District of Maryland

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus today sentenced Eric Antonio Mejia-Ramos, aka “Flaco,” age 22, of Hyattsville, Maryland, today to life in prison, for conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise known as La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, including participating in a murder. Mejia-Ramos was convicted by a federal jury on September 30, 2016.

 

Yesterday, on January 4, Judge Titus sentenced Luis Guzman-Ventura, a/k/a “Casper,” age 23, of Hyattsville to 30 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, on the same charge. Guzman-Ventura pleaded guilty on September 13, 2016, just before the first day of trial.

 

The sentences were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell 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 Hank Stawinski of the Prince George’s County Police Department; Chief Douglas Holland of the Hyattsville Police Department; and Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Angela D. Alsobrooks.

 

“This case illustrates the extreme danger and cruelty of the MS-13 gang,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. “Members murder young men and women just because they think the victims belong to rival gangs.”

 

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 Guzman-Ventura’s plea agreement and evidence presented at Mejia-Ramos’ three-week trial, from at least 2009 through 2014, members and associates of MS-13, including Mejia-Ramos and Guzman-Ventura, planned and engaged in crimes to further the interests of the gang, including murder, assault, robbery, extortion by threat of violence, obstruction of justice, witness tampering, and witness retaliation. During that time, Mejia-Ramos was a member of the MS-13 Parkview Locotes Salvatrucha clique, and Guzman-Ventura was a member of the Weedons Clique of MS-13.

 

According to evidence presented at trial, on the night of August 28, 2012, Mejia-Ramos plotted with other gang members to kill Ingrid Martinez because they thought she belonged to a rival gang. Mejia-Ramos lured the victim to a park in Beltsville and shot her to death.

 

Guzman-Ventura admitted that on December 5, 2012, he was the front seat passenger in a vehicle being driven by another MS-13 member, Jose Rodriguez-Nunez. Guzman-Ventura admitted that he shot at three individuals believed to be rival gang members, killing Eliezer Reyes and wounding a second victim. Rodriguez-Nunez, a/k/a “Killer,” age 27, of Hyattsville, Maryland, previously pleaded guilty to being the driver in the drive-by shooting and is detained pending sentencing, scheduled for January 9, 2017, at 10:00 a.m.

 

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.

 

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended HSI Baltimore, the Prince George’s County Police Department, the Hyattsville Police Department; and the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein also recognized the Prince George’s County Sheriff’s Office, HSI Baltimore’s Operation Community Shield Task Force, and the Maryland Department of Corrections Intelligence Unit for their assistance. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorneys William D. Moomau, Lindsay Eyler Kaplan, and Trial Attorney Catherine Dick with the Justice Department Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section, who are prosecuting this case.

Two Hyattsville, Maryland, men were sentenced for conspiracy to participate in the racketeering enterprise activity of a violent gang known as La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, including murder.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein of the District of Maryland; Special Agent in Charge Andre R. Watson of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Baltimore; Chief Hank Stawinski of the Prince George’s County, Maryland, Police Department; Chief Douglas Holland of the Hyattsville Police Department; and Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Angela D. Alsobrooks made the announcement.

Eric Antonio Mejia-Ramos, aka Flaco, 22, was sentenced today to life in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Luis Guzman-Ventura, aka Casper, 22, was sentenced yesterday to 30 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus of the District of Maryland imposed the sentences. Mejia-Ramos was convicted by a jury on Sept. 30, 2016, of one count of conspiracy to participate in a racketeering conspiracy and Guzman-Ventura pleaded guilty to the same charge on Sept. 13, 2016.

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 Guzman-Ventura’s plea agreement and evidence presented at Mejia-Ramos’ trial, from at least 2009 through 2014, the defendants and other members and associates of MS-13 planned and engaged in crimes to further the interests of the gang, including murder, assault, robbery, extortion by threat of violence, obstruction of justice, witness tampering and witness retaliation. During that time, Mejia-Ramos was a member of the Parkview Locotes Salvatrucha clique and Guzman-Ventura was a member of the Weedons Clique of MS-13.

According to trial evidence presented against Mejia-Ramos, on the night of Aug. 28, 2012, Mejia-Ramos lured a woman he believed to be a rival gang member to a park in Beltsville, Maryland, then shot the woman to death.

In connection with his plea, Guzman-Ventura admitted that on Dec. 5, 2012, while he was the front-seat passenger in a vehicle being driven by another MS-13 member, Jose Rodriguez-Nunez, he shot at three individuals believed to be rival gang members, killing one and wounding a second victim. After the shooting, Rodriguez-Nunez and Guzman-Ventura fled the scene to avoid being identified. Rodriguez-Nunez, aka Killer, 27, of Hyattsville, previously pleaded guilty to being the driver in this drive-by shooting and is detained pending sentencing, scheduled for Jan. 9, 2017.

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.

HSI Baltimore, the Prince George’s County Police Department, the Hyattsville Police Department and the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office investigated the case. The Prince George’s County Sheriff’s Office, HSI Baltimore’s Operation Community Shield Task Force and the Maryland Department of Corrections Intelligence Unit provided assistance in the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys William D. Moomau and Lindsay Eyler Kaplan of the District of Maryland and Trial Attorney Catherine Dick of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section are prosecuting this case.

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced George Trent, age 28, and Kendrick Kelly, age 38, both of Baltimore, Maryland, to 12 years in prison and 10 years in prison, respectively, each followed by five years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin. Trent was sentenced on January 4, 2017 and Kelly was sentenced on January 3, 2017.

 

The sentences were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; 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.

 

According to their plea agreements, between April 2015 and April 2016 Trent and Kelly conspired with Courtney Barrett and others to process and distribute heroin. The conspirators met at an apartment on St. Paul Street in Baltimore to mix the heroin with cutting agent and place it in gel capsules for further redistribution in the Baltimore area. The conspirators used the St. Paul Street apartment to process heroin for several months, producing thousands of gel capsules of heroin each week.

 

Kelly and Trent subsequently used an apartment on Battery Avenue in Baltimore to process the heroin. On April 7, 2016, a search warrant was executed at the apartment, after both Trent and Kelly were seen entering and exiting the apartment that day. More than a kilogram of heroin was found hidden inside and just outside the apartment. Law enforcement also recovered items used in the processing of narcotics, including cutting agent, latex gloves, and a large number of empty gel capsules.

 

As part of their plea agreements, Trent and Kelly admitted that over the course of the conspiracy they distributed more than three kilograms of heroin.

 

Courtney Barrett, age 30, of Woodlawn, Maryland, previously pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy and is scheduled to be sentenced on January 18, 2017.

 

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the FBI, and Baltimore Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew C. Sullivan, who is prosecuting the case.

Greenbelt, Maryland – Prince George’s County Liquor Board officials, David Dae Sok Son, age 40, of Bowie, Maryland, and Anuj Sud, age 39, of Hyattsville, Maryland, and Prince George’s County business owners, Young Jung Paig, age 62, of Beltsville, Maryland, and Shin Ja Lee, age 55, of Landover, Maryland, are charged by criminal complaints with a bribery conspiracy. The defendants allegedly conspired to engage in bribery in order to influence public officials in the performance of their official duties in Prince George’s County. Son, Paig, and Lee are also charged with a bribery conspiracy to influence the State of Maryland.

 

The charges were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; 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 Hank Stawinski of the Prince George’s County Police Department.

 

“The defendants allegedly paid cash bribes to state and local officials in Prince George’s County in return for favorable action concerning liquor licenses,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. “Our government is not supposed to work that way.”

 

“Public corruption is a betrayal of trust and erodes the very core of the government's purpose to serve the people,” said Special Agent Gordon B. Johnson of the FBI's Baltimore Division.

 

Son currently is Director of the Prince George’s County Board of License Commissioners (Liquor Board). Son previously was a Commissioner on the Liquor Board from 2005 through 2014. During the 2015 Maryland legislative session, Son served as a liaison for the Prince George’s County Senate delegation. He returned to the Liquor Board later in 2015 as its Director.

 

Sud is a current Liquor Board Commissioner and has been a licensed attorney in Maryland since 2005, with offices in College Park.

 

Paig is the owner of Central Avenue Restaurant & Liquor Store and the resident agent of Weeping Willow, Inc.; and Lee is the owner of Palmer Liquor Store and the resident agent of Multi-Bil, Inc. Both stores are located in Prince George’s County, Maryland.

 

Son, Paig, and Lee

 

The affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint alleges that Son solicited and facilitated bribes, from lobbyists and business owners, including from Paig and Lee. The bribes ranged from $1,000 to $5,000. From 2012 to 2013, Son facilitated three bribe payments to an elected official, for assistance in moving the source’s business to Prince George’s County, and to obtain County grants controlled by the elected official.

 

Beginning in 2015, Son solicited and facilitated bribe payments from lobbyists and business owners who were interested in the “Sunday Sales Bill,” which established up to 100 Sunday liquor sales permits in Prince George’s County. The bribes were intended to influence public officials in the performance of their official duties. For example, in 2015, Son had asked the elected official to assist in passing the Sunday Sales bill by talking to one of his colleagues about the bill; both subsequently voted in favor of the bill. On April 22, 2015, after the passage of the bill, Son arranged a lunch with the elected official, with Paig and Lee. During the lunch, Son told the elected official to meet Paig in the men’s bathroom, saying that Paig is “…going to hook you up.” In the men’s bathroom, Paig handed the elected official an envelope containing a total of $4,000 cash. On October 19, 2015, Son received a $4,000 bribe payment from a lobbyist for his assistance in ensuring that the lobbyist’s clients received Sunday Sales licenses.

 

Lee and Paig subsequently talked to Son about getting beneficial legislation introduced related to the Sunday Sales bill and indicated that they would be willing to pay $50,000 to make that happen. Son spoke with a second elected official who agreed to introduce legislation. On November 10, 2015, Son arranged for Paig and Lee to meet with the second elected official so they could make a “down payment.” After the meeting, law enforcement observed Paig and the second elected official get into the elected official’s car, while Lee and Son waited in the parking lot. Shortly after Paig got out of the car, the elected official drove directly to a bank in the same shopping center. Bank surveillance video shows the elected official pulling a stack of cash out of his right pocket and handing it to the teller, then doing the same from his left pocket. Bank records show that the elected official deposited a total of $4,000.

 

Sud

 

According to the affidavit filed in support of Sud’s criminal complaint, 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.

 

If convicted, Son, Sud, Paig and Lee all face a maximum sentence of five years in prison for the conspiracy, and a maximum of ten years in prison for bribery. Initial appearances are scheduled before U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles B. Day in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, 6500 Cherrywood Lane, for Son and Sud beginning at 1:30 p.m., and for Lee and Paig beginning at 3:15 p.m.

 

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

 

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI, IRS-CI, and Prince George’s County Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas P. Windom and James A. Crowell IV, who are prosecuting the case.

 

Greenbelt, Maryland – Nathan Antonio Davis, age 37, of Capitol Heights, Maryland, pleaded guilty late on January 3, 2017, to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine; and conspiracy to possess firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. 

Co-defendants Raymond Dexter Parker, age 37, of District Heights, Maryland; Adrian A. Vinson, a/k/a Buck Man, age 37, and Wayne Ellis Hampton, Jr., age 40, both of Laurel, Maryland; and Tavon Lee Crews, age 19, of District Heights, previously pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy. 

The guilty pleas were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Daniel L. Board, Jr. of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - Baltimore Field Division; and Chief Henry P. Stawinski of the Prince George’s County Police Department.

According to their plea agreements, from at least November 2015 through May 3, 2016, Davis, Parker, Vinson, Hampton, and Crews conspired to rob certain drug dealers operating in Maryland, to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine, and to possess firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking.  On April 13, 2016, at a location in Maryland, Davis and Parker met with an undercover agent (UC) working for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) to discuss the upcoming armed robbery of a drug stash house. 

During a follow-up meeting on April 21, 2016, Davis, Parker, Vinson and Crews met with the UC to discuss how they would execute the robbery and obtain the cocaine.  Davis stated that he and Parker committed robberies like this, as did Vinson. Vinson stated that he would use a badge to pose as a police officer to facilitate the robbery.

On May 3, 2016, the day of planned robbery, the UC met with Davis and his co-conspirators.  On the way to the meeting location Crews was a passenger in Parker’s vehicle and picked up a gun which was on the floor of the vehicle.  Crews then put the gun back on the floor underneath the front passenger seat.  After arriving at the final meeting place, Davis, Parker, Vinson, Hampton, and Crews, discussed, in detail, plans for the upcoming robbery with the UC.  Davis informed the robbery crew that he was in possession of a 60,000-volt taser, revolver, gloves, and duct tape; and asked whether the robbery crew should leave the armed guards alive in the stash house. As part of the plan, Crews was to remain in the car as a lookout for the robbery crew.  During the conversation, the UC observed Parker with a firearm and saw Parker wiping off the firearm with his shirt. The UC told Parker to put the firearm back in the vehicle because it was not yet needed. Hampton instructed his co-conspirators to remove the license plates from a rental vehicle that they planned to use for the robbery and replace them with license plates from an unaffiliated vehicle parked in the parking lot to evade detection by law enforcement during and after the armed robbery of the stash house. At some point during the conversation, Parker began to remove the license plates.

Law enforcement arrested Davis, Parker, Vinson, Hampton, and Crews.  Law enforcement recovered nylon stockings, blue nitrile gloves, disinfecting wipes, duct tape, a stun gun box, paracord, screwdrivers, and a pocket knife from the vehicle that Davis had driven that day.  Law enforcement also recovered a stun gun from the scene and the following loaded firearms from the vehicle driven by Parker: two .38 special caliber revolvers; and a Ruger 9 millimeter caliber semi-automatic handgun.  During the investigation, law enforcement determined that the Ruger handgun was stolen. 

Davis was detained after his arrest.  During his detention, Davis wrote a letter to an individual in Waldorf, Maryland, and instructed that person to retrieve a firearm from a residence in Suitland, where Davis had been staying prior to his arrest, and take it back to the individual’s home for safe keeping.  At Davis’ direction, the same individual had previously recovered narcotics, drug paraphernalia and cash, while Davis was detained.

While he was detained, Davis also wrote to an individual at a residence in Washington, D.C., where Davis had also stayed prior to his arrest.  Davis instructed that individual to get cocaine from a package in a dresser in the residence and sell the cocaine.  Davis further stated that a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the cocaine were to be sent to Davis in jail, and the rest was to be used to fund the marijuana grow operation in the Washington, D.C. residence.  Davis also discussed the marijuana grow operation with this individual on recorded jail calls.

After intercepting Davis’ letters, law enforcement executed search warrants at the residences in Waldorf, Suitland, and Washington, D.C. on June 9 and 10, 2016. From the residence in Waldorf, law enforcement recovered, among other items, drug paraphernalia (including items needed to maintain a marijuana grow operation), and $2,480 in cash.  From the residence in Suitland, law enforcement recovered: 28 grams or more of crack cocaine; powder cocaine; marijuana; four firearms, including a firearm located in the exact location that Davis had described in his jail letter; 38 rounds of ammunition; and $900 in cash.  From the residence in Washington, D.C., law enforcement recovered: cocaine; marijuana and a marijuana plant; a firearm; and 28 rounds of ammunition.  Davis had previous felony convictions which made it illegal for him to possess a firearm and ammunition.

