District of Maryland

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                         at (410) 209-4885

 

 

Baltimore, Maryland – On September 6, 2017, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis sentenced Brian Diggs, age 45, of Brandywine, Maryland, to ten years in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release for conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. Judge Xinis ordered forfeiture of $393,702. A restitution amount will be determined at a later hearing. The scheme to defraud involved applications for over $1,500,000 in car loans.

 

The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Special Agent in Charge Andre Watson of Homeland Security Investigations, Baltimore Field Office; and Chief Henry P. Stawinski III of the Prince George’s County Police Department.

 

According to his plea agreement, Diggs and eight co-conspirators defrauded numerous federal credit unions by applying for vehicle loans using false personal and financial information. Often Diggs and his co-conspirators identified cars for purchase that they had no intention of obtaining. On certain occasions, Diggs and his co-conspirators applied for and obtained vehicle loans on the same vehicle at different credit unions. Diggs and his co-conspirators nominally agreed to sell vehicles, obtained money from vehicle sales, and then did not provide the vehicles to buyers. Diggs and his co-conspirators failed to make payments toward vehicle loans, thereby often resulting in the vehicles being repossessed by credit unions and other lending institutions. In at least one instance, Diggs and co-conspirator Derrick Byas, Jr., used the name of a living victim on a fake driver’s license to obtain a loan from a credit union.

 

The fraud scheme affected more than ten financial institutions and employed sophisticated means, including fake documents, fake addresses, and false Social Security numbers. Diggs was the leader and organizer of the scheme.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning thanked HSI and the Prince George’s County Police Department for their work on the investigation. Mr. Schenning commended Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph Baldwin, Erin Pulice, and Thomas Windom who are prosecuting the case.

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                    Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                              at (410) 209-4885

 

Baltimore, Maryland – Eric Epstein, age 57, of Pompano Beach, Florida (previously of Owings Mills, Maryland) was arrested today on charges of mail fraud and conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service. Epstein was indicted on August 24, 2017 and charged with committing mail fraud to obtain more than $50 million in money and property from various businesses through the fraudulent sale of light bulbs and cleaning supplies.

 

The arrest was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Kimberly Lappin of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Division; and Inspector in Charge Robert B. Wemyss of the United States Postal Inspection Service, Washington Division.

 

According to the indictment, in or about 2003, Epstein co-founded a telemarketing business, Midway Industries, based in Maryland that sold lightbulbs and cleaning supplies to businesses, schools, churches, non-profit organizations, and government offices. Epstein obtained money from thousands of victim businesses by convincing them to pay for light bulbs and cleaning supplies that they never ordered, and deceived the businesses about the amounts Midway would bill for products.

 

Epstein sold a majority financial interest in Midway in 2012 for $15 million, however he retained an ownership stake, received a regular paycheck, and continued to advise and supervise Midway employees. From 2003 through 2014, Midway employees would cold call businesses stating that the business had an existing business relationship with Midway, make false representations, send unwanted orders, and inflate the price of products. The inflated prices were regularly 900% greater than the prices Midway paid for the supplies. At times, invoices were more than 8000% higher than the true amount due.

 

Employees at Midway worked on commission, the amount of which was often determined by Epstein. Epstein offered financial incentives to employees based on customer payments, and employees were rewarded with gift cards in order to induce them to place initial orders.

 

Epstein caused victims’ checks payable to Midway corporate entities to be cashed at money remitters, while Epstein personally kept and used the money. Epstein and others at Midway used Midway credit cards for lavish personal expenditures, such as luxury furniture and vehicles.

 

If convicted, Epstein faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for mail fraud conspiracy and 5 years in prison for conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service. Epstein is scheduled to have an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Baltimore on September 15, 2017.

 

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.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning thanked the FBI, IRS and USPS for their work on the investigation. Mr. Schenning commended Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sean R. Delaney and Harry M. Gruber who are prosecuting the case.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                              Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                                        at (410) 209-4811

 

 

Greenbelt, Maryland – On September 5, 2017, U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm sentenced Christopher Dame, age 51, of Gaithersburg, Maryland, to six months in federal prison, six months home confinement, and three years of supervised release for theft of government property. Dame, a former Visual Information Specialist for the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Medical Arts Division, which is located in Bethesda, Maryland, previously pled guilty to stealing NIH property and selling it online without authorization.

 

The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Special Agent in Charge Nicholas DiGiulio of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General; and Special Agent in Charge Paul L. Bowman of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General.

 

According to admissions made in connection with his guilty plea, Dame was responsible for designing, printing, and displaying decorative and informational materials in NIH buildings, as well as directing his colleagues to place purchase orders of printing ink for the Medical Arts Division. At no point did Dame have authority to remove NIH property from the main campus or sell NIH property.

 

Dame admitted that from January 3, 2013, through January 12, 2017, he regularly stole medical research equipment, photography equipment, and printing supplies belonging to NIH, and sold such items through an e-commerce corporation. Dame also deceived his colleagues into purchasing surplus ink for NIH, with the intent to ultimately steal the ink which he then sold online for his own benefit. Between 2013 and 2017, Dame stole over 400 items belonging to NIH. As part of his plea agreement, Dame will be required to pay restitution in the full amount of the loss, which is $75,613.14.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the NIH Division of Police for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael T. Packard and Trial Attorney Simon J. Cataldo from the Department of Justice, Public Integrity Section, who are prosecuting the case.

 

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                   Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                             at (410) 209-4811

 

 

Baltimore, Maryland – Sergeant Thomas Allers, age 49, of Linthicum Heights, Maryland was arrested today for a racketeering conspiracy and racketeering offenses, including robbery and extortion. The indictment was returned on August 24, 2017 and unsealed today.

 

The indictment was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning and Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office.

 

The racketeering indictment alleges that Allers stole money from victims, some of whom had not committed crimes, swore out false affidavits and submitted false official incident reports. Sergeant Allers joined the Baltimore Police Department on July 22, 1996. He became the officer-in-charge of the Gun Trace Task Force (GTTF), a specialized unit created to investigate firearms crimes, on or about July 25, 2013.

 

The racketeering conspiracy alleges robbery and extortion violations committed by Allers in 2014, 2015 and 2016 when he was the officer-in-charge of the GTTF. Allers was reassigned out of the GTTF on June 14, 2016.

 

In some cases, there was no evidence of criminal conduct by the victims; Allers stole money that had been earned lawfully. The amounts stolen ranged from $700 to $66,000.

For example, on or about April 3, 2015, Allers and coconspirators executed a search warrant at a residence in Baltimore City and discovered approximately $6,000 in the home. This money was a combination of money that the homeowners had made buying and selling used cars and a tax refund the wife had received. Allers and his coconspirators took approximately $5,700 of the $6,000, and then filed a false incident report stating that only $233 had been seized.

 

In another incident, on or about March 2, 2016, Allers and his co-conspirators executed a search warrant at a residence in Baltimore City. The resident of the home had $200 in her purse, which her daughter had received the previous day during her birthday party, $900 to pay her rent for that month, $300 to pay down the amount of money she owed Baltimore Gas & Electric for utilities and $8,000 which was the proceeds of drug sales. Allers approved the false report that stated that only $1,624 had been seized from home, when in fact, he had stolen more than $7,000.

 

In another incident, on or about April 28, 2016, Allers and coconspirators robbed a residence after arresting an individual who resided at the residence. Allers and his coconspirators robbed the occupants of the residence of over $10,000. Allers approved a false incident report which failed to report that any money had been taken from the residence, when in fact he and his coconspirators stole more than $10,000. Following this robbery, one of the residents was shot and killed because he could not repay a drug-related debt.

 

According to the indictment, Allers allegedly prepared and submitted false official incident and arrest reports, reports of property seized from arrestees, and charging documents. The false reports concealed the fact that the officers had stolen money from individuals. In addition, the indictment alleges that Allers obstructed law enforcement by alerting other members of the GTTF about potential investigations of their criminal conduct.

 

Allers has been charged with nine counts of Robbery and Extortion and the indictment alleges that he stole over $90,000.00.

 

Allers faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for the conspiracy, the robberies and for racketeering. Allers is scheduled to have his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Baltimore today at 3:00 p.m. in Courtroom 7D.

 

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.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the FBI for their work in the investigation. Acting U.S. Attorney Schenning also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Leo J. Wise and Derek E. Hines, who are prosecuting this Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force case.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                           Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                     at (410) 209-4885

 

 

Baltimore, Maryland – Nine felons have been arrested for possession of handguns in Baltimore City. The arrests were announced today by Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning and Special Agent in Charge Daniel L. Board Jr. of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - Baltimore Field Division.

 

The United States Attorney’s Office continues in its efforts to address the gun violence plaguing the Baltimore area by using Federal Statutes prohibiting felons from possessing firearms.

 

Nine defendants, listed below, were arrested in nine separate cases and will appear in United States District Court this week.

• Reginald Allen, age 33, of Baltimore, Maryland;

• Michael Awosika, age 39, of Baltimore, Maryland;

• Richard Bailey, age 27, of Baltimore, Maryland;

• Ikeyba Brown, age 32, of Baltimore, Maryland;

• Michael Corprew, age 31, of Baltimore, Maryland;

• Vatrone Foote, age 26, of Baltimore, Maryland;

• Samuel Joyce, age 28, of Baltimore, Maryland;

• Morranda Phimpisane, age 30, of Baltimore, Maryland;

• Terrell Wormley, age 31, of Baltimore, Maryland.

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning noted that the United States Attorney’s Office, through its Exile Program, will continue to pursue felons with guns who constitute a clear and present danger to the safety and welfare of the citizens of Baltimore. These arrests reflect the ongoing commitment of the United States Attorney’s Office to address violent crime in the City of Baltimore and the District of Maryland.

 

Initial court appearances for the defendants begin today. All nine defendants continue to be detained.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the ATF, Baltimore Police Department and Baltimore City State’s Attorney=s Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Patricia McLane, Robert Perkins and Samika Boyd who are prosecuting these cases.

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                    Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                              at (410) 209-4885

 

Greenbelt, Maryland – On August 25, 2017, Dawn J. Bennett, age 55, of Chevy Chase, Maryland, was arrested in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In addition to a previously filed Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) complaint, Bennett has also been charged in a criminal complaint with wire fraud, bank fraud, and false statements in relation to loan and credit applications.

The arrest was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning and Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office.

According to the criminal complaint, Bennett is the owner and operator of DJB Holding, LLC, d/b/a DJBennett.com. DJBennett.com is an internet retail website for luxury sportswear.

The criminal complaint alleges account activity consistent with a Ponzi scheme and misappropriation of investor funds. A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment scheme where the operator of the scheme solicits investors by promising high rates of return with little risk. The scheme operator then funds payments to the older investors through funds obtained through new investors. Typically, the operator of the scheme will use investment funds for purposes other than what was conveyed to the investors.

According to the criminal complaint, Bennett solicited individuals to invest money into her internet clothing business, offering an annual interest rate of 15% via convertible or promissory notes. For instance, between December 17, 2014 and October 29, 2015, 28 individuals made deposits of over $5 million into the DJBennett.com operating account. The complaint alleges that Bennett would repay investors with funds she received from new investors and used funds sourced from individual investors to fund her personal legal expenses, among other things.

The criminal complaint further alleges that in May 2015, DJB Holdings, LLC obtained a $750,000 line of credit secured by the inventory of DJB Holdings LLC/DJBennett.com. In support of this line of credit, one of Bennett’s employees provided the lender a brokerage statement in Bennett’s name that listed a net portfolio value of over $4 million. In reality, Bennett’s net portfolio value for that same account was only $35. In February 2016, the lender declared the loan in default. Bennett responded to the lender that she was unaware of the default and claimed she had been in China for the preceding eight months. A search of FBI databases was unable to firm any international travel for Bennett during the time in which she claimed to be in China, and her personal American Express card showed numerous transactions in the Chevy Chase, Maryland and Washington, D.C. area.

 

On August 25, 2017, the SEC filed a related action against Dawn J. Bennet and DJB Holdings, LLC d/b/a/ DJBennett and DJBennett.com alleging violations of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning thanked the SEC and the FBI. Mr. Schenning praised Assistant U.S. Attorneys Erin Pulice and Thomas Windom who are prosecuting the case.

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                               Contact ELIZABETH MORSE www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                         at (410) 209-4811     

    

 

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm sentenced Joseph Axzavis Stewart, Sr. age 58, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, to 11 years in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release for assault with a dangerous weapon, and possession of a dangerous weapon with intent to injure.

 

The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning and Chief Robert D. MacLean of the U.S. Park Police.

 

According to Stewart’s plea agreement, on July 31, 2016, at approximately 9:00 p.m., Stewart stabbed an individual who was seated in the passenger seat of a friend’s truck at a construction site near the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, where the friend worked. Stewart, who worked for the same construction company, previously had a brief romantic relationship with the individual’s friend. After other employees from the construction company intervened, Stewart fled the scene in a gray truck. The victim was transported to the hospital, suffering from stab wounds to the arm and back. As a result of the stabbing, the victim underwent several surgeries, and lost partial feeling in both arms. Law enforcement executed a search warrant and recovered the knife Stewart used to stab the victim from Stewart’s gray truck.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the U.S. Park Police for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Hollis R. Weisman and Thomas M. Sullivan, who prosecuted the case.

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                 Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                           at (410) 209-4811

 

Baltimore, Maryland – On August 24, 2017, U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar sentenced Tavon Holmes, age 29, of Baltimore, Maryland, to 10 years and 6 months in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute heroin.

 

The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Special Agent in Charge Daniel L. Board Jr. of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - Baltimore Field Division; Assistant Special Agent in Charge Don A. Hibbert of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Baltimore District Office; Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis; and Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby.

