Eastern District of Pennsylvania

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that John “Jack” Griffin, 62, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, entered a plea of guilty before United States District Judge Chad F. Kenney on Wednesday to wire fraud and tax evasion charges.

As detailed in court documents and statements made in court, Griffin was the principal and founder of Second Story Farming Inc., which did business as Metropolis Farms. Second Story Farming had several lines of business, including growing crops in vertical farms to sell to customers, developing sustainable vertical farming technologies, and selling vertical farming systems to customers.

In 2017, Griffin, through Second Story Farming, sold vertical farming systems, along with the equipment, supplies, materials, and operational instructions necessary to operate them, to two companies. Before entering into the contracts, Griffin provided financial projections to them that grossly overstated the anticipated revenues that could be generated by the vertical farms and grossly understated the anticipated expenses necessary to operate the vertical farms.

In reliance on the financial projections, the companies each paid Second Story Farming to set up vertical farms for them. Rather than use those funds to provide them with vertical farms, Griffin used most of the money to pay his own personal expenses and operate Second Story Farming’s research and development line of business.

In 2017, Griffin earned income from his work at Second Story Farming. Despite being legally required to file a tax return for that year, Griffin did not do so. Griffin tried to conceal that he received any income in 2017 by, among other things, withdrawing cash and paying personal expense from his business’s bank accounts and transferring funds from his business to his wife, and withdrawing cash from Second Story Farming’s business bank account.   

Griffin is scheduled to be sentenced on October 22 and faces a maximum possible penalty of 20 years in prison on each of the wire fraud charges and five years in prison on the tax evasion charge.

This case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation, the FBI, and the United States Postal Inspection Service. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis Weber and Trial Attorney Catriona Coppler of the Department of Justice’s Tax Division.

A Pennsylvania man pleaded guilty yesterday to wire fraud and tax evasion.

The following is according to court documents and statements made in court: John (Jack) Griffin of Philadelphia was the principal and founder of Second Story Farming Inc., which did business as Metropolis Farms. Second Story Farming had several lines of business, including growing crops in vertical farms to sell to customers, developing sustainable vertical farming technologies, and selling vertical farming systems to customers. Vertical farming refers to a practice of growing crops vertically and in horizontally stacked layers.

In 2017, Griffin, through Second Story Farming, sold vertical farming systems along with the equipment, supplies, materials, and operational instructions necessary to operate them to two companies. Before entering into the contracts, Griffin provided financial projections to them that grossly overstated the anticipated revenues that could be generated by the vertical farms and grossly understated the anticipated expenses necessary to operate the vertical farms. In reliance on the financial projections, the companies each paid Second Story Farming to set up vertical farms for them. Rather than use those funds to provide them with vertical farms, Griffin used most of the money to pay his own personal expenses and operate Second Story Farming’s research and development line of business.

In 2017, Griffin earned income from his work at Second Story Farming. Despite being legally required to file a tax return for that year, Griffin did not do so. Griffin tried to conceal that he received any income in 2017 by, among other things, withdrawing cash and paying personal expense from his business’s bank accounts and transferring funds from his business to his wife, and withdrawing cash from Second Story Farming’s business bank account.  

Griffin is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 22. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each of the wire fraud charges and a maximum penalty of five years in prison on the tax evasion charge. He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney Karen E. Kelly of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney David Metcalf for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania made the announcement.

IRS Criminal Investigation, the FBI, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service are investigating the case.

Trial Attorney Catriona Coppler of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis Weber for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania are prosecuting the case.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Kelly Stanton, 55, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was sentenced today to 144 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and restitution in the amount of $12,500 by United States District Judge R. Barclay Surrick for carjacking a woman at gunpoint in January of 2023.

Stanton was charged by indictment in March 2023 and pleaded guilty to the carjacking in October of last year.

As detailed in court filings and admitted to by the defendant, around 11 p.m. on January 26, 2023, a woman had parked her car on the 1600 block of Cecil B. Moore Avenue in Philadelphia to pick up a pizza. After she exited the pizza shop and was getting back in her car, Stanton approached. He put a firearm to her head and said, “give me the f[***]ing keys or I’m going to shoot you.”

After struggling with Stanton, the victim was eventually able to get her keys out of her pocket, give them to him, and run away from the car. The defendant drove off in the vehicle, heading west on Cecil B. Moore. The victim’s car has still not been recovered.

“The victim in this case was just going about her night when Stanton ambushed and terrorized her, putting his gun to her head and threatening to shoot,” said U.S. Attorney Metcalf. “Anyone who would violently accost a stranger like this for their car, or any other possession, is a clear threat to our community. My office will continue to work with our partners on the Philadelphia Carjacking Task Force to bring these dangerous offenders to justice.”

“Kelly Stanton’s victim was picking up a pizza when he stuck a gun to her head and demanded her car keys — he’s now facing a dozen years in federal prison,” said Eric DeGree, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Philadelphia Field Division. “Carjacking is a violent and dangerous crime. Together with our Carjacking Task Force partners we are using ATF’s unique forensic and investigative tools to stop criminals like this from terrorizing our neighborhoods. We hope this case deters those willing to use violence in our community.”

The case was investigated by the ATF and the Philadelphia Police Department and is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Meagan Gordon and Assistant United States Attorney Priya De Souza.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that MD Munsur Ali, 48, of Millbourne, Pennsylvania, was sentenced today to 21 months in prison, one year of supervised release, and a $2,500 special assessment by United States District Judge Harvey Bartle III for election fraud offenses.

In February of this year, the defendant and co-conspirators MD Nurul Hasan, 48, and MD Rafikul Islam, 52, also of Millbourne, were charged in a 33-count indictment with conspiracy to commit voter fraud, giving false information in registering to vote, and fraudulent voter registration, arising from their scheme, ultimately unsuccessful, to steal Millbourne Borough’s 2021 mayoral election for Hasan.

Ali, a member of the Millbourne Borough Council, pleaded guilty in April to all 25 charges against him — one count of conspiracy, 12 counts of giving false information in registering to vote, and 12 counts of fraudulent voter registration.

Hasan, the vice president of the Millbourne Borough Council, pleaded guilty in April to all 33 charges against him — one count of conspiracy, 16 counts of giving false information in registering to vote, and 16 counts of fraudulent voter registration.

Islam, a former member of the Millbourne Borough Council, pleaded guilty in April to all seven charges against him — one count of conspiracy, three counts of giving false information in registering to vote, and three counts of fraudulent voter registration.

Hasan and Islam were sentenced by Judge Bartle last week: Hasan to 36 months’ imprisonment and Islam to 12 months and one day in prison

As set forth in court filings, in 2021, Millbourne held elections for mayor, three seats on its borough council, and tax collector. Defendant Hasan entered the majority party’s primary election for mayor.

The primary election was held on May 20, 2021, and Hasan was defeated in the primary by a vote count of approximately 138 to 120. In the same primary, Ali was one of three majority party candidates for borough council to advance to the general election, while Islam lost his bid for reelection to the council.

After the primary, Hasan decided that he would run as a write-in candidate for mayor in the general election, which was scheduled for November 2, 2021. Ali and Islam agreed to support Hasan in his write-in campaign.

As detailed in court documents and admitted by the defendants, in or about 2021, defendants Hasan, Ali, and Islam conspired and agreed with one another, and other persons known and unknown to the U.S. Attorney, to steal the 2021 general election for Mayor of Millbourne for defendant Hasan through a multi-step process, which included:

(a) obtaining personal identification information of non-Millbourne residents, such as their names, addresses, and dates of birth;

(b) using the personal identifying information to access the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s online voter registration (PAOVR) website and change the voter registration addresses for those non-Millbourne residents to locations within Millbourne;

(c) using the PAOVR website to request that mail-in or absentee ballots for those non-Millbourne residents be sent to addresses accessible by one or more of the defendants;

(d) retrieving the ballots from the Millbourne mailboxes;

(e) impersonating the voters and fraudulently casting write-in votes for defendant Hasan to be mayor;

(f) enclosing the fraudulently completed ballots in envelopes and forging the voters' signatures on the envelopes; and

(g) submitting the ballots in their envelopes to the Delaware County Board of Elections.

The defendants admitted that, to further this conspiracy, they contacted friends and acquaintances whom Hasan and Ali knew did not live in Millbourne, told these non-Millbourne residents that Hasan was running for mayor in Millbourne, asked if they could register the non-Millbourne residents to vote in Millbourne, and then cast mail-in ballots for Hasan to be mayor.

Hasan and Ali persuaded many of their non-Millbourne friends and acquaintances to provide them with personal identification information so that defendants Hasan and Ali could register them to vote in Millbourne. During many of these conversations, Hasan and Ali told their non-Millbourne friends and acquaintances that they would not get in trouble, as long as they did not vote in another election in November 2021.

Hasan and Ali also conspired and agreed to use personal identifying information for other non-Millbourne residents, which the two defendants had obtained from other sources, such as Hasan’s business, to register those nonresidents as Millbourne voters without the knowledge of those non-residents.