Davis, Vinson, Parker and the government have agreed that if the Court accepts their plea agreements Davis and Vinson will each be sentenced to between 12 and 15 years in prison, and Parker will be sentenced to 10 years in prison.  U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus has scheduled sentencing for Davis on May 10, 2017; for Parker on May 1, 2017; and for Vinson on May 11, 2017.

Crews is scheduled to be sentenced on March 23, 2017, and Hampton on March 24, 2017, both at 8:30 a.m.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the ATF and Prince George’s County Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Jennifer R. Sykes and Menaka Kalaskar, who prosecuted the case.

Baltimore, Maryland – Melissa Strohman, age 54, of Nottingham, Maryland, is facing federal charges of wire fraud and bank embezzlement, arising from a six-year scheme to steal over $1.8 million from bank customers at the bank where she worked, and use the money for her own benefit. 

The criminal information was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Patti Tarasca, Special Agent in Charge, New York Region, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Office of Inspector General; and Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office.

According to the criminal information, from April 2010 through July 2016, Strohman was Senior Vice President at a federal savings bank in Maryland, which had branches in Pikesville and Highlandtown. Strohman was responsible for managing the bank’s savings department, including overseeing deposits and Individual Retirement Accounts for every customer.  In addition, as the bank’s Bank Secrecy Officer, Strohman was responsible for filing Currency Transaction Reports and Suspicious Activity Reports for any transactions that were deemed to be suspicious or potentially illegal.

The criminal information alleges that, using her position at the bank, Strohman caused unauthorized transfers and withdrawals of funds from six customers’ bank accounts to pay for mortgages, credit card bills and property tax bills associated with Strohman and her family members.  Three of the six victim customers were at least 80 years old, and for two of the accounts the customers were deceased.

Strohman allegedly used her supervisory override function on the bank’s electronic banking system to facilitate unauthorized transfers between Person One and Person Two’s accounts to accounts associated with Strohman; forged the signature of Person Two in order to complete an unauthorized transaction between Person Two’s bank account to an American Express account associated with Strohman; and caused unauthorized transfers of funds from Person One and Person Two’s accounts into Person Three through Person Five’s accounts to replace the monies Strohman stole from Person Three through Person Five and to conceal those thefts.

Strohman faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for wire fraud, and a maximum of 30 years in prison for bank embezzlement.  No court appearance has been scheduled yet for Strohman in U.S. District Court in Baltimore.

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

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FDIC Office of Inspector General and FBI for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Philip A. Selden and Evan T. Shea, who are prosecuting the case.

Greenbelt, Maryland – Joseph Goldman, age 35, of Baltimore has been charged by federal criminal complaint for possessing unregistered firearms and for making a firearm.  Goldman had an initial appearance today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas M. DiGirolamo in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, and was ordered to be detained pending a detention hearing scheduled for January 3, 2017, at 10:30 a.m.

The charges were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Daniel L. Board Jr. of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) - Baltimore Field Division; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis; and Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby.

“Federal prosecutors work closely with state and local law enforcement agencies to protect the public from dangerous criminals,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein.

According to the affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, on December 19, 2016, Baltimore City Police Department, Criminal Investigation Division Child Abuse Unit executed a search warrant at Goldman’s home as part of an investigation into possible sexual abuse of a minor.  Goldman is facing state charges in connection with that investigation. During the search law enforcement discovered a cache of suspected illegal firearms and contacted ATF for assistance.

The following firearms were recovered from Goldman’s residence and seized by law enforcement: from behind the couch in the first floor living room, a 556 short barrel AR-15 long gun with a silver 6.5 inch silencer attached; from Goldman’s bedroom, a 12 gauge short barrel shotgun and two semi-automatic pistols; and 20 rounds of ammunition, a machine vice, miscellaneous gun parts and tools.  Law enforcement determined that the AR-15, short barrel shotgun and silencer are firearms that are required to be registered under the law, but were not.

If convicted, Goldman faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for possession of unregistered firearms, and for illegally making a firearm. 

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

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the ATF, FBI, Baltimore Police Department and Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul E. Budlow, who is prosecuting the case.

Baltimore, Maryland – Advanced C4 Solutions, Inc. agreed today to pay $4.535 million to the United States to settle allegations that it submitted inflated invoices to the government for work performed at Joint Base Andrews.

The settlement was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Brigadier General Keith M. Givens, Commander Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI); Special Agent in Charge Robert Craig of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service - Mid-Atlantic Field Office (DCIS); and U.S. Small Business Administration Inspector General Peggy E. Gustafson.

“Federal authorities will vigorously investigate and prosecute defense contractors that cheat the government,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. “The Justice Department works closely with defense agencies to safeguard taxpayer dollars."

Advanced C4 Solutions, Inc. (the “Company”) is a Florida-based company that was operating as a certified “small business” under Section 8(a) of the Small Business Act.  On June 10, 2010, the Company was awarded a contract, DO27, to supply project management and labor services for an Air Force technology project.  The contract was awarded by the U.S. Navy’s Space and Warfare Systems Command (“SPAWAR”), which was administering the contract in support of the United States Air Force.  Among other things, DO 27 required the Company to design, construct, and implement certain local area network and wide area network systems that would be utilized by Air Force personnel and other components of the U.S. Armed Forces on Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.  The DO 27 contract required the Company to accurately provide invoices to the United States for work performed under the DO 27 contract, including work by subcontractors.  Labor costs were required to be billed according to the job classifications set forth in the contract and the number of labor hours worked by personnel at each job classification.  The DO 27 contract also provided that the Company could only utilize pre-approved subcontractors.  Pursuant to this provision, the Company entered into subcontractor agreements with several entities, one of which was Superior Communication Solutions, Inc. (“SCSI”). 

Advanced C4 Solutions and its subcontractors began work under the DO 27 Contract in June 2010.  Andrew Bennett was the Company’s project manager who was tasked with overseeing the work performed by the Company and its subcontractors under the DO 27 contract.  In this capacity, he was responsible for verifying the accuracy of all invoices submitted by subcontractors to the Company and, in turn, all the invoices submitted by the Company to SPAWAR.

The settlement resolves allegations that Bennett, while an employee of the Company, knew that SCSI created false invoices that charged for labor hours that were not actually worked, and charged the United States at job classification rates for personnel that did not have the requisite credentials to be billed at those rates, and yet submitted those SCSI invoices to the government for payment anyway.  SPAWAR subsequently paid these invoices not knowing they were false. 

In related cases, Andrew Bennett, age 52, of Tampa Florida, James T. Shank, age 68, of Perry, Georgia, and a third individual were indicted on federal criminal charges related to their actions in this matter. Bennett and Shank pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud for their conduct related to the DO 27 contract.  The third defendant is scheduled for trial beginning on January 30, 2017.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended Air Force OSI, DCIS, and SBA for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason D. Medinger who handled this case.

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar sentenced Richard Shusterman, age 53, of Highland Beach, Florida, today to 18 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for a wire fraud conspiracy and nine counts of wire fraud in connection with a complex scheme to defraud investors and lenders of $242 million by selling fraudulent investment portfolios of debts purportedly owed by hospital patients.  Judge Bredar also entered orders requiring Shusterman to pay restitution of $171,383,834, and to forfeit $242,485,254.

On May 2, 2016, a federal jury convicted Shusterman, who is the fourth and final conspirator to be convicted in the scheme.  At today’s sentencing, Judge Bredar enhanced Shusterman’s sentence upon finding that Shusterman was the organizer of the criminal activity. Shusterman has been in custody since his conviction.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Andre R. Watson of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

“Richard Shusterman and his co-conspirators perpetrated a brazen and complex Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of more than $242 million,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. “The conspirators pretended that they were repaying investors with revenue earned by collecting debts, but they were really using the money of new victims to repay previous investors.”

According to evidence presented at his 22-day trial, Shusterman was a shareholder and president of International Portfolio, Inc. (IPI), located in Pennsylvania.  Co-conspirator Robert Feldman was part owner of IPI, and president of United Consulting, Inc.  Shusterman and Feldman represented that IPI had experience in the purchase, valuation, collection and resale of medical accounts receivable, comprised of past due patient accounts which the hospitals and other entities selling the accounts had been unsuccessful in collecting. Beginning on June 21, 2006, Shusterman and Feldman, through United Consulting and IPI, bought and sold consumer debt, including medical debt portfolios.  From December 2006 through June 2008, IPI paid more than $25 million to purchase over $4.1 billion in medical accounts receivable, comprising more than 3,872,514 past due patient accounts.

Jonathan Rosenberg and Douglas Kuber operated Account Receivable Services, LLC (ARS) in New York, New York.  They agreed to promote the sale of IPI debt portfolio to investors.  Pursuant to their agreement, Shusterman, through IPI, bundled the past due patient accounts from IPI’s inventory into investment portfolios, then sold the portfolios to ARS at a discounted rate.  ARS’s purchases of the medical debt portfolios from IPI came from investors who agreed to lend money to ARS in return for a high, fixed interest rate.  Shusterman and IPI agreed to manage the collection activity for each debt portfolio that IPI sold.  Investors were told that any funds collected by IPI were to be forwarded to escrow accounts opened and maintained by ARS, which, in turn, would use the funds to cover the periodic interest payments and outstanding balances owed to the investors. 

Fraudulent Inflation of Purchase Prices for IPI Debt Portfolios to Pay Fees and Commissions

Rosenberg and Kuber misrepresented to investors that a loan secured by IPI debt portfolios would not be used to pay up-front fees and commissions associated with the investment offering.  In fact, however, ARS and IPI agreed to a concealed purchase price for a debt portfolio, then told the investor that the portfolio price was 5% to 10% higher than the concealed price, in order to cover their fees and commissions.  Specifically, Shusterman paid the loan proceeds in excess of the true purchase prices to Rosenberg and Kuber, characterizing these kickbacks as a refund or a rebate. From June 2007 to March 2009, Shusterman paid Kuber and Rosenberg kickbacks totaling in excess of $8 million.

In reliance on the misrepresentations of Rosenberg and Kuber, investors provided loans to ARS of approximately $145 million to purchase IPI debt portfolios, and other investors purchased approximately $122.5 million worth of IPI debt portfolios, all of which IPI managed. 

Fraudulent Inflation of Collection Results to Maintain and Increase Investments

In order to induce existing investors to maintain and increase their participation in the investment scheme and to persuade new investors to join, ARS and IPI falsely represented the amount of income being generated from the collection activity for the medical debt portfolios.  According to trial testimony, it became apparent almost from the start that collections were significantly inadequate, not only in their failure to cover periodic interest payments that ARS owed its investors, but also to repay the investors’ principal. 

Shusterman and Rosenberg agreed that IPI would advance ARS the money needed to make ARS’s periodic interest payments to the investors.  From July 2008 to December 2009, and without the investors’ knowledge, Shusterman and his co-conspirators wired approximately 209 advances from IPI into the bank accounts of the ARS debt portfolios, which were subsequently used to pay periodic interest payments due to an investor and/or inflate the collection history of the respective investor debt portfolios.  Misleading collection reports were also created to deceive the investors.

After their plan to subsidize ARS with monthly advances was implemented, and to ensure a continuing flow of new funding into the investment scheme, Shusterman and his co-conspirators continued to solicit existing and prospective investors to purchase or finance IPI debt portfolios.  For example, an investor was induced to fund the purchase of 12 more portfolios between July and November 2008, totaling approximately $65 million in new investments.  Another investor representative living in West River, Maryland was induced to fund the purchase of a portfolio on November 8, 2008 for $10 million, and another portfolio on May 26, 2009 for $5 million.  Shusterman and his co-conspirators then fraudulently used the new investor funds to make interest and resale payments in order to meet the investment benchmarks of prior investors.

As a result of the scheme, the loss to investors was $242 million. 

New Jersey residents Robert Feldman, age 69, of Beach Haven; Jonathan E. Rosenberg, age 48, of West Orange; and Douglas A. Kuber, age 56, of Livingston, previously pleaded guilty to their participation in the conspiracy and were sentenced to 46 months, five years, and four years in prison, respectively. Judge Bredar also ordered: Feldman and Rosenberg to pay restitution of $148,251,859; and Kuber to pay restitution of $105,565,223. 

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.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked the FBI and HSI Baltimore for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein praised Assistant U.S. Attorneys Martin J. Clarke and Leo J. Wise, who prosecuted the case.

Baltimore, Maryland – Cardinal Health, Inc. agreed to pay $44,000,000 to the United States to resolve allegations that it violated the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) in Maryland, Florida and New York by failing to report suspicious orders of controlled substances to pharmacies located in those states. The settlement also resolves a civil investigation in the Western District of Washington concerning alleged violations of CSA record keeping requirements. Contemporaneously, the Southern District of New York has entered into a separate settlement agreement with Cardinal in which Cardinal agreed to resolve allegations that Kinray, Inc., a subsidiary distributor, failed to report suspicious orders by pharmacies in the Kinray service area.    

The settlement agreement was announced today by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Special Agent in Charge Karl C. Colder of the Drug Enforcement Administration - Washington Field Division.

“Pharmaceutical suppliers violate the law when they fill unusually large or frequent orders for controlled substances without notifying the DEA,” said U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. “Abuse of pharmaceutical drugs is one of the top federal law enforcement priorities. Cases such as this one, as well as our $8 million settlement with CVS in February 2016, reflect the federal commitment to prevent the diversion of pharmaceutical drugs for illegal purposes.”

“DEA is responsible for ensuring that all controlled substance transactions take place within DEA’s regulatory closed system. All legitimate handlers of controlled substances must maintain strict accounting for all distributions and Cardinal failed to adhere to this policy,” stated Special Agent-in-Charge Karl C. Colder of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Washington Division.  “Oxycodone is a very addictive drug and failure to report suspicious orders of oxycodone is a serious matter. The civil penalty levied against Cardinal should send a strong message that all handlers of controlled substances must perform due diligence to ensure the public safety,” stated Colder.     

The CSA requires distributors of pharmaceuticals, such as Cardinal, to identify and report suspicious orders of controlled substances, such as orders of unusual size, unusual frequency or those that substantially deviate from a normal pattern. If the distributor fails to report suspicious orders to the DEA, civil penalties can be imposed against the distributor.      

The settlement resolves allegations arising from an investigation in Maryland as well as an administrative proceeding related to conduct in Florida. According to the settlement agreement, Cardinal admitted that from January 1, 2009 to May 14, 2012, it failed to report suspicious orders to the DEA as required by the CSA. The settlement also resolves allegations that Cardinal failed to maintain effective controls against diversion.

U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the DEA’s Office of Diversion Control, Washington Division, Baltimore District Office for its work in the investigation. U.S. Attorney Rosenstein also thanked U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida A. Lee Bentley, III and Division Chief, Katherine Ho and Civil Chief, Randy Harwell; as well as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara, and Assistant United States Attorney Tony Pellegrino for their collaborative work.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorney Thomas F. Corcoran, who handled the case for the District of Maryland.