 

According to his plea agreement on January 4, 2016, Baltimore City Police Department officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop, when Holmes ran from the car and into an adjacent alley. Holmes appeared to remove an item from his waistband area and then jumped onto the top of an unhinged basement door. When officers apprehended Holmes, they found, within close proximity, a black semi-automatic Cobra .380 caliber pistol with one round of .380 caliber ammunition in the chamber and a magazine with an additional five rounds of .380 caliber ammunition.

 

Prior to January 4, 2016, Holmes had been convicted in a court of the state of Maryland of a crime punishable by a term of imprisonment exceeding one year, and his civil rights had not been restored.

 

Following his arrest, the government obtained a search warrant for Holmes’ cell phone. Within that cell phone were multiple text messages in or about December 2015 where Holmes and at least one other individual conspired to distribute heroin.

 

On February 8, 2016, and still while incarcerated on his firearms related charges, Defendant Holmes called an individual and asked that individual to move the location of a “jimmy mac.” The government would have proved that a “jimmy mac” is often a code word for a firearm or narcotics.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the ATF, the Baltimore City Police Department and the DEA for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Phil Selden, Aaron Zelinsky, David Metcalf and Mike Hanlon, who prosecuted the case.

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                   Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                             at (410) 209-4811

 

 

 

Baltimore, Maryland – Salah Eldean Sood, age 35, of Lutherville, Maryland was sentenced to 52 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz. Sood pleaded guilty to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft in a scheme where he stole personally identifiable information from elderly persons who were in his care at Holland Manor Eldercare, an assisted living facility in Towson, Maryland.

 

The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Special Agent in Charge Nicholas DiGiulio, Office of Investigations, Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS); Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department; Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger; and Special Agent in Charge Michael McGill of the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, Philadelphia Field Division (SSA).

 

According to court documents, Sood managed Holland Manor Eldercare in Towson, Maryland. In June 2015, P.J., a resident of Holland Manor, was transported to a local hospital. Baltimore County Fire Department personnel noted that conditions in the facility were unsanitary and that P.J.’s injuries were potentially indicative of a lack of proper care. P.J. died two days later. The State of Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene revoked Holland Manor’s license to operate on September 25, 2015. On December 3, 2015, Baltimore County Fire Department and Baltimore County Police Department personnel responded to a fire alarm at Holland Manor and located two residents inside the facility without any staff present. An 80 year-old male resident, W.C., informed responders that no caretaker was generally present at the facility overnight. The second resident was restrained in a bed in a second floor bedroom, comatose, and unable to communicate. Responders were initially unable to reach Sood on his cell phone. Sood eventually responded to their calls, but refused to provide to his whereabouts.

 

Further investigation revealed that from July 2014 to January 2016, Sood opened credit card accounts using the names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers of three elderly persons who resided at Holland Manor, including P.J. and W.C. Sood submitted the applications electronically, using Holland Manor as the home address. Sood obtained six credit cards in residents’ names, added himself as an authorized user on those accounts, and made over $74,000 in purchases using the accounts.

 

On August 3, 2016, Sood pleaded guilty in state court to abuse and neglect of a vulnerable victim and operation of an assisted living facility without a license.

 

The Maryland Identity Theft Working Group has been working since 2006 to foster cooperation among local, state, federal, and institutional fraud investigators and to promote effective prosecution of identity theft schemes by both state and federal prosecutors. This case, as well as other cases brought by members of the Working Group, demonstrates the commitment of law enforcement agencies to work with financial institutions and businesses to address identity fraud, identify those who compromise personal identity information, and protect citizens from identity theft.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended SSA OIG, HHS OIG, the Baltimore County Police Department, and Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lauren E. Perry and Roann Nichols, who prosecuted the case.

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                    Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                              at (410) 209-4885

 

 

Baltimore, Maryland – St. Agnes Healthcare has agreed to pay the United States $122,928 to resolve claims under the False Claims Act alleging that St. Agnes submitted false claims to Medicare by billing for evaluation and management (E&M) services at a higher reimbursement rate than the Federal health care programs allowed.

 

The settlement agreement was announced today by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning and Special Agent in Charge Nick DiGuilio of the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services.

 

In June 2011, St. Agnes acquired a medical practice consisting of twelve cardiologists who were formerly members of MidAtlantic Cardiovascular Associates. The twelve cardiologists became employees of St. Agnes and continued to provide services to their patients through Maryland Cardiovascular Specialists, a specialty practice affiliated with St. Agnes. Medicare permits a higher rate of reimbursement for E&M services provided to new patients as opposed to E&M services provided to established patients. A new patient is defined as a patient who has not received any professional services from the physician or physician group practice within the previous three years.

 

According to the settlement agreement, the United States contends that for E&M services rendered from June 3, 2011 through June 3, 2014 by the twelve cardiologists who became St. Agnes’ employees, St. Agnes improperly submitted or caused to be submitted claims to Medicare using CPT codes 99201-99205 (new patient E&M codes) when CPT codes 99211-99215 (existing patient E&M codes) should have been used. By using the new patient codes as opposed to the existing patient codes, St. Agnes improperly received more reimbursement than it was entitled to under Medicare.

 

The civil settlement resolves a lawsuit filed under the whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act by Jonathan Safren, a former cardiologist employed by St. Agnes (United States ex rel Jonathan Safren v. St. Agnes Healthcare., Case No. ELH-16-2537 (D. Md.)). The False Claims Act permits private parties to file suit on behalf of the United States for false claims and obtain a portion of the government’s recovery. As part of today’s resolution, Dr. Safren will receive $20,000. The claims resolved by this settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services and thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas Corcoran and Jane Andersen who handled the case.

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                         Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                  at (410) 209-4885

 

 

Greenbelt, Maryland – US District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow sentenced Deonte Carraway, age 23, of Glenarden, Maryland, to 75 years in federal prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release for 15 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor to produce child pornography, involving 12 minor victims ranging in age from nine to 13 years old. According to court documents, Carraway was an assistant at Judge Sylvania Woods Elementary School in Prince George’s County.

 

The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Special Agent in Charge Gordon Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Chief Henry P. Stawinski III of the Prince George’s County Police Department; and Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Angela D. Alsobrooks.

 

According to the 15-count superseding indictment, from October 11, 2015 through February 1, 2016, Carraway coerced and persuaded multiple children to engage in sexually explicit conduct in order to produce videos of that conduct. According to the plea agreement, the videos produced include Carraway engaging in sexual activity with victims, as well as the victims engaging in sexually explicit conduct at Carraway’s direction.

 

According to court documents, Carraway met several of the victims at the school where he worked, and other victims reported that Carraway recruited them from his choir group. Prince George’s County Police arrested Carraway on February 4, 2016, and he has been detained since his arrest.

 

This case was investigated by the FBI Maryland Child Exploitation Task Force (MCETF), created in 2010 to combat sex crimes involving children. The task force consists of members from ten state and federal law enforcement agencies.

 

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 Attorneys' 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.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the FBI, the Prince George’s County Police Department, and the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kristi N. O’Malley and Daniel C. Gardner who prosecuted the case.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                    Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                     at (410) 209-4885

 

 

Baltimore, Maryland – On August 16, 2017, U.S. District Judge George L. Russell III sentenced William Ray Wagner, age 34, a resident of Harford County, Maryland, to 10 years in prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release for the use of interstate facilities to coerce a minor to engage in sex.

 

The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Special Agent in Charge Gordon Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey R. Gahler; and Harford County State’s Attorney Joseph I. Cassilly.

 

According to his plea agreement, in the fall of 2014, Wagner was communicating on Facebook with an individual he believed was a 14-year-old girl who lived with her parents. The individual was actually an undercover Harford County detective.

 

In early October 2014, Wagner attempted to meet the individual to engage in sex, and used his computer to initiate graphic discussions about sex. He ultimately arranged to meet the individual at a restaurant in Bel Air on October 13, and then walk to a nearby trail to engage in sex. On that date, Wagner arrived at the agreed upon meeting location with a blanket and two condoms. He was arrested.

 

Wagner had previously been convicted of unlawful contact with a minor in 2009 and as a result, was required to register as a sex offender in Maryland. In April 2014, Wagner was arrested in Harford County and charged with failure to register as a sex offender.

 

As part of his plea agreement, Wagner must register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

 

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 Attorneys' 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.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the FBI, Harford County Sheriff‘s Office and Harford County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation and prosecution. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul E. Budlow, who prosecuted the case.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                             Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                           at (410) 209-4885

 

Former Bail Bondsman conspired with Licensed Drug Counselor to conceal violations of federal defendants from United States Probation and Pretrial Services and Federal Judges

 

Baltimore, Maryland –Anthony Evans Owings Seen, a/k/a “Tony”, age 31, of Glen Burnie, Maryland, pleaded guilty today in federal court to conspiring to obstruct of justice and obstruction of justice, in connection with concealing violations by both pretrial and supervised release defendants from United States Probation and Pretrial Services and Federal Judges.

 

The guilty plea was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; William F. Henry, Chief, U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services Office, District of Maryland; and Assistant Special Agent in Charge Don A. Hibbert of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Baltimore District Office.

 

Co-conspirator Jennifer Hamersky, a/k/a Jennifer Maroney a/k/a Jennifer Hurt, age 33, of Severn, Maryland previously pled guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced on November 14, 2017 at 9:15 a.m.

 

According to Seen’s plea agreement, at the time of the conspiracy Seen was on supervised release in an unrelated case in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute more than 100 kilograms of marijuana. While on supervised release, Seen was under the supervision of the United States Probation and Pretrial Services (“USPO”). Seen’s conditions of supervised release included that he was not permitted to possess or use controlled substances as well as act as a bail bondsman or in the bail bond industry. Seen was previously a licensed bail bondsman by the State of Maryland’s Insurance Administration.

 

Co-conspirator Hamersky, a Clinical Professional Addictions Counselor, licensed by the State of Maryland’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, was also a contractor who provided services for USPO. Specifically, Hamersky worked with defendants in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, including mental health and substance abuse counseling, and urinalysis testing.

 

Person A was on pretrial release under the supervision of USPO with conditions which included attending individual and group counseling sessions and submitting to random urinalysis testing. Person S was on supervised release under the supervision of USPO with conditions that included not possessing or using controlled substances.

 

Hamersky served as Person A’s pretrial release substance abuse and mental health counselor from September 2015 through February 2016, and again from August 2016 through February 2017. Hamersky was responsible for communicating Person A’s compliance with pretrial release conditions regarding potential violations involving counseling and urinalysis testing to USPO. As part of her duties as a substance abuse counselor Hamersky also had access to Person S’s urinalysis testing schedule.

 

According to court documents, Seen and Hamersky conspired to obstruction of justice in an effort to conceal from USPO officers and U.S. Magistrate and District Court Judges, Person A’s and Person S’s violations of their conditions of release including the use of narcotic drugs, failure to appear for urinalysis testing, and failure to appear for counseling sessions.

 

From September 2016 through February 2017, Seen conspired with Hamersky to prevent the communication to a law enforcement officer and U.S. Magistrate and District Court Judges information relating to violations of Person A’s and Person S’s conditions of release. Seen and Hamersky also used cocaine, oxycodone and methylenedioxy-methamphetamine, otherwise known as MDMA, while Defendant Seen was on federal supervised release.

 

In November 2016, Seen met with Person A at Seen’s bail bonds shop in Glen Burnie, Maryland so that Person A could sign his USPO November 2016 and December 2016 reports reflecting Person A’s attendance at urinalysis testing and counseling sessions. At the time Seen knew that Person A had not attended urinalysis testing and counseling sessions. Seen then provided Person A’s reports to Hamersky who submitted them to USPO. Following his meeting with Person A and in an effort to conceal Seen and Hamersky’s conspiracy, Seen sent a text message to Person A asking Person A to delete any text messages between Seen and Person A and any texts messages between Hamersky and Person A.

 

In November 2016, Person S asked Seen for information about his urinalysis testing schedule so that Person S could consume controlled substances and avoid detection by USPO. Seen then contacted Hamersky who informed Seen that Person S would not have an upcoming urinalysis test. Seen then provided this urinalysis testing information to Person S.

 

In December 2016, after learning that Special Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation were investigating, Seen then told Hamersky to go onto a federal court website to determine if Person A was meeting with law enforcement representatives.

 

In January 2017, Person A missed a urinalysis test and contacted Seen for help in covering-up the missed test. Hamersky and Seen then discussed whether to help Person A and Hamersky then left a voicemail message for Person A’s USPO agent stating that Person A was in compliance when both Hamersky and Seen knew that Person A had missed his urinalysis test.

 

Seen faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison for the conspiracy count and twenty years in prison for the obstruction of justice count. Seen remains detained pending sentencing, which is scheduled for November 15, 2017 at 9:30 a.m.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the FBI, USPO, and DEA for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Phil Selden and Rachel Yasser, who prosecuted the case.

                             

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                           at (410) 209-4855

 

Baltimore, Maryland – On August 15, 2017, U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar sentenced Theodore Smith (AKA Money), age 41, of Baltimore, Maryland, to 180 months in prison followed by 5 years of supervised release for conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute crack cocaine.

 

The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Assistant Special Agent in Charge Don A. Hibbert of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Baltimore District Office; Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis and Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department.

Smith was a member of a drug trafficking conspiracy, which, according to his plea agreement, operated an open-air drug market near the 600 block of Glenwood Avenue in the Woodbourne-McCabe neighborhood of Baltimore. Smith and his co-conspirators oversaw the distribution of the organization's signature orange-top vials of crack cocaine throughout various locations in Baltimore. Members of the conspiracy purchased cocaine and converted it to crack by cooking it in their stash houses. Smith and his co-conspirators used residences in and around North Baltimore to cut, package, and store the narcotics.

According to the plea agreement, Smith was in charge of overseeing and managing the distribution of crack cocaine on the streets, collecting proceeds from sales, making sure the organization had a sufficient supply of cocaine, and cooking cocaine into crack cocaine.