Hasan personally did almost all of the fraudulent voter registrations himself, using a computer at his place of business to access the PAOVR website and change the voting addresses for non-Millbourne residents to locations within Millbourne. Every time that Hasan accessed the PAOVR website to change a voter registration address, he provided an email address for the voter. Many times, Hasan provided one of four email addresses that he used and accessed.

To divert suspicion from himself, however, Hasan sometimes provided email addresses belonging to other people, who knowingly and willfully permitted Hasan to use their email addresses to cover up Hasan’s actions. One of those people was Islam, who allowed Hasan to use two of Islam’s email addresses when Hasan fraudulently changed the voter registration addresses for six individuals. Islam also permitted Hasan to use two of Islam’s email addresses when requesting mail-in ballots for five non-Millbourne residents.

In total, the defendants conspired to falsely register nearly three dozen non-Millbourne residents as Millbourne voters and cast ballots for those non-Millbourne residents in the 2021 general election for mayor of Millbourne Borough. Hasan went on to lose the election by a vote of approximately 165 to 138.

“These defendants sabotaged the democratic will of their fellow citizens in deciding Millbourne’s next mayor,” said U.S. Attorney Metcalf. “Public trust in the electoral process is critical, and my office is committed to ensuring that our elections remain free and fair. As this case shows, should we find instances of fraud, we won’t hesitate to prosecute those responsible.”

“The electoral process is a pillar of our democracy, so when public officials undermine this system through fraud, they don't only break the law — they compromise the trust built between this process and the American people,” said Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Philadelphia. “The FBI remains unwavering in our commitment to protecting the integrity of elections and ensuring those who break these laws are held accountable.”

“Free and fair elections are the bedrock principle that defines American democracy. I appreciate the partnership between my office, the FBI, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office to bring these criminals to justice,” said Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark B. Dubnoff.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Amara Dukuly, 43, of Brookhaven, Pennsylvania, an immigration officer employed by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with bribery of a public official, arising from his alleged solicitation of a bribe in exchange for official acts.

The criminal complaint alleges that, from approximately 2015 to the present, the defendant used his status as a USCIS employee to extract payments from individuals in exchange for promises to help them obtain adjustments to their immigration status, such as a green card, work authorization documents, or visas.

The complaint further alleges that, given the scope of his job duties, Dukuly did not have the authority to do any of the things he promised these individuals. After corruptly seeking, receiving, and accepting money in return for being influenced in the performance of an official act, Dukuly converted the monies he obtained from these bribes for his personal benefit.

This is an ongoing investigation. Anyone with information regarding this defendant or other government employees soliciting bribes, whether money or something else of value, is asked to call 1-866-347-2423, select prompt number two, and mention Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Philadelphia.

This case is being investigated by the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, HSI, and the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anita Eve.

The charges and allegations contained in the criminal complaint are merely accusations. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Scott Mason, 66, of Gladwyne, Pennsylvania, was sentenced today to 97 months’ imprisonment and three years of supervised release by United States District Judge Timothy J. Savage, in connection with two fraudulent schemes that Mason, through his investment advisory firm Rubicon Wealth Management LLC, orchestrated to divert millions of dollars in client funds in order to finance his own lavish lifestyle. The defendant was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $24,998,596.46 to his fraud victims and restitution of $2,353,355 to the IRS.

In January of this year, Mason was charged by information with two counts of wire fraud, securities fraud, investment adviser fraud, and five counts of filing a false tax return, and pleaded guilty to all charges later that month.

As detailed in court documents and admitted to by the defendant, Mason — who had a fiduciary duty to make investment decisions in his clients’ best interests — transferred more than $17 million from 13 Rubicon clients to an entity that he owned and controlled, and ultimately used that money to finance his personal expenditures, including international travel, country club membership dues, credit card bill payments, and the purchase of an ownership stake in a Jersey Shore-based miniature golf course.

Mason targeted clients with whom he had a longstanding relationship and who trusted him implicitly, including longtime friends and family members, and he often liquidated those clients’ securities holdings in order to finance the fraudulent transfers. He either forged client signatures on distribution authorization forms or omitted all pertinent details of the so-called “investments” when seeking client authorization for the transfers and instead falsely represented that he was investing client funds in diversified short-term bonds.

In reality, Mason was converting client funds to his own personal use. He also used a portion of the fraud proceeds to partially repay another Rubicon client from whom Mason gradually misappropriated millions of dollars since 2007, in order to avoid detection by that victim. Even after factoring in the partial repayments, Mason stole a net total of more than $6 million from that additional victim.

Finally, Mason failed to report any of his fraud proceeds on his personal income tax returns, generating a tax loss of approximately $3.225 million.

“Frauds like the one Mr. Mason perpetrated on his clients damage the trust and integrity of our financial systems,” said Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Philadelphia. “The FBI and our law enforcement partners continue to strive to protect the honesty of our financial institutions and bring to justice the criminals responsible for deceiving the public through their financial schemes.”

“IRS-Criminal Investigation is diligent when it comes to enforcing the laws directed at those who attempt to defraud our nation’s tax system,” stated Yury Kruty, Special Agent in Charge, IRS-Criminal Investigation, Philadelphia Field Office. “Today’s sentencing shows how seriously the courts take federal tax crimes.”

The case was investigated by the FBI and IRS-Criminal Investigation, with valuable assistance from the Securities and Exchange Commission's Philadelphia Regional Office, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jessica Rice.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Celeste Ramirez, 44, of Brooklyn, New York, was sentenced today to 180 months’ imprisonment, 10 years of supervised release, and $38,000 in restitution by United States District Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl for distribution of child pornography.

Ramirez was charged with that offense by indictment in March 2023 and pleaded guilty in March of this year. She will have to register under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), as required by federal and state law.

As detailed in court filings and admitted to by the defendant, in February 2022, Ramirez, then a corrections officer employed by the New York Department of Corrections, distributed six videos depicting child pornography via Telegram, an online messaging application, to Person 1, while Person 1 was located in Easton, Pennsylvania.

The defendant’s conduct came to light during an investigation into child exploitation crimes committed by Person 1. In 2022, Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) had received a Cybertip indicating that Person 1, of Easton, Pa., had used their Snapchat account to distribute child pornography. Person 1 confessed to receiving child pornography over the internet, and specifically from a corrections officer in New York City known as “CeCe,” identified through investigation as the defendant Celeste Ramirez.

In November 2022, federal agents executed a search warrant at Ramirez’s residence and found hundreds of videos of child pornography on her phone. Along with Person 1, Ramirez had communicated with numerous others online for the purpose of distributing and receiving child pornography.

One of those users, Cleveland Dewayne Chambers, charged elsewhere, told Ramirez that another woman he was chatting with online had offered to produce sexually explicit images of an infant. That woman was later identified by police as Raven Pointer, also charged elsewhere.

Chambers shared images that he had received from Pointer with the defendant. Ramirez and Chambers discussed how the child should be sexually abused and reflected on the images produced. Ramirez then repeatedly directed Cleveland to have Pointer film herself engaged in specific sex acts with the infant. Chambers responded by sharing additional sexually explicit images and videos produced by Pointer with defendant Ramirez.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit projectsafechildhood.gov.

The case was investigated by the Pennsylvania State Police and Homeland Security Investigations and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Priya De Souza.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Bekhzod Rakhmatov, 30, of Maineville, Ohio, and Munis Khojiev, 31, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, were arrested and charged by indictment with attempting to bring an alien to the United States for private financial gain and conspiring to bring aliens to the United States for private financial gain, arising from a human smuggling scheme. Both defendants are Uzbek nationals who entered the United States on the same day without legal authorization.

The indictment alleges that, as part of their conspiracy, the defendants assisted in smuggling Co-Conspirator #1 into the United States, and then received referrals through Co-Conspirator #1 to smuggle additional illegal aliens into the U.S.

As further alleged, from about December 2022 to about May 2025, in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and elsewhere, Rakhmatov and Khojiev engaged with other individuals to obtain visas and passports to enable illegal aliens to travel throughout various countries with the goal of arriving at the United States-Mexico border. The defendants solicited and received funds from, and on behalf of, illegal aliens, as payment for smuggling the illegal aliens into the United States.

If convicted, the defendants each face a maximum possible sentence of 10 years' imprisonment on each count.

The case was investigated by the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Danielle Bateman and Everett Witherell.

The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Fanchao Zeng, 33, Zhongzhou Lin, 26, and Yanping Li, 32, all of Queens, New York, were arrested and charged by indictment with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, five counts of bank fraud, two counts each of aggravated identity theft, and aiding and abetting, arising from a scheme to impersonate and defraud numerous bank customers.

The indictment alleges that the three defendants and their co-conspirators repeatedly used stolen bank account information and fraudulently obtained driver’s licenses to access the home equity line of credit (“HELOC”) of a bank customer, transfer funds from the HELOC to an account that the conspirators controlled, and then withdraw those funds.