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge George J. Hazel sentenced Sylvia Price, a/k/a “Deez Nuts,” age 50, of Suitland, Maryland today to 75 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiring to participate in a racketeering conspiracy and to aggravated identity theft, in connection with her activities in the Simple City Criminal Organization (SCCO), a racketeering enterprise engaged in fraud and related activity, including vehicle theft and interstate transportation of stolen property.  Specifically, Sylvia Price engaged in fraudulent financial transactions, using the identities of over 230 victims, with losses to the victims of SCCO’s activities of at least $453,900. Judge Hazel ordered Price to pay a money judgment in the amount of $453,900.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Chief Hank Stawinski of the Prince George’s County Police Department; and Chief J. Thomas Manger of the Montgomery County Police Department.

According to her plea agreement, from at least 2009 to July 2015, Price met with the leader of the conspiracy, Jeff Crews, Stefon Janey, and other co-conspirators on a regular basis, and planned criminal activity, including vehicle theft, the interstate transportation of stolen property, identity theft and credit/debit card fraud.  The SCCO received money and income from those criminal activities.

According to his plea agreement, Crews and other SCCO members would steal vehicles in Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties, Maryland, as well as in Washington, D.C.  Crews and SCCO members sometimes used the stolen vehicle in a short crime spree during which they committed a string of auto thefts; thefts from autos; and commercial burglaries targeting ATM machines.  Crews and other SCCO members would provide any personal identification information and access devices stolen during the crime spree to another group within the SCCO, which was led by Sylvia Price.

According to her plea agreement, after Sylvia Price received the stolen pocketbooks containing checks, credit and debit cards, and other forms of identification, such as driver’s licenses, from Crews and other members of SCCO, she and other conspirators used the stolen items to conduct fraudulent financial transactions. The money obtained from those transactions was given to Price, who provided a portion of the fraud proceeds to Crews, for disbursement to the SCCO members who participated in the thefts.  Law enforcement intercepted communications between Price and Crews in which they discuss Crews and other conspirators providing handbags stolen from automobiles to Price.  On one occasion, after Price had agreed to meet Crews at his residence, law enforcement observed Price remove a clear plastic bag containing a number of purses and handbags from the back seat of her car and carry it into her residence. 

On July 16, 2015, law enforcement agents executed a search warrant at Price’s home in Suitland and recovered checkbooks and means of identifications of individuals who had reported their vehicles stolen, or had reported a theft of those items from their vehicle.  In addition, law enforcement recovered 95 women’s designer handbags worth approximately $53,000, as well as gift cards totaling approximately $1,180.

In addition to the money judgment, Judge Hazel ordered Price to forfeit 101 high end women’s handbags including: Betsy Johnson; Chanel; Coach; Gucci; Hermès; Kate Spade; Michael Kors; Zac Rosen; and others.  In addition, Price was ordered to forfeit forty-five debit cards; credit cards; checks; gift cards; department store cards; and gas cards.

Eleven of fourteen defendants charged in this case have pleaded guilty to their participation in the racketeering conspiracy, including Jeff Crews, a/k/a “Fro,” age 25, of Washington, D.C., and Stefon Janey, a/k/a “Stef,” and “Stef Luva,” age 23, of Marlow Heights, Maryland.  Four defendants have been sentenced to between 27 and 43 months in prison.  Charges against the three remaining defendants are pending.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the FBI, Prince George’s County Police Department, Montgomery County Police Department and the members of the Washington Area Vehicle Enforcement Unit for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Thomas M. Sullivan and Nicolas A. Mitchell, who are prosecuting the case.

Baltimore, Maryland – As part of a new federal reentry initiative, the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office has published a list of governmental and private-sector agencies throughout Maryland that are available to assist people recently released from state and federal jails and prisons, announced U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein.  The resource list can be accessed through a link on the U.S. Attorney’s Office home page, at www.justice.gov/usao/md.

At a press conference held today, U.S. Attorney Rosenstein and Secretary Stephen T. Moyer of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services discussed the importance of coordinated reentry initiatives.

“Former prisoners may face strong temptations to return to a life of crime, and we will hold them accountable if they do, but many programs are available to help them succeed,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. “Our mission is preventing crime, not just sending people to prison, so we focus our crime-prevention efforts on two groups: school students, to deter them from turning to crime; and ex-convicts, to stop them from reoffending.”

“This Maryland Reentry Resource List compiled by our dedicated and talented U.S. Attorney and his partners, provides a critical step in making offenders productive members of society while achieving our most important goal: making Maryland safer,” said Secretary Stephen T. Moyer of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.

In coordination with federal, state and local agencies and community service providers, the U.S. Attorney’s Office supports reentry initiatives as means of reducing recidivism and keeping communities safe. This year, the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office received targeted funding from the Department of Justice to hire a specialist to promote reentry and other crime-prevention efforts. 

The Maryland Reentry Resource list covers the entire state, enabling people returning from state or federal custody to go to a single internet page and locate services and opportunities anywhere in Maryland.

The guide contains over 1350 listings and is organized by county, including Maryland’s 23 counties and Baltimore City. It provides up to date information that federal, state and local agencies and private-sector providers can use to help clients, and that individuals can access themselves using any internet-connected device.  For service providers that have a website, the guide includes a hyperlinked web page address that a user can click to connect directly to the provider. The list will be updated regularly.

The Maryland Reentry Resource List is available on our website here.  It is also for use by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the Maryland Department of Public Safety, and federal and state parole and probation officers.  If you know of other service providers, or to add or update resource listings, please contact Elizabeth Morse, Reentry/Prevention Specialist, at 410-209-4811 or Elizabeth.Morse@usdoj.gov.

Additional information about the U.S. Attorney General’s Reentry Initiative is available at https://www.justice.gov/reentry.

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander sentenced Ayodele Amon Olukotun, a/k/a 40 Caliber and Bizzle, age 28, of Laurel, Maryland, today to 11 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and for possession with intent to distribute phencyclidine, commonly known as PCP.    

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Karl C. Colder of the Drug Enforcement Administration - Washington Field Division; Chief Gary Gardner of the Howard County Police Department; and Howard County State’s Attorney Dario Broccolino.

According to his guilty plea, from June through November 2015, Olukotun distributed significant quantities of PCP in Howard County, Maryland, primarily in the Whiskey Bottom Road area of Laurel.  Olukotun also admitted that he distributed heroin. On at least nine occasions during the investigation, undercover officers purchased drugs from Olukotun.  The officers purchased a total of 306 grams of PCP and five grams of heroin from Olukotun for $7,965.

In connection with an undercover buy on November 4, 2015, Howard County Police Department detectives saw Olukotun place two backpacks in the trunk of a vehicle.  The detectives knew from their investigation that Olukotun used the vehicle as a “stash” location for his drugs.  Law enforcement conducted a canine scan of the vehicle and the canine alerted to the presence of narcotics.  A subsequent search of the vehicle resulted in the seizure of 5,177.2 grams of PCP and a loaded .38 caliber revolver, which was found in close proximity to the PCP in the trunk. Olukotun admitted that he used the gun for protection and to advance his drug trafficking business.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the DEA, Howard County Police Department, and Howard County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Derek E. Hines and Leo J. Wise, who prosecuted the case.

Baltimore, Maryland – Elma Myles, age 52, of Baltimore pleaded guilty to health care fraud in connection with schemes to defraud Medicaid and other health benefit programs; aggravated identity theft; and conspiracy to defraud the IRS by not reporting income from the health care fraud scheme. The guilty plea was entered on December 19, 2016.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Nicholas DiGiulio, Office of Investigations, Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services; Acting Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Holloman of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, Washington, D.C. Field Office; and Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department. 

 According to Myles’ plea agreement, co-defendant Harry Crawford owned, and was President and CEO of RX Resources and Solutions (RXRS), a durable medical equipment provider located in Randallstown, Maryland. Myles worked at RXRS as a biller. Beginning in 2012, co-defendant Matthew Hightower worked as a delivery driver for RXRS.

Myles admitted that from 2010 through May 2014, she conspired with Crawford, and others to defraud Medicaid and other health benefit programs by having RXRS bill for supplies that were never provided, overcharge for materials actually delivered, and bill for supplies that were unneeded and had not been prescribed by a physician. 

According to Myles’ plea agreement, Myles and Crawford worked closely together, lived together and were once domestic partners.  Both were the managers/supervisors of all business activities at RXRS. Myles and her co-conspirators used the personal identity information of clients to submit fraudulent claims to Medicaid and other health care benefits programs for disposable medical supplies that were not delivered to the beneficiary.  In addition, Crawford and his co-conspirators delivered medical supplies to beneficiaries who did not need the supplies and whose physicians had not prescribed the supplies, even after the beneficiaries reported that they did not want or need the supplies.  According to the plea agreement, a co-conspirator would sign or have someone else sign delivery tickets when deliveries had not actually taken place so that the records of RXRS would falsely document the delivery. 

On February 4, 2014, federal agents executed a search warrant at RXRS and Myles and Crawford’s home.  Agents recovered almost $60,000 in cash from a clothes bin beside the bed in Crawford’s room.  In addition, Myles had made a makeshift closet containing tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of clothing and designer shoes, including apparel for her then three-year-old granddaughter who competed in beauty pageants.  Agents also recovered boxes of patient files from the house.  From RXRS agents recovered emails documenting a criminal plan at the inception of RXRS, and fraudulent delivery tickets from December 2013 and January 2014.  For example, there were delivery tickets for a patient who died in November 12, but the bills continued through 2014, including after the search warrant was executed.

An analysis of RXRS billing of Medicaid from 2007 through 2014 establishes that the loss to Medicaid just for incontinence supplies billed but not provided is approximately $1.2 million.

Finally, Myles admitted that she conspired to defraud the United States by not reporting or paying taxes on the proceeds of the fraud.  A review of bank records shows that Myles and Crawford used the proceeds of the fraud directly for the accounts of RXRS, using a significant portion of the proceeds for their personal benefit, including mortgage payments, payments to Myles’ daughter and to a business entity set up for the benefit of Myles’ daughter, to a private school for their granddaughter, personal travel, restaurants, and hosting social events. The IRS determined that Myles owes $40,194.36 in federal taxes and $13,000 for state taxes for tax years 2010 through 2013.

The total amount of restitution owed by Myles to Medicaid is $1,207,585.38.

Myles faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for health care fraud; a mandatory sentence of two years in prison, consecutive to any other sentence imposed, for aggravated identity theft; and a maximum of five years in prison for conspiracy to defraud the United States. U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis has scheduled sentencing for Myles on February 22, 2017, at 9:30 a.m.

Harry Crawford, age 56, of Baltimore, Maryland, pleaded guilty to collection of a debt by extortionate means from victim David Wutoh; to health care fraud conspiracy; and to conspiracy to defraud the United States. Judge Garbis scheduled sentencing for Crawford on March 28, 2016, at 11:30 a.m.  Crawford is released under the supervision of U.S. Pretrial Services. 

Co-defendant Matthew Hightower, age 34, also of Baltimore, was convicted of extortion and the murder of David Wutoh on September 22, 2016, after a seven-day trial.

Hightower is scheduled to go to trial on charges related to the health care fraud scheme on January 23, 2017.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the HHS-OIG, IRS-CI, and Baltimore County Police Department for their work in the investigation, and thanked the Maryland Attorney General’s Office Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for its assistance.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Aaron S.J. Zelinsky and Sandra Wilkinson, who are prosecuting the case.

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus sentenced Terrance Deangelo Hamlin, age 27, of Capitol Heights, Maryland, today to 123 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession with intent to distribute marijuana and crack cocaine, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.  A federal jury convicted Hamlin of those charges on April 26, 2016, after a four-day trial. 

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Assistant Director in Charge Paul M. Abbate of the Federal Bureau of Investigation - Washington Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; and Chief Henry P. Stawinski of the Prince George’s County Police Department.

According to the evidence presented at trial, on June 9, 2015, officers were patrolling an area in Capitol Heights due to a number of recent shooting and homicides in the area.  The officers noticed a strong odor of marijuana coming from an open window of an apartment.  When they knocked on the apartment door, a female, who was the lease holder for the apartment, opened the door and told the officers they could come inside.  Hamlin was in the living room and officers saw two bags of marijuana, two digital scales and multiple baggies on the sofa and floor.  The lease holder signed a written consent for the officers to search the apartment.

Trial testimony showed that the officers recovered:  approximately 215 gram of marijuana; 22 small zip lock bags and 1 large zip lock back containing 10.76 grams of crack cocaine; an eye dropper and bottle with phencyclidine (PCP); approximately $474 in cash; a loaded .45 caliber handgun; a loaded 9mm handgun; and drug paraphernalia.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI and Prince George’s County Police Department for their work in the investigation, and thanked the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - Baltimore Field Division for its assistance.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Joseph R. Baldwin and Deborah A. Johnston, who prosecuted this Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force case.

Baltimore, Maryland – On December 15, 2016, Mohammad Shafiq, age 50, of Gwynn Oak, Maryland, and Muhammad Sarmad, age 40, of Nottingham, Maryland each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit food stamp fraud and wire fraud in connection with separate schemes to illegally redeem food stamp benefits in exchange for cash. 

The guilty pleas were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge William G. Squires, Jr. of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General, Northeast Region; and Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.        

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), previously known as the Food Stamp Program, is administered by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), together with state agencies. The program funds low-income individuals to allow them to obtain a more nutritious diet.  In Maryland, the program provides eligible individuals with an electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card called the Independence Card, which operates like a debit card.  Recipients obtain EBT cards through the state Department of Human Resources, then use the EBT card to purchase approved food items from participating retailers.

Retailers must apply to and be approved by FNS to participate in the program.  Authorized retailers use a point-of-sale terminal that checks the EBT card information and deducts the cash value of the purchase from the customer’s SNAP benefit balance. SNAP reimbursements are paid to retailers through electronic funds transfers.  Retailers must bill the government only in return for providing approved food items. 

According to their plea agreements, from October 2010 through at least July 2016, Sarmad, Shafiq, and their respective co-conspirators exchanged EBT benefits for cash, in violation of the food stamp program rules. Sarmad and Shafiq typically paid half the value of the EBT benefits in cash. To avoid detection, they often debited the funds from the card in multiple transactions over a period of hours or days, or called a different store where the transaction was processed manually.

Sarmad and Shafiq owned and/or operated stores in the Baltimore area that were authorized to accept SNAP.  The defendants received instruction regarding the requirements and regulations of the food stamp program and were aware that only eligible food items could be exchanged for EBT benefits and that a retailer may never exchange EBT benefits for cash or non-food items.

Shafiq and his family members owned and operated four stores: Quick Stop Convenience Store, 237 N. Patterson Park Avenue; New York Food Mart, 1201 N. Patterson Park Avenue; and Barclay Food Mart, 2454 Barclay Street, all in Baltimore; and Shafiq Corporation, 6929 Holabird Avenue, in Dundalk, Maryland.  From October 2010 through July 2016, Shafiq himself, and by and through his family members obtained more than $3.7 million in payments for food sales that never occurred or were substantially inflated.