 

On June 16, 2016, law enforcement seized over 1100 orange-top vials of crack cocaine from a stash house used by the organization.

 

Some members of the conspiracy committed acts of violence in furtherance of the organization's activities and routinely carried firearms. In an attempt to avoid detection, Smith and his co-conspirators frequently changed phones and conducted counter surveillance of law enforcement. The proceeds from the sale of the narcotics were used to expand the drug operation and to pay for legal counsel for other members who were arrested for trafficking narcotics.

 

The other members of the conspiracy included

 

• Darryl Scott, age 32, of Baltimore, Maryland

  • Sentenced to 135 months in prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release

     

• Anthony Hart, age 34, of Baltimore, Maryland

  • Sentenced to 168 months in prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release

     

• Tarik Brooks, age 42, of Baltimore, Maryland

  • Sentenced to 151 months in prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release

     

• Jermaine Epps, age 42, of Baltimore County, Maryland

  • Sentenced to 108 months in prison, followed by 4 years of supervised release

     

• Darren Farmer, age 27, of Baltimore, Maryland

  • Sentenced to 120 months in prison, followed by 4 years of supervised release

     

• Terry Downs, age 24, of Baltimore, Maryland

  • Sentenced to 60 months in prison, followed by 4 years of supervised release

     

• Asante Leroy Marshall, age 23, of Baltimore, Maryland

  • Sentenced to 50 months in prison, followed by 4 years of supervised release

     

• Eddie Lewis, age 25, of Baltimore, Maryland

  • Sentenced to 106 months in prison, followed by 4 years of supervised release

     

• Charles Gilliam, Jr, age 49, of Baltimore County, Maryland

  • Has pled guilty, awaits sentencing

     

• Leon Koger, age 46, of Baltimore, Maryland

  • Has pled guilty, awaits sentencing

     

• Akia Owens, age 31, of Baltimore, Maryland

  • Has pled guilty, awaits sentencing

 

Gilliam, Koger and Owens remain detained while they await sentencing.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the DEA, the Baltimore City Police and the Baltimore County Police for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Derek Hines and Leo Wise, who prosecuted the case.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                 Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                         at (410) 209-4885

 

Baltimore, Maryland –Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning announces the appointment of Rachel Yasser to lead the District’s project targeting opioid-related health care fraud. Yasser, 38, graduated from Columbia University in 2001 and Northwestern School of Law in 2004. She has been an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Maryland since 2008.

On August 2, 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the formation of the Opioid Fraud and Abuse Detection Unit, a new Department of Justice pilot program to attack the opioid crisis that has ravaged communities across the country and has led to an epidemic of fatal overdoses. The unit will use data on the manufacture, delivery and sale of prescription medications to identify persons, including doctors, medical professionals and pharmacists, who further the opioid epidemic for financial gain. These individuals will be targeted for healthcare fraud and other federal charges.

As part of the program, the Department of Justice is funding twelve experienced prosecutors nation-wide who will focus exclusively on investigating and prosecuting healthcare fraud related to prescription opioids, including pill mill schemes and pharmacies that unlawfully divert or dispense prescription opioids. Maryland was one of twelve federal Districts selected to participate in the program.

In 2010, Maryland public health officials reported that 504 people had died from heroin or opioid overdoses. By 2015, that number had more than doubled, with 1089 people dead from heroin and/or opioid overdoses. These 1089 lost lives do not represent the totality of the problem, as many more persons suffer non-fatal overdoses. Additionally, for every life lost to heroin or opioid abuse, the families and communities of those lost are also impacted. The heroin/opioid problem is among the greatest, and most rapidly increasing, public health and criminal justice problems facing Maryland today.

As head of the Maryland program, Yasser will coordinate with investigators from the FBI, DEA and HHS, as well as state and local agencies, to analyze data that discloses which physicians are prescribing, and which pharmacies are dispensing, unusually large quantities of opioids. The data can also be analyzed to disclose other patterns, such as the number of physicians’ patients that have died within 60 days of an opioid prescription, the average age of patients receiving opioid prescriptions, and the geographical distribution of patients’ residences. The costs for these opioids are often charged to insurance companies or federally funded health insurance programs, charges that are fraudulent if the prescriptions lack medical justification.

The opioid epidemic encompasses not only prescription drug abuse but also increased use of drugs that were never in the legitimate medical supply system, such as heroin and imported fentanyl. According to data from the DEA, the explosion in the of use of heroin and fentanyl is closely related to the prescription drug abuse problem. The DEA reports that 80% of heroin addiction starts with prescription drug addiction. People addicted to prescription opioids such as Percocet or OxyContin often move on to heroin and fentanyl, which are less expensive and more potent. Doctor-run “pill mills” and pharmacies that are unlawfully diverting and dispensing prescription opioids manufacture the next generation of heroin and fentanyl users.

By focusing on opioid-related healthcare fraud, Yasser and her team of investigators and prosecutors will attack the root cause of the opioid epidemic in the District of Maryland.

 

Mohamed Elshinawy, 32, of Edgewood, Md., pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization; providing and attempting to provide material support to ISIS terrorism financing; and making false statements in connection with a terrorism matter. 

Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security Dana J. Boente, Acting U.S. Attorney of the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning and Special Agent in Charge Gordon Johnson of the FBI’s Baltimore Office.

According to the plea agreement, Elshinawy conspired with others to knowingly provide material support and resources to ISIS, knowing that ISIS was a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization. From February 2015 through about Dec. 11, 2015, in Maryland and elsewhere, Elshinawy conspired with others to provide material support and resources, including personnel, services (including means and methods of communication), and financial services, to ISIS.  Elshinawy and his co-conspirators utilized various methods of secret communication in order to conceal their criminal association and activities from law enforcement. 

As a part of the conspiracy, Elshinawy expressed his support for an Islamic caliphate and his belief in the legitimacy of ISIS. In addition, he expressed his hope that ISIS would be victorious and its enemies defeated, and discussed his readiness to travel to live in the Islamic State. In various other conversations, Elshinawy pledged his allegiance to ISIS, described himself as its soldier, committed to making violent jihad, and asked that others convey his message of loyalty to ISIS leadership.

Elshinawy also received payments from a foreign company totaling $8,700 to be used to fund a terrorist attack in the U.S.

In an interview with FBI agents on July 17, 2015, in an effort to conceal and minimize his criminal involvement with ISIS, Elshinawy provided false information regarding the total amount of money he had received from ISIS operatives and claimed his intent was to defraud ISIS of funds. Throughout his interviews, Elshinawy mischaracterized the true nature and extent of his association with ISIS operatives and the support he had provided to ISIS.

The maximum sentence for conspiracy to provide and for providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization is 20 years in prison; the maximum sentence for collection of terrorism financing is 20 years in prison; and the maximum sentence for making false statements in a terrorism matter is eight years in prison.  The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes.  Elshinawy’s sentence will be determined by the court after considering the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Elshinawy has been detained since his arrest on Dec. 11, 2015, on related charges.

Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security Dana J. Boente and Acting U.S. Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the FBI for its work in the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christine Manuelian and Kenneth Clark and the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting the case.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                       Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                                at (410) 209-4885

 

 

Baltimore, Maryland – Mohamed Elshinawy, age 32, of Edgewood, Maryland, pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization; providing and attempting to provide material support to ISIS terrorism financing; and making false statements in connection with a terrorism matter.

The plea was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney of the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security Dana J. Boente; and Special Agent in Charge Gordon Johnson of the FBI’s Baltimore Office.

According to the plea agreement, Elshinawy conspired with others to knowingly provide material support and resources to ISIS, knowing that ISIS was a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization. From February 2015 through about December 11, 2015, in Maryland and elsewhere, Elshinawy conspired with others to provide material support and resources, including personnel, services (including means and methods of communication), and financial services, to ISIS. Elshinawy and his co-conspirators utilized various methods of secret communication in order to conceal their criminal association and activities from law enforcement.

As a part of the conspiracy, Elshinawy expressed his support for an Islamic caliphate and his belief in the legitimacy of ISIS. In addition, he expressed his hope that ISIS would be victorious and its enemies defeated, and discussed his readiness to travel to live in the Islamic State. In various other conversations, Elshinawy pledged his allegiance to ISIS, described himself as its soldier, committed to making violent jihad, and asked that others convey his message of loyalty to ISIS leadership.

Elshinawy also received payments from a foreign company totaling $8,700 to be used to fund a terrorist attack in the United States.

In an interview with FBI agents on July 17, 2015, in an effort to conceal and minimize his criminal involvement with ISIS, Elshinawy provided false information regarding the total amount of money he had received from ISIS operatives and claimed his intent was to defraud ISIS of funds. Throughout his interviews, Elshinawy mischaracterized the true nature and extent of his association with ISIS operatives and the support he had provided to ISIS.

The maximum sentence for conspiracy to provide and for providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization is 20 years in prison; the maximum sentence for collection of terrorism financing is 20 years in prison; and the maximum sentence for making false statements in a terrorism matter is eight years in prison. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes. Elshinawy’s sentence will be determined by the court after considering the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Elshinawy has been detained since his arrest on Dec. 11, 2015, on related charges.

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning and Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security Dana J. Boente commended the FBI for its work in the investigation, and thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christine Manuelian and Kenneth Clark and the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section who are prosecuting the case.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                          Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                                    at (410) 209-4885

 

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm sentenced Olufemi Wilfred Williams, of Owings Mills, Maryland, to four years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiracy to commit money laundering arising from a scheme to defraud vulnerable victims of millions of dollars. Judge Grimm also ordered Williams to forfeit and pay restitution of more than $375,000. Williams previously pleaded guilty to the charge on February 21, 2017.

 

The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning and Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

 

According to court documents, from January 2011 to May 18, 2015, Williams searched online dating websites to initiate romantic relationships with vulnerable male and female individuals. He phoned, emailed, texted, and used internet chat messenger services to form romantic relationships with the victims, who lived in Maryland and around the country. Williams then used false stories and promises to convince the victims to provide money to the conspirators, including fake hospital bills, plane trips to visit the victims, problems with overseas businesses, and foreign taxes.

 

Williams and other conspirators opened bank accounts, called “drop accounts,” in order to receive millions of dollars from the victims. The victims provided money to Williams and others as a result of the false stories and promises, either depositing money directly into drop accounts controlled by the defendant, or by wire transfers sent to the conspirators. Williams and his co-conspirators dispersed money received from the victims by transferring funds to other accounts controlled by the conspirators, by obtaining cashier’s checks, and by writing checks to individuals or entities, in order to conceal the nature, source, and control of those assets.

 

The following co-defendants were previously convicted at trial or pleaded guilty:

 

Gbenga Benson Ogundele, a/k/a “Benson Ogundele,” age 58, of Laurel, Maryland;

Victor Oyewumi Oloyede, age 42, of Laurel;

Olusegun Charles Ogunseye, a/k/a “Charles O. Ogunseye,” age 58, of Laurel;

Babtunde Emmanuel Popoola, a/k/a “Emmanuel Popoola” and his sister, “Tunde Popoola, age 34, of Bowie, Maryland;

Mojisola Tinuola Popoola, a/k/a “Mojisola Oluwakemi Tin Popoola” and “Moji T. Popoola,” age 42, of Laurel;

Adeyinka Olubunmi Awolaja, Jr., a/k/a “Yinka O. Awolaja, Jr.,” age 34, formerly of New Carrolltown, Maryland; and

Olusola Olla, age 50, of Greensboro, North Carolina.

 

The Maryland Identity Theft Working Group has been working since 2006 to foster cooperation among local, state, federal, and institutional fraud investigators and to promote effective prosecution of identity theft schemes by both state and federal prosecutors. This case, as well as other cases brought by members of the Working Group, demonstrates the commitment of law enforcement agencies to work with financial institutions and businesses to address identity fraud, identify those who compromise personal identity information, and protect citizens from identity theft.

 

Today’s announcement is part of the efforts undertaken in connection with the President’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. The task force was established to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. attorneys’ offices, and state and local partners, it’s the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets; and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations. Since fiscal year 2009, the Justice Department has filed over 18,000 financial fraud cases against more than 25,000 defendants. For more information on the task force, please visit www.StopFraud.gov.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the FBI for its work in the investigation and thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas P. Windom, Ray D. McKenzie, and Leah Jo Bressack, who are prosecuting the case.

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                   Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                             at (410) 209-4885

 

Greenbelt, Maryland – A federal grand jury has indicted Zheng Geng, a/k/a “Jason Geng”, age 59, of Vienna, Virginia, on charges related to a scheme to defraud the United States. The indictment was returned on August 9, 2017, and unsealed today upon the arrest of Geng. Geng is the Chief Executive Officer of Xigen LLC (Xigen), which has offices in Maryland and Virginia.

The indictment was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Inspector General Paul Martin of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Office of Inspector General; Inspector General Allison Lerner of the National Science Foundation Office of Inspector General; Special Agent in Charge Nick DiGiulio of the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General; Special Agent in Charge Gordon Thompson of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General; and Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office.

According to the six-count indictment, Geng devised a scheme between 2005 to 2016 to defraud the United States by submitting false and fraudulent grant applications under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. The SBIR program aims to stimulate United States technological innovation. A further aim is to foster and encourage participation in technical innovation by socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses that in some instances are at least 51-percent owned and controlled by women. Geng prepared materially fraudulent proposals for awards, subsequent reports, and related communications under the programs.

To support the applications, Geng submitted endorsements for his grant applications using the identities of people without their permission, or misrepresenting their positions within Xigen. In addition, he submitted endorsements that misrepresented active affiliations with various universities including, Harvard University Medical School and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and budgeted funds for subcontractors without their knowledge and without providing them with budgeted funds. With this false information, the United States government approved SBIR program awards and grants through the Department of Health and Human Service’s National Institutes of Health and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The awards totaled over $1.8 million.