As detailed in the indictment, Zeng and Lin, with their co-conspirators, identified bank customers who had HELOCs. Zeng, Lin, and Li then submitted fraudulent change of address requests in the HELOC account holders’ names to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, usually via the department’s website. They proceeded to use the department’s website to request a replacement driver’s license for each HELOC account holder, which was mailed to the new address to which the conspirators had access.

Next, Zeng, Lin, Li, and their co-conspirators took steps to prepare the funds available from the HELOCs for theft. Sometimes, they made an online transfer of HELOC funds to an account linked to the legitimate HELOC account holder. Other times, they created a fake business account in the HELOC account holder’s name and transferred HELOC funds to this business account. On other occasions, the defendants and their conspirators caused the transfer of HELOC funds to linked accounts via phone-initiated transfer requests or in-person visits to bank branches.

After these steps, the indictment alleges, the defendants and their co-conspirators traveled to branches of the defrauded banks to steal the HELOC funds. They had individuals of the same ethnicity as the HELOC account holders (“runners”) enter these banks, and, using the fraudulently obtained replacement driver’s licenses, withdraw funds belonging to the HELOC account holders. The runners, who included Li on multiple occasions, did so either by making large cash withdrawals or by purchasing official checks in large amounts.

The defendants and their co-conspirators often cashed these official checks at casinos and gambled with the proceeds, in order to hide their fraud.

If convicted, Zeng faces a maximum possible sentence of 131 years in prison, five years of supervised release, and a $5,000,000 fine. If Lin is convicted, he faces a maximum possible sentence of 159 years in prison, five years of supervised release, and a $5,750,000 fine. If Li is convicted, she faces a maximum possible sentence of 101 years in prison, five years of supervised release, and a $4,250,000 fine.

The case was investigated by the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Eric D. Gill.

The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that James Jean, 57, of Yeadon, Pennsylvania, was sentenced today to three years in prison, a one-year term of supervised release, a $10,000 fine, and restitution of $12,717 by United States District Judge John F. Murphy for knowingly and willfully including false energy credits in tax forms that he prepared for paying customers.

During tax years 2018, 2019, and 2020, the defendant prepared at least 146 returns for his clients that falsely offset tax liabilities or claimed reimbursable credits for money allegedly spent on wind turbines, solar panels, or other energy improvements. Jean inserted the claims for false credits because he wanted to increase client refunds and client satisfaction. His actions caused his clients to understate their tax liabilities by more than $700,000.

In September 2024, the defendant pleaded guilty to an information charging him with one count of aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return, and admitted to filing the other 145 false returns, along with his own false returns for the same three tax years.

The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Elizabeth Abrams.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Oliver Tejada, 25, of the Bronx, New York, was sentenced by United States District Judge Timothy J. Savage to 60 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and forfeiture of $780,837.11, in connection with a scheme to steal more than $1 million from the bank accounts of at least 23 victims. In some instances, the financial institutions were able to reverse the fraudulent transactions, resulting in an actual loss to the banks of $780,837.11.

Tejada was charged by indictment in May 2024 and pleaded guilty in March of this year to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, and aggravated identity theft.

To carry out their scheme, Tejada and associates obtained confidential bank account information from their victims, some of whom were elderly or retired. After the account information had been secured, the conspirators made phone calls to the various banks to obtain a current balance on the account and attempted to obtain additional information about the accounts.

Once all the necessary banking documentation was secured, Tejada worked with an imposter to steal the cash from the bank. Tejada obtained a fake identification card with the photo of the imposter but the personal identifying information of the victim, and then transported that imposter to a bank branch location, ten out of eleven of which were located within the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

That imposter sometimes secured a bank debit card using the fake identification documents. More often, the imposter made a large withdrawal or placed a large wire transfer to the account of an individual who had been recruited to receive the money. After receiving the wire transfer, the receiving account was quickly depleted.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert J. Livermore.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that MD Nurul Hasan, 48, and MD Rafikul Islam, 52, both of Millbourne, Pennsylvania, were sentenced at separate hearings today by United States District Judge Harvey Bartle III for election fraud offenses.

In February of this year, the defendants, along with co-conspirator MD Munsur Ali, 48, also of Millbourne, were charged in a 33-count indictment with conspiracy to commit voter fraud, giving false information in registering to vote, and fraudulent voter registration, arising from their scheme, ultimately unsuccessful, to steal Millbourne Borough’s 2021 mayoral election for Hasan.

Hasan, the vice president of the Millbourne Borough Council, pleaded guilty in April to all 33 charges against him — one count of conspiracy, 16 counts of giving false information in registering to vote, and 16 counts of fraudulent voter registration. He was sentenced to 36 months in prison, one year of supervised release, and a $3,300 special assessment.

Islam, a former member of the Millbourne Borough Council, pleaded guilty in April to all seven charges against him — one count of conspiracy, three counts of giving false information in registering to vote, and three counts of fraudulent voter registration. He was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison, one year of supervised release, $1,000 fine, and a $700 special assessment.

Ali, a member of the Millbourne Borough Council, pleaded guilty in April to all 25 charges against him — one count of conspiracy, 12 counts of giving false information in registering to vote, and 12 counts of fraudulent voter registration. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 26.

As set forth in court filings, in 2021, Millbourne held elections for mayor, three seats on its borough council, and tax collector. Defendant Hasan entered the majority party’s primary election for mayor.

The primary election was held on May 20, 2021, and Hasan was defeated in the primary by a vote count of approximately 138 to 120. In the same primary, Ali was one of three majority party candidates for borough council to advance to the general election, while Islam lost his bid for reelection to the council.

After the primary, Hasan decided that he would run as a write-in candidate for mayor in the general election, which was scheduled for November 2, 2021. Ali and Islam agreed to support Hasan in his write-in campaign.

As detailed in court documents and admitted by the defendants, in or about 2021, defendants Hasan, Ali, and Islam conspired and agreed with one another, and other persons known and unknown to the U.S. Attorney, to steal the 2021 general election for Mayor of Millbourne for defendant Hasan through a multi-step process, which included:

(a) obtaining personal identification information of non-Millbourne residents, such as their names, addresses, and dates of birth;

(b) using the personal identifying information to access the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s online voter registration (PAOVR) website and change the voter registration addresses for those non-Millbourne residents to locations within Millbourne;

(c) using the PAOVR website to request that mail-in or absentee ballots for those non-Millbourne residents be sent to addresses accessible by one or more of the defendants;

(d) retrieving the ballots from the Millbourne mailboxes;

(e) impersonating the voters and fraudulently casting write-in votes for defendant Hasan to be mayor;

(f) enclosing the fraudulently completed ballots in envelopes and forging the voters' signatures on the envelopes; and

(g) submitting the ballots in their envelopes to the Delaware County Board of Elections.

The defendants admitted that, to further this conspiracy, they contacted friends and acquaintances whom Hasan and Ali knew did not live in Millbourne, told these non-Millbourne residents that Hasan was running for mayor in Millbourne, asked if they could register the non-Millbourne residents to vote in Millbourne, and then cast mail-in ballots for Hasan to be mayor.

Hasan and Ali persuaded many of their non-Millbourne friends and acquaintances to provide them with personal identification information so that defendants Hasan and Ali could register them to vote in Millbourne. During many of these conversations, Hasan and Ali told their non-Millbourne friends and acquaintances that they would not get in trouble, as long as they did not vote in another election in November 2021.

Hasan and Ali also conspired and agreed to use personal identifying information for other non-Millbourne residents, which the two defendants had obtained from other sources, such as Hasan’s business, to register those nonresidents as Millbourne voters without the knowledge of those non-residents.

Hasan personally did almost all of the fraudulent voter registrations himself, using a computer at his place of business to access the PAOVR website and change the voting addresses for non-Millbourne residents to locations within Millbourne. Every time that Hasan accessed the PAOVR website to change a voter registration address, he provided an email address for the voter. Many times, Hasan provided one of four email addresses that he used and accessed.

To divert suspicion from himself, however, Hasan sometimes provided email addresses belonging to other people, who knowingly and willfully permitted Hasan to use their email addresses to cover up Hasan’s actions. One of those people was Islam, who allowed Hasan to use two of Islam’s email addresses when Hasan fraudulently changed the voter registration addresses for six individuals. Islam also permitted Hasan to use two of Islam’s email addresses when requesting mail-in ballots for five non-Millbourne residents.

In total, the defendants conspired to falsely register nearly three dozen non-Millbourne residents as Millbourne voters and cast ballots for those non-Millbourne residents in the 2021 general election for mayor of Millbourne Borough. Hasan went on to lose the election by a vote of approximately 165 to 138.

“These defendants sabotaged the democratic will of their fellow citizens in deciding Millbourne’s next mayor,” said U.S. Attorney Metcalf. “Public trust in the electoral process is critical, and my office is committed to ensuring that our elections remain free and fair. As this case shows, should we find instances of fraud, we won’t hesitate to prosecute those responsible.”

“The electoral process is a pillar of our democracy, so when public officials undermine this system through fraud, they don't only break the law — they compromise the trust built between this process and the American people,” said Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Philadelphia. “The FBI remains unwavering in our commitment to protecting the integrity of elections and ensuring those who break these laws are held accountable.”

