leidel married his wife in 2005 and they had two children.  Leidel has served in the military since 2003—first in the United States Air Force, then in the United States Navy (USN).  In 2017, while on active duty with the USN, Leidel was accepted to a Ph.D. program at the Uniformed Services University for the Health Sciences (“USUHS”) in Bethesda, Maryland, and reported for his assignment in June 2018.  In August 2018, Leidel and his wife permanently separated.  She and the two children returned to Virginia Beach, Virginia, where they had lived prior to Leidel’s USUHS assignment.  

The affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint alleges that, since their separation, Leidel has engaged in an ongoing and extensive scheme to harass his ex-wife, interfere with court proceedings relating to domestic relations issues, and perpetrate fraud on courts in both Montgomery County, Maryland and Virginia Beach, Virginia.  Among other things, Leidel used spoofed and fraudulent email accounts and phone numbers to falsely create communications purporting to be from his ex-wife, thus causing criminal charges to be filed against her, disrupt her employment, and interfere with her personal life.  Leidel also allegedly sent emails from compromised accounts and spoofed accounts in order to portray his ex-wife as a mentally unstable parent, with the hope that he would gain custody of their minor children in order to deprive his ex-wife of his retirement accounts and pension in their divorce agreement.

In addition, according to the affidavit, Sorg shared her home with Leidel and was present when a search warrant was executed at their residence.  Sorg was aware of information that linked multiple fraudulent online accounts used by Leidel to harass and victimize his ex-wife as early as August 2020 and has allegedly continued to provide assistance to Leidel to harass the victim, interfere with court proceedings, and perpetrate fraud on courts in Montgomery County, Maryland and Virginia Beach, Virginia.

If convicted, Jason Leidel and Sarah Sorg each face a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for conspiracy to commit cyberstalking and for cyberstalking; a mandatory sentence of two years in federal prison, consecutive to any other sentence imposed, for aggravated identity theft; and one year in federal prison for fraud related to a protected computer.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.  A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. 

A criminal complaint is not a finding of guilt.  An individual charged by criminal complaint is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings. 

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI, the NCIS, the USDOT OIG, the MCPD, and the VBPD for their work in the investigation and thanked the Maryland State Police for its assistance.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys P. Michael Cunningham and Thomas M. Sullivan, who are prosecuting the federal case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Stephanie A. Gallaher sentenced Michael Fisher, a.k.a. “Mark Wilson,” age 47, of Laurel, Maryland, today to 17 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for his participation in a large-scale drug trafficking organization involving fentanyl, cocaine, and marijuana shipped from California to Maryland through the U.S. mail.  At today’s sentencing hearing, Judge Gallagher found that approximately 120 kilograms of cocaine, 6.5 kilograms of fentanyl and 50 kilograms of marijuana were attributable to Fisher as part of the conspiracy.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Superintendent Colonel Woodrow W. Jones III of the Maryland State Police; Postal Inspector in Charge Damon E. Wood of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service - Washington Division; and Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Washington Division.

According to his guilty plea, in November 2019, law enforcement began investigating a drug trafficking conspiracy that used the U.S. mail to distribute fentanyl, cocaine, and marijuana in the Baltimore/Washington Metropolitan area.  During the investigation, court-authorized wiretaps of Fisher and his co-conspirator, Dwight Antonio Pitts, revealed conversations in which they discussed the distribution of fentanyl, cocaine, and marijuana with each other and with other individuals.  Further, law enforcement conducted surveillance and observed drug transactions by both Fisher and Pitts.

During the conspiracy, Fisher and Pitts traveled to California multiple times to obtain kilograms of cocaine and fentanyl.  Once in possession of the narcotics, they mailed the narcotics back to Maryland for distribution.  

In May 2020, during drug interdiction activities at a United States Postal Service processing and distribution center in Maryland, postal inspectors interdicted multiple parcels, including a parcel bound for a location in Laurel, Maryland that was identified as a location maintained by Fisher.  A search warrant was obtained for this parcel which contained approximately two kilograms of cocaine.

Between June 1, 2020 and June 3, 2020, investigators intercepted several telephone calls between Fisher and Co-Conspirator 2 arranging a drug transaction.  On June 3, 2020, Fisher and Co-Conspirator 2 met at a location in Hanover, Maryland.  Investigators at that location observed Co-Conspirator 2 retrieve an object, later determined to be a heat-sealed bag containing approximately 501 grams of fentanyl, from Fisher.  Co-Conspirator 2 placed the object into the trunk of his vehicle and left the location.  Later that day, law enforcement conducted a traffic stop of Co-Conspirator 2’s vehicle and recovered the heat-sealed bag of fentanyl that Fisher distributed to Co-Conspirator 2 during their meeting.

On August 4, 2020, court-authorized cell phone location data showed Pitts’s cell phone in the area of 3828 North Peck Road, El Monte, California.  Two days later, USPIS received an alert that two Priority Mail parcels had been sent from the El Segundo, California Branch Post Office on August 5, 2020.  The parcels were bound for locations in Maryland associated with Fisher and the conspiracy.  The two parcels were seized by investigators in Maryland before they were delivered.  A search warrant was authorized for both parcels, which were found to contain more than two kilograms of cocaine and more than two kilograms of fentanyl., respectively  Security footage from the El Segundo Post Office showed that Pitts was at the post office at the time the parcels were mailed.

On August 13, 2020, investigators followed Fisher to a parking lot at 3828 North Peck Road, El Monte, California—the same location where Pitts’s cell phone was located several days earlier.  Fisher parked his car and a white Honda SUV with a female driver and a male passenger parked next to Fisher.  Investigators saw Fisher remove a box from the trunk of his vehicle, place the box inside the Honda SUV, then return to his vehicle and leave the area.  The Honda drove away in a different direction.  Investigators conducted a traffic stop of the Honda a short time later and obtained consent to search the vehicle from the driver and from the passenger, Co-Conspirator 3.  Investigators located the box Fisher had placed in the Honda, which contained packages of bulk currency, totaling approximately $190,020.

Co-Conspirator 3 then gave investigators consent to search his residence.  Two duffle bags containing approximately 30 kilograms of cocaine were seized, along with two additional duffle bags that contained approximately $193,980 in narcotics proceeds.  The amount of cash located in the residence did not include the approximately $190,020 that Fisher provided to Co-Conspirator 3 earlier that day.

A few days later, search warrants were executed at six locations in Maryland associated with Fisher and Pitts and at a residence in Las Vegas, Nevada, which was used by Fisher.  In addition, on September 1, 2020, investigators executed a search warrant at a house in Hanover, Maryland—an additional residence used by Fisher.  Investigators seized 15 firearms—six firearms from locations associated with Pitts and nine firearms from locations associated with Fisher—along with kilogram quantities of cocaine, fentanyl, and marijuana.  In total, during the investigation law enforcement seized approximately 35 kilograms of cocaine, approximately 6.5 kilograms of fentanyl, and approximately 50 kilograms of marijuana.  In addition, investigators seized approximately $1,501,308, which was proceeds from the sale of narcotics.

Investigators also executed search warrants on cellular telephones seized from Fisher and others.  One of Fisher’s cell phones contained photographs of a drug ledger sent to Fisher from a narcotics source of supply.  The ledger confirmed that between November 2019 and May 2020, the conspiracy obtained more than 115 kilograms of cocaine and 2 kilograms of fentanyl in California and mailed the drugs to Maryland for distribution.  In several instances, the dates and quantities on the ledger correspond to CCTV footage of Fisher in a Los Angeles Post Office mailing packages to Maryland.  In total, between July 2019 and August 2020, the conspiracy was responsible for mailing approximately 121 parcels from Los Angeles-area Post Offices to locations in Maryland.  

Co-defendant Dwight Antonio Pitts, age 47, of Hanover, Maryland, previously pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy and was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison on March 1, 2022.

This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

The overdose crisis continues to devastate states and local communities. If you believe you may need substance use disorder treatment or recovery services, please call 1800-662-HELP (4357).  You may also visit the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland for further information and resources on opioid awareness here.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the MSP, USPIS, and DEA for their work in the investigation and thanked the Los Angeles Police Department, and the Los Angeles DEA for their assistance.  Mr. Barron also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Anatoly Smolkin, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Romano, who prosecuted the case.