According to court documents, Geng used the rewarded funds for his own personal use and the use of his family members and associates.

“The NASA Office of Inspector General will continue to aggressively investigate those who undermine and defraud NASA programs and operations,” said Inspector General Martin. “The NASA OIG appreciates the efforts of the entire investigative and prosecution team during this multi-year investigation, and we look forward to continued cooperation with our law enforcement partners in this and related matters.”

Allison Lerner, Inspector General for the National Science Foundation said, “The SBIR program is a valuable tool for advancing promising new technologies. My office will continue to vigorously pursue attempts to defraud scarce research dollars intended to promote economic growth through innovative SBIR investments.”

 

“The United States Department of Health and Human services provides research grant funds to qualified small businesses; we cannot tolerate the theft of taxpayer funds meant for honest research projects” said Nick DiGiulio, Special Agent in Charge for the Inspector General’s Office of the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Geng faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for wire fraud and a 2-year mandatory minimum consecutive sentence for each of the aggravated identity theft charges.

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.

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the NASA Office of Inspector General, the National Science Foundation Office of Inspector General, the HHS Office of Inspector General, U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General and the FBI for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Phil Selden and Jennifer Sykes, who are prosecuting the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney David Salem who also helped investigate this case.

 

 

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                           Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                                     at (410) 209-4885

 

 

Greenbelt, Maryland – On August 7, 2017, a federal grand jury indicted Anuj Sud, age 39, of Hyattsville, Maryland, on charges related to a bribery conspiracy. Sud allegedly solicited and accepted bribes in the performance of his official duties in Prince George’s County.

 

The indictment was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Thomas Jankowski of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, Washington, D.C. Field Office; and Chief Henry P. Stawinski III of the Prince George’s County Police Department.

 

Sud was a Liquor Board Commissioner and has been a licensed attorney in Maryland since 2005, with offices in College Park. According to court documents, in September 2015, Sud solicited bribes from a lobbyist in exchange for Sud’s assistance with liquor board matters. At a subsequent meeting, Sud and the lobbyist discussed Sud voting favorably in two upcoming hearings concerning the lobbyist’s clients, in exchange for money. The lobbyist advised that the hearings would take place on December 2 and December 15, 2015. At each of the hearings, Sud took favorable action on behalf of the lobbyist’s client. Following each hearing, the lobbyist met with Sud and gave Sud $1,000 cash for Sud’s assistance. Similarly, on November 30, 2016, Sud received a $1,000 bribe payment in exchange for taking favorable action on behalf of the lobbyist’s client.

 

Sud was charged with two counts of bribery, for each of which he faces a maximum sentence of ten years in prison.

 

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.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the FBI, IRS-CI, and Prince George’s County Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas P. Windom, Menaka S. Kalaskar, and Arun G. Rao, who are prosecuting the case.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                       Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                                 at (410) 209-4885

 

Baltimore, Maryland – A federal grand jury indicted Chukwuemeka Ekwonna, age 28, of Glenn Dale, Maryland, on charges related to sex trafficking of minors and use of interstate commerce facilities to entice minors to engage in prostitution.

The indictment was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Special Agent in Charge Andre R. Watson of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Chief Tim Altomare of Anne Arundel County Police and Wes Adams of Anne Arundel State’s Attorney’s Office.

According to the 10-count indictment, beginning on or about January 24, 2016, Ekwonna worked as a police officer with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), in Washington, District of Columbia, where he was issued a Glock 17 handgun for use in connection with his duties as a police officer. On or about June 7, 2010, Ekwonna created a Tagged social media account entitled “E-man aka wateva u want me 2 be.” Tagged is a social media platform that allows members to create profiles, post status updates, upload photos, and send and receive messages. Tagged provides a mobile version of the platform that allows users to search for others based on location and engage in real-time chat.

 

Between June 1, 2011, and on or about April 6, 2017, Ekwonna exchanged approximately 53,000 messages with thousands of other Tagged users. Ekwonna used his Tagged account to send messages to many other users offering to pay them to engage in specific sex acts with him and to negotiate over the prices he would pay for sex.

 

Between December 19, 2016, and April 5, 2017, Ekwonna exchanged approximately 200 text and Tagged messages with a 14-year-old girl. In the messages, on several occasions Ekwonna offered to pay the victim to engage in sex acts with him. On January 9, 2017, Ekwonna exchanged approximately 54 Tagged messages with a 15-year-old girl. In the messages, Ekwonna also offered to pay the second victim to engage in sex acts with him. In both exchanges, Ekwonna discussed the sex acts they would engage in, and where they would meet. Both victims were students in the ninth grade at the time of the offenses.

 

On January 9, 2017, in the back seat of his vehicle, Ekwonna pointed a handgun at the second victim and demanded that she give him the money he had just paid her.

Ekwonna faces a minimum of 10 years in prison and maximum of life in prison and a fine of $250,000. An initial appearance is expected in U.S. District Court in Baltimore on August 11, 2017.

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.

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 Attorneys' 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.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the HSI, the Anne Arundel County Police Department and the Anne Arundel States Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Myers who is prosecuting the case.

 

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                         Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                   at (410) 209-4885

 

 

Baltimore, Maryland – Dolores Delgado, age 32, of San Antonio, Texas, pled guilty in federal court for interstate travel to commit domestic violence resulting in death, in connection with the death of Karlyn Ramirez.

 

The guilty plea was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Commanding General Mark S. Inch of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command; and Anne Arundel County Police Chief Tim Altomare.

 

According to the statement of facts supporting the plea agreement, Karlyn Ramirez was an active duty soldier of the United States Army assigned to Fort Meade, Maryland. She was found shot to death in her off-post residence on the morning of August 25, 2015. Her four-month old daughter had been placed in her arms. Forensic evidence estimates the likely time of death was during the late evening hours of August 24, 2015.

 

At the time of her death, Ramirez was married to another active duty soldier and they had a four-month old daughter. They had recently separated and Ramirez had obtained a protective order through the Army prohibiting all contact between Ramirez and her husband.

 

Ramirez’s husband was stationed at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. On August 24, 2015, he finished work in the early afternoon and traveled from South Carolina to Severn, Maryland. He entered Ramirez’s townhouse using his key and brandishing a Taurus .357 caliber revolver. Ramirez attempted to calm her husband but she reiterated that she did not want to see him again. The husband shot Ramirez three times, killing her. He then took off her pants and pulled down her underwear in an attempt to make it look like a sexual assault. He also placed their 4-month old daughter in Ramirez’s arm.

 

Delgado provided the firearm that killed Ramirez and allowed her co-conspirator to drive her car from South Carolina to Maryland to commit the murder. Delgado also purchased large gas cans to take with him, so that he would not have to stop for gas and risk being seen. During the murder, (who lived in Florida at the time) stayed at Ramirez’s husband’s apartment in South Carolina with his phone and vehicle so that it would appear that he was in South Carolina at the time of the murder. After the murder, and a third party went to a waterway in Florida and disposed of the firearm, shell casings, the co-conspirators clothing worn during the murder, and the key he used to enter the townhouse. also dismantled the revolver and took steps to obliterate the serial number. The firearm was subsequently recovered by law enforcement divers and forensic testing determined that it was indeed the gun used by the co-conspirator to shoot Karlyn Ramirez to death.

 

Delgado faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. remains detained pending her sentencing, which is scheduled for November 20, 2017 at 11am. The case against ’s codefendant is still pending.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the FBI Baltimore, Army CID, and Anne Arundel County Police Department for their work in the investigation, and thanked the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas and FBI San Antonio for their assistance. Mr. Schenning also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys James G. Warwick, Kenneth S. Clark, who are prosecuting the case.

 

A federal grand jury charged Nelash Das, age 25, a citizen of Bangladesh previously residing in Landover Hills, Maryland, today with attempting to provide material support and resources to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization; attempting to murder a federal employee; and using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. The defendant previously had been indicted on the material support charge. The defendant remains detained pending further court proceedings.

Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security Dana J. Boente, Acting U.S. Attorney Stephen M. Schenning for the District of Maryland and Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the FBI’s Baltimore Field Office made the announcement.

The superseding indictment alleges that from October 2015 to Sept. 30, 2016, Das knowingly attempted to provide material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization, namely ISIS. The superseding indictment further alleges that Das knew that ISIS is a designated foreign terrorist organization and engages in terrorist activity. The superseding indictment charges Das with attempting to murder a federal employee – an individual who was a member of the uniformed services and a Special Agent with the FBI. The superseding indictment also charges Das with using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to the material support and attempted murder charges.  Das is a legal permanent resident.

According to court documents, ISIS members and supporters have posted identifying information about U.S. military personnel in hopes that ISIS supporters would carry out attacks against them.  Das allegedly planned to kill a U.S. military member in support of ISIS.

If convicted, Das faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

A superseding indictment is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by superseding indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes. If convicted of any offense, the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court after considering the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Boente and Acting U.S. Attorney Schenning commended the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force for its work on the investigation and thanked the prosecutors that are handling the matter.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                               Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                         at (410) 209-4855

 

 

Greenbelt, Maryland – A federal grand jury has charged Nelash Das, age 25, a citizen of Bangladesh previously residing in Landover Hills, Maryland, with attempting to provide material support and resources to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization; attempting to murder a federal employee; and using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. The defendant previously had been indicted on the material support charge. The defendant remains detained pending further court proceedings.

The superseding indictment was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security Dana J. Boente; and Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office.

The superseding indictment alleges that from October 2015 to September 30, 2016, Das knowingly attempted to provide material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization, namely ISIS. Further, the superseding indictment alleges that Das knew that ISIS was a designated foreign terrorist organization and engaged in terrorist activity. The superseding indictment also charges Das with attempting to murder a federal employee – an individual who was a member of the uniformed services and a Special Agent with the FBI. The superseding indictment further charges Das with using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to the material support and attempted murder charges.

According to court documents, ISIS members and supporters have posted identifying information about U.S. military personnel in hopes that ISIS supporters would carry out attacks against them. Das allegedly planned to kill a U.S. military member in support of ISIS.

If convicted, Das faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

A superseding indictment is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by superseding indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes. If convicted of any offense, the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court after considering the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

 

Acting Assistant Attorney General Boente and Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force for its work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked his office’s national security prosecutors that are handling the matter, and recognized the Justice Department’s National Security Division, Counterterrorism Section, for its support.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                            Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                                      at (410) 209-4885

 

 

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus sentenced Jorge Moreno-Aguilar, aka “Flaco” and “Castigato,” age 24, of District Heights, Maryland today to life in prison. On May 20, 2016, Moreno-Aguilar was convicted of multiple charges in connection with their MS-13 gang activities, including conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise, murder in aid of racketeering, and conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering.

 

The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Special Agent in Charge Andre R. Watson of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Chief Henry P. Stawinski III of the Prince George’s County Police Department; Chief J. Thomas Manger of the Montgomery County Police Department; Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Angela D. Alsobrooks; and Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy.

 

MS-13 is a national and transnational gang composed primarily of immigrants or descendants from El Salvador. Branches or “cliques” of MS-13, one of the largest street gangs in the United States, operate throughout Prince George’s County, Montgomery County, and Frederick County, Maryland. 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.

 

According to evidence presented at trial, from at least 2009 through October 2014, MS-13 members planned and committed murders, attempted murders, assaults, and robberies in Prince George’s, Montgomery, and Frederick Counties. Gang members also extorted brothel operators and owners of other illegal businesses and tampered with and retaliated against witnesses, among other crimes.

 

According to the trial evidence, in January 2013, Moreno-Aguilar and co-defendant Juan Alberto Ortiz-Orellana, both members of the MS-13 Sailors Locotes Salvatrucha Westside Clique, targeted an individual associated with the rival 18th Street gang, obtained photographs of the victim from Facebook and conspired with other members of MS-13 to murder him. On March 12, 2013, Moreno-Aguilar and Ortiz-Orellana went to Capitol Heights, Maryland, and shot the victim multiple times outside his home, killing him.

 

In addition, trial evidence showed that on February 23, 2013, co-defendant Minor Perez-Chach, who was a member of the MS-13 Langley Park Salvatrucha (LPS) Clique, followed a man whom he believed to be a member of MS-13 who had testified against MS-13 members in federal trials in Greenbelt, Maryland. In fact, the evidence showed that the victim was not the witness from the previous MS-13 trials. Perez-Chach stabbed the victim to death in his home while another member of MS-13 attacked the victim with a machete. During his arrest on May 20, 2013, Perez-Chach also illegally possessed a firearm and ammunition.

 

Co-defendant Ortiz-Orellana, age 29, of District Heights, Maryland, was convicted of conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise, murder in aid of racketeering conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, and related firearms charges. Perez-Chach, age 26, of Hyattsville, Maryland. Both were sentenced to life imprisonment on December 1, 2016.

 

Fourteen of the 15 defendants charged in this investigation have been convicted for their roles in the racketeering conspiracy. The final defendant is a fugitive.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended HSI Baltimore, Prince George’s County and Montgomery County Police Departments, and Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties State’s Attorney’s Offices for their work in the investigation and proceedings. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant United States Attorneys William D. Moomau and Lindsay Kaplan as well as Trial Attorney Catherine K. Dick with the Justice Department’s Organized Crime and Gang Section, who prosecuted the case.

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                             Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                                       at (410) 209-4885

 

Baltimore, Maryland –Shawn Penn, age 41, of Pasadena, Maryland, pled guilty today in federal court to making false claims and false statements. Penn falsely represented to her employer that she was working as a security guard at a government facility, when she was actually elsewhere.

 

The guilty plea was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning and Special Agent in Charge Robert E. Craig Jr. of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service - Mid-Atlantic Field Office.

 

According to the plea agreement, Penn worked full-time, during regular business hours, as an active duty U.S. Army Intelligence Officer at Fort Meade, Maryland. In addition, Penn worked as a contract employee performing security guard services for the U.S. Department of Defense in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.