“Free and fair elections are the bedrock principle that defines American democracy. I appreciate the partnership between my office, the FBI, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office to bring these criminals to justice,” said Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark B. Dubnoff.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that five defendants convicted of illegally reentering the United States after prior deportations, and one defendant convicted of making false statements in his passport applications so he could illegally reside in the U.S., were sentenced this week.

Ronal Leonardo Suarez, 44, a Guatemalan national, pleaded guilty this afternoon to illegal reentry and was sentenced to time served, three months, by United States District Judge Mark A. Kearney. Having completed his prison sentence, Suarez again will be removed from the country.

Suarez had had previously been deported from the U.S. in July 2003, after he was encountered by immigration authorities and ordered removed.

In March of this year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) located and arrested Suarez outside the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas in Norristown, where he had an appearance on a pending criminal charge. Suarez was charged by federal indictment with illegal reentry in April.

Demetrio Pulido Urbina, 39, a Mexican national, was sentenced this morning to time served, just over four months, by United States District Judge Mitchell S. Goldberg, for illegal reentry. Having completed his prison sentence, Pulido Urbina again will be removed from the country.

Pulido Urbina had previously been removed from the U.S. three times: twice in February 2015, after separate encounters with the U.S. Border Patrol in Texas and Arizona, and again in June 2016, after he was convicted in the District of Arizona of illegally reentering the United States and had completed his 30-day sentence.

In August 2024, ICE received electronic notification that Pulido Urbina had been arrested by the Caln Township (Pa.) Police Department on a charge of simple assault.

ICE located and arrested Pulido Urbina in February of this year. He was charged by indictment the same month and pleaded guilty in April.

Gonzalo Hernandez-Roque, 28, a Guatemalan national, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to illegal reentry and was sentenced to time served, almost three months, by United States District Judge John M. Gallagher. Having completed his prison sentence, Hernandez-Roque again will be removed from the country.

A May 2016 encounter with the U.S. Border Patrol in Texas led an immigration judge to order his deportation, and he was removed from the country that July.

In March of this year, ICE located and administratively arrested Hernandez-Roque and he was charged by indictment in April.

Guillermo Lopez-Ramirez, 34, a Guatemalan national, was also sentenced on Tuesday by Judge Gallagher to time served, almost three months, for illegal reentry. Having completed his prison sentence, he again will be removed from the country.

Lopez-Ramirez had had previously been removed from the U.S. in May 2015, after he was encountered and arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol for being in the country illegally.

In July of 2024, ICE received electronic notification that Lopez-Ramirez had been arrested by the Upper Moreland Township (Pa.) Police Department.

After conducting surveillance to verify the defendant’s identity and location, ICE arrested Lopez-Ramirez in March of this year, and he was charged by information in April.

Martin Astudillo Estrada, aka Martely Ortiz Perez, 41, a Mexican national, was sentenced on Monday by United States District Judge Gail A. Weilheimer to four months in prison for illegal reentry. At the conclusion of his sentence, he again will be removed from the country.

Following multiple encounters with U.S. immigration authorities between 2000 and 2013 that had resulted in Astudillo Estrada’s voluntary departures back to Mexico, he was encountered in June of 2015 by the U.S. Border Patrol in Arizona and removed from the U.S. that July.

In July 2024, ICE received an electronic notification that the Downingtown Borough Police Department had arrested Astudillo Estrada for driving under the influence of a controlled substance/alcohol, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was accepted into the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program in November 2024.

Earlier this year, ICE officers conducted surveillance, confirmed Astudillo Estrada’s location and identity, and took him into custody in February. He was charged by indictment with illegal reentry in March and pleaded guilty in April.

These cases are part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN).

The cases were investigated by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations and are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Lizmar Bosques, Rosalynda M. Michetti, Robert Schopf, Rebecca J. Kulik, and Robert J. Livermore.

Also on Monday, Andres De La Rosa Hernandez, 61, a Dominican native illegally residing in Camden, New Jersey, was sentenced to time served, approximately two months, by United States District Judge John F. Murphy for making a false statement in application of a passport. Having completed his prison sentence, De La Rosa Hernandez will be removed from the country.

The defendant was charged by information in April of this year and pleaded guilty in May, at which time he waived prosecution by indictment.

As detailed in court filings and admitted to by the defendant, De La Rosa Hernandez had been living illegally in the United States under the name and identity of a U.S. citizen, filing for and receiving multiple U.S. passport books and cards in that citizen’s name.

Specifically, in May 2004 the defendant fraudulently obtained a U.S. passport book in in the name and other identifiers of Victim 1, and in August 2014, used that U.S. passport book to fraudulently obtain a renewed U.S. passport book and U.S. passport card.

In September 2024, De La Rosa Hernandez used the fraudulently obtained 2014 U.S. passport book and U.S. passport card to attempt to receive a renewed U.S. passport book and U.S. passport card. Ultimately, they were not issued, after the Philadelphia Passport Agency discovered multiple fraud indicators during the adjudication process and referred the matter to the U.S. Department of State.

This case was investigated by the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert J. Livermore. 

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that a superseding indictment (“indictment”) was filed earlier this month, charging Mary Blakley (aka “Marye Blakley,” “Mary Blakely,” “Mary Blakeley,” “Mary Davis,” “Mary Venable,” “Mary Cammer,” “Rosemary Cammer,” “Rosemary Davis,” “Yvonne Davis,” and “Mary Blaksley”) and Fred Blakley (aka “Fred Blakely” and “Floyd Blakely”) with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to violate the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and defraud the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”). In addition to the Blakleys, both charged previously, the superseding indictment also charged Janmarie Lanzo with conspiracy to violate the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and defraud the FDA. All three defendants are residents of Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

The indictment alleges that the Mary Blakley, who described herself as “Doctor Mary,” and Fred Blakley were the principals of a medical clinic business that charged clients throughout the United States approximately $300 for conducting what the defendants described as “full body scans” by use of an ultrasound machine. Janmarie Lanzo was a business associate of Mary and Fred Blakley, who worked in the clinics and sold products to clients that were recommended by Mary Blakley as a result of the scans.

The defendants falsely claimed that, through the deployment of a “smart chip technology” supposedly invented by defendant Mary Blakley and purportedly added to the ultrasound machines, their “full body scans” could diagnose a wide variety of human diseases and medical conditions, including cancers. Based on the results of these “full body scans,” the defendants falsely and fraudulently prescribed to their human clients various supplements, creams, and veterinary products.

The indictment alleges that the defendants promoted and sold Aetheion, a product marketed as a cosmetic cream, to treat cancer, gastric hernias, and various other conditions. The defendants also promoted and sold fenbendazole, a veterinary antiparasitic, to treat cancer in humans.

The indictment alleges that to conceal their scheme, the defendants:

• Falsely claimed they were only doing research, when they were actually performing services and distributing and selling products;
• Falsely claimed that the products and services they were performing, distributing, and selling were of a type for which regulatory requirements were less onerous or nonexistent;
• Used coded language and coached others to take deceptive measures;
• Disguised the nature of the clinics as a religious organization, health club, and private membership organization; and
• Required clients to execute confidentiality agreements.

If convicted, Mary Blakley and Fred Blakley face a maximum possible sentence of 165 years in prison. If convicted, Janmarie Lanzo faces a maximum possible sentence of five years in prison.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Office of Criminal Investigations of the Food and Drug Administration, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Ruth Mandelbaum and Paul G. Shapiro.

The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Clift A. Seferlis, 55, of Garrett Park, Maryland, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with mailing threatening communications.

As alleged in the complaint, from at least March 1, 2024, through the present, the defendant is alleged to have sent numerous written threats through the mail to Jewish organizations and entities located in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and elsewhere.

Many of these letters threaten the Jewish institutions and contain references to Gaza, Israel, or events in which Jewish people were killed or otherwise attacked. The letters then suggest that the recipients might become victims of similar acts of violence.

One of these communications came from a typewritten letter, postmarked in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on May 7, 2025. The envelope was addressed to Victim Jewish Institution 1, to the attention of a person with the initials J.G., an employee of Victim Jewish Institution 1 at the time.

The letter began, “Hello [J.]” and continued:

I just wanted to say you are going to have to be more reliant than ever on your donors.

But at some point that money too will become less and less.

The hatred toward you all, your [institution], and especially the nation of Israel is at an all time high and is only getting worse.

Do you – deep down – reallycare [sic] – really – about what is going on in Gaza?

Will it take something happening to your beloved [institution] to make that happen.

This Victim Jewish Institution 1 received numerous additional messages since April 1, 2024, which contained a threat to physically destroy the institution.

Prior to the receipt of the May 7, 2025, mailing, Victim Jewish Institution 1 and its employees had received very similar-looking letters, believed to have been sent by Seferlis, which referenced Victim Jewish Institution 1’s “many big open windows,” “Kristallnacht,” “anger and rage,” and a future need to “rebuild” the institution following its destruction.