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Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced Calvin Henry Sampson III, age 23, of Baltimore, Maryland, yesterday to 13 years in federal prison, followed by 30 years of supervised release, for possession of child pornography.  Sampson admitted that he also produced images and videos documenting his sexual abuse of two minor female victims.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron;  Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department; and Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby.

According to his plea agreement, on March 3, 2020, an individual saw images depicting the sexual abuse of the two minor victims on Sampson’s phone.  During the subsequent investigation, the victims were interviewed and confirmed that Sampson had taken sexually explicit photos of them engaged in sexual conduct.  They also stated that Sampson told them that they would be in trouble if they told anyone.  A search warrant was obtained for email accounts associated with Sampson and for his cellular phone.  A review of one of the accounts revealed at least four videos and 21 images produced by Sampson that documented his sexual abuse of the victims.  Sampson’s cell phone was forensically examined on March 26, 2020.  After the phone was charged and turned on, it appeared that the cell phone had been factory reset and did not contain any specific user data.  Sampson was arrested on April 11, 2020 by a Baltimore City Police officer in connection with a separate child abuse case and has been held without bond since that time.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.  For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc and click on the "Resources" tab on the left of the page.         

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI, the Baltimore Police Department, and the Baltimore City State’ Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul A. Riley, who prosecuted the federal case.

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Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Julie R. Rubin sentenced Edward Burton, age 38, of Jessup, Maryland, yesterday to 13 years in federal prison, followed by four years of supervised release, after Burton pleaded guilty to federal charges of possession of more than 400 grams of fentanyl with intent to distribute and to being a felon in possession of a firearm.  

The guilty plea and sentence were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget of the Drug Enforcement Administration - Washington Division; Special Agent in Charge Toni M. Crosby of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division; Anne Arundel County Police Chief Amal E. Awad; Chief Melissa R. Hyatt of the Baltimore County Police Department; Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess; and Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger.

According to his guilty plea, the DEA investigated a drug-trafficking organization operating in Baltimore, including Burton.  On December 15, 2021, law enforcement searched a stash house used by Burton and his co-conspirators and recovered approximately 431.25 grams of mixtures or substances containing fentanyl, including a bag containing 6,450 gelatin capsules containing 231.67 gram of fentanyl and another bag containing 644 gelatin capsules containing 113 grams of fentanyl, as well as narcotics packaging materials and other drug paraphernalia.  The search of the stash house also recovered seven firearms and ammunition, including three 9mm handguns; an AR-15 style rifle; a .45-caliber handgun; a 7.62 x 39mm caliber pistol; a .40-caliber rifle; .45-caliber magazines; and 7.62 x 39mm and 9mm ammunition.  Law enforcement also recovered $4,376 in cash and jewelry valued at $13,550, which constituted proceeds of drug trafficking.

That same day, search warrants were executed at Burton’s home and at a storage unit that he rented.  From the residence, law enforcement recovered: a .380 semi-automation handgun, loaded with eight rounds of ammunition; a .38-caliber revolver; $14,920 in cash; and jewelry valued at $447,950.  From the storage unit investigators recovered: a 9mm handgun loaded with 13 rounds of ammunition; two .40-caliber handguns, one loaded with 13 rounds of ammunition, and the other with a large extended magazine loaded with 20 rounds of ammunition; and a 2019 Mercedes Benz AMG GT 63S, with Maryland registration listing Burton as the owner of the vehicle.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

This prosecution was brought as a part of the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Co-located Strike Forces Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location.  This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations against priority targets and their affiliate illicit financial networks.  These prosecutor-led co-located Strike Forces capitalize on the synergy created through relationships forged by agents, analysts, and prosecutors who remain together over time, and they epitomize the model that has proven most effective in combating organized crime.  The specific mission of the Baltimore OCDETF Strike Force is to reduce violent, drug-related, and gang crime in the Baltimore area and surrounding region.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the DEA, the ATF the Anne Arundel County Police Department, the Baltimore Police Department, the Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office, and the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation and prosecution.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joan C. Mathias and Ariel Evans, who are prosecuting the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-neighborhoods-psnexile and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Baltimore, Maryland – Clayton Alexander McCoy, age 32, of Chesterland, Ohio, pleaded guilty today to transporting explosives with intent to injure and to possession of an unregistered firearm/explosive device, in connection with an explosion at a home in Carroll County, Maryland.  A resident of the home was the boyfriend of a woman in whom McCoy had a romantic interest.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Toni M. Crosby of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division; Maryland State Fire Marshal Brian S. Geraci; Carroll County Sheriff James T. DeWees; and Carroll County State’s Attorney Allan Culver.

According to his guilty plea, McCoy built an explosive bomb in his home in Ohio, then drove the bomb to Victim 1’s home in Carroll County, Maryland, intending to kill the victim.  McCoy knew the victim and a woman, who was Victim 1’s girlfriend, for a number of years through a live action role-playing battle game/social club.  In October 2020 McCoy expressed romantic feelings for the woman, who informed McCoy that she was in a relationship with Victim 1 and did not share McCoy’s romantic feelings.

Following his rejection by Victim 1’s girlfriend, McCoy devised a plan to build and deliver a bomb to Victim 1’s house with the intent to kill Victim 1 in order to remove him as a romantic rival.  McCoy researched the materials and plans for making the victim operated pipe bomb.  McCoy traveled to multiple stores and purchased a variety of substances to make explosive powder, as well as other components to manufacture the bomb.  To avoid detection by law enforcement, McCoy purchased single items from multiple stores and paid for the materials in cash.  McCoy made shrapnel for the inside of the bomb by using an angle grinder saw to cut scrap metal into small, triangular pieces.  McCoy inserted the homemade shrapnel and bb’s, into the metal pipe, to increase the deadliness of the pipe bomb when it exploded.  McCoy placed the homemade bomb into a white gift box, tied a red ribbon around the box, and armed the firing mechanism so that the bomb would explode when the gift box was opened.  Additionally, McCoy placed the gift box containing the bomb into a larger cardboard box with a shipping label that had no return address.  Prior to delivering the bomb, McCoy made a prototype and tested the bomb in his yard to ensure that it would detonate.

On October 30, 2020, McCoy placed the homemade bomb in the back of a pickup truck and drove approximately seven hours from Ohio to Victim 1’s residence.  McCoy placed the bomb on Victim 1’s front porch just prior to 8:30 a.m., where Victim 1’s grandfather saw the package  and brought the package inside the home.  Victim 1’s grandfather put the package on the kitchen counter, where it remained until Victim 1’s return.  At approximately 5:30 p.m., Victim 1 returned home and saw the cardboard box that was addressed to him.  He opened the cardboard box and observed a smaller white box with a red ribbon inside.  The victim texted his girlfriend to ask her if she had sent him a present, then took both boxes into his bedroom to open his “gift” in private.  As the victim opened the gift box, the bomb detonated.  Victim 1 heard a whistling or hissing sound followed by an explosion.  The victim was struck in the front of his body by shrapnel and sustained injuries to his chest, legs, and front of his body.  He was transported to the hospital where he was treated for injuries caused by the shrapnel and explosion. 

The victim was released from the hospital on November 17, 2020.  Victim 1 had to use a walker for two weeks following the explosion and underwent multiple surgeries to remove shrapnel from his body, and another surgery on his hand.  Multiple pieces of shrapnel remain inside Victim 1’s body.  The explosion at Victim 1’s residence caused an estimated $46,690 of damage to the dwelling and contents.  The house was uninhabitable until March 2021 and Victim 1 and his grandparents were forced to move out of their home and to live elsewhere while the house was under repairs.  The insurance company suffered a loss of $70,061.26 as a direct result of the explosion. 

On March 10, 2021, investigators executed a search warrant at McCoy’s residence in Chesterland, Ohio and seized items McCoy used to create the bomb, including the explosive powder.  McCoy initially admitted knowing Victim 1 but denied knowing where Victim 1 resided in October 2020.  McCoy claimed to have heard about the bombing of Victim 1 through mutual friends but denied having any role in the bombing.  During the interview, McCoy named another individual from the role-playing group who McCoy claimed did not like Victim 1.  After law enforcement showed McCoy maps of his movements on the day of the bombing that documented McCoy’s travel from Ohio to Victim 1’s residence and then back to Ohio, McCoy admitted that he made and delivered the bomb.