 

Penn performed her security guard services for a sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF), which required that she hold a Top Secret-Sensitive Compartmented Information security clearance, possess a gun permit, and carry a government issued duty cell phone while on duty. Penn’s work locations had surveillance cameras that monitored her work station area, and areas inside and outside the building. Penn’s duties included reviewing computer monitors with live video from security cameras, checking for alarms, monitoring the temperature in the facility and performing exterior security sweeps.

 

According to court documents, from September 2015 to August 2016, Penn regularly abandoned her work station and falsely represented to her employer that she had been working as a security guard when she was actually elsewhere. According to the statement of facts supporting the plea agreement, Penn’s false claims regarding her security work hours caused the government to pay more than $40,000 to her employers to which they and Penn were not entitled.

 

In addition, on October 6, 2016, Penn falsely stated to investigators from the Defense Criminal Investigative Service that she had not abandoned her security guard duties until January 2016, when in fact, she had been abandoning her duties since at least September 2015. Penn falsely claimed that she “sat in her car,” was “across the street,” or “drove around the parking lot,” during her guard shifts, when Penn knew she was elsewhere during those shifts.

 

Penn faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison for each of the four counts of making false claims, and for making false statements.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the DCIS for its work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Harry M. Gruber, who is prosecuting the case.

 

 

 

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                              Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                                       at (410) 209-4885

 

 

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge George L. Russell sentenced John Theis, age 40, of Sparrows Point, Maryland, today to 15 months in prison, followed by 1 year of supervised release for the receipt of illegal gratuities and impersonation of a United States officer.

 

The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Special Agent in Charge Mark Tasky of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Inspector General (OIG); Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Kimberly Lappin of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, Washington, D.C. Field Office.

 

According to his plea agreement, from January 2015 through his resignation in September 2015, Theis worked at the Department of Homeland Security, United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) in Baltimore, Maryland. Theis was an Immigration Services Officer (ISO), whose duties and responsibilities included adjudicating immigration and citizenship cases and granting permanent residence status. Theis was required to obtain approval for any outside employment and no such requests had been submitted by Theis seeking or gaining such approval.

 

From 2014 and through his departure from federal service, Theis accepted cash in return for promising favorable immigration adjudications for a number of aliens. On one occasion, while working at USCIS, Theis advised an alien on the documents needed for a green card approval. Additionally, Theis took photos of the applicant’s case file from a USCIS database. In exchange, Theis received approximately $500 from the alien applicant.

 

Beginning in December of 2014 through February 2015, Theis and a co-conspirator agreed to work together in an immigration business to assist immigrants with getting their paperwork approved through USCIS. Theis would do presentations at an immigration program known as Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA). There, Theis would wear clothes that identified him as an immigration officer in order to influence new clients into paying him for assistance with immigration paperwork.

 

In April 2015, Theis went on disability leave after making false statements about his ability to work. He also took various forms of paid leave and never returned to the USCIS.

 

On September 29, 2015, Theis resigned from government service and left for Brazil in October 2015. He continued to do immigration work in Brazil while holding himself out to be a special agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) until his return to the United States and arrest in December 2016.

 

The approximate value of gratuities Theis received was over $15,000. He also received over $1,600 in disability benefits to which he was not entitled. Judge Russell ordered Theis to pay $1,600 in restitution to the Department of Labor.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended DHS OIG, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Office of Professional Responsibility, USCIS, FBI, and IRS for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sandra Wilkinson and Paul E. Budlow, who prosecuted the case.

 

August 4, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                           Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                     at (410) 209-4885

 

 

Baltimore, Maryland – Senior U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz sentenced Benjamin Bland, age 41, of Richmond, Virginia, to five and a half years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and social security fraud.

 

The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning and Special Agent in Charge Andre R. Watson of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

 

According to evidence presented at his five day trial, Bland was the owner and registered agent of a company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia that hosted a website which purported to provide individuals with a legal means to start a new credit file through the issuance of a “secondary credit number.” Bland falsely told his customers that these “secondary credit numbers” were “100% legal” and issued “by lawyers.” However, Bland had invented the term “secondary credit number,” there were no lawyers involved with his business, and the “secondary credit numbers” were actually social security numbers that had been previously issued to other individuals, predominantly children.

 

According to the trial evidence, one of the primary purposes of the fraud scheme was to obtain bank loans, private loans, auto loans, and lines of credit using the stolen social security numbers, counterfeit social security cards, and personal identity information (“PII”) of actual persons to create a false (improved) credit score.

 

The trial evidence also established that Bland obtained and sold the misappropriated social security numbers to Michael Westbrook and at least 20 others located throughout the country, whom Bland called his “affiliates.” These “affiliates” in turn sold those numbers to buyers. For an additional fee, Bland would provide fraudulent social security cards bearing the stolen number and the name of the “buyer.” Bland also provided fraudulent driver’s licenses to the “customers.” These items were provided so that “customers” could defraud banks and other lenders by drawing upon lines of credit using the stolen social security numbers.

 

According to the trial evidence, Bland compromised the social security numbers of at least 1,500 people during the conspiracy. The majority of the stolen social security numbers belonged to children all over the United States.

 

A co-conspirator, Michael Westbrook, also pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft and was sentenced to 24 months in prison.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended HSI Baltimore for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lauren Perry and Aaron Zelinsky, who prosecuted the case.

 

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                         at (410) 209-4855

 

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow sentenced John S. Mattingly, age 71, of Charlotte Hall, Maryland, to 3 years supervised release that includes 18 months of home confinement for bank fraud in connection with a scheme to steal funds from St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, while he was the pastor. Judge Chasanow also ordered Mattingly to pay $400,000 in restitution, which Mattingly paid prior to the sentencing hearing.

 

The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, St. Mary’s County Sheriff Tim Cameron, and St. Mary’s County State’s Attorney Richard Fritz.

 

According to his plea agreement, Mattingly was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest in 1972 and was the pastor of St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church (St. Francis), in Leonardtown, Maryland, from 1994 until September 1, 2010, when he resigned. While serving as a parish priest, Mattingly was paid a salary and stipend by St. Francis.

 

From September 2006 through September 2010, Mattingly fraudulently deposited checks from parishioners made payable to St. Francis and to the St. Vincent de Paul Society, which were intended by the St. Francis parishioners to be charitable donations, into a bank account he controlled. In order to conceal the scheme, Mattingly falsely represented that that the checks he deposited into his bank account would be used for charitable purposes and/or church maintenance and renovations. Mattingly did not use the charitable contributions from the St. Francis parishioners for their intended purposes, but instead transferred the fraudulently obtained funds from his bank account to his personal individual retirement account. He also wrote unauthorized checks from the St. Francis bank account payable to himself and deposited those checks into his personal individual retirement account.

 

Mattingly fraudulently deposited more than 500 checks, totaling at least $400,000, written by more than 135 parishioners and made payable to St. Francis or the St. Vincent de Paul Society, and not to Mattingly.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the FBI, St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office, and St. Mary’s County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan E. Foreman, who prosecuted the case.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                      Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                                at (410) 209-4885

 

 

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge George L. Russell sentenced Glenn R. Fischer, age 70, of Ellicott City, Maryland, to four years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft arising from a scheme to defraud businesses seeking insurance. Fischer admitted that he fraudulently collected more than $4.4 million in insurance premiums, which he did not remit to an insurance company, causing losses in that amount to the victims who thought they were insured.

 

The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning and Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office.

 

According his plea agreement, from 2002 to about 2014, Fischer was a partner at TriArc Financial Services, Inc. (TriArc Services), which provided automotive and mortgage insurance products, including residual value insurance. Residual Value Insurance (“RVI”) helped companies leasing vehicles to consumers to manage the risk from decreases in the value of the vehicle during the term of an auto lease. RVI typically provided for payments to the owner of a leased vehicle if the value of the vehicle at the end of the lease was less than a certain amount specified in the terms of the insurance coverage when the lease began. In the early 2000s, RVI policies were widely issued by insurance companies and TriArc Services generated substantial revenue for the company and its partners, including Fischer, who served as insurance brokers for RVI products. In 2008 and 2009, in conjunction with the financial recession and changes in consumers’ desires for used automobiles, many insureds suffered substantial losses under RVI insurance policies.

 

Fischer admitted that from 2009 until 2014, he persuaded victim businesses to purchase RVI insurance coverage, which Fischer knew did not exist, so that Fischer could use a substantial portion of the victims’ insurance premiums for his personal benefit. Specifically, in the summer of 2009, Fischer created a Nevada corporation called TriArc Marketing Solutions (TriArc Solutions) and opened bank accounts for TriArc Solutions. During the course of the scheme, Fischer caused prospective insureds to believe that he that he was authorized to issue RVI policies on behalf of TriArc Services, a multinational property and casualty insurance company specializing in coverage for small to medium sized businesses, and one of that business’ subsidiaries. Fischer also concealed the creation and use of TriArc Solutions from his partners at TriArc Services.

 

Fischer created and sent false insurance coverage documents, fraudulent emails, premium invoices, lists of covered vehicles, and other documents to victim companies, causing them to falsely believe that they had purchased RVI insurance through Fischer. Fischer used the identity of an employee of a multinational property and casualty insurance company in furtherance of the fraud, including his name, title and purported signature on the declaration pages of the fake insurance policies. Fischer concealed from the employee and the company that Fischer was pretending to issue RVI insurance policies on behalf of the company.

 

Fischer collected more than $4.4 million in RVI insurance premiums from the victims, which he deposited into the TriArc Solutions bank accounts. Fischer and his relatives used the proceeds of the insurance premium payments for their personal benefit.

 

Fischer also admitted that he failed to report a significant portion of the money he obtained from the fraud on his annual tax returns for the 2009 through 2014 calendar years. The total income Fischer received, but did not report to the IRS for these tax years exceeded $3.3 million, which generated a substantial tax loss to the United States.

 

As part of his plea agreement, Fischer will be required to forfeit all property constituting, derived from, or traceable to the proceeds of the fraud, in the amount of $4.4 million. In addition, Fischer was ordered to pay $3,823,529.00 in restitution.

 

Today’s sentence is part of the efforts undertaken in connection with the President’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. The task force was established to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. attorneys’ offices, and state and local partners, it’s the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets; and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations. Since fiscal year 2009, the Justice Department has filed over 18,000 financial fraud cases against more than 25,000 defendants. For more information on the task force, please visit www.StopFraud.gov.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the FBI for its work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Harry M. Gruber and David Metcalf, who prosecuted the case.

 

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                 Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                         at (410) 209-4885

 

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge George J. Hazel sentenced Jamal Ulysses Green, age 24, of Bowie, Maryland, to 16 years in prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release for commercial robbery and using, brandishing and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.

 

The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Chief David B. Mitchell of the University of Maryland Police Department; Chief Hank Stawinski of the Prince George’s County Police Department; and Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Angela D. Alsobrooks.

 

According to his plea agreement, on September 6, 2016, Green and a co-conspirator robbed the University of Maryland University College Inn and Conference Center (UMUC). Green, who was armed and was not wearing a mask, approached a security guard and advised the guard that he was making a delivery to UMUC. The guard followed Green to the loading dock, where Green grabbed the security guard. The security guard fought back. During the altercation Green fired his gun, but did not strike the guard.

 

Shortly after that, Green’s co-conspirator, wearing a mask and brandishing a handgun, entered the security office of UMUC demanding money and ordering the occupants to the ground. During this time, the security guard involved in the physical altercation with Green on the loading dock returned to the Security Office. As the security guard returned to the Security Office, the co-conspirator appeared in the doorway and fired his gun at the security guard, striking the security guard in the upper left arm, with the bullet going through his/her arm, and lodging next to the security guard’s spine. The injury to the security guard required emergency medical attention. A few seconds later, Green entered the security office. Green and his co-conspirator took three safes from the security office, and fled the area.

 

Prince George’s County Police Department’s (PGPD) K-9 Unit and Air One helicopter unit responded to 911 emergency calls, and performed a search for the two suspects. Several hours later, a K-9 unit tracked to a wood line directly across the street from the UMUC loading dock. PGPD K-9 found Green in the woods adjacent to the wood line, hiding in overgrown shrubs and trees. Green matched the physical description of the unmasked person seen in the UMUC security video, and was wearing clothing similar in color as one of the suspects who committed the robbery.

 

Two of the safes taken from the UMUC Security Office were located in the immediate vicinity of where Green was hiding. A third, larger safe, that Green was seen on video carrying out of the security office, was found near the loading dock area concealed amongst trees, next to a.40 caliber semi-automatic pistol. The pistol had a magazine in it, and was loaded with seven rounds of .40 caliber ammunition. The caliber of the firearm was the same as the shell casing found by the loading dock where the security guard was involved in the physical altercation with Green. A forensic analysis of the magazine recovered from the firearm revealed a fingerprint that matched Green’s fingerprint.

 

Green was arrested and subsequently charged in Prince George’s County District Court with several criminal offenses. Green was detained, at the Prince George’s County Correctional Center (PGCCC). By PGCCC policy, any calls made to or from inmates are recorded. Prior to any conversation, the inmate and the person calling the inmate are advised that the conversation is being recorded. On September 7, 2016, Green made a recorded call to an unidentified male during which he admitted that he fired his gun, but did not hit anybody.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the FBI, the University of Maryland Police Department, the Prince George’s County Police Department, and the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Thomas M. Sullivan and Nicolas A. Mitchell, who prosecuted the case.

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                              Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                      at (410) 209-4885

 

 

Greenbelt, Maryland – On Monday, July 24, 2017, Terry Terrell Clipper, age 27, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland was sentenced to nine years in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm. On Thursday, July 20, 2017, Andre Denan Sanders, age 28, of Upper Marlboro, and Clipper’s cousin, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm to 84 months and one day in federal prison. Both Clipper and Sanders pleaded guilty to interference with commerce by robbery and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence in February.