This case was investigated by FBI Philadelphia, with assistance from FBI Baltimore, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Montgomery County, Maryland, Police Department, and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland’s Greenbelt office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark Dubnoff.

The charges and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.

PHILADELPHIA – Ahead of planned protests in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the United States Attorney’s Office will uphold the central principles of freedom of expression and the rule of law.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office has been in communication with federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to offer our support, and our assurance that violations of federal law, to include inciting a riot, engaging in civil disorder, destroying federal property, assaulting police and federal personnel, or unlawful possession of firearms, will be met with federal charges.

“The guarantees of the First Amendment end at the point of violence against persons or property,” said United States Attorney David Metcalf. “Those who cross that line against any federal officers or facilities in upcoming protests should expect arrest and prosecution. The Department of Justice is committed, as always, to working with our partners at all levels to uphold public safety, including the safety of law enforcement officers.”

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that three men convicted separately of illegally reentering the United States after prior deportations were sentenced this week.

Oscar Martinez Olmedo, 44, a Mexican national, was sentenced by United States District Judge Kelley Brisbon Hodge on Tuesday to 18 months in prison for illegal reentry. Upon the completion of his sentence, he again will be removed from the country.

Olmedo had been deported from the United States in December of 2004.

Following his removal, the defendant illegally re-entered the United States and was arrested in February 2020 by the Coatesville (Pa.) Police Department on multiple state charges. He was subsequently convicted in the Chester County Court of Common Pleas of six counts of manufacture, delivery, or possession with intent to manufacture or deliver a controlled substance, six counts of conspiracy to possess a controlled substance, and one count of illegal sale or transfer of a firearm. He also pleaded guilty to additional drug and gun charges brought in a separate case.

ICE had received an electronic notification at the time of Olmedo’s arrest in 2020. In December 2024, following the completion of his sentence on the state charges, ICE officers took Olmedo into custody. He was charged by federal indictment with illegal reentry in January of this year and pleaded guilty in February.

Jimy Noe Meza-Hernandez, 37, a Honduran national, was sentenced by United States District Judge John M. Younge on Tuesday to time served, almost four months, for illegal reentry. Having completed his prison sentence, he again will be removed from the country.

Meza-Hernandez had previously been deported in August of 2012, after he was encountered in Texas by the U.S. Border Patrol and arrested for being in the country illegally.

In September of 2024, ICE received an electronic notification that Meza-Hernandez had been arrested by the Plymouth Meeting (Pa.) Police Department. He pleaded guilty in late January to two counts of harassment and was sentenced to probation.

ICE located the defendant and took him into custody in February. In March of this year, he was charged by indictment with illegal reentry and pleaded guilty this week.

Fredy Soriano Palestino, 32, a Mexican national, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Kai N. Scott on Tuesday to time served, almost three months, for illegally reentering the United States. Having completed his prison sentence, he again will be removed from the country.

Soriano Palestino was encountered by the U.S. Border Patrol in Arizona, after illegally crossing the border, and removed back to Mexico in December of 2011. Following his removal, the defendant illegally re-entered the United States and was arrested in March of this year by local authorities in a misdemeanor case that was subsequently dismissed.

ICE received an electronic notification at the time of Soriano Palestino’s arrest, lodged a detainer, and took him into custody. In April, Soriano Palestino was charged by information with illegal reentry and pleaded guilty.

These cases are part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN).

The cases were investigated by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations and are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Danielle Bateman, Katherine Shulman, and Kevin Jayne.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Ronald Byrd, 37, and Saikeen Dixon, 32, both of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, were convicted today at trial of carjacking, and using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, in connection with their armed carjacking of a FedEx truck in August of 2022. Byrd was also convicted of attempted possession with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine. After the convictions, during a second phase of the trial, Byrd stipulated that he had previously been convicted of a drug offense and also agreed to plead guilty to an additional firearms charge.

The defendants were charged by superseding indictment in September 2023.

As detailed in court filings and proven at trial, on August 9, 2022, a package weighing approximately 29 pounds was sent from “Karen Boothe” of “Caliber Consulting LLC” in Buena Park, California, to “Universal Medical Inc” at 3401 North Broad Street, Suite 101, in Philadelphia, which is the address for Temple Hospital.

A FedEx Express driver, J.H., was delivering packages to Temple Hospital on the morning of August 10, 2022. J.H. began receiving phone calls and text messages from a former FedEx Express employee, P.A., asking for a package addressed to “Universal Medical Inc” at Temple Hospital.

After J.H. arrived at the Temple Hospital loading dock, P.A. met him there and asked him again for the package addressed to “Universal Medical Inc.” J.H. told P.A. he could not give him the package. P.A. continued asking for it, even offering J.H. $5,000 in exchange. J.H. refused and called his supervisors.

J.H.’s supervisors, R.J. and D.J., arrived at the Temple Hospital loading dock driving a FedEx van. They took the package P.A. was asking for onto their FedEx van, told J.H. to do his next round of deliveries at Shriner’s Children’s Hospital, which is right next to Temple Hospital.

D.J. saw a black Jeep Cherokee come out of the Temple Hospital loading dock and follow the FedEx truck. P.A. then approached D.J. and asked her if he could have the package that he had asked J.H. for; she told him that he could not.

After finishing his deliveries at Shriners, J.H. drove his FedEx truck south on Broad Street towards the FedEx distribution center at 3600 Grays Ferry Avenue, with D.J. and R.J. following behind in their FedEx van. The black Jeep Cherokee that D.J. had seen continued following J.H.’s FedEx delivery truck.

At a red light about a block from the FedEx facility, the black Jeep, driven by defendant Dixon, pulled in front of the FedEx truck. Defendant Byrd got out of the passenger side of the Jeep, pointed a black semi-automatic pistol at J.H., and approached the driver’s side of the FedEx truck. J.H. jumped out of the passenger side door and ran into oncoming traffic, heading toward the FedEx facility.

Byrd climbed into the FedEx truck and drove westbound across the Grays Ferry Bridge before pulling over at 47th and Linmore in Southwest Philadelphia, with Dixon following him in the Jeep. Byrd tried to open the back of the FedEx truck but could not, so he abandoned the FedEx vehicle and got back into the Jeep, which fled the scene.

After the carjacking, a trained narcotics K9 alerted to the package that P.A. had been asking for and investigators obtained a search warrant. Inside were nine individual packages wrapped in plastic and labeled “DSQUARED2,” each of which weighed approximately one kilogram and field-tested positive for cocaine. Lab testing later confirmed that the packages contained a total of approximately 9.005 kilograms of cocaine, with an estimated street value of $500,000.

The defendants are scheduled to be sentenced on September 29.

Byrd faces a mandatory minimum term of 22 years’ imprisonment and 10 years of supervised release, and a maximum possible sentence of life in prison and a $20,500,000 fine.

Dixon faces a mandatory minimum term of seven years’ imprisonment and five years of supervised release, and a maximum possible sentence of life in prison and a $500,000 fine.

“When their original scheme to retrieve the package went awry, Byrd and Dixon turned to Plan B,” said U.S. Attorney Metcalf. “They were so determined to get their hands on that cocaine that they stalked and carjacked a FedEx truck at gunpoint, in broad daylight on a busy Philadelphia street. They’ve endangered our community with both their drugs and their guns, and today’s verdict holds them accountable, ensuring each a lengthy stay in federal prison.”

“The brazen acts at the heart of this case — from violent carjackings to plotting the distribution of dangerous drugs — put our citizens directly in harm’s way,” said Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Field Office. “These convictions underscore the power of collaboration in confronting violent crime and protecting our communities. We’re grateful for the steadfast commitment of our partners in the Violent Crimes Task Force, the Philadelphia Police Department, and the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office. Together, we remain resolute in our mission to keep the public safe.”

The case was investigated by the FBI Philadelphia Violent Crimes Task Force and the Philadelphia Police Department, with assistance from the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office Bureau of Narcotics Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Alexander Bowerman and Assistant United States Attorney Timothy Lanni.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Tauheed Tucker, 23, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Cory Scott, 25, of Ardmore, Pa., and Alexander Telewoda, 25, of Clifton Heights, Pa., were arrested and charged by superseding indictment with conspiracy to steal government funds, theft of government funds, and mail theft, arising from a multimillion-dollar scheme to steal U.S. Treasury checks from a local U.S. Postal Service (“USPS”) facility and then resell those checks to purchasers around the country. A fourth defendant, Saahir Irby, 27, of Philadelphia, was also charged with these offenses, in addition to a previously charged count of mail theft.

The superseding indictment alleges that, between June 2023 and September 2024, Irby and Tucker, while working as USPS mail processing clerks, stole thousands of envelopes containing U.S. Treasury checks from mail sorting machines at the USPS Philadelphia Processing and Distribution Center.

According to the indictment, Irby and Tucker removed the checks from the USPS facility and sold them to defendants Scott and Telewoda, who then advertised the stolen checks for resale on the cloud-based instant messaging application Telegram. Upon receiving payment from interested buyers, Scott and Telewoda mailed the stolen Treasury checks to buyers around the country who attempted to cash the checks, without the knowledge or permission of the individuals to whom the checks had originally been issued.