McCoy faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for transporting explosives with intent to injure and a maximum of 10 years in prison for possession of an unregistered firearm/explosive device.  U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake has not yet scheduled sentencing.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the ATF, the Office of the Maryland State Fire Marshal, the Carroll County Sheriff’s Department, and the Carroll County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul E. Budlow, who is prosecuting the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Baltimore, Maryland – Maryland U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron announced that tomorrow, Wednesday, October 12, 2022, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, the Maryland Division of Parole and Probation, and the Baltimore Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE), will sponsor a free one-stop reentry resource fair from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the War Memorial, 101 N. Gay Street in Baltimore.  More than 30 organizations, including employment programs, will be on-site offering assistance and resources to returning citizens and justice-involved persons, including in the areas of employment, job training, educational opportunities, health services, food, transitional housing, and legal assistance, among other areas of support and assistance. 

This reentry resource and job fair is a component of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s violent crime reduction strategy.  In addition to the office’s enforcement efforts to remove violent criminals with guns from our communities, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has initiated outreach, intervention and prevention efforts to support and invest in communities plagued by violence, such as this reentry resource fair.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm sentenced Enitan Mouroukeji Agbi, a/k/a “Anton Agbi” and “Tone,” age 38, of Germantown, Maryland to 114 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for distribution of fentanyl.  A victim died from using drugs that Agbi distributed.  Judge Grimm also ordered Agbi to pay restitution of at least $1,125. 

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget of the Drug Enforcement Administration - Washington Division; Chief Marcus Jones of the Montgomery County Police Department; Chief Malik Aziz of the Prince George’s County Police Department; Chief Darryl McSwain of the Maryland National Capital Park Police; Chief Robert J. Contee III of the Metropolitan Police Department; and Chief Victor Brito of the City of Rockville Police Department.

According to his guilty plea, on August 10, 2020, Victim 1 contacted Agbi by telephone to obtain heroin/fentanyl and agreed to meet Agbi at Hotel A in Gaithersburg, where Agbi was staying.  Upon arriving at the hotel, Victim 1 texted Agbi and Agbi went out to Victim 1’s car to complete the transaction.  A short time later, Victim 1 left the area and went straight home, without making any other stops.

At about 10:00 p.m. on August 10, 2020, Victim 1 was found dead in her bedroom.  Law enforcement officers located a clear plastic baggie containing .42 grams of fentanyl mixed with heroin and a straw next to Victim 1’s body.  No one else was in Victim 1’s residence at the time of Victim 1’s death and Victim 1 lived alone.  An autopsy determined that Victim 1’s cause of death was acute intoxication by the combined effects of fentanyl, despropionyl fentanyl, and morphine.  Victim 1 was an otherwise healthy individual. 

After August 25, 2020, Agbi relocated to Hotel B in Germantown, Maryland.  On August 28, 2020, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Agbi’s hotel room and recovered approximately 10 clear plastic capsules containing a total of approximately 2.76 grams of fentanyl mixed with heroin, knotted bags containing a total of approximately 2.6 grams of heroin mixed with fentanyl, and drug distribution paraphernalia, including a digital scale and sandwich bags used to package controlled substances, which were consistent with the clear plastic baggie found with Victim 1 on August 10, 2020.  After Agbi was arrested he admitted that he was a user and distributor of opioid drugs and that he provided Victim 1 with opioid drugs on August 10, 2020. 

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the DEA, the Montgomery County Police Department, the Prince George’s County Police Department, the Maryland National Capital Park Police, the Metropolitan Police Department, and the City of Rockville Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elizabeth Wright and Joel Crespo, who prosecuted the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake today sentenced Michael Chester, a/k/a Mikkie, age 24, of Baltimore, to 20 years in federal prison for a racketeering conspiracy, including attempted murder and murder, related to his participation in the violent street gang known as Cruddy Conniving Crutballs or Triple C, that operated throughout Baltimore City. 

The sentence was announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Toni M. Crosby of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF); and Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department.

According to Chester’s plea agreement, Triple C members engaged in a pattern of criminal racketeering activity between 2015 and 2020, including more than a dozen murders and numerous non-fatal shootings, robberies, and carjackings, in order to promote the reputation of Triple C and to command respect from the neighborhood.  Other spin-offs of the gang are “SCL” and recently, “TRD.”

As detailed in Chester’s plea agreement, the gang benefitted financially from selling narcotics, murdering drug dealers, taking contract killings, and engaging in street robberies.  Triple C members also robbed dice games for cash and occasionally carjacked vehicles.  Members divided the proceeds of illegal activities and often contacted each other to commit a robbery if a member needed money.  

Triple C members routinely used social media to identify and locate victims and to communicate with each other and share information concerning possible retaliation for violent crimes committed by gang members.  Triple C members and associates used at least 14 firearms to commit crimes, often trading with each other or other groups to avoid detection through ballistic evidence.  Members limited conversations about criminal plans to other members of Triple C and critiqued each other after committing crimes regarding ways to improve their performance.

Chester admitted that he was present at five murders during which other members of the conspiracy discharged a firearm, including the murder of Devonte Monroe on August 19, 2017, the murder of Carols Jones on August 28, 2017, the murder of Diamante Howard on April 21, 2018, the murder of Darius Mason on July 29, 2018, and the murder of Corey Moseley on December 31, 2018.  In addition, Chester was present at an attempted murder on April 4, 2018 and on May 1, 2018 was found with the firearm which is a ballistics match to gun used in that attempted murder.  Chester admitted that as part of his activities with Triple C, he distributed controlled substances, including crack cocaine.  It was reasonably foreseeable to Chester that members of the conspiracy would commit additional murders, attempted murders, carjackings, and robberies. 

This case was made possible by investigative leads generated from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ (ATF) National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN).  NIBIN is the only national network that allows for the capture and comparison of ballistic evidence to aid in solving and preventing violent crimes involving firearms.  NIBIN is a proven investigative and intelligence tool that can link firearms from multiple crime scenes, allowing law enforcement to quickly disrupt shooting cycles.  For more information on NIBIN, visit https://www.atf.gov/firearms/national-integrated-ballistic-information-network-nibin.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime.  Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.  As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the ATF and the Baltimore Police Department for their work in this investigation and thanked the FBI and the Office of the Baltimore City State’s Attorney for their assistance in the investigation and prosecution.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia C. McLane, who prosecuted the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-neighborhoods-psn.

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Baltimore, Maryland – On the first anniversary of his appointment as United States Attorney for the District of Maryland, Erek L. Barron, announced that after a year-long assessment of the needs of the office and collaboration with the leadership of both the Civil Division and Criminal Division, the office is establishing the Civil Rights and Special Victims Section.  Sarah A. Marquardt and Paul E. Budlow have been appointed as Co-Chiefs of the new Section and Charles D. Austin has been appointed as Deputy Chief. 

“This section will be a beacon for protecting civil rights and addressing victim-related crimes requiring specialized skills,” said Erek L. Barron, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland.  “Sarah Marquardt, Paul Budlow, and Charles Austin will lead a team of prosecutors, legal professionals, and investigators that represent the office’s best,” said United States Attorney Erek L. Barron.

The Civil Rights and Special Victims Section will be staffed by Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSAs) from the Civil Division and Criminal Division.  The Criminal Division’s Major Crimes Section AUSAs and support staff will be incorporated into the new section.  The new section will continue Major Crimes’ strong focus on cases involving vulnerable victims and federal criminal civil rights enforcement, including child exploitation, human trafficking, and identity theft.   The new section will also enforce a wide spectrum of federal civil rights laws in order to protect the constitutional rights of Marylanders and affirm equal opportunity for all, regardless of one’s race, ethnicity, sex, color, disability, religion, national origin, or sexual orientation.  The section’s civil rights work will focus on prosecuting hate crimes, eradicating discrimination in housing, preventing voter suppression, prohibiting discriminatory employment practices by state and local government employers, ensuring equal opportunity for Marylanders with disabilities, and investigating denials of equal protection to students by public schools and institutions of higher learning.