Sarmad and other family members also owned and/or operated four stores: New Sherwood Market, 6324 Sherwood Road in Northwood, Maryland; Martin Mart, 1504 Martin Boulevard in Middle River, Maryland; Rosedale Mart, 6326 Kenwood Avenue in Rosedale, Maryland; and M&A Mart 7400-A Belair Road in Baltimore.  From October 2010 through August 2016, Sarmad and his co-conspirators obtained more than $3.5 million in payments for food sales that never occurred or were substantially inflated. 

Sarmad and Shafiq each face a maximum sentence of five years in prison for conspiracy to commit food stamp fraud and wire fraud.  U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett has scheduled sentencing for Sarmad on March 20, 2017 at 3:00 p.m. and for Shafiq on March 21, 2017, at 3:00 p.m.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the USDA Office of Inspector General and FBI for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Kathleen O. Gavin and Rachel M. Yasser, who are prosecuting Sarmad and Shafiq, respectively.

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang sentenced Jermaine Dory, age 25, of Woodbridge, Virginia, today to three years of probation including 50 hours of community service, for wire fraud arising from his federal felony conviction for a scheme to submit false documentation to the University of Maryland to obtain over $40,000 in grant funds intended for minority participants in a doctorate program. Judge Chuang also ordered Dory to pay $33,420.50 in restitution, the amount of the grant minus monies already paid by Dory.  Dory pleaded guilty on July 18, 2016.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and the Inspector General Allison C. Lerner of the National Science Foundation, Office of Inspector General.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) funded the 2012-2014 Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Bridge to the Doctorate Fellowship Program (Program) at the University of Maryland in College Park.  In order to participate in the Program, an applicant must provide evidence of participation in an LSAMP undergraduate program and submit a nomination from the applicant’s undergraduate LSAMP director or faculty member. 

According to his plea agreement, Dory applied to the Program and on September 3, 2013, emailed the University of Maryland a document he had created that falsely purported to verify that he had participated in the LSAMP undergraduate Summer Bridge program in the California State University system during the summer of 2010.  The document included fraudulent letterhead from California State University, Fullerton, and a fraudulent signature for the actual LSAMP Bridge to Doctorate campus director at a California State University campus.

Relying on the false verification document Dory had submitted, Dory was approved to join the Program.  Dory participated in the Program during the Fall 2013 and Spring 2014 semesters, for which the University of Maryland applied $40,490.30 of NSF grant funds to Dory’s student account to pay for tuition, fees and stipends.  These NSF grant funds were not available to other potential program applicants who had not submitted false documentation.

During the summer of 2014, University of Maryland officials investigated Dory’s application.  Dory’s participation in the Program was terminated in August 2014 upon discovery of the false documentation.  The University of Maryland credited the grant funds back to the NSF and suffered the loss for payment to Dory of $40,490.30. 

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the National Science Foundation - OIG for its work in the investigation and thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph R. Baldwin and David I. Salem, who prosecuted the case.

Baltimore, Maryland –Steven B. Boyd, a/k/a “Gotti,” age 37, of Baltimore, pleaded guilty today to sex trafficking of a minor.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Andre R. Watson of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Commissioner Kevin Davis of the Baltimore Police Department; and Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby.

According to his plea agreement, an undercover enforcement operation conducted by Baltimore City Police officers during an investigation of sex trafficking of minors, identified Boyd as a pimp who caused two minor girls to engage in commercial sex acts for his own financial benefit.  Boyd knew the two girls were under 18 years of age when he recruited them to work for him.  During the investigation, five other women over the age of 18 were also identified as working for Boyd, including two women who traveled from other states to Maryland to work for Boyd.

According to his plea agreement, Boyd paid for hotel rooms for the women to engage in commercial sex acts. Forensic examination of Boyd’s phone as well as information provided by the women and girls working for Boyd showed that he also paid for online ads for the women and girls to engage in commercial sex acts.  According to the girls and women working for him, Boyd took all the money they made from commercial sex acts.  Boyd transported the girls and women on “outcalls,” taking to them to hotel rooms and residences to engage in prostitution, as well as transporting them to other states.  Boyd provided the girls and women with telephones to communicate with him about their commercial sex activities.

Boyd faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and up to life in prison for sex trafficking of a minor.  U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar has scheduled sentencing for April 26, 2017.  Boyd remains detained.

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.                    

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended HSI Baltimore, the Baltimore City Police Department and Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zachary A. Myers and Rachel M. Yasser, who are prosecuting the case.

Baltimore, Maryland –U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz sentenced William Warren, age 28, of Baltimore, today to 15 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, after Warren pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm.    

The guilty plea and sentence were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Daniel L. Board Jr. of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - Baltimore Field Division; Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis; and Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby.

“ATF Baltimore will continue to focus the entirety of their investigative resources towards any persons or organizations who perpetrate firearm related violence upon the citizens of Baltimore and all surrounding communities,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge Board. 

According to his plea agreement, on September 17, 2014, Baltimore Police officers were patrolling in the 400 block of East 21st Street due to an ongoing conflict between two drug crews operating in the area.  The officers saw Warren, who they knew was a member of one of the drug crews, riding a bike.  As the officers approached, Warren turned his right side away from the officers and fled on his bike.  The officers followed Warren and saw him check his right waist area as he ran into an alley.  Farther into the alley the officers saw Warren remove what appeared to be a handgun from his right waist band and throw it over a fence into the rear yard of 2208 Barclay Street.  Officers recovered the gun, a .45 caliber handgun, loaded with nine live rounds.  As a result of three previous felony drug convictions, Warren was prohibited from possessing a gun or ammunition.

Judge Motz ordered that Warren’s federal sentence will be concurrent to the 22-year state sentence he is currently serving after his conviction on an unrelated gun charge

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the ATF, Baltimore Police Department and Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia C. McLane, who prosecuted the case.

Greenbelt, Maryland – Charles Ulysses Bowman-Bey, a/k/a Big Flock, age 24, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to being a felon in possession of a firearm and to possession with intent to distribute Alprazolam, a controlled substance.   

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Daniel L. Board, Jr. of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - Baltimore Field Division; and Chief Henry P. Stawinski of the Prince George’s County Police Department.

According to his plea agreement, on October 19, 2016, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Bowman-Bey’s residence.   During the search of Bowman-Bey’s bedroom, law enforcement officers found, among other things, firearms, ammunition, narcotics, and narcotics paraphernalia belonging to Bowman-Bey, including: a loaded 5.7x28mm semiautomatic handgun, equipped with a laser sight; a .40 caliber semiautomatic handgun; a .380 caliber semiautomatic handgun; rounds of ammunition of various calibers; a loaded drum-style extended magazine; a .40 caliber extended magazine; $5,561 in cash, which were drug proceeds; approximately 94 tablets of Alprazolam, as well as a quantity of ground-up Alprazolam, which constitutes 95 total units of Alprazolam; and a digital scale, used to weigh narcotics.

Bowman-Bey possessed the firearms in furtherance of his drug trafficking, to protect, among other things, his drugs and his drug-trafficking proceeds.  As a result of a previous felony conviction, federal law prohibited Bowman-Bey from possessing the guns and ammunition.

Bowman-Bey faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for illegal possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon, and a maximum of five years in prison for possession with intent to distribute Alprazolam.  U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang has scheduled sentencing for March 30, 2017 at 9:30 a.m.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the ATF and Prince George’s County Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorney Michael T. Packard and Thomas J. Sullivan, who are prosecuting the case.

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein announced that financial collections in criminal and civil actions in Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 in the District of Maryland reached $46,916,648.14.  The U.S. Department of Justice keeps statistics on a fiscal year basis, closing the books each September 30.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced today that the Justice Department collected $15.3 billion in civil and criminal actions in the fiscal year ending September 30, 2016.  The more than $15 billion in collections in FY 2016 represents more than five times the appropriated $2.93 billion budget for the 94 U.S. Attorney’s offices and the main litigating divisions of the Department of Justice in that same period.                 

“Every day, the men and women of the Department of Justice work tirelessly to enforce our laws, ensuring that taxpayer dollars are used properly and that the American people are protected from exploitation and abuse,” said Attorney General Lynch.  “Today’s announcement is a testament to that work, and it makes clear that our actions deliver a significant return on public investment.  I want to thank the prosecutors and trial attorneys who made this year's collections possible, and I want to emphasize that the department remains committed to the well-being of our people and our nation.”

“Thanks to the hard work and dedication of employees of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our partner agencies, funds recovered far exceed the cost of operating the office,” said Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. “We will continue to hold accountable anyone who seeks to profit from illegal activities.”

According to statistics from the Department of Justice, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland in FY 2016 collected $11,503,001.30 in criminal debts owed to the U.S. government and to federal crime victims, including restitution, criminal fines and felony assessments. 

The statistics show that the $35,413,646.84 collected in civil actions in Maryland, include affirmative civil enforcement cases, in which the United States recovered government money lost to fraud or other misconduct or collected penalties imposed on individuals and/or corporations for violations of federal health, safety, civil rights or environmental laws, and debts collected on behalf of several federal agencies, including the U.S. Small Business Administration, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. These cases include the successful resolution of investigations against PNC Bank, N.A. and Foundation Health Services, Inc., two environmental enforcement actions against Arkema, Inc. and Westvaco and the case of United States ex rel. Coyle v. Paradigm Spine.  Additionally, the District of Maryland collected civil penalties under the Controlled Substances Act on behalf of the Drug Enforcement Administration from its investigations of CVS Pharmacy, Inc., Value Drug, Inc. and Drug City Pharmacy, Inc.

Additionally, the District of Maryland worked with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices and components of the Department of Justice to collect an additional $7,635,010.69 in cases pursued jointly with these offices.  Of this amount $3,526 was collected in criminal actions and $7,631,484.69 was collected in civil actions, including cases resolved under the False Claims Act on behalf of victim agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Defense and the Department of Education

The U.S. Attorneys’ offices, along with the Department’s litigating divisions, are responsible for enforcing and collecting civil and criminal debts owed to the United States and criminal debts owed to federal crime victims. The law requires defendants to pay restitution to victims of certain federal crimes who have suffered a physical injury or financial loss.  While restitution is paid directly to the victim, criminal fines and felony assessments are paid to the Department’s Crime Victims’ Fund, which distributes the funds to state victim compensation and victim assistance programs.

The largest civil collections were from affirmative civil enforcement cases, in which the United States recovered government money lost to fraud or other misconduct or collected fines imposed on individuals and/or corporations for violations of federal health, safety, labor and controlled substance laws.  In addition, civil debts were collected on behalf of several federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Internal Revenue Service, Small Business Administration and Department of Education.            

In addition, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, working with partner agencies and divisions, collected $8,078,5856 in asset forfeiture actions in FY 2016.  Forfeited assets deposited into the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund are used to restore funds to crime victims and for a variety of law enforcement purposes. 

For more information, the Department’s Annual Statistical Reports on prior fiscal years can be found on the internet at: http://www.justice.gov/usao/reading_room/foiamanuals.html.

Baltimore, Maryland –U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander sentenced Treveric Speaks, age 41, of Baltimore, today to 10 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for a series of armed robberies of wireless stores.    

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis; and Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby.

According to his plea agreement, between July 20 and August 18, 2015, Speaks robbed five wireless stores.  In each robbery, Speaks posed as a customer.  Once Speaks and the store employee were alone in the store, Speaks brandished a gun, pointed the gun at the employee and demanded money from the cash register and/or store safe.  Speaks threatened to shoot the store employees if they did not comply with his demands.  In the robbery that Speaks committed on July 27, 2015, the store clerk had cashed her own pay check and the money ($580) was in an envelope next to the cash register.  In addition to stealing $950 from the cash register, Speaks also took the clerk’s $580.

On August 19, 2015, in an effort to identify the robber the FBI released surveillance photos from some of the robberies to the media.  After receiving several tips that identified Speaks as the robber, he was arrested on September 5, 2015.  Each of the store clerks identified Speaks from a photo array as the robber.  A search warrant executed at his residence recovered clothing and shoes consistent with the worn by the robber in the surveillance photos.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI, Baltimore Police Department and Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia C. McLane, who prosecuted the case.

Baltimore, Maryland – Adrian Austin, age 35, of Baltimore, pleaded guilty on December 14, 2016, to possession of a stolen gun.  The guilty plea occurred just before Austin’s cross-examination was scheduled to resume on the third day of his trial in U.S. District Court.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Daniel L. Board Jr. of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - Baltimore Field Division; Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis; and Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby.

According to his plea agreement and evidence presented at trial, on October 14, 2015, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Austin’s residence as part of an investigation into narcotics distribution.  During the search, law enforcement recovered a .40 caliber handgun and ammunition magazine in the living room closet, and a box of .40 caliber ammunition and a second firearm magazine in another closet in the house. Neither magazine matched the firearm that was recovered.  The handgun had been reported stolen prior to being recovered during the search. After being advised of his rights, Austin stated that he had acquired the gun for protection.  As a result of previous felony convictions, federal law prohibits Austin from possessing a firearm or ammunition.

Austin admits that, given the circumstances under which he acquired the firearm, he knew and had reason to know that the firearm had been stolen.

Austin faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.  U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar has scheduled sentencing for March 3, 2017 at 2:00 p.m. 

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the ATF, Baltimore Police Department and Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael C. Hanlon and Matthew M. DellaBetta, who are prosecuting the case.

Greenbelt, Maryland –Rodney Levon Davis, age 47, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, pleaded guilty on December 14, 2016, to robbery, and to using, brandishing, and discharging a firearm during the robbery of a fast food restaurant in Hyattsville.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; 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 December 24, 2014, Davis approached a fast food restaurant on Landover Road in Hyattsville, Maryland wearing a hooded jacket and an “Iron Man” mask.  At the entrance, Davis brandished a revolver at an employee.  The victim stated that he did not have a key to the safe and that the manager was not present.  Davis shoved the revolver into the victim’s back and threatened to shoot the victim if the victim didn’t comply with his demands.  Davis then hid behind a brick wall and waited for the manager to return to the restaurant.

Once the manager arrived, Davis used the revolver to enter the restaurant and directed the victim, manager and several other employees into the manager’s office.  Davis demanded that the manager open the safe, from which Davis stole money. 

While the employees were in the manager’s office, Davis discharged the revolver.  He also sprayed lighter fluid on the wall and floor, and ignited the lighter fluid.  Davis and the employees rushed out of the office to the front of the restaurant.  Davis removed additional money from the cash registers and fled.  The manager chased after Davis and Davis fired at least two shots, which struck the side of the restaurant.

Davis got into his vehicle and drove away.  Prince George’s County police attempted to stop Davis’ vehicle, but Davis led them on a high speed chase.  Eventually, Davis stopped his vehicle in the middle of the intersection of Marlboro Pike and Nova Avenue in Prince George’s County.  Officers arrested Davis and seized the “Iron Man” mask, a bag containing $2,095, a revolver which contained three spent cartridges and three live rounds, and bottles of lighter fluid.  Approximately $73 stolen from the restaurant was not recovered.