 

The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Chief Hank Stawinski of the Prince George’s Police Department; and Chief Douglas Holland of the Hyattsville Police Department.

 

On April 7, 2016, at approximately 10:02 a.m., Clipper and Sanders entered the T-Mobile store located at 3601 East West Highway, in Hyattsville, Maryland. Upon entering the store, Clipper brandished a firearm, pointed it at store employees, and demanded cellular telephones. Clipper and Sanders forced the employees to a stockroom in the rear of the store. Sanders then locked the store entrance, and returned to the stockroom. Clipper and Sanders demanded cellular telephones and other electronic items. The store employees complied and put various electronic items into two plastic bags. Clipper and Sanders then fled the scene in a vehicle at a high rate of speed with two large clear plastic bags containing approximately $16,900 worth of cellular telephones, tablets and watches.

 

One of the electronic devices stolen by Clipper and Sanders contained a Global Positioning System (“GPS”) device. Law enforcement was alerted that the GPS tracking device was traveling in the vicinity of Jefferson Street and 42nd Avenue in Hyattsville, Maryland. When law enforcement officers arrived, they observed Clipper and Sanders fleeing from the area of the getaway vehicle.

 

After a brief foot chase, Clipper and Sanders were taken into custody. Officers recovered a clear plastic bag containing cellular telephones and other electronic items from the ground along the path that the suspects took during the foot chase. Law enforcement also recovered from the vehicle in which the defendants fled a large clear plastic bag containing multiple cellular telephones, tablets and watches, along with a .38 caliber Smith & Wesson handgun loaded with six rounds of ammunition.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the FBI’s Cross-Border Task Force, the Hyattsville Police Department, and the Prince George’s County Police Department, for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant United States Attorney Thomas M. Sullivan, who prosecuted the case.

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                           Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                                   at (410) 209-4885

 

 

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz sentenced Kevin Graham Conlon, age 30, of Cockeysville, Maryland, to 20 years in prison followed by 25 years of supervised release for the production of child pornography and cyberstalking. Judge Motz ordered that, upon his release from prison, Conlon must register as a sex offender in the place 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 Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; and Chief Terrence B. Sheridan of the Baltimore County Police Department.

 

According to his plea agreement, between 2014 and January 2017, Conlon used online social media accounts pretending to be both a minor female and minor male to induce four minor females and two minor males to take photographs and videos of themselves engaging in sexually explicit conduct. The victims then sent the content to Conlon. Conlon also created fictitious accounts using the identities of some of the victims, and distributed the child pornography he induced them to create to others, in order to entice the others to produce and send him sexually explicit images and videos. When the victims stopped complying with Conlon’s demands to produce and send images, Conlon sent the explicit files to the victim’s families and friends. Conlon also repeatedly created additional online accounts to contact the victims and their families, with the intent to cause the victims and their families substantial emotional distress.

 

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 Attorneys' 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.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the FBI and Baltimore County Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul E. Budlow, who prosecuted the federal case.

 

 

JULY 24, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                             Contact BAILEY DRUMM

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                                           at (410) 209-4854

 

Baltimore, Maryland – Roger Irwin Harp, age 50, of Baltimore, Maryland was sentenced to 151 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz. Harp pleaded guilty to bank robbery and to violating conditions of supervised release.

 

The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; and Commissioner Kevin Davis of the Baltimore Police Department.

 

In August 2002, Harp pleaded guilty in federal court in Baltimore, Maryland to charges related to a string of twelve bank robberies in 2001. He was sentenced to 151 months in federal prison and 3 years of supervised release, which began in May 2014. According to his plea agreement, between June 2014 and October 2015, Harp committed multiple violations of supervised release.

 

While under conditions of supervision pending a hearing in federal court on his supervised release violations, Harp absconded from supervision and committed eight bank robberies and attempted bank robberies in Baltimore throughout the month of March 2016. For example, on March 16, 2016, Harp walked into a bank and handed a note to a teller stating, “Give me all the money NOW!! Before I blow your head OFF!!” The teller removed $2,620 from a cash drawer and handed it to Harp, who then walked out of the bank. In total, Harp robbed three different banks of $10,750 on different dates in March 2016.

 

After three attempted robberies of other banks on March 21, 2016, Harp was apprehended by Baltimore Police Department officers and eventually admitted his involvement in the eight robberies.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the FBI and Baltimore Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant United States Attorney Matthew J. Maddox, who prosecuted the case.

 

JULY 21, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                Contact AUSA Vickie LeDuc

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                                           at (410) 209-4912

 

Baltimore, Maryland – Baltimore Police Department detectives Evodio Calles Hendrix, age 32, of Randallstown, Maryland, and Maurice Kilpatrick Ward, age 36, of Middle River, Maryland, pled guilty today in federal court to charges of racketeering conspiracy.

 

The guilty pleas were announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning and Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office.

 

According to their plea agreements, Hendrix admitted to participating in three robberies from March to August 2016. Ward admitted to participating in four robberies from February through August 2016. Hendrix and Ward also admitted that they were armed with their Baltimore Police Department service firearms during the robberies. Individual victims of the robberies were physically restrained, and the defendants wrote false incident reports and other documents in order to conceal their criminal conduct and otherwise obstruct justice.

 

For example, on February 17, 2016, Ward and one of his co-defendants stole $500 from an arrestee. Ward then authored a false Baltimore Police Department incident report to conceal the robbery.

 

Hendrix and Ward admitted that on March 22, 2016, they and two of their co-defendants stole more than $200,000 from a safe they found in the basement of a house they were searching. The four co-defendants then divided the money, and Hendrix and Ward received $20,000 each.

 

Similarly, on June 24, 2016, while executing a search warrant in a home, Hendrix stole money and later gave a portion to Ward. On August 24, 2016, Hendrix stole money from an arrestee and then gave a portion of the cash to Ward.

 

Hendrix and Ward also admitted that they and their co-defendants routinely submitted false individual overtime reports, defrauding the Baltimore Police Department and the public. Ward, Hendrix and their co-conspirators falsely certified that they worked their entire regularly assigned shifts, or overtime hours, when they did not. Hendrix and Ward also admitted that they submitted false overtime reports on behalf of their co-defendants, at their co-defendants’ direction, and that their co-defendants submitted false overtime reports on their behalf in return.

 

Hendrix and Ward admitted that the practice at the police department’s Gun Trace Task Force (GTTF) was that if some of the GTTF members made a gun arrest, all members of the GTTF, regardless of whether they had actually participated in the arrest, would submit individual overtime reports, as if they did, and receive salary and overtime. The GTTF was a specialized unit within the Operational Investigation Division of the Baltimore Police Department, whose members were to track and trace recovered firearms in order to identify and suppress the possession, purchasing, and trafficking of illegal firearms within Baltimore City, and assist with the investigation and prosecution of firearms-related offenses.

 

U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar has scheduled sentencing for Hendrix on February 20, 2018 at 2:00 p.m., and for Ward on February 21, 2018 at 10:00 a.m.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the FBI for its work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Leo J. Wise and Derek E. Hines, who are prosecuting this Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force case.

July 20, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                Contact BAILEY DRUMM

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                      at (410) 209-4885

 

 

Baltimore, Maryland – Heather Wagoner, age 31, of Buchanan, Virginia was sentenced to eight years in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander. Wagoner pleaded guilty to a sex trafficking conspiracy involving a 16 year old girl.

 

The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; and Chief Edward G. Hargis of the Frederick City Police Department.

 

According to court documents, Wagoner and a co-conspirator conspired to engage in sex trafficking of a minor who was 16 years old at the time. From October 15, 2014 through December 19, 2014, Wagoner and her co-conspirator used the internet to solicit individuals for prostitution in Maryland. Wagoner instructed the victim to engage in sexual acts and provided condoms.

 

For two weeks in December 2014, the victim resided with Wagoner at various hotels in West Virginia and Maryland. Wagoner received calls from customers inquiring about the victim, and then relayed the information to her co-conspirator who facilitated the victim’s “date” with the customers. Wagoner and the victim would split the proceeds from the dates, and Wagoner would use some of her proceeds to pay her co-conspirator for driving the victim.

 

On December 19, 2014, detectives, acting in an undercover capacity, contacted the phone number provided on the website for the victim and spoke with Wagoner. The detectives arranged a meeting at a hotel in Frederick, Maryland, where investigators subsequently identified the victim as a minor and arrested the co-conspirator.

 

On the same day, investigators obtained a search warrant for the co-conspirator’s phone, which indicated numerous communications between the co-conspirator and Wagoner regarding sex trafficking of the victim. After police seized the co-conspirator’s phone, Wagoner continued to text the co-conspirator regarding the conspiracy to sex traffic the victim. Investigators arrested Wagoner on July 1, 2016.

 

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 Attorneys' 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.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the FBI and Frederick City Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron S. J. Zelinsky, who worked on the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Myers who prosecuted the case.

 

July 19, 2017                                             

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                         Contact BAILEY DRUMM

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                            at (410) 209-4885

 

Baltimore, Maryland – John Calvin Baltimore, age 37, of Clinton, Maryland was sentenced to 30 months in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release and restitution of $239,609 by U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis. Baltimore pleaded guilty to wire fraud in a scheme where he defrauded his employer by stealing cash from a large safe under his control.

 

The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning and Special Agent in Charge Christopher Caruso of the United States Secret Service, Baltimore Field Office.

 

According to court documents, Baltimore was employed as the Controller for Delaware North Companies (DNC), who provide food, beverage and retail services at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Baltimore was responsible for overseeing financial transactions in the accounting office, which included managing a large cash safe. Baltimore’s thefts were discovered in September 2014, after a DNC employee filed an internal complaint against Baltimore that led to Baltimore’s suspension. As part of DNC’s standard procedures, an audit was conducted of the cash safe, revealing approximately $14,700 in missing cash.

 

Further investigation revealed that during the three years that Baltimore was the Controller, Baltimore stole over $230,000 in cash from the safe. The thefts initially went undiscovered because Baltimore deposited checks intended for other accounts – such as accounts receivable –into the account that funded the cash safe. The mis-deposited checks were then covered up by improper journal entries that “wrote off” the receivables, all approved by Baltimore. During the course of the scheme, Baltimore mis-deposited 28 checks through 16 separate deposits. The 28 checks totaled $239,609.56 and Baltimore stole the same amount from cash safe.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the United States Secret Service for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Budlow, who prosecuted the case.

                                                                

July 18, 2017                                                          Contact BAILEY DRUMM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                      at (410) 209-4854

www.justice.gov/usao/md

 

Greenbelt, Maryland – James Michael Farrell, age 65, of Wenonah, New Jersey was sentenced to 42 months in prison followed by 18 months of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus. Judge Titus also imposed a $15,000 fine. A federal jury had convicted Farrell on February 2, 2017 for money laundering, witness tampering, and obstruction of official proceedings in connection with his activities on behalf of a drug trafficking organization.

 

The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Special Agent in Charge Karl C. Colder of the Drug Enforcement Administration - Washington Field Division; Special Agent in Charge Gary Tuggle of the Drug Enforcement Administration – Philadelphia Field Office; Acting Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Holloman of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, Washington, D.C. Field Office; Chief J. Thomas Manger of the Montgomery County Police Department; Chief Hank Stawinski of the Prince George’s County Police Department; Chief Terrence B. Sheridan of the Baltimore County Police Department; and Commissioner Kevin Davis of the Baltimore Police Department.

 

“The jury’s verdict and the evidence that supported it show that James Farrell not only aided drug traffickers but betrayed his professional obligations as a member of the bar and officer of the Court,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Stephen M. Schenning.

 

According to the evidence presented at his 15-day trial, Farrell was admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and maintained a law office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Matthew Nicka, Gretchen Peterson, David D’Amico, and others were part of an extensive drug trafficking operation discovered by the DEA when a search warrant was executed at a residence in the 3500 block of Hickory Avenue in Baltimore on March 18, 2009. The residence was a center of operation for the group. Agents seized more than 80 pounds of marijuana, 30 cell phones, and tally sheets showing over $14 million in marijuana sales, among other items.

 

Trial testimony showed that beginning in 2009 and continuing through at least April 2013, Farrell conspired with Nicka, D’Amico, Peterson and others to conduct financial transactions using the proceeds of the Nicka Organization in order to conceal the source and control of the drug proceeds. Testimony showed that Farrell received drug proceeds in the form of cash. Farrell then deposited some of the cash into his commercial bank accounts, recording the deposits as payments in the names of individuals who had not provided the cash to Farrell. Using the drug proceeds, Farrell wrote checks and disbursed cash to pay for the legal representation of grand jury witnesses and individuals under investigation in connection with the activities of the Nicka Organization, which included payments to two Baltimore area attorneys. Trial evidence also established that Farrell used drug proceeds to purchase money orders, which he directed to be sent to the inmate account of an incarcerated individual who was part of the Nicka organization.

 

According to trial evidence, in February 2011, Farrell met with a member of the Nicka organization to discuss filing a claim with the DEA to seek the return of certain property DEA had seized upon arrest. Farrell advised that individual not to disclose to the DEA that drug co-conspirator Anthony Marcantoni, had given him an expensive luxury watch for a “good year”. On February 28, 2011, Farrell caused four affidavits in support of the forfeiture of the property to be filed with the DEA that contained the forged signature of this individual and the forged signature of the notary public.

 

According to trial evidence, on July 11, 2012, Farrell met with another member of the Nicka organization who Farrell knew was represented by other counsel. During the recorded meeting, Farrell advised the member of the Nicka organization to meet with federal law enforcement officers and federal prosecutors, but to only tell them what they already knew, rather than sharing all the information about the drug and money laundering conspiracy. According to trial evidence, Farrell had previously laundered $10,000 in cash by obtaining a check from this person so that Farrell’s books would falsely reflect he had received $10,000. Farrell acknowledged in the recorded meeting, that he had given $10,000 in cash to this person in exchange for the check. In the recording, Farrell said he would get $25,000 to assist with that person’s legal expenses because “the sources of the cash” would feel “a whole lot better subsidizing” the person’s attorney if that attorney was “comfortable” with Farrell.