Today’s announcement is the culmination of a year of accomplishments, including the hiring of a diverse group of 19 new Assistant United States Attorneys, the appointment of the most diverse group of supervisors in the history of the Office, and the Office’s selection to be part of two national fraud task forces—the COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force and the Transnational Elder Fraud Task Force.  The COVID-19 Strike Force teams will deter, detect, and disrupt pandemic fraud.  The task force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts.

As part of the Office’s continuing efforts to protect older adults and to bring perpetrators of fraud schemes to justice, the Transnational Elder Fraud Task Force is dedicated to disrupting and prosecuting foreign-based fraud schemes that target seniors, including “grandparent scams,” romance scams, and advance-fee schemes.  The office also has a robust outreach effort to make seniors and their family members aware of how to spot and avoid financial scams.

Reducing violent crime is one of the highest priorities for the office.  U.S. Attorney Barron previously announced the formation of the Violent and Organized Crime Section, which combined the Violent Crime and Narcotics Sections into one unit.  In addition, U.S. Attorney Barron announced an unprecedented level of state funding to support the USAO’s violent crime reduction efforts, including the hiring of 30 additional personnel.  The U.S. Attorney further announced that prosecutors will use all available resources to investigate and prosecute repeat violent offenders—specifically utilizing a federal school zone statute that makes it a crime to possess a gun within 1000 feet of a school and looking at any wrongdoing that meets office priorities, including COVID-19 CARES Act fraud, in particular unemployment insurance fraud, Paycheck Protection Program fraud, Economic Injury Disaster Loan fraud.

Community outreach is another way the office tries to reduce violent crime.  The Office’s reentry program has sponsored or assisted with reentry fairs around the state to provide resources and assistance to returning citizens and their families.  In addition, the Office has begun outreach to schools and youth programs in an effort to prevent young people from becoming victims or perpetrators of crime.

“I am proud of the accomplishments of the office to date, and I look forward to continuing to do all I can to serve Marylanders—keeping our communities safer through outreach and holding criminals accountable,” said United States Attorney Erek L. Barron.

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Greenbelt, Maryland – In recognition of October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland is highlighting the recent prosecution of three defendants, in unrelated cases, for charges arising from separate incidents of domestic abuse, including assault with a deadly weapon, kidnapping, and malicious destruction of property by fire, respectively. 

The guilty plea and sentencings were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Toni M. Crosby of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division; Acting U.S. Park Police Chief Christopher Stock; Maryland State Fire Marshal Brian S. Geraci; Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department; and Chief Niles R. Ford of the Baltimore City Fire Department.

“Domestic abuse is a serious problem that tears at the fabric of family and society.  Standing together with our local law enforcement partners, the U.S. Attorney’s Office will not hesitate to use appropriate federal statutes to confront domestic violence and hold abusers accountable.” said U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, Erek L. Barron.

United States v. Kyrie Thompson

On September 28, 2022, Kyrie Thompson, age, 28, of Washington, D.C., pleaded guilty to attempted witness tampering and the kidnapping of a female victim who was the mother of his child.  As detailed at his plea hearing, in September 2019, when the victim drove her car to Thompson’s residence to drop off their child, Thompson entered the victim’s car and directed the victim to drive to a Maryland address.  Once parked, Thompson forced the victim to perform oral sex on him and Thompson recorded the assault on his cellular phone.  After the incident, the victim drove Thompson back to his residence and the victim drove home and called the police.    

In December 2019, a federal grand jury indicted Thompson for kidnapping.  Soon after, Thompson contacted the victim and begged her to change her statement to law enforcement so Thompson could avoid prosecution.

Thompson faces a maximum sentence of life in federal prison for kidnapping, a maximum of sentence of 20 years of federal imprisonment for attempted witness tampering.  U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm has not scheduled his sentencing hearing at this time. 

United States v. Johnnie Currie

According to defendant Currie’s guilty plea, in February 2020, Currie picked up the victim to transport her from her night job to her daytime job.  While traveling in the car with Currie, the victim noticed that Currie was irritated and was driving erratically.  When Currie and the victim arrived at her daytime job, the business was still locked.  While the victim waited for the manager to arrive and unlock the business, the victim and Currie got into an argument.  During the argument, Currie threw the contents of a lemonade bottle at the victim and locked the victim in his car against her will.  He then drove out of the parking lot, with the victim still trapped in the car.  When the victim tried to call her boss on her cell phone, Currie threatened to crash the car and kill the victim.

Currie continued to argue with the victim and told her that if she was happy with him, they would not have any problems.  Currie then told the victim to exit the car, but when the victim tried to get out, he locked the doors again and drove off erratically.

Eventually, Currie drove onto the Baltimore-Washington Parkway where he pulled out a box cutter and cut the victim on her thigh.  The victim began to cry and called 911.  Currie told the victim he would take her to the emergency room.  To tend to her wound, the victim wrapped her thigh in a shirt.  Currie drove past a Prince George’s County emergency center.  The victim again attempted to call 911 and Currie demanded her cell phone.  When the victim refused to give Currie her phone, he pulled out a hot cigarette lighter and threatened to ignite the shirt she used to cover her wound.  Currie then drove to a Washington, D.C. emergency room where he ordered the victim to get out of the car.  The victim limped into the emergency room and received medical attention including 25 stitches.  Currie admitted that he confined the victim to the vehicle to maintain control over her and to perpetuate an argument. 

On September 21, 2022, U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm sentenced Johnnie Currie, age 42, of Washington, D.C, to 46 months in federal prison, followed by 36 months of supervised release for assault with a dangerous weapon and assault resulting in serious bodily injury related to his assault on an ex-girlfriend.  Judge Grimm also ordered that Currie attend domestic abuse counseling.

United States v. Luther Moody Trent

According to court documents, in May 2021, defendant Trent poured gasoline along the exterior of a Baltimore residence of his former girlfriend (Victim 1) while Victim 1 and two other victims were inside the home.  The fire caused significant damage to the residence and the adjoining property, however, all three victims were alerted and escaped without injury.

Before the case was prosecuted federally, Trent was interviewed by a local news station about the arson.  During that interview, he claimed to have set Victim 1’s residence on fire because he was upset that he could not see Victim 1 within a romantic relationship.  Further, Trent compared his actions to Romeo and Juliet and stated that “if I can’t have her, nobody can, or at least no one in Baltimore.”

In August 2022, defendant Trent was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for malicious destruction of property by fire.  U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander also ordered Trent to pay $612,700.12 in restitution to the owner of the property that was damaged by the fire. 

If you are someone you know is a survivor of domestic abuse or would like to report domestic violence, please contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or TTY 1-800-787-3224 or 1-206-518-9361 (video phone only for hearing impaired callers).  You can also contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline online at https://www.thehotline.org/.   For additional domestic abuse resources please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/victim-witness-assistance.  

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the ATF, the U.S. Park Police, the Office of the State Fire Marshal, the Baltimore Police Department, and the Baltimore City Fire Department for their work in the investigations.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Leah Grossi, Bijon Mostoufi, and Elizabeth Wright who prosecuted the federal cases.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Baltimore, Maryland – Gang leader Gregory Butler, a/k/a “Gotti,” “Sags,” and “Little Dick,” age 31, and member James Henry Roberts, a/k/a “Bub,” age 32, both of Baltimore, Maryland, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise related to their activities in the NFL gang, which operated in the Edmondson Village area in Southwest Baltimore, specifically, Normandy, Franklin, and Loudon streets.   The guilty pleas were entered on October 3, 2022.  

The guilty pleas were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Baltimore District Office; Secretary Robert L. Green of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services; Chief Marcus Jones of the Montgomery County Police Department; and Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department.

According to their guilty pleas, from 2016 to March 2020, Butler was the leader of, and Roberts was a member of, the NFL enterprise and participated in its illegal activities with other members, including the NFL drug trafficking organization (DTO).  The term “NFL” stands for Normandy, Franklin, and Loudon, three adjacent streets that run through the Edmondson Village in Baltimore.  Members of NFL have social and familial ties to the Edmondson Village neighborhood in southwest Baltimore. 