Davis subsequently admitted that he robbed the restaurant because he was upset that his employment with that restaurant had been terminated.

Davis and the government have agreed that if the Court accepts the plea agreement Davis will be sentenced to between 121 months and 14 years in prison.  U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang scheduled sentencing for March 30, 2017 at 2:30 p.m.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI, Prince George’s County Police Department and Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation and prosecution.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Thomas M. Sullivan and Menaka S. Kalaskar, who are prosecuting the case.

Greenbelt, Maryland – On December 12, 2016, U.S. District Judge George J. Hazel sentenced Daunte Antonio Jones, age 27, of Oxon Hill, Maryland, to 150 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and sentenced Ernest Ingram, Jr., age 32, of Washington D.C., to 87 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for armed robberies of pharmacies. 

The sentences were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; and Chief Henry P. Stawinski of the Prince George’s County Police Department.

According to their plea agreements and information presented at their sentencings, from March 7, 2015 to June 6, 2016, Jones and Ingram conspired with Haleem White and others to rob small retail pharmacies of cash and prescription medication.  In each robbery, the conspirators wore dark ski masks and one of the robbers brandished a handgun.  Specifically, on April 11, 2015 Jones, Ingram, and White robbed a pharmacy on Annapolis Road in Hyattsville, Maryland, and on May 2, 2015, they robbed a pharmacy on Rhode Island Avenue in Beltsville, Maryland.   

On March 7, 2015, Jones, White, and at least two other co-conspirators also robbed a pharmacy on Hamilton Street in Hyattsville.  During the robbery, one of the co-conspirators pepper-sprayed two elderly customers in the face and threw both patrons to the ground.  The robbers then escaped in a vehicle that was waiting for them outside.  On June 6, 2016, Jones, White and another conspirator robbed a pharmacy on Greenbelt Road in Berwyn Heights, Maryland, again escaping in a waiting get-away car.  As in each of the previous robberies, the conspirators stole prescription drugs, including oxycodone, and cash from the store.  In the June 6th robbery, the conspirators also stole an employee’s handbag, which contained a cellular phone, credit cards, identification cards, and cash.

During their participation in the conspiracy, Jones, Ingram, and White stole prescription medication worth more than $20,000.  The defendants admitted that they stole the prescription medications in order to sell the drugs, which they did.

Co-conspirator Haleem Celestial White, age 25, of Washington D.C. has pleaded guilty to his role in the robbery conspiracy and is scheduled to be sentenced on January 5, 2017.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI and Prince George’s County Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Michael T. Packard and William D. Moomau, who prosecuted the case.

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge George L. Russell III sentenced Ruben Uy Lim, age 53, of Parkville, Maryland, today to 10 years in prison, followed by 20 years of supervised release for receipt of child pornography.  In addition, Lim has admitted taking hundreds of videos of underage girls at swim meets, using a filter that allowed the camera to see through certain fabrics, including bathing suits.  Judge Russell ordered that, upon his release from prison, Lim 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 United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Andre R. Watson of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department; and Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger.

According to his plea agreement, on November 17, 2015, Baltimore County Police detectives executed a search warrant at Lim’s residence and recovered electronic devices, including a hard drive.  A subsequent forensic examination of the hard drive revealed images and video files depicting prepubescent girls engaged in sexual acts, which had been received over the internet.

In addition, law enforcement recovered six video cameras and computer discs which contained hundreds of homemade videos dating back to 2004, which were taken at swim meets, on beaches and at water parks.  Lim took the videos using a filter that attached to the camera’s lens and allowed the camera to see through certain fabrics, including bathing suits.  Lim filmed middle and high school aged girls in such a way that their breasts and vaginal areas were visible in the recordings.  In the majority of the videos, Lim focused on the pubic area of the female swimmers.  Lim admitted that he traveled to swim meets around the country for the sole purpose of recording children using the special camera lens, which Lim referred to as the “X-Ray lens.”

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.                    

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended HSI Baltimore, the FBI, Baltimore County Policed Department and the Baltimore County State’s Attorney for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren E. Perry, who prosecuted the federal case.

Baltimore, Maryland – Lamar Vinson Kaintuck, age 28, of Baltimore, pleaded guilty today to distribution of heroin.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Assistant Special Agent in Charge Don A. Hibbert of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Baltimore District Office; Calvert County Sheriff Mike Evans; Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey R. Gahler; Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department; and Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh.

According to his plea agreement, on September 26, 2015, members of the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene of a fatal heroin overdose. Investigation of the death determined that the victim had obtained communicated with “Chris,” concerning purchasing heroin prior to his fatal overdose.  Investigators reviewed cell site information which indicated that the victim and “Chris” met up just prior to the victim’s overdose and death.  The phone for “Chris” was linked to Lamar Vinson Kaintuck by a confidential source who also identified him by photo array. 

Kaintuck was arrested on May 16, 2016, and law enforcement recovered a cell phone during a search of Kaintuck.  The cell phone was assigned the same number used by the heroin overdose victim to purchase heroin.  A search of the cell phone revealed numerous drug related messages.  Kaintuck admits that he supplied the victim with heroin just prior to the victim’s fatal overdose.

Kaintuck and the government have agreed to recommend that Kaintuck be sentenced to between five and 12 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.  The Court is under no obligation to accept this recommendation and will make the final decision as to the appropriate sentence.  U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar has scheduled sentencing for March 21, 2017.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the DEA, Calvert County Sheriff’s Office, Harford County Sheriff’s Office, Baltimore County Police Department, and the Maryland Attorney General’s Office for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Keri L. Borzilleri, on detail from the Maryland Attorney General’s Office, who is prosecuting this Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force case.

Baltimore, Maryland – Chief U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake sentenced Daniel Alexander, age 53, of Pikesville, Maryland today to 18 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiring to distribute oxycodone and alprazolam. Chief Judge Blake also ordered Alexander to forfeit $30,000.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Assistant Special Agent in Charge Don A. Hibbert of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Baltimore District Office; Special Agent in Charge Thomas Jankowski of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, Washington, D.C. Field Office; Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department; and Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger.

“Physician Daniel Alexander prescribed opioid drugs to people who had no medical need for the drugs,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein.  “In doing so, he violated his medical oath and distributed misery instead of medicine.  Pharmaceutical pills can be just as harmful as illegal drugs when they are prescribed without a legitimate medical purpose.”

According to his plea agreement and court documents, in March 2011, co-defendants Michael Resnick, Alina Margulis and Gerald Wiseberg opened Healthy Life in Owings Mills, Maryland as a purported pain management clinic.  Healthy Life later moved to a larger space in Timonium, Maryland, until it closed on May 15, 2012.  Both Healthy Life locations attracted large and unruly crowds.  Customers caused disturbances outside the locations, used narcotics inside the clinic itself, and engaged in narcotics transactions in the parking lot.  Over 80% of the customers of Healthy Life were from out of state.

Wiseberg hired physician William Crittenden to serve as the medical director at Healthy Life because Wiseberg believed that Crittenden would write prescriptions for narcotics to customers without a legitimate medical need. Crittenden resigned as the medical director in August 2011, when the Maryland Board of Physicians—the agency authorized to issue licenses to practice medicine in Maryland and to discipline licensees—initiated an investigation into his prescribing practices.  This investigation ultimately led the Maryland Board of Physicians to suspend Crittenden’s medical license.

In September 2011, Resnick, Margulis and Wiseberg hired Alexander because they believed that Alexander would likewise write drug prescriptions to customers without a legitimate medical need.  Specifically, Margulis told Alexander that Healthy Life only prescribed pills and did not offer any alternative therapies.   

In order to increase profits, Alexander spent a limited amount of time with each patient so that he could see a very large number of patients each day. Indeed, the owners nicknamed Alexander “Speedy Gonzalez” because of the rapidity with which he processed patients seeking narcotics.  From September 2011 to March 2012, Alexander issued prescriptions to 627 patients on 946 separate office visits.  Of those 946 visits, the customer received a prescription for oxycodone 97% of the time, and a prescription for alprazolam 23% of the time, despite Alexander’s knowledge that many of the customers did not have a legitimate medical need for the drugs.  In a few instances, Alexander prescribed oxycodone to customers who he simultaneously discharged from Healthy Life, based on indications they were abusing illicit drugs.  Alexander was paid $150 per hour, and received a total of $30,000 for his activities in the scheme.

Resnick, Margulis and Wiseberg, who were not doctors, established the standard operating procedures for Healthy Life, including which drugs the prescribing physician could prescribe and the maximum dosage amounts of these drugs.  Healthy Life accepted cash payments in exchange for providing prescriptions for large amounts of oxycodone, alprazolam and other drugs, to customers who did not have a legitimate medical need for the drugs.

To maximize profits, they also encouraged the prescribing physicians to prescribe the maximum amount of oxycodone to each customer; and established that prescriptions would be written for 28-day cycles as opposed to 30-day cycles. Additionally, Margulis and Resnick handled complaints by Healthy Life customers who were unhappy with the prescriptions they received, particularly when a medical provider might prescribe less oxycodone than the customer wanted.  In those instances, Margulis and Resnick would intervene and ask the prescribing medical provider to reconsider, knowing it would lead the provider to give the customer what the customer wanted.           

Michael Resnick, a/k/a Michael Reznikov, age 55, and his wife, Alina Margulis, age 49, both of Brooklyn, New York, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and alprazolam. Margulis also pleaded guilty to money laundering, and Resnick also pleaded guilty to structuring currency deposits. Chief Judge Blake sentenced Resnick to three years in federal prison and sentenced Margulis to a year and a day in prison and ordered that Resnick and Margulis forfeit $280,000, the amount of illicit profits they received from the scheme.  Gerald Wiseberg, a/k/a Gerry Wiseberg and Jerry Wiseberg, age 82, of Boca Raton, Florida, also pleaded guilty to his participation in the conspiracy and was sentenced to three years in prison. Chief Judge Blake also entered an order that Wiseberg forfeit $273,000.

Physician William Crittenden III, age 52, of Kensington, Maryland, who served as a medical director at Healthy Life before Alexander, was convicted at trial of conspiring to distribute oxycodone and alprazolam, and eight separate counts of unlawfully distributing oxycodone and was sentenced to three years in prison.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended DEA, IRS-CI, Baltimore County Police Department and Baltimore County State’s Attorneys’ Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jason D. Medinger and Peter J. Martinez, who prosecuted this Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force case.

Baltimore, Maryland – A federal jury convicted Carl Javan Ross, age 30, of Essex, Maryland, for receipt and possession of child pornography. The verdict was returned on December 7, 2016, after 30 minutes of deliberation.

The conviction was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Andre R. Watson of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department; and Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger.

According to the evidence presented at his three-day trial, on July 2, 2015, an undercover Baltimore County detective was conducting an online investigation looking for offenders sharing child pornography on certain file sharing networks.  The detective downloaded two video files documenting the sexual abuse of prepubescent children from an IP address later identified as being used by Ross.

Trial testimony showed that a search warrant was executed at Ross’ residence on July 28, 2015, and law enforcement recovered his laptop computer.  A preview of the computer showed that it contained a user hash, which is a unique value assigned by the file sharing program, that was identical to that of the computer that shared the two videos of child pornography downloaded by the detective.  In addition, investigators found search terms indicative of child pornography and digital images of child pornography.

As a result of his conviction, Ross will be required to 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).

Ross faces a mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years in prison for each of the two counts of receipt of child pornography, and a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for possession of child pornography, followed by up to a lifetime of supervised release.  U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz has not set a date for sentencing.  Ross was previously convicted in Baltimore County Circuit Court on related sex offense charges. He is scheduled to be sentenced in that case on January 4, 2017. Ross remains detained pending sentencing.

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.                    

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended HSI Baltimore, the FBI, Baltimore County Police Department, and Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul E. Budlow and Paul Riley, who are prosecuting the federal case.

Baltimore, Maryland –William H. Steinhaus IV, age 34, of Brunswick, Maryland, pleaded guilty on December 6, 2016, to sexual exploitation of a child to produce child pornography.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Frederick County Sheriff Charles A. “Chuck” Jenkins; Frederick County State’s Attorney J. Charles Smith; and Interim Chief Peter Newsham of the Metropolitan Police Department.

According to his plea agreement, between December 8 and 9, 2014, Steinhaus had a number of sexually explicit conversations on Kik, an instant messaging application, with other Kik users regarding their shared sexual interest in prepubescent children. Steinhaus took pictures using his iPhone or iPad of a two year old girl engaged in sexually explicit conduct and distributed them to approximately 25 other Kik users.

Steinhaus admitted that during those two days, he and another Kik user exchanged approximately 290 messages, including a discussion as to how Steinhaus could best sexually abuse the toddler.  Steinhaus sent the user images of the child and Steinhaus engaged in sexually explicit conduct; and pictures of a couch, stating “That’s where tw[sic] assault will happen.”

Also on December 8, 2014, Steinhaus and a second Kik user exchanged approximately 293 messages.  Steinhaus sent pictures of the child and Steinhaus engaged in sexually explicit conduct; and pictures of a couch, stating “That’s where the assault is going to happen.”

According to his plea agreement, between December 8 and 9, 2014, Steinhaus exchanged approximately 419 messages on Kik with an undercover law enforcement officer, whom Steinhaus had emailed earlier on December 8, 2014.  Steinhaus sent the undercover officer approximately 30 pictures he had taken of the toddler, several of which contained images of the child and Steinhaus engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Through emergency legal requests, on December 9, 2014, officers identified Steinhaus as the subscriber to the Kik and Yahoo accounts used to communicate with the undercover officer. Officers began surveillance of Steinhaus’ residence in advance of the execution of a search warrant.  During the surveillance, Steinhaus began sending the undercover officer images of himself with the victim in the background.  Steinhaus told the undercover officer that he would be alone with the victim and would continue the sexual abuse of the child. Officers used a ruse to get Steinhaus out of the residence.  Steinhaus came out of the house with his iPhone, and the officers identified themselves.  Steinhaus fought with the officers as they tried to secure his iPhone, but they were able to secure and access the device. Steinhaus was arrested and the victim was rescued by the officers.

As part of his plea agreement, Steinhaus 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).  In addition, a provision of his plea agreement in the federal case is that Steinhaus must plead guilty to related charges pending against him in the Circuit Court for Frederick County, Maryland.

Steinhaus and the government have agreed that if the Court accepts the plea agreement Steinhaus will be sentenced to between 23 and 38 years in prison, followed by lifetime supervised release.  Chief U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake has scheduled sentencing for February 24, 2017, at 9:15 a.m.

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.                      

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI, Frederick County Sheriff’s Office, Frederick County State’s Attorney’s Office and Metropolitan Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zachary A. Myers and Judson T. Mihok, who are prosecuting the case.

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar sentenced Cecil Sylvester Chester, age 70, of Mitchellville, Maryland today to two years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for a mortgage fraud scheme involving the fraudulent purchase of seven properties in Baltimore, using fraudulent loan documentation and straw purchasers, resulting in losses of over $1.4 million.  Judge Bredar also ordered Chester to pay restitution of at least $1.483 million, with the exact amount to be determined by the Court.