Over the course of the scheme, the indictment alleges, Irby and Tucker sold Scott and Telewoda thousands of stolen Treasury checks whose face value exceeded $80 million. Scott’s and Telewoda’s customers successfully negotiated approximately $11 million worth of these stolen Treasury checks at financial institutions. Irby is also charged with a separate instance of mail theft involving another batch of Treasury checks that he allegedly stole and sold to an unnamed individual in August 2024.

If convicted, Irby faces a maximum possible sentence of 25 years’ imprisonment, three years of supervised release, and a $1,000,000 fine, and Tucker, Scott, and Telewoda each face a maximum possible sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment, three years of supervised release, and a $750,000 fine.

This case was investigated by the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI, and the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, with substantial assistance from the Montgomery County Detectives Bureau, the Lower Merion Township Police Department, and the Bureau of the Fiscal Service. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jessica Rice.

The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Samuel Olasunkanmi Abiodun, 25, of Nigeria, was sentenced today to five years in prison by United States District Judge Joel H. Slomsky for money laundering conspiracy and wire fraud related to the sexual extortion and death of a young man in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Abiodun pleaded guilty to those offenses in December.

He and co-defendant Imoleayo Samuel Aina, aka “Alice Dave,” 27, were arrested on a complaint and warrant in Nigeria, taken into custody by the FBI on July 31, 2024, and extradited to the United States to face charges in this case. They and another Nigerian co-defendant, Afeez Olatunji Adewale, 25, were then charged by indictment in August 2024.

Aina pleaded guilty last month to cyberstalking, interstate threat to injure reputation, receiving proceeds of extortion, money laundering conspiracy, and wire fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on August 11 and faces a statutory maximum of lifetime imprisonment.

Adewale has been charged with money laundering conspiracy and wire fraud. He remains in Nigeria, pending extradition to the U.S.

“As the financial middleman, Abiodun played a key role in this sextortion scheme, which thoroughly traumatized the victim and then devastated his family,” said U.S. Attorney Metcalf. “These scammers’ sole aim is to get money from scared and vulnerable young people, with absolutely no regard for their feelings or the potential fallout. In prosecuting this case, we are bringing to justice the men whose actions resulted in truly indelible harm. We also want to send a message to others like them that the Department of Justice’s reach is long, and if they keep extorting innocent Americans, they could find themselves in an American prison.”

“This sentencing delivers a powerful message: those who exploit others through sextortion will be held accountable, no matter where they try to hide,” said Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “The FBI, alongside our domestic and international law enforcement partners, is unwavering in our commitment to safeguard our communities — especially our youth — from predatory criminals.”

“The capabilities of local police departments to expand an investigation beyond the borders of the U.S. is extremely limited. We must rely on the expertise of the FBI and other federal law enforcement partners, which is exactly what occurred in this case,” said Chief Patrick Molloy of the Abington Township Police Department. “We are grateful for the federal agents and prosecutors who worked so hard to bring those responsible for this heinous crime to justice. It should send a clear message to those who choose to prey upon the most vulnerable in our community that we will proactively pursue justice beyond our borders, especially when aggravating circumstances exist. This could have been anyone’s child, and while this arrest and prosecution may provide some measure of relief, the pain and suffering for this family will never go away.” 

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Abington Township Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Patrick Brown.

Aina and Abiodun were extradited to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania with assistance of the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the FBI Legal Attaché in Abuja, and the FBI. The support and assistance of Nigerian security authorities was essential to this effort, notably that of Nigeria’s Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the Federal Ministry of Justice’s International Criminal Justice Cooperation Department, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Louis Belletieri, 43, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, entered a plea of guilty today before United States District Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl on two counts of wire fraud, charges arising from his scheme to defraud a title insurance underwriter and clients and his fraudulent application to the Small Business Administration (SBA) to obtain Economic Injury Disaster Loans (“EIDL”).

In May of this year, the defendant was charged with those offenses by information.

As detailed in court documents, Belletieri was the president of Allentown-based Security Settlement Services of Pittsburgh d/b/a Legacy Title (“Legacy Title”), which he purported to operate for the purpose of providing title and real estate closing services to clients in connection with real estate transactions.

In or about November 2013, the defendant, as Legacy Title’s president, entered into a contract with a title insurance underwriter, in which the underwriter appointed Legacy Title as its agent for the purpose of issuing title insurance commitments, policies, endorsements for Pennsylvania properties.

Legacy Title and Belletieri maintained an escrow account to receive funds in connection with these and other client real estate transactions. The money from customers, mortgage lenders, and others was typically transferred electronically into Legacy Title’s escrow account.

Belletieri should have maintained the funds in the escrow account for the purpose of conducting real estate transactions and disbursing funds as appropriate and for the purpose for which they were entrusted, such as to pay off mortgages, pay taxes, obtain title insurance, and pay for other expenses in connection with real estate transactions.

As further detailed in court filings and admitted to by the defendant, he instead used the funds in the escrow account for personal reasons, including, among other things, to place online sports bets.

During the course of the scheme, Belletieri regularly made and caused to be made electronic transfers of funds to and from the escrow account to, from, and among Legacy Title’s business operating account, his personal bank account, his credit card account, and online sports betting platforms.

From in or about March 2020 through in or about September 2023, Belletieri made electronic transfers of funds from the escrow account to his personal account totaling approximately $6,434,500, and from the escrow account to the business operating account totaling approximately $2,460,190, many of which were not for legitimate business purposes.

Belletieri took numerous steps to conceal his fraud upon his clients and the title insurance underwriter, including by submitting a fraudulent application to the SBA on behalf of Legacy Title to defraud the SBA and obtain funds via the EIDL program. In connection with this application, the defendant entered into fraudulent loan agreements with the SBA, falsely agreeing that he would use the proceeds of the loan solely as working capital to alleviate economic injury related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

When the SBA disbursed the EIDL funding to Legacy Title and Belletieri pursuant to his fraudulent application, Belletieri used significant portions of the proceeds for personal uses, rather than as working capital for Legacy Title. As a result, the defendant caused the SBA to disburse a total of approximately $825,000 due to his fraud.

Belletieri is scheduled to be sentenced on September 12 and faces a maximum possible sentence of 40 years’ imprisonment.

The case was investigated by FBI Philadelphia’s Allentown Resident Agency with assistance from the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys John J. Boscia and Rebecca J. Kulik.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that four men convicted separately of illegally reentering the United States after prior deportations were sentenced this week.

Eric Gonzalez, aka Jefferson Alexander Huertas Cajamarca, 44, a Colombian national, was sentenced this morning by United States District Judge Juan R. Sánchez to 12 months and one day in prison for illegal reentry. At the conclusion of his sentence, he again will be removed from the country.

Gonzalez had previously been deported in February 2008, after having been convicted of robbery in New Jersey.

In April 2024, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) received an electronic notification that Gonzalez had been arrested by the Abington Township Police Department and charged with theft by unlawful taking and related offenses. ICE officers took Gonzalez into custody in October, following the completion of his term of imprisonment on the state theft conviction. In December, he was charged by federal indictment with illegally reentering the United States and pleaded guilty in February of this year.

Eddy Rondon Salcedo, 34, a Dominican national, was sentenced this morning by United States District Judge Mitchell S. Goldberg to time served, approximately five months, for illegal reentry. Having completed his prison sentence, he again will be removed from the country.

In September 2008, Rondon Salcedo entered the U.S. as a lawful permanent resident on a valid visa. In December of 2019, he pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to possession with intent to distribute one kilogram of heroin and fentanyl. Rondon Salcedo was sentenced in March of 2021 to time served and two years of supervised release. Due to the federal conviction on this aggravated felony, Rondon Salcedo was removed from the United States in June 2021.

In December 2024, the defendant was arrested by ICE officers, who had received information that he was back in Philadelphia. In February of this year, Rondon Salcedo was charged by information with illegal reentry and pleaded guilty.

Wilmer Yovani Fuentes-Benitez, 34, a Honduran national, was sentenced by Judge Goldberg on Monday to time served, approximately four months, for illegally reentering the U.S. after multiple previous deportations. Having completed his prison sentence for this latest illegal reentry, he again will be removed from the country.

Fuentes-Benitez had been deported from the United States to Honduras three times prior: in June 2008, after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) encountered him at a Philadelphia jail following his arrest for aggravated assault and weapons possession; in June 2010, after ICE encountered him at a Louisiana jail following his arrest for battery on a police officer and resisting arrest; and in May 2022, following his arrest by the United States Border Patrol in Franklin, Vermont, during an alien smuggling operation.

After becoming aware that Fuentes-Benitez was once again unlawfully present in the United States, ICE officers conducted surveillance to confirm his identity and took the defendant into custody in February of this year. He was charged by indictment with illegal reentry that month and pleaded guilty in March.

Ronal Hilario Morantin-Mota, aka Jose Flores Davila, 39, a Dominican national, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Nitza I. Quiñones Alejandro on Monday to time served, approximately three months, for illegally reentering the United States. Having completed his prison sentence, he again will be removed from the country.