During the conspiracy, NFL members distributed large quantities of heroin and cocaine to drug customers and re-distributors from Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.  Butler and Roberts admitted that they obtained narcotics from multiple sources of supply and stored the narcotics in a stash houses that they controlled.  Over the course of the charged conspiracy, Butler and Roberts and their co-conspirators distributed over one kilogram of heroin and more than 280 grams of cocaine base.  Butler also admitted that he and his co-conspirators also distributed more than 400 grams of fentanyl

Butler admitted that the NFL enterprise sold heroin and fentanyl to multiple drug customers who subsequently overdosed and died.  Butler agreed that these fatal overdoses were reasonably foreseeable to him, in light of his direct oversight of the enterprise’s drug trafficking activities.  For example, on about August 16, 2018, Butler coordinated the sale of heroin to customer in Rockville, Maryland, who, later that day, used the heroin and died.     

Butler and Roberts paid members and associates of the NFL enterprise to commit multiple murders on behalf of the enterprise.  For example, in 2018, Roberts and others offered a bounty in exchange for the murder of Victim 1, who Roberts believed was cooperating with law enforcement.  On June 16, 2018, an NFL member (Co-conspirator 1) murdered Victim 1 as well as a bystander (Victim 2).  Shortly after the murders, Roberts paid Co-conspirator 1 with money from another NFL related enterprise.

Additionally, in October 2018, Roberts learned of a bounty for the murder of Victim 3.  In an effort to collect the bounty, Roberts recruited two NFL members to murder Victim 3 and share he proceeds.  Ultimately, the two NFL members shot and killed Victim 3 on October 31, 2018, then notified Roberts of Victim 3’s murder.

If the Court accepts the sentence agreed upon by the defendants and the government, Butler and Roberts will each be sentenced to 30 years in federal prison.  U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm has not yet scheduled sentencing for the defendants. 

More than 30 defendants in this and related cases have pleaded guilty and been sentenced to between 15 years and time served.  Four other defendants, including Butler and Roberts have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.  The final defendant is scheduled to go to trial on November 28, 2022.

This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime.  Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.  As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI, DEA, DPSCS, the Montgomery County Police Department, and the Baltimore Police Department for their work in the investigation.   Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys John W. Sippel, Jr., James T. Wallner, and Robert I. Goldaris who are prosecuting the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Baltimore, Maryland – United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron announced today that as part of the Office’s continuing efforts to protect older adults and to bring perpetrators of fraud schemes to justice, the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office is joining the Justice Department’s Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force, as one of 14 additional U.S. Attorney’s Offices.

Since 2019, current Strike Force members — including the Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch, six U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, the FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Homeland Security Investigations — have brought successful cases against the largest and most harmful global elder fraud schemes and worked with foreign law enforcement to disrupt criminal enterprises, disable their infrastructure and bring perpetrators to justice.  Expansion of the Strike Force will help to coordinate the Department’s ongoing efforts to combat sophisticated fraud schemes that target or disproportionately impact older adults.  The expansion will increase the total number of U.S. Attorneys’ Offices comprising the Strike Force from six to 20, including Maryland and all of the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices in the states of California, Arizona, Texas, Florida, Georgia, and New York.

“Targeting vulnerable victims is unconscionable,” said Erek L. Barron, United States Attorney for the District of Maryland. “The Maryland Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force will use every resource available to protect victims and prosecute those who would abuse them.”

“We are intensifying our efforts nationwide to protect older adults, including by more than tripling the number of U.S. Attorneys’ offices participating in our Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force dedicated to disrupting, dismantling and prosecuting foreign-based fraud schemes that target American seniors,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “This expansion builds on the Justice Department’s existing work to hold accountable those who steal funds from older adults, including by returning those funds to the victims where possible.”

The Strike Force expansion will further enhance the Department’s existing efforts to protect older adults from fraud and exploitation.  During the period from September 2021 to September 2022, Department personnel and its law enforcement partners pursued approximately 260 cases involving more than 600 defendants, both bringing new cases and advancing those previously charged.  The matters tackled by the Department and its partners ranged from mass-marketing scams that impacted thousands of victims to bad actors scamming their neighbors. Substantial efforts were also made over the last year to return money to fraud victims.

The Department also highlighted other efforts, including success in returning money to victims and efforts to combat grandparent scams.  In the past year, the Department has notified over 550,000 people that they may be eligible for payments.  Notifications were made to consumers whose information was sold by one of three data companies prosecuted by the Department and were later victims of advance fee scams involving “sweepstakes” or “astrology” solicitations that falsely promised prizes or individualized services in return for a fee.  More than 160,000 of those victims cashed checks totaling $62 million, and thousands more are eligible to receive checks.  

In Maryland, defendant Oluwaseyi Akinyemi was sentenced to eight years in federal prison and ordered to pay restitution of $486,119.07 to his victims in a social media advanced fee scheme that targeted senior victims.  Akinyemi and at least one co-conspirator targeted elderly victims on social media, representing themselves as agents of both real and fictitious government agencies and offering victims non-existent financial rewards if the victims first sent cash, money orders, or gift cards to cover associated “taxes and fees.”  Believing that they would receive a financial reward, the victims sent cash, money orders, gift cards, and other valuable items through the mail to Akinyemi who lived in Landover, Maryland at the time. 

The Justice Department also notified consumers who paid fraudsters perpetrating person-in-need scams and job scams via Western Union.  In the past year, the Department has identified and contacted over 300,000 consumers who may be eligible for remission.  Since March of 2020 more than 148,000 victims have received more than $366 million as a result of a 2017 criminal resolution with Western Union for the company’s willful failure to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program and its aiding and abetting of wire fraud.

Over the past year, the Department pursued cases against the perpetrators of “grandparent scams,” otherwise known as “person-in-need scams.” These scams typically begin when a fraudster, often based overseas, contacts an older adult and poses as either a grandchild, other family member or someone calling on behalf of a family member. Call recipients are told that their family member is in jeopardy and is urgently in need of money.  When recently sentencing one of eight perpetrators of a grandparent scam indicted under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, a federal judge described such scams “heartbreakingly evil.”  The Department is working with government partners and others to raise awareness about these schemes.

This past year, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland has prosecuted several defendants participating in far-reaching schemes that aim to defraud elderly victims.  For example, two defendants pleaded guilty to defrauding more than 70 elderly victims of more than $2.4 million in a “Grandparent Scam.”  In addition, two defendants in Maryland were sentenced to federal prison in connection with a romance scam.  Brothers David and Lesley Annor were sentenced to three years and to 20 months in federal prison, respectively, for conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with a romance scheme in which elderly and isolated victims were induced to send money to conspirators.  The Annors received and laundered the payments from the victims.  In addition to jail time, the Annors were also ordered to pay $6,278,250 in restitution to the victims. 

As part of the efforts to prevent elder fraud, members of the U.S. Attorney’s Office engaged in outreach to the community and to industry to raise awareness about scams and exploitation and how to keep from becoming a victim.  This year, U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron participated in a tele-town hall with AARP on World Elder Abuse Awareness Day to discuss fraud schemes targeting seniors and how to avoid them, including resources for reporting fraud.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office also participated in meetings at senior housing communities and events for senior citizens, senior days at minor league baseball games, and other events to educate seniors and their families on how to spot and avoid financial scams.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office also participated in a presentation with the Maryland Banker’s Association on how banks can become involved in preventing and disrupting fraud schemes targeting seniors.  Member of the office also presented at the Maryland State Bar Association’s annual meeting to discuss federal elder fraud prosecutions, statistics relating to elder fraud, current trends, and resources for reporting.