The sentences were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Special Agent in Charge Bertrand Nelson of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General; and Special Agent in Charge Brian Murphy of the United States Secret Service - Baltimore Field Office.

Chester worked as an accountant from an office located on New Hampshire Avenue in Hyattsville, Maryland.  Co-conspirator Andreas Tamaris purchased, renovated, and then resold distressed row houses in Baltimore City, primarily in the Highlandtown area. Co-conspirators Michael Camphor was a real estate agent and Christopher A. Kwegan was a real estate agent and general contractor.

According to his guilty plea, from February 2008 to July 2009, Chester and his co-conspirators, found buyers for Tamaris’ properties and for other property owners. Chester persuaded individuals, who were inexperienced with residential real estate transactions and who lacked the funds needed to pay the down payment and closing costs, to purchase Baltimore row houses owned by Tamaris or otherwise located by the conspirators. Chester advised these “straw purchasers” that they didn’t need to contribute funds for the down payment or closing costs to buy these properties. Chester also advised that he would place tenants in the properties whose rent payments would cover the monthly mortgage payments after the transactions closed, and that Chester would collect the rent and make the mortgage payments.

Chester and his co-conspirators set the purchase price for the properties to exceed their actual fair market value, thereby generating excess proceeds from the transactions from which they could profit.  For example, when Kwegan located a house he wanted to sell, he sought assistance from Chester and real estate agent/consultant Michael Camphor, who were already operating a mortgage fraud scheme. Chester, Kwegan and Camphor set the price of a row house in Baltimore at $250,000, rather than the actual market price of approximately $75,000. Kwegan derived over $100,000 in proceeds from the sale of this home to a straw purchaser and paid another $40,000 to Chester for his assistance.

Chester, Camphor, and others recruited buyers to purchase houses, knowing that they did not qualify for the home mortgages.  The conspirators provided false information about the straw purchasers’ employment, income and financial assets, as well as fraudulent supporting documentation to the mortgage loan brokers to enable the straw purchasers to qualify for home mortgage loans. The conspirators falsely indicated to the mortgage loan brokers that the straw purchasers each intended to use the property as their primary residence following the purchase. Tamaris and other individuals supplied the funds needed for the down payment and closing costs on each of the transactions, and were in turn reimbursed from the loan proceeds at settlement.

Chester brought the straw purchasers to the closing, and then caused the straw purchasers to falsely sign certifications in the closing documents affirming that they intended to use the properties as their primary residence and that no portion of the down payment and closing costs were borrowed.  Following the settlement on each transaction in which they participated, Chester and the other conspirators received substantial payments drawn from the proceeds of the loan.

Few, if any, payments were made towards the mortgages.  The seven properties in which Chester was involved all went into foreclosure, resulting in a loss of at least $1.483 million.

In related proceedings, Andreas E. Tamaris, age 46, of Bel Air, Maryland, Christopher A. Kwegan, age 59, of Randallstown, Maryland, Michael Gerard Camphor, age 60, of Baltimore, and Alexander Sivels, II, age 32, of Baltimore, previously pleaded guilty to their roles in this, or related mortgage fraud schemes.  Tamaris was sentenced to 15 months in prison and was ordered to pay $1,229,206.28 in restitution.  Sivels and Kwegan were each sentenced to 27 months in prison.  Judge Bredar ordered Sivels to pay restitution of $1,317,314.35, and ordered Kwegan to pay restitution of $530,641.27. Camphor is scheduled to be sentenced on December 19, 2016.

The Maryland Mortgage Fraud Task Force was established to unify the agencies that regulate and investigate mortgage fraud and promote the early detection, identification, prevention and prosecution of mortgage fraud schemes. This case, as well as other cases brought by members of the Task Force, demonstrates the commitment of law enforcement agencies to protect consumers from fraud and promote the integrity of the credit markets. Information about mortgage fraud prosecutions is available at http://www.justice.gov/usao-md/financial-fraud-and-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.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI, HUD OIG - Office of Investigations and the U.S. Secret Service for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Jefferson M. Gray, who is prosecuting the case.

Baltimore, Maryland – A federal grand jury has charged Shawn Penn, age 41, of Pasadena, with making false claims and false statements, for allegedly falsely representing to her employer that she was working as a security guard at a government facility, when she was actually elsewhere.  The indictment was returned on December 1, 2016.

The indictment was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Special Agent in Charge Robert Craig of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service - Mid-Atlantic Field Office.

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

The indictment alleges that 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 indictment, 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. 

Further, the indictment alleges that 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; and that she 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.  Penn had an initial appearance and arraignment this afternoon in U.S. District Court in Baltimore and was released under the supervision of U.S. Pretrial Services.  

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

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

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus sentenced Juan Alberto Ortiz-Orellana, aka “Chele” and “Furia,” age 28, of District Heights, Maryland; and Minor Perez-Chach, aka “Minor Chach-Perez,” “Little Bad” and “Bryant Sacarias,” age 25, of Hyattsville, Maryland, today to life in prison. On May 20, 2016, Ortiz-Orellana and Perez-Chach were 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 related firearm charges. Ortiz-Orellana was also convicted of conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering.

The sentences were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell 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 Hank Stawinski 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, co-defendant Jorge Moreno-Aguilar and 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 to murder him with other members of MS-13. 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, 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.

Jorge Moreno-Aguilar, age 23, of District Heights, Maryland, was convicted of conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise, murder in aid of racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering.  Moreno-Aguilar is scheduled to be sentenced on January 31, 2017. 

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.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein 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. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorneys William D. Moomau and Lindsay Eyler Kaplan as well as Trial Attorney Catherine K. Dick with the Justice Department’s Organized Crime and Gang Section, who are prosecuting the case, and recognized former OCGS Trial Attorney Kevin Rosenberg who assisted in the prosecution.

Two Maryland gang members were sentenced today to life in prison for conspiring to participate in racketeering activities and committing murders on behalf of the racketeering enterprise known as La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13. 

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein of the District of Maryland; Special Agent in Charge Andre R. Watson of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore Field Office; Chief Hank Stawinski of the Prince George’s County, Maryland, Police Department; Chief J. Thomas Manger of the Montgomery County, Maryland, Police Department; and Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Angela D. Alsobrooks made the announcement.

Juan Alberto Ortiz-Orellana, aka Chele and Furia, 28, of District Heights, Maryland, and Minor Perez-Chach, aka Minor Chach-Perez and Little Bad and Bryant Sacarias, 25, of Hyattsville, Maryland, were each sentenced to life in prison by U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus of the District of Maryland.  Ortiz-Orellana and Perez-Chach were convicted by a jury on May 20, 2016 for conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise, murder in aid of racketeering and related charges. Ortiz-Orellana was also convicted of conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering.

MS-13 is a national and transnational gang that operates in the United States and Central America.  Members engage in racketeering activity including murder, narcotics distribution, extortion, robberies, obstruction of justice and other crimes.

According to evidence presented at trial, a number of small MS-13 groups, or cliques, operate in the Washington, D.C., area and have frequent contact with MS-13 leadership in El Salvador.  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. 

Trial evidence demonstrated that, 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, as well as extorted brothel operators and owners of other illegal businesses and tampered with and retaliated against witnesses, among other crimes.  

Evidence at trial further demonstrated that in January 2013, Ortiz-Orellana and another member of the MS-13 Sailors Locotes Salvatrucha Westside Clique, targeted an individual associated with the rival 18th Street gang, obtained photographs of the victim and conspired to murder him with other members of MS-13.  On March 12, 2013, Ortiz-Orellana and the other gang member went to Capitol Heights, Maryland, and shot the victim multiple times outside his home, killing him.  

According to the trial evidence, in the early morning hours of Feb. 23, 2013, Perez-Chach met a man whom he believed to be a member of MS-13 who had testified against MS-13 members in federal trials.  In fact, the victim was not the witness from the previous MS-13 trials, according to trial evidence.  Perez-Chach followed the victim to his home in Hyattsville, where he stabbed the victim to death while another member of MS-13 attacked the victim with a machete, trial evidence demonstrated.  Evidence presented at trial showed that during his arrest on May 20, 2013, Perez-Chach was found to be in illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Nine of the 15 defendants charged in this investigation have pleaded guilty to their roles in the racketeering conspiracy.  Five defendants total have been convicted at trial, and one remains a fugitive of justice.

HSI Baltimore, Prince George’s County Police Department, Montgomery County Police Department, Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office and Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office investigated the case.  Trial Attorney Catherine K. Dick of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys William D. Moomau and Lindsay Eyler Kaplan of the District of Maryland are prosecuting the case.  Former OCGS Trial Attorney Kevin Rosenberg assisted in the prosecution of this case.

Greenbelt, Maryland – Sobeida Maria Laboy, age 46, of Germantown, Maryland, pleaded guilty on November 30, 2016, to bank fraud arising from a scheme to defraud the financial institution for which she worked of more than $1 million.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office.

According to her plea agreement, Laboy worked in the Chevy Chase branch office of a financial institution that offered online banking services to its customers and had affiliates that offered homes loans and other financial services.  Laboy admitted that from December 2007 through June 19, 2014, she created fraudulent invoices, which she submitted, along with check requests, for payment by her employer.  The invoices purported to be for services provided by a specific vendor. Laboy submitted the fraudulent invoices along with a check request form, stating that the check should be sent to her at her office in Chevy Chase.  Laboy forged the signature of another employee in the “approval” section of the form.  Instead of sending the checks for payment to the vendor, Laboy endorsed the checks with her own signature and deposited them into her personal bank accounts.

Over the course of the scheme, Laboy deposited at least 60 checks issued by her employer and made payable to the vendor.  Laboy deposited at least six additional checks either issued by her employer and made payable to other vendors, or issued by other vendors and made payable to her employer.  As a result of the scheme, Laboy fraudulently obtained at least $1,020,576.28

Laboy faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison for bank fraud.  U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte scheduled her sentencing for March 15, 2017, at 9:30 a.m.

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.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI for its work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lindsay Eyler Kaplan and Nicolas A. Mitchell, who are prosecuting the case.

Baltimore, Maryland –Matthew Hightower, age 34, of Baltimore, was sentenced today to 380 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for collection of a debt by extortionate means, and use of interstate facilities for extortion resulting in death in connection with the murder of victim David Wutoh.  Hightower was convicted by a federal jury on September 22, 2016, after a seven-day trial.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Nicholas DiGiulio, Office of Investigations, Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services; and Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department.          

 According to evidence presented at trial, in 2013, Matthew Hightower was employed at RX Resources and Solutions (RXRS) as a delivery driver. RXRS was owned by Hightower’s co-defendant, Harry Crawford, who was also Hightower’s boss at RXRS.

According to trial testimony and Crawford’s plea agreement, in 2013 Crawford approached Hightower to facilitate a loan to Crawford’s longtime friend, David Wutoh.  Wutoh promised Hightower that in exchange for $15,000 in cash, Wutoh would pay Hightower $20,000 within a short period of time.  Crawford also loaned Wutoh at least $6,000 of his own money. Wutoh did not pay either man back the money he had borrowed, and as a result, from May through September 2013, Crawford and Hightower used cellular telephones and electronic messaging to harass, threaten, and coerce Wutoh to repay the loans.

For example, according to Crawford’s plea agreement, on June 7, 2013, Wutoh sent an electronic message to Crawford stating, “Battery dying.”  Crawford responded, “You will be also.  Stop playing with people’s money.”  On June 11, 2013, Crawford left Wutoh a voicemail, “Dave, I hope you don’t wanna go to sleep permanently. Give me a call.”

According to trial testimony, after further discussions about whether Wutoh would pay Hightower back, Crawford texted Wutoh on June 12, 2013, “You are putting me in a bad bad bad position I vouch for you and now you are sh**ting on Matt I have no control if you get hurt...” In response to these threats, Wutoh paid Hightower $6,000 of the $20,000 he had promised. On August 27, 2013, Hightower texted Wutoh that he was “really sick of your lies.” On September 6, 2013, Wutoh sent a message to Hightower in an attempt to repay Hightower with prescription drugs instead of money, which Hightower refused.  Between September 6 and September 9, 2013, Hightower sent several messages to Wutoh about wanting his “money,” including a text to Wutoh stating, “Wheres my cheese man I don’t have time for these games.” “Cheese” is a slang term for money.  On September 13, 2013, Crawford sent a message to Wutoh telling him to put him in his will.  Wutoh responded to Crawford, “you are.” As of September 21, 2013, Wutoh had not repaid Hightower or Crawford all of the money he borrowed from them.

According to trial testimony, on the evening of September 21 and the early morning hours of September 22, 2013, Hightower traveled from West Baltimore to East Baltimore County in the area of Wutoh’s home.  According to testimony at Hightower’s trial, at approximately 2:45 a.m., Matthew Hightower walked up to the driveway of the house where Wutoh was staying and shot seven times through the window at Wutoh, who was asleep on the couch in the living room. Wutoh was shot in the arm, leg, and head, killing him almost instantly. Then Hightower fled the scene. According to the evidence presented in court, moments later, Hightower answered a phone call on a phone he used, but had registered in another person’s name. Records showed the phone was located in close proximity to the house where Wutoh was murdered. Hightower was subsequently interviewed by investigators, and he denied being “anywhere” in the vicinity of the murder. Several weeks later, Crawford asked an associate of Wutoh questions about Wutoh’s will.  

On November 22, 2016, Harry Crawford, age 56, of Baltimore, pleaded guilty to: collection of a debt by extortionate means from victim David Wutoh; conspiracy to commit health care fraud in connection with schemes to defraud Medicaid and other health benefit programs of more than $1.2 million; and conspiracy to defraud the United States, for not reporting income from the health care fraud scheme on his taxes, resulting in over $125,000 in taxes owed. Judge Garbis scheduled sentencing for Crawford on March 28, 2017, at 11:30 a.m.  Crawford is released under the supervision of U.S. Pretrial Services.

Hightower and co-defendant Elma Myles, age 52, of Baltimore, are scheduled to go to trial on charges related to the health care fraud scheme on January 23, 2017.  Hightower remains detained.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the HHS-OIG, IRS, and Baltimore County Police Department for their work in the investigation, and thanked the Maryland Attorney General’s Office Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for its assistance.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Aaron S.J. Zelinsky, Judson T. Mihok, and Sandra Wilkinson, who are prosecuting the case.

Baltimore, Maryland –Salah Eldean Sood, age 35, of Lutherville, Maryland, pleaded guilty late on November 28, 2016, to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft, arising from a scheme to open credit card accounts using the stolen identity information of elderly persons who were in Sood’s care at Holland Manor Eldercare, an assisted living facility in Towson, Maryland.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; 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 his plea agreement, Sood managed Holland Manor Eldercare. 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 medical care.  P.J. died two days later. Maryland health officials revoked the Assisted Living Program License of Holland Manor Eldercare 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 information as to his whereabouts.

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

As part of his plea agreement, Sood will be required to pay restitution in the full amount of the victims’ losses, $74,753.24.