 

District Judge Roger W. Titus previously sentenced: David D’Amico, age 52, of Baltimore, to 10 years in prison; Matthew Nicka, age 46, of Baltimore, to 188 months in prison; and Gretchen Peterson, age 37, of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, to seven years in prison. D’Amico, Nicka and Peterson pleaded guilty on January13, 2016, to conspiracy to distribute at least 1,000 kilograms of marijuana and conspiracy to commit money laundering. D’Amico, Nicka and Peterson were fugitives from the time the indictment was returned in December 2010, until Nicka and Peterson were arrested in Canada in early August 2013, and D’Amico was extradited from Colombia, South America. Judge Titus also entered forfeiture orders requiring Nicka to pay a money judgment of $15 million; and D’Amico to pay a money judgment of $1 million, which represents the proceeds of the offense. In addition, the investigation resulted in the conviction of twelve other defendants.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning praised the DEA Washington and Philadelphia Field Offices, IRS-CI, and the Montgomery County, Prince George’s County, Baltimore County and Baltimore City Police Departments for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Deborah A. Johnston, Leah J. Bressack, Mara Greenberg, and Sandra Wilkinson, who prosecuted this Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force case.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                  Contact BAILEY DRUMM 

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                               at (410) 209-4854

Baltimore, Maryland – Allen D. Isner, age 52, of Nottingham, Maryland was sentenced to four years in prison followed by 15 years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis. Isner pled guilty to possession of child pornography. Judge Garbis ordered that, upon his release from prison, Isner must register as a sex offender in the place 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 Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Special Agent in Charge Andre R. Watson of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Baltimore Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Baltimore County Police Chief James W. Johnson; and Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger.

 

According to the plea agreement, on July 24 and 25, 2014, undercover Baltimore County Police Detectives downloaded child pornography videos that were made publically available over a peer-to-peer file sharing network by a user later determined to be connecting to the internet from Isner’s residence. During execution of a search warrant at the home, investigators searched two of Isner’s computers and located hundreds of videos and images of prepubescent children being made to engage in sexually explicit conduct. Isner admitted to investigators that he searched for and obtained pornography depicting preteen children on the internet. He also admitted to deleting the child pornography after viewing it, and using anonymization software in an attempt to conceal his conduct.

 

1. 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 Attorneys' 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.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the FBI, HSI-Baltimore, the Baltimore County Police Department, and the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Myers who prosecuted the federal case.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                               Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                                        at (410) 209-4885

 

 

Baltimore, Maryland – On July 11, 2017, U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz sentenced Eric Myles Gordon, age 49, of Baltimore County, Maryland, to 36 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release. Gordon was also ordered to pay restitution of $545,875. On April 7, 2017, a jury convicted Gordon of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and falsification of records in bankruptcy.

 

The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Special Agent in Charge Gordon Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and U.S. Trustee Judy Robbins and the Baltimore office of the United States Trustee Program.

 

According to evidence presented at the three-week trial in April 2017, Gordon opened two businesses in 2009, the Gordon Institute for Sports Performance and the Gordon Institute for Human Performance. By May of 2012, Gordon filed a petition for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 for GISP, and on August 9, 2012, filed a joint petition in bankruptcy under Chapter 7 on behalf of himself and his wife. The petition sought the discharge of over $2 million in both secured and unsecured debt.

 

In this same time frame, Gordon and co-conspirator, Saleh Stevens, discussed a way for Gordon to get funds that were “tainted,” would not “pass the smell test,” and had to be “kept off the government’s radar.” These funds were stolen by Stevens from his employer, Hanover Insurance.

 

In total, $545,875 was funneled through Gordon’s business bank account, with Gordon realizing approximately $36,000 as his fee for laundering the funds for Stevens. Ultimately, over $500,000 of these funds were provided to an individual who ran a NASCAR racing team.

 

In connection with the Chapter 7 petitions in bankruptcy, Gordon was required to produce bank records, which showed the deposits in September of 2012 totaling $545,875. In an effort to falsely explain the movement of funds, Gordon provided a pdf file styled as a “bridge loan” agreement, along with an explanation for the deposit of $545,875 and nearly immediate dissipation of funds in the account. This document purported to be executed on September 13, 2012, but was signed by Gordon as the borrower on September 10, 2012; the document was not signed by the lender. The bridge loan agreement was drafted after the fact by Stevens as part of the false story crafted by Gordon to explain the movement of funds through his bank account.

 

Stevens pled guilty in August 2014 to mail fraud and is awaiting sentence.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the FBI, and the United States Trustee’s Baltimore Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Judson T. Mihok and P. Michael Cunningham, who prosecuted the case.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                      at (410) 209-4885

 

 

Baltimore, Maryland – A federal grand jury has indicted Tynisha Martin Kadiri, age 39, of Baltimore, Maryland, on charges of filing false income tax returns and failure to file tax returns. The indictment was returned yesterday, and unsealed today upon the arrest of the Kadiri.

 

The indictment was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning and Special Agent in Charge Kimberly Lappin of the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation.

 

According to the 21-count indictment, Kadiri, who owned three tax preparation businesses in west Baltimore, filed false and fraudulent tax returns for her client-taxpayers for tax years 2012 through 2016. These false returns included business receipts that the taxpayer did not receive, business losses the taxpayer did not incur and false or fictitious businesses. These falsities resulted in the clients receiving larger refunds than they were entitled to. In addition, the indictment alleges that Kadiri has not filed federal corporate income tax returns for her businesses from tax years 2013 through 2015.

 

Kadiri faces a maximum sentence of up to three years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for aiding or assisting in the filings of false income tax returns and one year in prison for willful failure to file a return. Kadiri had her initial appearance today 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.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the IRS for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Selden who is prosecuting the case.

 

 

 

 

JULY 11, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                        Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

                                                                                                                at (410) 209-4855

 

 

Baltimore, Maryland –A federal grand jury has returned a superseding indictment charging ten defendants with conspiring to participate in a violent racketeering enterprise known as Trained To Go (TTG). The superseding indictment, which was returned on June 30, 2017 and unsealed today, charges ten alleged TTG gang members and TTG associates with conspiring to violate federal racketeering and drug trafficking laws. Four defendants are also charged with committing murder in aid of racketeering. Twelve defendants, including all ten defendants charged in the RICO count, are also charged with conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute heroin, cocaine, and marijuana. Four defendants are charged with distribution and possession with intent to distribute heroin; two are charged with possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and with possession of a firearm by a felon.

 

The indictment was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Commissioner Kevin Davis of the Baltimore Police Department; and Acting Chief of the Department of Justice Organized Crime and Gang Section, Special Agent in Charge Daniel L. Board Jr. of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - Baltimore Field Division.

 

According to the ten-count indictment, the defendants are members of Trained To Go (TTG), a criminal organization whose members engaged in drug distribution and acts of violence involving murder, kidnapping, assault, robbery, and witness intimidation. TTG operated in the Sandtown neighborhood of West Baltimore. Members and associates of TTG sold narcotics, including heroin, cocaine, and marijuana, and worked to defend their exclusive right to control who sold narcotics in TTG territory. The murders, assaults, and kidnappings included that of rival gang members, rival drug dealers, and individuals cooperating with law enforcement, as well as engaging in murder-for-hire schemes. As part of the conspiracy, each defendant agreed that a conspirator would commit at least two acts of racketeering activity for TTG.

 

The investigation was conducted by the FBI Baltimore Safe Streets Violent Gang Task Force, which included five Baltimore City Police Officers.

 

 

The following defendants, all of Baltimore, are charged in the indictment unsealed today:

 

Montana Barronette, a/k/a Tana, and Tanner, age 22;

Terrell Sivells, a/k/a Rell, age 26;

John Harrison, a/k/a Binkie, age 27;

Taurus Tillman, a/k/a Tash, age 28;

Linton Broughton, a/k/a Marty, age 24;

Dennis Pulley, a/k/a Denmo, age 30;

Roger Taylor, a/k/a Milk, age 26;

Brandon Wilson, a/k/a Ali, age 23;

Brandon Bazemore, a/k/a Man Man, age 24;

Timothy Floyd, a/k/a Tim Rod, age 27

Hisaun Chatman, age 31; and

James Woodfolk, age 20.

 

 

The indictment alleges that between May 20, 2010 and May 25, 2016, the defendants committed acts of violence, including 10 murders, and one non-fatal shooting. The violent acts were intended to further the gang’s activities, including intimidating witnesses to prevent them from cooperating with law enforcement, protecting the gang’s drug territory, and for the purpose of maintaining and increasing their position within the organization.

 

The defendants face a maximum sentence of life in prison on the racketeering and drug conspiracies. Barronette, Bazemore, Harrison, Floyd and Taylor also face mandatory life in prison for murder in aid of racketeering, a charge which is death penalty eligible as a Federal Capital offense. Wilson also faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

 

Ten defendants have been detained, one defendant is under supervision with pretrial services and the whereabouts of Roger Taylor are unknown.

 

Anyone who may have information on the whereabouts of Roger Taylor is asked to contact the FBI- Baltimore Field office at (410) 265-8080.

 

FBI Baltimore Safe Streets Violent Gang Task Force is responsible for identifying and targeting the most violent gangs in the Baltimore metropolitan area. The squad utilizes drug and violent crime investigations to address gang violence and the associated homicides in Baltimore, MD. The vision of the program is to use the Enterprise Theory of Investigation (ETI), through criminal and civil provisions of RICO Act and in accordance with the FBI and Department of justice national strategies, to disrupt and dismantle significant violent criminal threats and criminal enterprises affecting the safety and well-being of our citizens and our communities. The FBI Baltimore Violent Crimes Gangs Task Force includes FBI special agents and task force officers from the Baltimore, Baltimore County and Anne Arundel County Police Departments.

 

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.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the FBI, Baltimore City Police Department, and ATF for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning recognized Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Sullivan for his work on this case. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney’s Christopher J. Romano and Daniel Gardener, and Department of Justice Organized Crime and Gang Section Trial Attorney John C. Hanley, who are prosecuting the case.

 

 

A Maryland man who bought, improved and sold residential real estate pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland to one count of obstructing the lawful functions of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and four counts of failing to file personal and corporate income tax returns, announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Stephen M. Schenning for the District of Maryland.

According to the indictment and information presented to the court, David J. Simard, 58, purchased and sold real estate in Maryland and elsewhere since the mid-1980s. In January 2008, Simard received notice that the IRS, in connection with an audit of his personal income taxes, had requested documents and information from third parties regarding his real estate transactions. Less than one month after receiving this notice, Simard created Pegasus Home Corporation and began buying and selling properties in its name instead of his own. From 2009 through 2010, Simard purchased and sold 96 properties in the name of Pegasus. Simard attempted to conceal his ownership and control of Pegasus by falsely representing that his relative was the owner. Simard had the same relative apply with the IRS for an employer identification number for Pegasus and used this when buying and selling properties. This caused the IRS to receive information falsely indicating that the relative owned Pegasus. Simard also instructed the relative to open a bank account for Pegasus. Simard did not file personal tax returns for tax years 2009 and 2010, despite earning income requiring him to file. He also did not file corporate tax returns for Pegasus for the same years despite having an obligation to do so.

Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 12 before U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus. Simard faces a statutory maximum penalty of three years in prison for obstructing the IRS and one year in prison for each count of failure to file tax returns. He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg and Acting U.S. Attorney Schenning thanked special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Trial Attorneys Michael C. Vasiliadis and Kenneth C. Vert of the Tax Division, who are prosecuting this case.

Additional information about the Tax Division’s enforcement efforts can be found on the division’s website.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                            Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                                     at (410) 209-4885

 

 

Baltimore, Maryland – Jay Edward Wilkins, age 47, of Stoney Beach, Maryland, was charged with wire fraud in a scheme to defraud his employer of more than $200,000. The criminal complaint was issued on July 6, 2017, and unsealed today upon the arrest of the Wilkins.

 

The charges were announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning and Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office.

 

According to the criminal complaint, Wilkins, had been improperly diverting corporate funds for his own personal use for multiple years. In or about 2012, Wilkins filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, citing primarily consumer debts. According to the bankruptcy petition, Wilkins had several pending loans relating to real estate and a boat, as well as more than $30,000 in credit card debt.

 

Wilkins allegedly diverted more than $200,000 in corporate funds using the identities of three former employees. In one instance, one of the employee whose identity was used had not been an employee for over five years.

 

Wilkins faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for the wire fraud. His initial appearance is today at 3:15 p.m.

 

A criminal charge 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.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the FBI for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney’s Harry Gruber and Paul Riley, who are prosecuting the case.

 

July 7, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                        Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                                  at (410) 209-4885

 

Greenbelt, Maryland – On July 6, 2017, Richard Butler III, age 35, of Hyattsville, Maryland, pled guilty in federal court to being a felon in possession of explosives and malicious use of explosive materials.

 

The guilty plea was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Special Agent in Charge Daniel L. Board, Jr. of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - Baltimore Field Division; and Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Chief Marc S. Bashoor.

 

According to the plea agreement, on or about March 4, 2016, at approximately 3:25 a.m., the Prince George’s County Fire Department (PGFD) responded to the Overland Garden Apartments in Landover, Maryland for an automated general fire alarm. PGFD personnel arrived on scene and subsequently located the remnants of a fire in the master bedroom.