Reporting from consumers about fraud and fraud attempts is critical to law enforcements efforts to investigate and prosecute schemes targeting older adults.  If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has been a victim of financial fraud, help is available the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311).  This Department of Justice Hotline, managed by the Office for Victims of Crime, is staffed by experienced professionals who provide personalized support to callers by assessing the needs of the victim and identifying next steps.  Case managers will identify appropriate reporting agencies, provide information to callers to assist them in reporting or connect them with agencies, and provide resources and referrals on a case-by-case basis.  The hotline is staffed from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.  English, Spanish, and other languages are available.  More information about the Department’s elder justice efforts can be found on the Department’s Elder Justice website, www.elderjustice.gov.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help seniors, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/elder-justice-initiative

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Baltimore, Maryland – United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron announced today that the Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP) today announced grant awards totaling $5,446,796 to three Baltimore community-based organizations to help reduce gun crime and other violence.  The grants are part of $100 million being awarded across the U.S. under OJP’s Community Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative.  OJP Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Amy L. Solomon announced the awards during a roundtable meeting yesterday with Baltimore youth hosted by ROCA, Inc., one of three organizations in Baltimore receiving funding.  The other two Baltimore organizations receiving grants are the Black Mental Health Alliance for Education and Consultation, Inc., and the Living Classrooms Foundation, Inc.

“Gun violence is a plague in Baltimore.  The community organizations receiving grants today are working directly in the community to address the issues that lead to gun crime and other violence.  I am grateful to OJP for giving them the funds they need to expand their programs and I look forward to seeing the positive results of their work,” said United States Attorney Erek L. Barron.

“The grants announced today, which will go directly to supporting community violence intervention efforts, are an important part of our strategy to leverage the full force of the Department – including all 94 U.S. Attorney's offices, our law enforcement agencies, and grant-making components – to combat violent crime and keep communities safe,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland.

“For too long, we have undervalued the wealth of resources available through community organizations and those with lived experience,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney Solomon. “We know there's a better way, one that builds on what we have learned about violence and its causes. If we hope to achieve sustainable reductions in violence, we must embrace our community assets as a central ingredient in violence reduction strategies.”

The Black Mental Health Alliance has been awarded a grant of $1,497,989 to engage residents on the corners of open-air drug markets and hotspots for violent crime in the Upton/Druid Heights neighborhoods in Baltimore.  Credible messengers will offer violence prevention messaging, violence intervention, mental health services, youth entrepreneurship training, and case management to decrease violent crime.  The goal of the proposed project is to reduce and prevent violent crime and promote community healing.  Program activities include: completion of a needs assessment; development and implementation of a Strategic Violence Reduction Plan; ensuring meaningful engagement by residents, victims, and survivors of violence, as well es those at high risk of involvement in violent crime and criminal activity in all aspects of the program; hosting community events to encourage engagement and promote social cohesion; and ongoing program evaluation.

The Living Classrooms Foundation, Inc, has been awarded a grant of $1,950,000 to expand upon its existing programs, partnerships, and services to establish a trauma-informed Crisis Intervention Management System that will target underlying factors that contribute to violence in the East Baltimore communities of McElderry Park and Belair-Edison.  The Crisis Intervention Management System will address the immediate needs of those at highest risks of being either a victim or perpetrator of violence, including: food, housing, employment, and mental health interventions.  The program goal is to serve 150 individuals over three years and assemble a Crisis Management Team that will work with the two existing Baltimore City Safe Streets violence prevention sites located in the McElderry Park and Belair-Edison communities.   

ROCA Inc. has been awarded a grant of $1,998,807 to implement and expand planning, community partnership, and services designed to increase the number of people receiving violence intervention and response services in Baltimore and its surrounding communities to create sustainable behavior change in those served and reduce community violence.  The project will restructure and expand the Baltimore Young Adult Violence Planning Committee and create a similar committee in each community served.  These committees will use local data to produce a needs assessment and a violence reduction plan for the community, which will be reviewed annually.  ROCA will also expand the use of its After Shooting Protocol, a data-driven outreach approach that, in pilot programs, has proven exceptionally impactful in engaging young people throughout Baltimore and in expansion communities.  By using this protocol, all non-fatal shootings will be reviewed daily and each identified young person will receive a door knock within 24-48 hours to connect them to services.

The resources made available under the Community Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative will develop and expand the infrastructure needed to build community safety and strengthen neighborhoods. They will support holistic, cross-agency collaborations, seed new efforts, and fund expansion plans in both community-based organizations and local government agencies, provide funding and assistance through intermediaries to build the capacity of smaller organizations, offer technical aid to jurisdictions that do not receive federal funding and invest in research and evaluation to better understand what works to reduce violence.  The grants are jointly administered by OJP’s Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and Office for Victims of Crime.  OJP’s National Institute of Justice will also support evaluations of projects funded under this initiative, contributing to the growing body of evidence regarding the effectiveness of violence intervention strategies.

Based on a Bureau of Justice Statistics analysis of data from the FBI’s Supplementary Homicide Reports, of the more than 21,500 murders known to law enforcement in 2020, more than half—56%—of the victims were between the ages of 15 and 34.  Research has shown that social factors such as income inequality, the level of trust in institutions and a lack of economic opportunities are associated with firearm-related homicide rates.  Evidence also shows that fear and the desire for physical safety, more than any criminal inclination, drive young people to carry and use firearms in the most violence-torn sections of our cities.  Community violence interventions are grounded in research and have shown a promising track record of curbing gun traffic, reducing shootings and saving lives.

The awards announced today, funded in part through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, mark a historic investment in community violence intervention programs from the Department of Justice.

These awards are being made as part of the regular end-of-fiscal year cycle.  For more information about grants under the Community Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative, and for information about other OJP grant awards, please visit the OJP Grant Awards Page.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Greenbelt, Maryland – A federal jury in Maryland convicted Arley Ray Johnson, age 63, of Bowie, Maryland, on charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, and securities fraud, in connection with a $28 million Ponzi scheme involving 1st Million, a purported wealth management and financial literacy company.  Johnson was convicted late yesterday after a 10-day trial.  The jury acquitted Johnson of four related wire fraud and securities fraud counts.

The conviction was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Matthew R. Stohler of the United States Secret Service - Washington Field Office; and Postal Inspector in Charge Damon E. Wood of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service - Washington

According to the evidence presented at his trial, Johnson conspired with his co-defendants, including Dennis Mbongeni Jali and John Erasmus Frimpong to defraud investors through several related entities including The Smart Partners LLC, which did business as “1st Million Dollars” or “1st Million.” Johnson served as the Chief Operating Officer for 1st Million, which was headquartered in Largo, Maryland. 

According to trial evidence, 1st Million presented itself as a wealth management and financial literacy company, with its core business offering being a 12-month guaranteed investment contract.  These investment contracts, entitled “Corporate Guarantees,” represented that the client’s principal would be invested in foreign currency or cryptocurrency and guaranteed individuals who invested money with 1st Million monthly returns ranging from 6% to 35% of the initial investment.  At the end of the investment period, the contract promised that the investor would receive the return of all of the principal invested.  In reality, the evidence at trial showed, 1st Million did not invest victims’ funds as promised and, instead, misappropriated the funds for themselves and used the funds to keep the scheme afloat, including using funds from new investors to repay existing investors. 

In addition to misrepresenting that victim funds would be used to invest, Johnson and his co-defendants also falsely stated that investors’ principal would be held in a trust account protected from any financial instability of 1st Million or market volatility.  In fact, victim funds were not placed in a trust account or otherwise guaranteed.  In addition, Johnson and his co-defendants falsely claimed that 1st Million was financially healthy and earning astronomical profits, but 1st Million’s accounts, some of which were controlled by Johnson, were frequently overdrawn and 1st Million had substantial cash flow problems, all of which Johnson and his co-conspirators concealed from investors. 

As detailed in the trial evidence, Johnson and his co-defendants recruited victims to invest in 1st Million by holding promotional events at upscale hotels and event spaces, attending church-sponsored events intended to target investments from churchgoers, and representing themselves as religious men more interested in the financial freedom of others than personal financial gain.  Johnson and his co-defendants presented themselves as men of God and told prospective investors that 1st Million’s work was in furtherance of God’s mission as it helped churches and their members achieve personal wealth and financial freedom.  Johnson and his co-defendants also hired “agents” of 1st Million to organize recruiting events to attract more investors, in exchange for a higher return on the agents’ investments.