Sood and the government have agreed that at the time of sentencing they will recommend a sentence of 48 to 52 months in prison to be served concurrent to the state sentence imposed in his Baltimore County Circuit court case.  U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis has scheduled sentencing for March 30, 2017 at 10:00 a.m.

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.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended HHS, the Baltimore County Police Department, Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office and SSA for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren E. Perry and Roann Nichols, who are prosecuting the case.

Greenbelt, Maryland – Joshua Francisco Miranda, age 29, of Waldorf, Maryland, admitted committing two bank robberies in March 2016.

Today’s guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; and Chief Hank Stawinski of the Prince George’s County Police Department.

According to his plea agreement, on March 23 and March 29, 2016, Miranda robbed banks in Accokeek and Fort Washington, Maryland, respectively.  In each robbery Miranda entered the bank and gave the teller a note demanding $5,000.  The note also threatened that Miranda had a bomb which he would detonate if the teller did not comply with his demand.  Surveillance footage and witness testimony showed that in each robbery Miranda had a wire coming out of one of his shirt sleeves.  Miranda stole a total of $7,800 from the two banks.  According to his plea agreement, Miranda will be required to pay restitution in that amount.

Miranda and the government have agreed that if the Court accepts the plea agreement Miranda will be sentenced to between seven and eight years in prison.  U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang has scheduled sentencing for March 14, 2017 at 9:30 a.m.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI, and Prince George’s County Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas M. Sullivan, who is prosecuting the case.

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm sentenced Rolando Oneal Thorpe, age 32, of Largo, Maryland, today to 10 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for possession with intent to distribute marijuana and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Danny L. Board, Jr. of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - Baltimore Field Division; Chief Hank Stawinski of the Prince George’s County Police Department; Chief Stanley Johnson, of the Maryland National Capital Park Police, Prince George’s County Division; and Chief Antonio DeVaul of the Maryland National Capital Park Police, Montgomery County Division.

According to his plea agreement, between September and November 2013, during an investigation of narcotics trafficking, Thorpe was overheard by law enforcement discussing with Marvin Taaff the various types of marijuana that Thorpe was distributing in Maryland.  On November 22, 2013, a search warrant was executed at Thorpe’s residence.  Law enforcement recovered 12 large ziplock bags containing over five kilograms of marijuana; a scale with drug residue; drug packaging materials; approximately $6,413 in cash; a 10mm handgun, with one round in the chamber and 14 rounds in the magazine; a 27 round capacity ammunition magazine, loaded with 23 rounds of 45 caliber ammunition; and a black laser site for a handgun.  Thorpe was at home during the search and admitted that everything found in the apartment belonged to him.

Marvin Taaff, age 29, of Takoma Park, Maryland, was sentenced on June 9, 2016, to 140 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for conspiring to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, cocaine base and 100 kilograms or more of marijuana.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the ATF, Prince George’s County Police Department, and Maryland National Capital Park Police for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Deborah A. Johnston, Lindsay Eyler Kaplan, and Menaka Kalaskar, who prosecuted the case.

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced Jonathan Robert Blackman, age 32, of Frederick, Maryland, today to 10 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin, powder and crack cocaine, and marijuana; and possession with intent to distribute heroin, cocaine and marijuana.  Judge Bennett also entered an order requiring Blackman to forfeit $63,571, and a 12 gauge shotgun with an obliterated serial number.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Andre R. Watson of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); and Frederick County Sheriff Charles A. “Chuck” Jenkins.  

According to Blackman’s plea agreement, law enforcement began an investigation into a drug conspiracy involving the distribution of heroin and other drugs in Frederick County and the Baltimore Metropolitan area. The investigation revealed that Blackman was a member of the drug trafficking organization.  Evidence revealed numerous calls and texts in which Blackman coordinated drug sales in and around the Frederick area.  Law enforcement subsequently executed a search warrant at Blackman’s residence and recovered: $63,571 in cash; 300.5 grams of heroin; 16.4 grams of cocaine; and 976 grams of marijuana.  

Blackman admitted that the amount of heroin reasonably foreseeable to him in, and in furtherance of, this conspiracy amounts to between one and three kilograms of heroin. 

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised HSI-Baltimore and the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Task Force. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorney Jason D. Medinger, who is prosecuting this Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force case.

Baltimore, Maryland – Correctional Officer Stephen Wise, age 34, of Pocomoke, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to his participation in a racketeering conspiracy operating at the Eastern Correctional Institution in Westover, Maryland.  Wise also pleaded guilty to a civil rights violation, deprivation of rights under color of law, for participating in the stabbing of an inmate.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Postal Inspector in Charge Terrence P. McKeown of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service - Washington Division; Secretary Stephen T. Moyer of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services; and Colonel William M. Pallozzi, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police.

According to his plea agreement and court documents, the Eastern Correctional Institution (ECI) is the largest state prison in Maryland, operating near Westover, in Somerset County, on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. During the conspiracy, Wise was a Correctional Officer (CO) at ECI.

Wise admitted that he accepted bribes from at least eight inmates to smuggle contraband into ECI, including narcotics, cell phones and tobacco.  Wise generally charged approximately $500 per package of contraband he smuggled into ECI.  Law enforcement intercepted multiple calls and texts in which Wise and the inmates discussed contraband, and arranged payment for contraband. 

According to the plea agreement, Wise smuggled contraband in exchange for bribes for a co-defendant, who was a leader of the Dead Man Incorporated (DMI) prison gang at ECI. On July 31, 2016, Wise induced the DMI leader to arrange the assault of an inmate who had filed a complaint against Wise that caused Wise to be removed from the housing unit.  At the time he was removed, Wise had been given approximately $1500 by the DMI leader for contraband that he had not yet brought into the unit. Wise told multiple inmates, including the co-defendant, that the inmate who filed the complaint had to be taken out of the unit before Wise could be reassigned there.  Wise knew that if an inmate is physically assaulted he is removed from a housing unit for his own safety.  On July 31, 2016, the inmate who filed the complaint was assaulted and stabbed by several inmates who were members of the Cripps prison gang, and who had been paid $500 to do so by Wise’s co-defendant. 

Wise faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for the racketeering conspiracy, and a maximum of 10 years in prison for deprivation of rights under color of law for his participation in the stabbing of an inmate. U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar has scheduled sentencing for Wise on February 17, 2017 a 10:00 a.m.

The U.S. Attorney expressed appreciation to Secretary Moyer whose staff initiated the ECI investigation and who has made the full resources of the DPSCS available to assist the three-year investigation.  U.S. Attorney Rosenstein also recognized the efforts of the Maryland Prison Task Force which has brought together federal, state and local agencies in meetings to generate reforms in prison procedures and facilitate joint investigations of prison corruption and prison gangs.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked the members of the Maryland Prison Task Force and the and other agencies who assisted in this investigation and prosecution.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, the Baltimore Police Department and Maryland State Police for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Leo J. Wise, Robert R. Harding, and Daniel C. Gardner, who are prosecuting this Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force case.

Baltimore, Maryland –Harry Crawford, age 56, of Baltimore, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to collection of a debt by extortionate means from victim David Wutoh. Co-defendant Matthew Hightower, age 34, also of Baltimore, was convicted of extortion and the murder of David Wutoh on September 22, 2016, after a seven-day trial.

Crawford also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud in connection with schemes to defraud Medicaid and other health benefit programs, and conspiracy to defraud the United States, for not reporting income from the health care fraud scheme on his taxes.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Nicholas DiGiulio, Office of Investigations, Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services; Special Agent in Charge Thomas Jankowski of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, Washington, D.C. Field Office; and Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department. 

According to his plea agreement, Crawford owned, and was President and CEO of RX Resources and Solutions (RXRS), a durable medical equipment provider located in Randallstown, Maryland. Beginning in 2012, co-defendant Matthew Hightower worked as a delivery driver for RXRS.

According to his plea agreement, in 2013 Crawford approached Hightower to facilitate a loan to Crawford’s longtime friend, David Wutoh.  Wutoh promised Hightower an enormous rate of return.  In exchange for $15,000 in cash, Wutoh would pay Hightower $20,000 within a short period of time.  Crawford also loaned Wutoh at least $6,000 of his own money. Wutoh did not pay either man back the money he had borrowed, as a result, from May through September 2013, Crawford and Hightower used cellular telephones and electronic messaging to harass, threaten, and coerce Wutoh to repay the loans.

For example, according to the plea agreement, on June 7, 2013, Wutoh sent an electronic message to Crawford stating, “Battery dying.”  Crawford responded, “You will be also.  Stop playing with people’s money.”  On September 13, 2013, Crawford sent an electronic message to Wutoh telling him to put him in his will.  Wutoh responded to Crawford, “you are.” As of September 21, 2013, Wutoh had not repaid Crawford or Hightower all of the money he borrowed from them.

According to Crawford’s plea agreement, on the evening of September 21 and the early morning hours of September 22, 2013, Hightower traveled from West Baltimore to East Baltimore County in the area of Wutoh’s home.  At about 2:50 a.m. on September 22, 2013, Wutoh was shot in the living room of his home, by an assailant who fired multiple shots through the front window. According to the plea agreement and evidence presented in court, moments later, Hightower answered a phone call on a phone registered registered in another person’s name. Records showed the phone was located in close proximity to the house where Wutoh was murdered. 

During interviews conducted with Crawford by law enforcement officers investigating the murder, Crawford never disclosed Hightower’s outstanding loan to Wutoh, nor Crawford’s efforts to have Wutoh repay it.  When asked directly whether Hightower had any reason to harm Wutoh, Crawford said, “No.”

Further, Crawford admitted that from 2010 through May 2014, he conspired with others to defraud Medicaid and other health benefit programs by having RXRS bill for supplies that were never provided, overcharge for materials actually delivered, and bill for supplies that were unneeded and had not been prescribed by a physician. 

According to his plea agreement, Crawford and his co-conspirators used the personal identity information of clients to submit fraudulent claims to Medicaid and other health care benefits programs for disposable medical supplies that were not delivered to the beneficiary.  In addition, Crawford and his co-conspirators delivered medical supplies to beneficiaries who did not need the supplies and whose physicians had not prescribed the supplies, even after the beneficiaries reported that they did not want or need the supplies.  According to the plea agreement, a co-conspirator would sign or have someone else sign delivery tickets when deliveries had not actually taken place so that the records of RXRS would falsely document the delivery. 

On February 4, 2014, federal agents executed a search warrant at RXRS and Crawford’s home.  Agents recovered almost $60,000 in cash from a clothes bin beside the bed in Crawford’s room, and boxes of patient files from the house.  From RXRS agents recovered emails documenting a criminal plan at the inception of RXRS, and fraudulent delivery tickets from December 2013 and January 2014.

An analysis of RXRS billing of Medicaid from 2007 through 2014 establishes that the loss to Medicaid just for incontinent supplies billed but not provided is approximately $1.2 million.

Finally, Crawford admitted that he conspired to defraud the United States by not reporting or paying taxes on the proceeds of the fraud.  A review of bank records shows that Crawford used the proceeds of the fraud directly for the accounts of RXRS, using a significant portion of the proceeds for his personal benefit, including mortgage payments, personal travel, restaurants, and hosting social events. The IRS determined that Crawford owes $102,782.17 in federal taxes and $25,000 for state taxes for tax years 2010 through 2013.

Crawford faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for collection of extension of credit by extortion. Crawford also faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for health care fraud and a maximum of five years in prison for conspiracy to defraud the United States. U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis has scheduled sentencing for Hightower on November 30, 2016, at 10:00 a.m.  Hightower remains detained.  Judge Garbis scheduled sentencing for Crawford on March 28, 2016, at 11:30 a.m.  Crawford is released under the supervision of U.S. Pretrial Services.

Hightower and co-defendant Elma Myles, age 52, of Baltimore, are scheduled to go to trial on charges related to the health care fraud scheme on January 23, 2017.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the HHS-OIG, IRS, and Baltimore County Police Department for their work in the investigation, and thanked the Maryland Attorney General’s Office Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for its assistance.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Aaron S.J. Zelinsky, Judson T. Mihok, and Sandra Wilkinson, who are prosecuting the case.

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow sentenced Curtis Portland Litten, age 54, of Huntingtown, Maryland, today to 21 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for possession of firearms and ammunition by a convicted person. Litten pleaded guilty to that charge on September 1, 2016, and has been detained since his arrest on April 22, 2016.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Daniel L. Board Jr. of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - Baltimore Field Division; and Chief Matthew R. Verderosa of the U.S. Capitol Police.

According to his plea agreement, from January 28 through March 24, 2016, Litten wrote and mailed at least nine cards and letters to the President of the United States and members of the United States Congress threatening harm to them and/or their family members.  Fingerprint analysis of several of the cards identified latent fingerprints belonging to Litten.

In connection with the investigation into the identity of the sender of the threatening communications, a search warrant was executed at Litten’s home.  Law enforcement seized envelopes and unsent greeting cards addressed to members of Congress and signed by Litten, computer printouts of addresses for elected officials, and reminders to write letters to elected officials.  In addition, law enforcement seized: .22 caliber, .38 caliber, and .380 caliber pistols; a 12-gauge shotgun; a .410 bore shotgun; a .38 caliber blank firing revolver; 300 rounds of .22 caliber ammunition; 24 rounds of .380 caliber ammunition; four rounds of .410 caliber shotgun ammunition; and one 12-gauge shotgun shell.

As a result of a previous felony conviction, Litten was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the ATF and U.S. Capitol Police for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer R. Sykes and Thomas P. Windom, who prosecuted the case.

Greenbelt, Maryland – Charles County Sheriff’s Deputy Alexander C. Sullivan, age 37, of King George, Virginia, has been charged federally with possession of child pornography.   The federal criminal complaint was filed on November 21, 2016 and Sullivan was arrested that evening.  Sullivan is expected to have an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt at 3:00 p.m. today, before U.S. Magistrate Judge William Connelly.

The criminal complaint was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Andre R. Watson of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); and Charles County Sheriff Troy Berry.

According to the affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received four tips from a company that provides cloud security concerning suspected child pornography being uploaded to a specific telephone number in October and November 2016. An officer from the Charles County Sheriff’s Department conducted a search on the telephone number and determined that it belonged to Alexander Sullivan of Indian Head, Maryland.  The officer recognized Sullivan’s name and telephone number as belonging to a fellow officer.  Sullivan had resided in Indian Head prior to recently relocating to Virginia.

A state search warrant for Sullivan and his telephone was executed in Charles County on November 17, 2016.  A preview of the materials on the phone allegedly revealed more than 200 images and five videos containing child pornography. The forensic investigation is ongoing.

If convicted, Sullivan faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for possession of child pornography. 

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

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.                    

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended HSI Baltimore, and the Charles County Sheriff’s Office for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph R. Baldwin and Kristi N. O’Malley, who are prosecuting the federal case.

Baltimore, Maryland – Howard County youth gymnastics coach Paul Daniel Bollinger, age 57, of Windsor Mill, Maryland pleaded guilty today to distribution of child pornography. Bollinger worked as a youth gymnastics coach in Maryland for over 30 years prior to his arrest in this case. 