 

Fire investigators arrived on scene and conducted an investigation inside and around the apartment. Investigators located a concrete brick inside the master bedroom on the floor between the bed and window. Investigators located, in close proximity to the brick, an improvised incendiary device,—specifically, a clear plastic water bottle, which contained an unknown liquid, and a brown paper towel material protruding from the mouth of the bottle. Investigators also located a similar plastic bottle melted to the top of the burned bed. On the exterior of the apartment, in close proximity to the broken master bedroom window, investigators located a blue plastic one-quart motor oil container. The three bottles were submitted to the ATF Forensic Science Laboratory for examination and were found to contain the presence of gasoline.

 

At the time of the incident, two adults and three minors were inside the apartment.

 

Surveillance video recordings revealed that at approximately 2:27 a.m. on March 4, 2016, an individual matching the description of Butler walking into a local gas station where he purchased the gasoline and filled three plastic containers.

 

According to his plea agreement, Butler had previously sustained a conviction for an offense punishable by more than one year of imprisonment, which made him ineligible to possess destructive devices.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the ATF and Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer Sykes and Thomas Sullivan who prosecuted the case.

July 7, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                               Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                        at (410) 209-4885

 

Baltimore, Maryland – On July 7, 2017, Dr. Jean-Francois Geschwind, age 53, of Westport, Connecticut, pled guilty to four counts of mail fraud arising from a multi-year scheme to unlawfully obtain travel expense reimbursements from his former employer, the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Geschwind was employed as a physician in the Division of Vascular and Interventional Radiology between 1998 and 2015.

 

The guilty plea was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation - Baltimore Field Office; and Marilyn J. Mosby, the State’s Attorney for Baltimore City.

 

According to his plea agreement, between 2007 and July 2015, Geschwind made material misrepresentations and omissions in travel expense statements that he submitted or caused to be submitted to the JHU-SOM, for the purpose of obtaining travel expense reimbursements to which he was not entitled. During this time period, Geschwind submitted multiple travel expense statements for purported business expenses, when he knew that the claimed expenses were personal, such as family vacations and meals. For example, during the summer of 2013, Geschwind obtained reimbursement from the JHU-SOM for a 13-day vacation to the United Kingdom and France by falsely representing that the he traveled to those locations to give lectures in connection with his work for the JHU-SOM. As a result of Geschwind’s material misrepresentations, the JHU-SOM issued three separate checks that included reimbursements for his family vacation.

 

Geschwind also obtained reimbursement from the JHU-SOM for expenses that he knew had already been paid, or would later be paid, by a second (and in some cases a third) entity. In seeking reimbursement for such expenses, Geschwind did not disclose to the JHU-SOM that he was seeking two (and in some cases three) reimbursements for the same expense.

 

For example, between July 1 and July 5, 2015, Geschwind traveled to Japan to attend the Asia Pacific Primary Liver Cancer Expert (APPLE) meeting. By the time he attended the APPLE meeting, Geschwind had joined the Yale School of Medicine faculty as Chair of the Department of Diagnostic Radiology. Prior to his departure for the APPLE meeting, Geschwind arranged for reimbursement of his round-trip airfare to Japan by Company No. 1, a life-sciences company based in France. Notwithstanding this arrangement, on May 8, 2015, Geschwind sought reimbursement for the same expense from the JHU-SOM but did not disclose that he had already sought reimbursement for his round-trip airfare from Company No. 1. As a result of this material omission, the JHU-SOM issued a check to Geschwind that included reimbursement for his round-trip airfare to and from Japan.

 

On or about June 22, 2015, Geschwind sought reimbursement from the Yale School of Medicine for the above-referenced round-trip airfare to Japan. Geschwind did not disclose to Yale that he had already arranged for payment of the same expense by Company No. 1, or that he had in fact been reimbursed for that expense by the JHU-SOM. On or about July 21, 2015, as a result of Geschwind’s material omissions, Yale University issued a check to Geschwind for the cost of the round-trip airline ticket.

 

In July of 2015, Company No. 1 initiated a wire transfer to Geschwind’s Bank of America checking account that included reimbursement for his round-trip airline ticket to Japan. Accordingly, as a result of the material omissions, Geschwind obtained three separate payments, from three separate entities, for the round-trip airfare to Japan in July of 2015.

 

Through the various methods identified above, Geschwind obtained money with an aggregate value of hundreds of thousands of dollars, in the form of travel expense reimbursements by the JHU-SOM.

 

Johns Hopkins investigators in the Office of Hopkins Internal Audit (OHIA) conducted an extensive audit of Geschwind’s reimbursement requests and upon discovering he had requested and received significant sums of inappropriate payments, they referred the case to law enforcement. Hopkins investigators worked closely with authorities to assist with their investigation.

 

 

Geschwind faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz has scheduled sentencing for September 7, 2017 at 12:00 p.m.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the FBI and the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant United States Attorney Peter J. Martinez and Special Assistant United States Attorney Alexander Huggins, who are prosecuting the case.

 

 

JULY 7, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                     Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                             at (410) 209-4855

 

 

Greenbelt, Maryland – On July 6, 2017, U.S. District Judge George J. Hazel sentenced Andre Barbins, age 46, formerly of Solomons, Maryland, to 72 months in prison, followed by 15 years of supervised release, for receipt of child pornography. Barbins pled guilty to the charge on January 26, 2017.

 

The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Special Agent in Charge Andre R. Watson of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Colonel William M. Pallozzi, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police; and Sheriff David Clague of the Knox County (Illinois) Sheriff’s Department.

 

According to his plea agreement, Barbins used experienceproject.com, a social media application accessible through the internet, to chat with and exchange pictures with a 12-year-old victim located in Illinois. The victim told Barbins directly that she was only 12 years old, nevertheless, Barbins continued chatting and exchanging pictures with the victim over the course of five days. Barbins persuaded the victim to send him pictures containing child pornography. Barbins also sent pornographic pictures of himself to the child. When a search warrant was executed at Barbins’ residence in Solomons, Maryland, officers located several items of furniture that were visible in the photographs that Barbins sent to the victim.

 

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 Attorneys' 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.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended HSI, the Maryland State Police, and the Knox County Sheriff’s Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant United States Attorney Joseph R. Baldwin, who prosecuted the case.

 

July 6, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                     Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                          at (410) 209-4885

                                                                                         

 

 

Baltimore, Maryland – A federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment charging three previously indicted Baltimore City Police Officers with additional robberies. The superseding indictment charges the defendants with racketeering conspiracy, racketeering, robbery, extortion, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. The superseding indictment was unsealed today and charges the following defendants:

 

Sergeant Wayne Earl Jenkins, age 37, of Middle River, Maryland;

Detective Daniel Thomas Hersl, age 48, of Joppa, Maryland; and

Detective Marcus Roosevelt Taylor, age 30, of Glen Burnie, Maryland.

 

A federal grand jury also returned a separate indictment charging two additional defendants, who are not police officers but were posing as police officers, with robbing two Baltimore City residents and with brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. The indictment alleges that the two named defendants committed the robbery with a Baltimore City police officer. The second indictment was unsealed today and charges the following defendants:

 

Thomas Robert Finnegan, age 38, of Easton, Pennsylvania; and

David Kendall Rahim, age 41, of Baltimore, Maryland.

 

Defendants Jenkins, Hersl, and Taylor had previously been ordered detained pending trial. Defendants Finnegan and Rahim will have their initial appearances in court today.

 

The superseding indictment and indictment were announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning and Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office.

 

SUPERSEDING INDICTMENT

 

The 6-count superseding indictment alleges that Jenkins, Hersl and Taylor engaged in 13 robberies, extortion and time and attendance fraud. According to the superseding indictment, beginning in 2011, the defendants stole money, property, and narcotics by detaining victims, entering residences, conducting traffic stops, and swearing out false search warrant affidavits.

 

For example, as charged in the superseding indictment, in spring 2015, Jenkins stole at least 20 pounds of high-quality marijuana and at least $20,000 from two individuals who were conducting a drug sale at Belvedere Towers in Baltimore City. Jenkins falsely told the buyer and seller that he was a Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agent, to conceal his identity, and that he was seizing the money and drugs and would make a decision about whether to charge them later. Jenkins then drove Taylor and a co-defendant to a wooded area off Northern Parkway and gave them $5,000 each from the stolen money. After the incident, Jenkins went to a strip club in Baltimore County where he robbed a stripper.

 

Similarly, as charged in the superseding indictment, in summer 2016 Hersl stole money from the car of an arrestee. Hersl drove one of his co-defendants to the parking lot of a local high school, which was near the incident, and gave him a portion of the stolen money. While Hersl and the co-defendant were splitting the stolen money, Jenkins broke into the arrestee’s storage unit and stole 2 kilograms of cocaine.

 

The superseding indictment alleges that in June 2016 Jenkins believed that a co-defendant owed him money, so Jenkins gave the co-defendant drugs and a firearm that had been seized in a law enforcement operation, and told him to sell them. The co-defendant, along with another co-defendant, sold the firearm to a drug dealer.

 

The superseding indictment also alleges that the defendants committed systemic time and attendance fraud, including claiming overtime when they were at home and on vacation.

 

According to the superseding indictment, between spring 2011 and October 2016, the defendants allegedly conducted 13 separate robberies, taking over $280,000 in US currency, more than 2 kilograms of cocaine, other narcotics, a 9mm handgun, a $4,000 wristwatch, and other property.

 

The superseding indictment alleges that the defendants obstructed law enforcement by alerting each other about potential investigations of their criminal conduct, and turning off their body cameras to avoid recording encounters with civilians.

 

 

ROBBERY INDICTMENT

 

Thomas Robert Finnegan and David Kendall Rahim were indicted on charges of conspiracy, robbery, and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence.

 

On June 27, 2014, police officers with the BPD’s Gun Trace Task Force, executed a search warrant on a store in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Baltimore City. During the search, one of the police officers asked whether there was any large amounts of money in the store. The storeowner indicated that she had $20,000 in cash in her pocketbook that she was intending to use to pay off a tax liability. At this point, members of GTTF did not make arrests, nor seize anything from the property. Later that day, a member of the GTTF informed Finnegan and Rahim about the money and they agreed to set up a robbery at the home of the store owner. Using a law enforcement database, the GTTF detective located the home address of the victims. The defendants surveilled the house, agreed to impersonate the police when conducting the home invasion, and were given tactical gear by the Detective. The GTTF detective remained outside in the vehicle so that he could intercept any police officers who responded to the home invasion by telling them he was a BPD officer. Finnegan and Rahim entered the residence and robbed the victims at gunpoint of the $20,000.

 

 

REARRAIGNMENTS

 

The following four Baltimore City Police, who were previously indicted, have rearraignments scheduled for the following dates:

 

Detective Momodu Bondeva Kenton Gondo, age 34, of Owings Mills, Maryland - October 12, 2017;

Detective Evodio Calles Hendrix, age 32, of Randallstown, Maryland - July 21, 2017;

Detective Jemell Lamar Rayam, age 36, of Owings Mills, Maryland - November 9, 2017; and

Detective Maurice Kilpatrick Ward, age 36, of Middle River, Maryland - July 24, 2017.

 

Defendant Gondo’s rearraignment has been scheduled in the RICO case and a separate drug trafficking conspiracy with non-BPD defendants.

 

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.

 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the FBI for its work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Leo J. Wise and Derek E. Hines, who are prosecuting these Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force cases.

A grand jury in the District of Maryland returned an indictment, unsealed today, charging a former teller at a check cashing business in Maryland with theft of public money and conspiring to defraud the United States, announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Stephen M. Schenning for the District of Maryland.

According to the indictment, from approximately 2011 through 2013, Krystal Proctor conspired with others to negotiate refund checks that were fraudulently obtained by co-conspirators who filed tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) using stolen IDs. Proctor is alleged to have used her position as a teller at a check-cashing business to negotiate and facilitate the negotiation of the refund checks. The indictment charges that Proctor entered false information into the check cashing business’s database, including processing the checks under the names of existing customers rather than the names of the individuals listed on the checks. The indictment further alleges that Proctor recruited another teller to join the scheme, and orchestrated the negotiation of additional fraudulent tax refund checks through that teller. According to the indictment, between 2011 and 2013, Proctor and the teller she recruited, negotiated more than 100 tax refund checks totaling more than $500,000.

An indictment is merely an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

If convicted, Proctor faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison for the conspiracy count and 10 years in prison for each count of theft of public money. She also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg and Acting U.S. Attorney Schenning commended special agents of the Treasury Department’s Office of the Inspector General and IRS Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Packard and Trial Attorneys Kimberly Ang, William Guappone and Tom Koelbl of the Tax Division, who are prosecuting the case.

Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                        Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                         at (410) 209-4885

 

Greenbelt, Maryland –A grand jury in the District of Maryland returned an indictment, unsealed today, charging a former teller at a check cashing business in Maryland with theft of public money and conspiring to defraud the United States. The indictment was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning and Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.

 

According to the indictment, from approximately 2011 through 2013, Krystal Proctor conspired with others to negotiate refund checks that were fraudulently obtained by co-conspirators who filed tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) using stolen IDs. Proctor is alleged to have used her position as a teller at a check-cashing business to negotiate and facilitate the negotiation of the refund checks. The indictment charges that Proctor entered false information into the check cashing business’s database, including processing the checks under the names of existing customers rather than the names of the individuals listed on the checks. The indictment further alleges that Proctor recruited another teller to join the scheme, and orchestrated the negotiation of additional fraudulent tax refund checks through that teller. According to the indictment, between 2011 and 2013, Proctor and the teller she recruited, negotiated more than 100 tax refund checks totaling more than $500,000.

 

An indictment is merely an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

 

If convicted, Proctor faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison for the conspiracy count and 10 years in prison for each count of theft of public money. She also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.

 

Acting U.S. Attorney Schenning and Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg commended special agents of the Treasury Department’s Office of the Inspector General and IRS Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation. Schenning also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Packard and Trial Attorneys Kimberly Ang, William Guappone and Tom Koelbl of the Tax Division, who are prosecuting the case.