By Spring 2019, 1st Million’s accounts were often overdrawn by hundreds of thousands of dollars, and some of the checks 1st Million sent to pay investors monthly returns were returned by the bank due to insufficient funds.  Nevertheless, Johnson and Frimpong continued to solicit funds from existing investors, as well as new investors, and failed to tell any of these potential investors of 1st Million’s financial problems.  Ultimately, the scheme collapsed in May 2019 and hundreds of 1st Million investors collectively lost millions of dollars. 

Over the course of the conspiracy, Johnson and his co-defendants persuaded or attempted to persuade more than 1,200 victims from across the United States to provide them with wire transfers, checks, and cash totaling more than $28 million, from numerous victims.  The evidence proved that although the victims were promised tremendous returns on their investments, Johnson and his co-conspirators did not invest a substantial portion of the money, instead using it to fund their own lifestyles and to perpetuate the fraud scheme.

Johnson faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for a wire fraud conspiracy and for each count of wire fraud; a maximum of five years in federal prison for a securities fraud conspiracy and a maximum of 20 years in federal prison for each count of securities fraud.  U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang has scheduled sentencing for January 5, 2023 at 9:00 a.m.

John Erasmus Frimpong, age 42, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland previously pleaded guilty to a wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and to securities fraud.  Judge Chuang has scheduled sentencing for Frimpong on February 10, 2023, at 9:00 a.m.

Jali fled the United States in May 2019, but has since been arrested in South Africa.  

Separate civil actions filed against Johnson and his co-defendants by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission remain pending.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI, the U.S. Secret Service, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Caitlin R. Cottingham and Jennifer L. Wine, who are prosecuting the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/report-fraud.

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Baltimore, Maryland – A federal grand jury returned an indictment late yesterday charging former Baltimore City Assistant State’s Attorney Adam Lane Chaudry, age 43, of Baltimore, Maryland, with 10 counts of fraud in connection with obtaining confidential phone records.  The indictment alleges that Chaudry committed the crime knowing that information may be used in furtherance of and with the intent to commit stalking.

The indictment was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Maryland State Prosecutor Charlton T. Howard III; and Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office.

According to the indictment, from June 2009 to June 18, 2021, Chaudry worked as an Assistant State’s Attorney in the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office (“BSAO”).  From September 2015 until he left the BSAO Chaudry worked in the BSAO’s Homicide Division.  Chaudry maintained a romantic relationship with Victim #1 from May 2005 through January 2018; and with Victim #2 from August 2017 through September 2020.  Victims #3, #4, and #5 were long-time friends of Victim #1.  At no point were any of the victims a witness or target of any criminal investigation or prosecution by the BSAO.

The indictment alleges that between January 3, 2019 and April 12, 2021, Chaudry caused 33 grand jury and trial subpoenas to be issued for the telephone records of Victim #1.  The indictment alleges that Chaudry caused the subpoenas to appear to be related to a “special investigation in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City”; to contain no identifying case number; and to further state, “The information sought in this subpoena is relevant and material to a legitimate law enforcement inquiry.”  Other subpoenas contained similar fraudulent information.

In a similar manner, Chaudry allegedly caused grand jury and trial subpoenas to be issued for the telephone records of Victim #2 between February 22, 2019 and April 12, 2021; caused multiple grand jury and trial subpoenas to be issued for the telephone records of Victim #3 between March 12, 2019 and April 21, 2020; caused multiple grand jury and trial subpoenas to be issued for the telephone records of Victim #4 between March 22, 2019 and February 8, 2021; and caused multiple grand jury and trial subpoenas to be issued for the telephone records of Victim #5 between January 21, 2019 and February 18, 2020.

As detailed in the indictment, not only did Chaudry request telephone records for the victims, on January 10, 2019, while Chaudry was living with Victim #2, Chaudry asked an investigator from BSAO to run the name of a relative of Victim #2 who had served time in a detention center in another Maryland county in a case not involving BSAO.  There was no grand jury investigation relating to Victim #2 or to Victim #2’s relative.  After Victim #2 and Chaudry ended their relationship, Chaudry allegedly caused to be issued subpoenas for jail calls between Victim #2 Victim #2’s incarcerated relative.  Chaudry also caused to be issued a subpoena for Victim #2’s relative’s visitor logs.  According to the indictment, Chaudry further sent a letter on BSAO letterhead for 911 calls made by Victim #2 that appeared in phone record logs he had obtained.  He represented that the records were “pertinent to a legitimate law enforcement inquiry.”

In addition, the indictment alleges that on March 26, 2019, an investigator at BSAO provided Chaudry information that Chaudry had previously requested including Victim #1’s home address, MVA information, and her driver’s license photograph.  Chaudry then allegedly used the information, including Victim #1’s driver’s license photograph to contact a hotel to request information about Victims #1 and #3’s stays at the hotel using his BSAO email address.  The hotel number appeared in Victim #1’s phone records previously obtained by Chaudry. 

If convicted, Chaudry faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison for each count, with a possible enhancement of five years in prison per count for stalking.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.  A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.  Chaudry will have an initial appearance at a later date in U.S. District Court in Baltimore.

An indictment is not a finding of guilt.  An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings. 

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI and State Prosecutor’s Office for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean R. Delaney and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah R. David, who are prosecuting the federal case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm sentenced Deante Mandel Duckett, age 37, of Cheverly, Maryland, to 10 years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for dealing in firearms without a license and for transporting a firearm with intent to commit a felony.  The sentence was imposed on September 28, 2022.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Toni M. Crosby of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division; and Charles County Sheriff Troy Berry.

According to his guilty plea, between March 2019 and April 2019,although Duckett was not a licensed firearms dealer he engaged in the business of selling firearms.  Duckett traveled outside of Maryland to acquire firearms that he transported back to Maryland with the intent to sell them.

As detailed in the plea agreement, on three occasions between March 6 and April 11, 2019, Duckett met with a confidential source and sold the source firearms.  Specifically, on March 6, Duckett sold the confidential source a .38 Special caliber revolver for $400.  Duckett told the source that he had obtained the gun in Atlanta and brought it back to Maryland.  On April 2, Duckett sold the confidential source a 380 cc semi-automatic pistol, a .22 caliber revolver, and a .32 caliber revolver in exchange for $1,200.  During the exchange, Duckett stated to the confidential source, “See, I go down south, man.”  Finally, on April 11, 2019, Duckett provided the confidential source with one 12-gauge shotgun, one.32 caliber revolver, and one.32 caliber semi-automatic pistol loaded with 7 rounds of ammunition.  Duckett admitted that he transported the firearms from outside Maryland prior to their recovery.

On April 22, 2019, Duckett sent the confidential source a text message requesting that the confidential source call him.  During the conversation, Duckett informed the confidential source that he was planning to bring 10 to 15 firearms into Maryland from “down yonder.”  Duckett elaborated that “somebody just did something, so they putting a couple more out here on the streets, so everybody trying to get rid of what they got . . . .” Law enforcement arrested Duckett before the transaction could take place.

In all, Duckett sold seven firearms to the confidential source, transporting the firearms from outside the state of Maryland for the purpose of engaging in the business of firearms trafficking. Duckett made these transactions after having sustained a felon drug conviction in Charles County in 2014 and an armed robbery conviction in 2009.  As a convicted felon, Duckett was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the ATF and the Charles County Sheriff’s Office for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Geonard F. Butler II and Joseph R. Baldwin, who prosecuted the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-neighborhoods-psnexile and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar sentenced Keith L. Brown, a/k/a “Clown Brown”, age 64, of Annapolis, Maryland, to 10 years in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute phencyclidine, crack, heroin, and cocaine.  Khayr Basimibnbrown, age 42, of Annapolis, Maryland, Brown’s son and co-defendant, had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, heroin, PCP, and cocaine.  He was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison by Chief Judge Bredar in August 2022.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Washington Division; Chief Edward Jackson of the Annapolis Police Department; and Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess.

According to his guilty plea, law enforcement observed Brown conduct narcotics transactions in which narcotics customers routinely stood in lines outside of one of the Monroe Street residences before Brown’s arrival.  For example, on January 6, 2022, after an individual was observed walking in the vicinity of the location in which Brown frequently sold narcotics, the individual overdosed.  According to the first responders, the non-fatal overdose was attributed to PCP.