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department; Special Agent in Charge Andre R. Watson of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); and Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger

According to his plea agreement, on May 15, 2016, Bollinger distributed computer files containing videos of child pornography using a file sharing program.  An undercover Baltimore County Police detective downloaded at least 10 movie files containing child pornography that Bollinger distributed.

On May 25, 2016, investigators executed a state search warrant at Bollinger’s residence. During the search, investigators found a desktop computer powered on and running peer-to-peer file sharing software, and numerous files with titles indicative of child pornography were being shared and downloaded through use of the software.  The wallpaper image on the computer monitor depicted a naked female child lying on her stomach.  Law enforcement seized the desktop computer, hard drives and other digital media which contained over 40,000 image files and over 100 video files of child pornography.  Next to Bollinger’s bed, detectives found over 100 pages of handwritten stories about an adult male having sex with young children. 

According to his plea agreement, Bollinger was present during the execution of the search warrant and spoke with law enforcement.  He characterized his involvement with child pornography as an obsession and stated that he had been viewing child pornography since approximately 1990.  Bollinger advised that he prefers female children aged 8 to 12 years, the same age group of girls that he currently coached, but denied any inappropriate contact with children.  Bollinger stated that he had sexual thoughts about a girl he coached in gymnastics and that he was attracted to the “body type” of many of the girls he coached.

Bollinger faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for distributing child pornography. U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis has scheduled sentencing for Bollinger on March 3, 2017, at 10:00 a.m. Bollinger remains detained.

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.                    

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI, Baltimore County Police Department, HSI Baltimore, and Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew J. Maddox, who is prosecuting the federal case.

Greenbelt, Maryland – A federal jury convicted the following defendants late on November 18, 2016, for conspiracies to commit wire fraud and money laundering arising from a scheme to defraud vulnerable victims of millions of dollars:

Gbenga Benson Ogundele, a/k/a “Benson Ogundele,” age 58, of Laurel, Maryland; Victor Oyewumi Oloyede, age 42, of Laurel; Babtunde Emmanuel Popoola, a/k/a “Emmanuel Popoola” and “Tunde Popoola, age 34, of   Bowie, Maryland; and his sister, Mojisola Tinuola Popoola, a/k/a “Mojisola Oluwakemi Tin Popoola” and “Moji T. Popoola,” age 42, of Laurel.

The conviction was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

According to evidence presented at the 17-day trial, from January 2011 to May 18, 2015, members of the conspiracy searched online dating websites to initiate romantic relationships with vulnerable male and female individuals.  They phoned, emailed, texted and used internet chat messenger services to form romantic relationships with the victims, who lived in Maryland and around the country. 

Witnesses testified that members of the conspiracy 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.  Ogundele, Oloyede, the Popoolas and other conspirators opened bank accounts, called “drop accounts,” in order to receive millions of dollars from the victims.  Testimony at trial showed that victims provided money to the defendants as a result of the false stories and promises, either depositing money directly into drop accounts controlled by the defendants, or by checks sent to the conspirators.  The payments from victims ranged from $1,720 to $50,000.

Ogundele, Oloyede, the Popoolas, and their 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 defendants face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for conspiring to commit wire fraud, and for conspiring to commit money laundering. Additionally, all of the defendants except for Mojisola Popoola face a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison to be served consecutive to any other sentence for aggravated identity theft, arising from the use of a victim’s name, bank account number or driver’s license in furtherance of the fraud scheme. U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm has scheduled sentencing for Oloyede on January 25, 2017; for the Popoolas on February 22, 2017; and for Ogundele on February 23, 2017.

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.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI for its work in the investigation and thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas P. Windom and Leah Jo Bressack, who are prosecuting the case.

Greenbelt, Maryland – Derrick Rondell Battle, age 43, of Bladensburg, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to armed commercial robbery, using and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence and being a felon in possession of a firearm, related to three robberies he committed in September 2015. 

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; and Chief Henry P. Stawinski of the Prince George’s County Police Department.

According to his plea agreement, Battle committed three armed robberies between September 21 and September 25, 2015.  In each robbery Battle wore a mask and was armed with a black semi-automatic handgun, which he brandished at store employees.

Specifically, Battle robbed: a pharmacy in the 6400 block of Landover Road in Landover, Maryland on September 21, 2015, stealing $200; a discount store in the 6500 block of Annapolis Road in Landover Hills, Maryland on September 24, 2015, stealing $1,200; and a gas station in the 5800 block of Annapolis Road in Cheverly, Maryland, stealing $200.

As Battle fled the gas station, a strong wind blew the stolen money out of the bag and Battle stopped to collect the money.  Responding police officers saw Battle in a nearby ravine and he was apprehended after a brief chase.  Police officers recovered cash from Battle and within feet of where he was apprehended recovered the gun used in the robbery, additional cash and the jacket Battle wore during the robbery. 

The gun was a .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun loaded with six .45 caliber rounds of ammunition.  The total cash recovered was approximately $1,200.  

Battle was prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition as a result of previous felony convictions.

Battle and the government have agreed that if the Court accepts the plea agreement Battle will be sentenced to 198 months in prison.  U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang has scheduled sentencing for January 19, 2017 at 2:00 p.m.   

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI and Prince George’s County Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Menaka Kalaskar and Bryan E. Foreman, who are prosecuting the case.

Baltimore, Maryland – Correctional Officer Rachelle Hankerson, age 26, of Salisbury, Maryland; Ramel Chase, age 34, of Glen Burnie, Maryland; and Miguel Matos, age 46, of Ft. Washington, Maryland, pleaded guilty this week to racketeering conspiracy operating at the Eastern Correctional Institution in Westover, Maryland.  Hankerson also pleaded guilty to deprivation of rights under color of law for participating in the stabbing of an inmate.

The guilty pleas were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Postal Inspector in Charge Terrence P. McKeown of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service - Washington Division; Secretary Stephen T. Moyer of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services; and Colonel William M. Pallozzi, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police.

According to their plea agreements and court documents, the Eastern Correctional Institution (ECI) is the largest state prison in Maryland, operating since 1987 near Westover, in Somerset County, on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. During the conspiracy, Hankerson was a Correctional Officer (CO) at ECI, Chase was an inmate, and Matos was the father of an inmate at ECI.

Hankerson admitted that she accepted payments from facilitators and inmates to smuggle contraband into ECI, including narcotics, cell phones and tobacco.  Hankerson charged at least $500 per package of contraband she smuggled into ECI.  Hankerson also admitted that she approached a co-defendant who was a member of the Bloods gang at ECI for whom she smuggled contraband, and asked the inmate to confront inmate D.S., with whom Hankerson had had a verbal dispute.  Hankerson twice allowed her co-defendant onto the tier where D.S. was housed.  The second time that the co-defendant entered D.S.’s cell he violently attacked D.S., stabbing him multiple times.  Another inmate told Hankerson about the violent confrontation, but rather than notifying prison authorities, Hankerson left the area.  She later told an inmate to provide a false story to prison authorities that Hankerson had not been on the tier when the attack occurred.

Chase admitted that he bribed and attempted to bribe COs to smuggle contraband, including narcotics, into ECI. Chase managed a contraband smuggling and distribution network involving co-defendants and others. Matos admitted that he facilitated his son’s contraband smuggling in ECI by obtaining narcotics and other contraband and transferring it to co-conspirators who smuggled it into the facility.  In addition, Matos performed financial transactions in furtherance of the smuggling.

Law enforcement intercepted multiple calls in which Hankerson, Chase, Matos and others working with them discussed contraband, arranging meetings with correctional officers, and payment for contraband.  In calls between Matos and his son, investigators overheard them discussing COs who smuggled contraband into ECI for them.  Matos was also overheard discussing the packaging and delivery of contraband with a supplier.

The defendants each face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for the racketeering conspiracy. Hankerson also faces a maximum of 10 years in prison for deprivation of rights under color of law for her participation in the stabbing of an inmate. U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar has scheduled sentencing for Matos on February 24, 2017, at 10:00 a.m.; for Hankerson on March 7, 2017 at 2:00 p.m.; and for Chase on January 17, 2017 at 2:00 p.m.

The U.S. Attorney expressed appreciation to Secretary Moyer whose staff initiated the ECI investigation and who has made the full resources of the DPSCS available to assist the three-year investigation.  U.S. Attorney Rosenstein also recognized the efforts of the Maryland Prison Task Force which has brought together federal, state and local agencies in meetings to generate reforms in prison procedures and facilitate joint investigations of prison corruption and prison gangs.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked the members of the Maryland Prison Task Force and the and other agencies who assisted in this investigation and prosecution.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, the Baltimore Police Department and Maryland State Police for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Leo J. Wise, Robert R. Harding, and Daniel C. Gardner, who are prosecuting this Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force case.

Baltimore, Maryland – A federal grand jury has indicted Marie Joy Tanamor-Steffan, a/k/a Marie Joy Steffan-Tanamor and Marie Joy Acibo Tanamore, age 42, of Baltimore, for wire fraud and false use of a passport in connection with schemes to defraud two retail chains.  The indictment was returned on November 16 and unsealed today upon her arrest. 

The indictment was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Richard Ingram of the Washington Field Office of the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service; Special Agent in Charge Brian Murphy of the United States Secret Service - Baltimore Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Brian J. Ebert of the United States Secret Service - Washington Field Office.

The eight-count indictment alleges that Tanamor-Steffan defrauded a retail lingerie chain by shoplifting items from stores in Maryland, Virginia, and other states.  The indictment alleges that Tanamor-Steffan then exchanged the shoplifted items at another store for items costing slightly more in total. The lingerie store allowed customers who did not have a receipt to exchange or return merchandise for store credit.  Customers were required to provide a driver’s license, state identification card, or passport number, which was entered into the store’s computer system.  The store limited the amount a customer could receive in non-receipted exchanges/returns in a 90-day period. Tanamor-Steffan presented a Philippine passport as her identification, but allegedly altered the passport number for each exchange to avoid triggering the store limit.  Tanamor-Steffan paid the additional amount due with her debit card and received a receipt for the transaction.  According to the indictment, Tanamor-Steffan then returned the items, with the refund being credited to the debit card she used during the exchange.

The indictment further alleges that Tanamor-Steffan conducted a similar scheme targeting a home improvement store.  According to the indictment, Tanamor-Steffan would go to the home improvement store with a receipt for merchandise, but without the merchandise.  The indictment alleges she would select the items on the receipt from inventory in the store, then take those items to customer service and “return” the items she had just selected but not purchased, using the receipt she brought to the store with her.  The refund would be credited to Tanamor-Steffan’s bank account.

The indictment seeks the forfeiture of at least $61,322.42, alleged to be the proceeds of the fraud schemes.

If convicted, Tanamor-Steffan faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for each of seven counts of wire fraud, and a maximum of 10 years in prison for passport fraud.  Tanamor-Steffan had an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Baltimore today and was ordered to be detained, pending a detention hearing scheduled for November 21, 2016 at 2:30.

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. 

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.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, United States Secret Service – Baltimore Field Office and Washington Field Office, and National Capitol Region Fraud Task Force for their work in the investigation and thanked HSI-Baltimore for its assistance.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Tamera L. Fine and Special Assistant United States Attorney Brian Fish, on detail from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, who are prosecuting the case.

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Theodore J. Chuang sentenced Gloria Patricia Taylor, age 52, of Lanham, Maryland today to 146 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 1000 kilograms or more of marijuana, two counts of use of a communication device to facilitate narcotics trafficking, and possession with intent to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana.  Judge Chuang also entered an order requiring Taylor to forfeit $3.7 million.  Taylor was convicted by a federal jury on April 28, 2016.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Special Agent in Charge Karl C. Colder of the Drug Enforcement Administration - Washington Field Division.  

According to evidence presented at her seven-day trial, on July 1, 2013, law enforcement officers intercepted three crates containing a total of approximately 630 kilograms of marijuana at a nationwide delivery company with a shipping office located in Maryland.  All three crates were shipped from Tucson, Arizona.  The crates were addressed to companies in in Landover and Lanham, Maryland.  The bill of lading for the shipments described the contents as “Stone Group, Amethyst Stone,” and “Stone Group, Aragonite.”   In total, the bales of marijuana from those three crates weighed over 1300 pounds, which evidence at trial showed was approximately $1.3 million dollars’ worth of marijuana.  

According to trial evidence, records showed that at least 28 additional crates shipped from Arizona to those and other companies were sent from March 2011 through October 2013. The shipping company driver who delivered the packages testified that Taylor accepted delivery of and signed fictitious names for each of the crates (with the exception of 5 or so shipments, which were delivered to an associate of Taylor’s, at Taylor’s request), and that none of the crates were delivered to the addresses found on the bills of lading.  Evidence at trial further showed that none of the delivery addresses on the bills of lading were in any way associated with any of the businesses.  Taylor tipped the driver approximately $100 for each delivery.

Trial testimony showed that the driver first met Taylor when he attempted to deliver a crate to one of the companies.  When the driver arrived at the address listed on the bill of lading, the individuals at that address did not accept the package.  Shortly thereafter, Taylor contacted the driver and asked him to deliver the package to a location around the corner.  Taylor arrived at the delivery spot with a U-Haul.  Taylor requested that the driver become her regular delivery driver for all future deliveries. According to trial testimony, prior to each delivery, Taylor would contact the driver by telephone and inform him that the crates were arriving at the shipping company in Maryland.  The day of the delivery, Taylor would call the driver to let him know where to make the delivery.  When law enforcement intercepted the three crates in July 2013, shipping company personnel told the driver that drugs were found in the crates.  The driver confronted Taylor, who apologized for getting him involved, and offered to pay the driver $10,000 to get the crate back and also offered him a new cell phone so that they could communicate.  The driver refused the money and the cell phone and cut off all communication with Taylor. Taylor stopped using the shipping company.

The government’s evidence showed that Taylor traveled to Arizona during the same time period each of the shipments were shipped from Tucson, Arizona to Maryland.  Even after Taylor stopped using the Maryland shipping company in July 2013, she continued to travel to and from Arizona and Maryland, renting a U-Haul within days of each return to Maryland, including in October 2013, January 2014, February 2014, April 2014, July 2014, and September 2014. 

According to trial evidence, after Taylor returned to Maryland from Arizona on September 30, 2014, she rented a U-Haul van, which she drove to Washington, DC, and then back to her residence.  On that same date, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Taylor’s residence and the U-Haul van.  Law enforcement recovered 250 pounds of marijuana (approximately 130 kilograms) from a crate that Taylor was seen unloading from the U-Haul van, and nine cell phones from throughout the residence.  In addition, within her master bedroom, law enforcement recovered additional marijuana, over $30,000 in cash, and drug ledgers which calculated Taylor’s sales and profit from her marijuana business. 

The government’s evidence showed that, just between October 2012 and July 2013, Taylor shipped approximately 5,220 pounds (approximately 2,367 kilograms) of marijuana, worth approximately $5 million.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the DEA for its work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kelly O’Connell Hayes and Bryan E. Foreman, who prosecuted the case.