Morantin-Mota had been deported in September 2019, following his arrest by Pennsylvania State Police in January of that year on a charge of possession with the intent to distribute a controlled substance.

Earlier this year, ICE received information that Morantin-Mota may be back in the United States unlawfully. Officers conducted surveillance to confirm his identity and took the defendant into custody in February. In March, he was charged by indictment with illegal reentry and pleaded guilty.

These cases are part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN).

The cases were investigated by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations and are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Everett Witherell, Shayna Gannone, and S. Chandler Harris.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Duane Taylor, 50, of Brooklyn, New York, entered a plea of guilty today before United States District Court Judge John M. Gallagher to charges arising from the abduction of a minor child from her home in Reading, Pennsylvania, and transportation of that child across state lines to Taylor’s residence.

In January 2023, Taylor was charged by superseding indictment with kidnapping, travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, production of child pornography, possession of child pornography, and transportation of child pornography. He pleaded guilty to all counts.

As detailed in court filings, on the morning of August 31, 2022, City of Reading police officers responded to the victim’s home when the child’s mother reported her missing from her bedroom, where she had last seen her daughter around 10:30 p.m. the evening prior before going to bed. After searching for the child, her mother observed that the back door of their residence was wide open, and law enforcement found the chain lock on that door was broken.

Investigators reviewed video surveillance footage from the home’s security system, which showed a person entering the living room area at approximately 2 a.m. and proceeding to the stairs leading to the second floor. A short time later, the victim is seen walking down those stairs and through the living room, followed by the person who was later identified as the defendant, whom the victim’s mother also stated was her former boyfriend.

Reading investigators contacted the New York City Police Department, who traced the defendant to his residence in Brooklyn, but did not locate the victim there. The victim was located later that day when a citizen called 911 to report a child alone and asking for help because she had been kidnapped from Pennsylvania.

The defendant is scheduled to be sentenced on September 18 and faces a maximum possible sentence of life in prison.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit projectsafechildhood.gov.

The case was investigated by the FBI, the Reading Police Department, and the New York City Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Rosalynda M. Michetti and Josh A. Davison.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Zamir Tucker, 21, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 85 months’ imprisonment, five years of supervised release, and restitution of $33,483 by United States District Court Judge Timothy J. Savage on Tuesday in connection with two gunpoint carjacking incidents in Upper Darby Township in September 2022.

Tucker was charged by superseding indictment in April 2023 and, in February of this year, pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to commit carjacking, carjacking, attempted carjacking, and using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

The defendant conspired with others, including co-defendant Alex Askew, to commit one carjacking and one attempted carjacking, both with firearms.

Late in the evening of September 7, 2022, Tucker, Askew, and others threatened a 66-year-old woman at gunpoint, in the course of stealing her Acura SUV. The victim had just parked in front of her home on Wilde Avenue in Upper Darby when a male with a firearm pointed a gun at her and demanded her keys. The offenders stole the victim’s purse and fled in her vehicle.

In the late afternoon of September 11, 2022, Tucker, Askew, and others threatened a 71-year-old woman at gunpoint as she parked in the alleyway behind her home on Brunswick Avenue in Upper Darby. Tucker and Askew demanded her keys, but when the victim screamed and ran towards her home, the offenders fled the scene without her vehicle.

Askew pleaded guilty in February of last year to one count of conspiracy to commit carjacking, three counts of carjacking, three counts of using a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, and one count of attempted carjacking, in connection with the September 7, 2022, and September 11, 2022, carjacking incidents, and two additional carjackings in Philadelphia. He was sentenced in September of 2024 to 21 years in prison.

“Nobody, let alone our mothers and grandmothers, should have to fear an armed carjacker’s ambush,” said U.S. Attorney Metcalf. “Taking violent criminals off the street will always remain a top priority of our office.”

“Carjacking elderly women at gunpoint is a cruel dangerous crime, and Zamir Tucker is now facing years in federal prison for it,” said Eric DeGree, Special Agent in Charge of the ATF Philadelphia Field Division. “Working with the Philadelphia Carjacking Task Force we continue to prosecute the carjackers who have plagued Philadelphia, making our city and communities safer with each case we solve. Carjacking is a serious crime, and we hope cases like this deter those who might try it.”

“I want to thank U.S. Attorney Metcalf and his team for making Upper Darby safer through their prosecution of this dangerous armed criminal,” said Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer. “The collaboration between the ATF, Upper Darby and Philadelphia Police Departments, and prosecutors from my office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, is critical to keeping Delco a safe place to live and work,” said Stollsteimer.

“I want to thank U.S. Attorney David Metcalf for his continued partnership in ensuring violent offenders are held fully accountable,” said Upper Darby Police Superintendent Timothy M. Bernhardt. “Strong collaborations like this are critical to protecting our communities. Tucker will now face justice for his cowardly acts against elderly residents of Upper Darby. Preying on the elderly is the lowest form of criminal behavior, and it will not be tolerated. These prosecutions send a clear message: if you come into our communities to commit violent crimes, you will be caught, and you will be prosecuted. All our residents, especially our most vulnerable, deserve to feel safe, and we will not allow anyone to take that from them. Let this serve as a warning: if you think you can commit these violent acts, not be caught and held accountable, think again,” Bernhardt said.

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

The case was investigated by the ATF, the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office Criminal Investigation Division, the Upper Darby Township Police Department, and the Philadelphia Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorneys Brian Doherty and Sandra M. Urban.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Donald Seefeldt, 65, of Wilmette, Illinois, was sentenced today by United States District Court Judge Wendy Beetlestone to 57 months' imprisonment, one year of probation, 59 hours of community service, and a $50,000 fine for conspiracy to commit federal program bribery.

Seefeldt was charged by information with that offense in November 2024 and pleaded guilty in February.

As presented in the information, on or about December 10, 2015, a masonry restoration contractor (the “Contractor”) was awarded a $58,473,000 contract by Amtrak to be the main contractor on a façade repair and restoration project at Amtrak’s 30th Street Station in Philadelphia.

Federal funding supplied approximately 90 percent of the money Amtrak used to pay the Contractor for the repair and restoration of the 30th Street Station façade.

Defendant Seefeldt was the Senior Executive Vice President of the Contractor with responsibility to provide executive oversight of the Contractor’s performance on the 30th Street Station façade project.

Lee Maniatis and Khaled Dallo, both charged elsewhere, were Vice Presidents of the Contractor, with responsibility to supervise the Contractor’s performance on the 30th Street Station façade project. Mark Snedden, also charged elsewhere, was the sole owner and president of the Contractor.

Amtrak Employee #1 was employed by Amtrak as the Project Manager on the repair and restoration project. In that capacity, Amtrak Employee #1 was responsible for communicating with the Contractor about the work being done on 30th Street Station. Amtrak Employee #1 was also responsible for reviewing the invoices, change orders, and requests for payment that the Contractor submitted to Amtrak. Amtrak Employee #1 had the power to approve or reject these invoices, change orders, and requests for payment. Although Amtrak Employee #1 did not have the singular authority to approve Amtrak payments to the Contractor, his approval was a critical step in that process.

The contract between Amtrak and the Contractor prohibited the defendant and other Contractor officials from “offer[ing] to any Amtrak employee, agent, or representative any cash, gift, entertainment, commission, or kickback for the purpose of securing favorable treatment with regard to award or performance of any contract or agreement.”

As detailed in the information and admitted to by the defendant, from in or about May 2016 through in or about November 2019, in Philadelphia, in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and elsewhere, Seefeldt conspired, combined, and agreed with others, including Amtrak Employee #1, Maniatis, Dallo, and Snedden to commit an offense against the United States; that is, to knowingly and corruptly give, offer, and agree to give, a thing of value to Amtrak Employee #1, intending to influence and reward Amtrak Employee #1 in connection with any business, transaction and series of transactions involving a thing of value of $5,000 or more.

Specifically, Seefeldt and the others, with the knowledge and agreement of Snedden, provided Amtrak Employee #1 with gifts and other things of value totaling approximately $323,686, including, among other things, paid vacations (including an approximately $19,000 trip to Ecuador and a $9,500 trip to India), jewelry (including an approximately $5,600 watch and later an approximately $11,000 watch), cash, dinners, a dog, entertainment, and transportation, to ensure that Amtrak Employee #1 used his power and influence to benefit the Contractor during the performance of the 30th Street Station Repair and Restoration Project.

In return for these gifts and other things of value, Amtrak Employee #1 allegedly used his position at Amtrak to access internal agency information available only to Amtrak employees about the 30th Street Station Project and shared this internal information with the defendant and other officials with the Contractor.

The information further alleges that Amtrak Employee #1 used his position at Amtrak to approve additional, more expensive changes to the 30th Street Station Repair and Restoration Project, thereby increasing the amount and value of the work to be performed by the Contractor. These additional expenses were reflected in a series of change orders or contract modifications. In total, Amtrak Employee #1 approved over $52 million of additional payments from Amtrak to the Contractor. Amtrak Employee #1 and officials with the Contractor, including defendant Seefeldt, falsely inflated the true costs of some of the work to be performed by the Contractor under these change orders, causing Amtrak to be substantially overbilled by over $2 million for the completion of the 30th Street Station Repair and Restoration Project.