On January 13, 2022, law enforcement executed a search and seizure warrants at eight residences in Annapolis, Maryland, including Brown’s residence where officers seized 47 grams of PCP, 55.5 grams of crack cocaine, 6.2 grams of heroin, and 71 grams of cocaine.  On the same day, law enforcement executed a search and seizure warrant at an Annapolis apartment which Basimibnbrown frequently visited.  After executing the warrant, law enforcement found 145.05 grams of cocaine, 67.19 grams of PCP, and 59.56 grams of a cutting agent within a child’s closet.  In total, law enforcement seized $32,695 in cash as well as a firearm.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI, DEA, the Annapolis Police Department, and the Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joan C. Mathias and LaRai Everett, who prosecuted the case. 

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Greenbelt, Maryland – Today, a federal jury convicted Luis Flores-Reyes, a/k/a “Maloso,” “Lobo,”’ and “Viejo Lovvon,” age 41, of Arlington, Virginia; Jairo Jacome, a/k/a “Abuelo,” age 40, of Langley Park, Maryland; and Brayan Contreras-Avalos, a/k/a “Anonimo,” and “Humilde,” age 27, of Langley Park, Maryland, on federal charges related to a racketeering enterprise known as La Mara Salvatrucha, or “MS-13.”  Jacome and Flores-Reyes were also found guilty of murder in aid of racketeering.  Jacome was convicted of an extortion conspiracy and Flores-Reyes was also convicted of extortion conspiracy.  The jury also found Contreras-Avalos and Flores-Reyes guilty of a drug distribution conspiracy. 

The convictions were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Special Agent in Charge Wayne Jacobs of the Federal Bureau of Investigation - Washington Field Office Criminal Division; Special Agent in Charge Frank A. Tarentino III of the Drug Enforcement Administration – New York Division; Special Agent in Charge James C. Harris of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore; Chief Malik Aziz of the Prince George’s County Police Department; and Chief Marcus Jones of the Montgomery County Police Department.

“These defendants wreaked havoc within our communities through murder, extortion, and drug trafficking, now they will be held accountable,” said U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron.  “We will relentlessly prosecute MS-13gang members who terrorize our Maryland communities with intimidation and violence.”

“MS-13 terrorizes communities throughout the United States and abroad, using fear, violence, and intimidation,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.  “MS-13 exploits vulnerable young people and immigrant communities that may not have easy access to law enforcement.  This prosecution demonstrates the Department of Justice’s commitment to dismantling this criminal organization and protecting all people.”

“Members of MS-13, including Flores-Reyes, Jacome, and Contreras-Avalos, sow fear and violence in local communities through murder, extortion, drug trafficking, and witness tampering,” said Steven M. D’Antuono, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office.  “Today’s convictions represent some of the finest work the FBI and its partners undertake to hold violent gang members to account for the irreparable harm they have inflicted on humanity.  The investigation and its results should also serve as yet another reminder of the consequences to be faced by those who traffic in violence.  We and our partners remain committed to working together to aggressively pursue and dismantle these criminal enterprises who continue to threaten the residents of our communities.”

“MS-13 and gang violence plague our communities and impede law abiding citizens and their right to live without fear and intimidation,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Frank Tarentino.  “These convictions are a testament to DEA and law enforcement’s commitment to ensuring the American public’s health and safety.”

“Today’s conviction highlights HSI’s commitment to protecting public security and the keeping our communities safe,” said HSI Acting Executive Associate Director Steve K. Francis.  “We will continue working with our local, state, and federal partners to disrupt and dismantle transnational criminal organizations such as MS-13.”

“There aren’t adequate words to describe the gruesome nature of the crimes committed by the three defendants,” said Special Agent in Charge James C. Harris of the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore field office.  “The acts that Flores-Reyes, Jacome, and Contreras-Avalos committed are horrific and clearly warrant the convictions they received today.  HSI Baltimore is proud to have worked with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to bring these three to justice.  We will continue to work tirelessly to protect the law-abiding citizens of Maryland from notorious transnational gangs like MS-13.”

MS-13 is a national and international gang composed primarily of immigrants or descendants from El Salvador and other central American countries.  Branches or “cliques” of MS-13, one of the largest street gangs in the United States, operate throughout Frederick County, Anne Arundel County, Prince George’s County, and Montgomery County, Maryland.  Jacome was the highest-ranking member of the local Langley Park Salvatrucha, or “LPS” clique.  Flores-Reyes and Contreras-Avalos were leaders within the Sailors Clique, which held territory in Maryland, Virginia, New York, New Jersey, Texas and El Salvador.

At all times of this conspiracy, members of MS-13 were expected to protect the name, reputation, and status of the gang and to use any means necessary to force respect from those who showed disrespect, including acts of intimidation and violence.  MS-13 had mottos consistent with its rules, beliefs, expectations and reputation including “mata, viola, controla,” which translates as, “kill, rape, control.”  One of the principal rules of MS-13 is that its members must attack and kill rivals, often referred to as “chavalas,” whenever possible. 

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, the defendants ran an extortion scheme in and around Langley Park, extorting local businesses by charging them “rent” for the privilege of operating in MS-13 “territory.”  Flores-Reyes and Contreras-Avalos also trafficked illegal drugs, including marijuana, and cocaine.  A large share of the proceeds of the gang’s illegal activities were sent to gang leadership in El Salvador to further promote the illicit activities of the gang, using structured transactions and intermediaries to avoid law enforcement scrutiny.

MS-13 members are required to commit acts of violence both to maintain membership and discipline within the gang, as well as against rival gang members.  Participation in criminal activity by a member, particularly in violent acts directed at rival gangs or as directed by gang leadership, increase the respect accorded to that member, resulting in that member maintaining or increasing his position in the gang and opens the door to promotion to a leadership position. 

As detailed during their trial, Flores-Reyes, Jacome, and Contreras-Avalos participated in at least six murders, including four minor victims, during the period of the conspiracy.  Most of the victims were purported gang rivals except for one minor victim.  For example, in June 2016, members of MS-13, including Contreras-Avalos, stabbed to death two individuals living on the streets of Hyattsville, Maryland, who gang members believed to be members of the 18th Street gang.  The investigation revealed no evidence that the victims were in fact members of any gang.

Among the most important rules of MS-13 is the prohibition against talking to law enforcement, embodied by the maxim ver, oir, y callar – see, hear, and say nothing.  The gang enforced this rule by placing a “green light” – an order to kill – on any member of MS-13 who was thought to be informing on the gang.  In December 2016, Jacome directed and participated in the murder of a 14-year-old member of MS-13 who was suspected of talking to the police.  The boy’s remains were discovered more than 18 months later in the woods outside of Germantown, Maryland.

Additionally, in March 2017, a member of the Sailors Clique, who was hiding from law enforcement in the Lynchburg, Virginia, area, after committing a murder in 2016 in Gaithersburg, Maryland, had a dispute with a local high school student over marijuana.  In response, Flores-Reyes told a group of MS-13 members to drive down to Lynchburg and murder this student.  The gang members kidnapped the student from his front lawn and cut his hand off before killing him.  After the murder, Flores-Reyes helped to hide and protect his fellow MS-13 members from law enforcement.

Flores-Reyes and Jacome face a mandatory sentence of life in prison.  Contreras-Avalos faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.  U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis has not scheduled sentencing hearings at this time.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime.  Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.  As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

This case is also an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.    

Anyone with information about MS-13 is encouraged to provide their tips to law enforcement. The FBI and Homeland Security Investigations both have nationwide tiplines that you can call to report what you know.  You can reach the FBI at 1-866-STP-MS13 (1-866-787-6713), or you can call HSI at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron and Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. commended the FBI, DEA, HSI, Prince George’s County Police Department, Montgomery County Police Department, Virginia State Police, Lynchburg Police Department, Prince William County Police Department, Nassau County District Attorney’s Office, the Bedford County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office and the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron and Mr. Polite thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Timothy F. Hagan, Chris M. Sarma, William Moomau, Assistant Director Catherine Dick of the Department of Justice Consumer Protection Division and Trial Attorney Alexander Gottfried of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, who are prosecuting this case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-neighborhoods-psnexile and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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