“Seefeldt conspired to bribe an Amtrak employee, to benefit himself and his colleagues,” said U.S. Attorney Metcalf. “In padding their pockets at the government’s expense, they were, in fact, victimizing U.S. taxpayers. Every dollar lost to federal program fraud means one less for a vital program or public priority.”

“Stealing and misappropriating federal funds is not just a criminal act; it is a betrayal of the trust placed in us by the communities we serve, and it damages the integrity of the systems they depend on,” said Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “Bribery directly undermines our rule of law. In partnership with our colleagues, the FBI is unwavering in its commitment to eradicating public corruption and ensuring that those who abuse their positions for personal gain are held accountable.”

“Our work on this case sends a strong message to all contractors about their obligation to operate legally and ethically,” said Michael J. Waters, Special Agent in Charge for the Amtrak Office of Inspector General Eastern Area Field Office. “We remain committed to investigating acts of bribery or other illegal or unethical conduct to ensure Amtrak’s funds are protected. We’re proud of our joint efforts with the FBI and DOT OIG who supported this investigation and appreciative of the support from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania U.S. Attorney’s Office.”

“Today’s sentencing sends a clear message: if you defraud our nation’s infrastructure system, you will be caught and held accountable,” said Brian C. Gallagher, Special Agent in Charge, Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, Northeastern Region. “We’re committed to working with our law enforcement and prosecutorial partners to protect taxpayer dollars and uphold the integrity of federally funded programs.”

The case was investigated by the FBI, the Amtrak Office of Inspector General, and the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jason Grenell.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Joseph Cole Barleta, 41, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was sentenced today by United States District Court Judge Mark A. Kearney to 66 months’ imprisonment, three years’ supervised release, $302,700,484.60 in restitution, and forfeiture of $8,063,303.83, for racketeering conspiracy (RICO), in connection with his role in the operation of a fraudulent investment vehicle known as Complete Business Solutions Group Inc. d/b/a Par Funding (“Par Funding”).

Barleta was charged by second superseding indictment in February of 2024 and pleaded guilty to the RICO charge in October.

As detailed in court filings and admitted to by the defendant, Barleta and co-defendants Joseph LaForte, James LaForte, and others, were part of an association-in-fact RICO enterprise that conspired to commit a number of predicate crimes, including crimes related to the fleecing of Par Funding’s many investors.

Barleta’s role in the conspiracy related to helping financially engineer the securities and wire fraud components of the enterprise at the direction of Joseph LaForte. In particular, Barleta manipulated financial statements, fudged numbers, and cooked the internal books of Par Funding in order to deceive investors into thinking that Par Funding was profitable and successful, when the business was actually losing significant amounts year after year.

In January 2025, the Court found the Par Funding fraud scheme caused an actual fraud loss of approximately $404,000,000, which it reduced to $288,395,088 after factoring in credit for collateral that federal authorities seized from Par Funding when the investigation became public in July 2020, upon the SEC placing Par Funding in receivership.

Joe LaForte and James LaForte pleaded guilty last year to racketeering conspiracy, securities fraud, and related crimes. In March, Joe LaForte was sentenced to 15½ years in prison and James LaForte to 11½ years in prison.

“Barleta played a key role in the massive fraud scheme that was Par Funding,” said U.S. Attorney Metcalf. “He participated in an extensive and destructive conspiracy that inflicted substantial harm on the community. My office will continue to prosecute perpetrators of these complex financial crimes and vindicate the victims who lose their hard-earned money to them.”

“This sentencing holds Joseph Barleta accountable for his criminal actions, including securities and wire fraud,” said Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “The FBI, together with our partners, remains unwavering in our commitment to identify, investigate, and disrupt complex financial crimes, ensuring that those who perpetrate them are brought to justice.”

“Mr. Barleta was brought to justice today for his role in the operation of a fraudulent investment vehicle that deceived Par Funding’s numerous investors and caused them significant financial losses,” said Patricia Tarasca, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General (FDIC OIG), New York Region. “The FDIC OIG will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to investigate and hold accountable those who participate in fraudulent schemes such as these, that harm investors and threaten the safety and soundness of our Nation’s financial system.”

This case was investigated by the FBI, FDIC OIG, IRS Criminal Investigation, and the Pennsylvania State Police and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew Newcomer, Samuel Dalke, and Eric Gill. The SEC in Florida investigated and litigated the civil securities fraud charges, which formed the basis of a portion of the criminal prosecution.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Carter Reese, 77, of Reading, Pennsylvania, entered a plea of guilty today before United States District Court Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl to one count of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud, in connection with a scheme in which he defrauded customers by making false representations about the source and authenticity of certain art purportedly created by prominent artists.

Reese was charged by information with those offenses earlier this month.

As detailed in court filings and admitted to by the defendant, from about February 2019 to March 2021, Reese sold and attempted to sell art that he represented as genuine pieces created by prominent artists, including Francis Bacon, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jean Cocteau, Keith Haring, Fernand Léger, Roy Lichtenstein, Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, and others. Reese knew that the pieces were fake and had not been created by those artists.

The defendant is scheduled to be sentenced on September 12 and faces a maximum possible term of 40 years in prison.

The case was investigated by members of the FBI’s Art Crime Team assigned to the Philadelphia and Miami field offices and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Ruth Mandelbaum and Jason Grenell.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Kavon Coleman, 23, of Philadelphia, was sentenced to ten years and one month in prison and five supervised release by United States District Court Judge Juan R. Sánchez for carjacking, using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during and in furtherance of a crime of violence, and aiding and abetting.

On December 7, 2023, a grand jury in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania indicted Kavon Coleman on one count of carjacking and aiding and abetting, as well as one count of using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm in relation to a crime of violence.

These charges arose from the defendant and an accomplice committing a gunpoint carjacking of a woman sitting in her car in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on February 17, 2022. The victim was waiting for a food order at 3300 Fairmont Avenue around 5 p.m., when Coleman and his accomplice approached with guns. Coleman’s accomplice pointed his gun at the victim and demanded her keys, while Coleman got into her driver’s seat. The two men drove her car away. The next day, Coleman and others engaged police in a high-speed chase in a different carjacked vehicle and crashed into another driver during their flight. Police ultimately located a gun discarded by Coleman with no serial number, known as a ghost gun, along with other evidence. On July 9, 2024, the defendant pleaded guilty to the Indictment after jurors had been selected for trial.

This case was investigated by the joint Carjacking Task Force comprised of the FBI, ATF, and the Philadelphia Police Department. The Carjacking Task Force was launched in January of 2022 to combat the rise of violent carjackings in and around Philadelphia.

The case was investigated by the FBI, with the assistance of the ATF and the Philadelphia Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Katherine Shulman and Joseph LaBar.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Rashell Ortiz, 23, of Grove City, Ohio, was sentenced today by United States District Court Judge Gerald J. Pappert to 20 months in prison, three years supervised release, restitution of $130,255 and a $600 special assessment for defrauding hundreds of victims in an advance-fee scheme involving the purported sale of high-end handbags and other luxury items.

Ortiz was charged by indictment in January 2024 with six counts of wire fraud, and in December was convicted of all charges at trial.

As proven at trial, from October 2019 to November 2021, Ortiz and her boyfriend, Orvil Cataquet Jr., 25, of Syracuse, New York, marketed items, predominantly luxury purses, through online sales platforms like Poshmark and Offer Up. Throughout the scheme, they posed as a young female who was selling the bags at reduced prices because she was going through a divorce and wanted to get rid of her ex-husband’s gifts. They offered interested buyers a discount to conduct the transaction through a third-party money transfer app such as Zelle, CashApp, Venmo, Google Pay, or PayPal.  Once they received the victims’ money, they failed to deliver the goods and eventually ceased contact. In all, Ortiz and Cataquet Jr. defrauded more than 300 victims, some of whom resided in the greater Philadelphia region out of approximately $130,225, which they used to fund their lifestyle of frequent food deliveries and video games.

Cataquet Jr. pleaded guilty to wire fraud last year and was sentenced in October to 14 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and $156,074 in restitution.

This case was investigated by FBI Philadelphia’s Newtown Square Resident Agency and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Meghan Claiborne and Sarah Wolfe

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Willie Singletary, aka “Woo,” 33, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was sentenced today by United States District Court Judge Cynthia M. Rufe to 17 years in prison and 3 years’ of supervised release for his role in a violent armed robbery and the planning of an attempted armed home invasion. The sentence will run consecutive to a 10 to 30 year sentence the defendant is already serving in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

In October of last year, the defendant pleaded guilty to a four-count information charging him with conspiracy to commit robbery which interferes with interstate commerce (Hobbs Act robbery), Hobbs Act robbery, attempted Hobbs Act robbery, and using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

As detailed in court filings and admitted to by the defendant, on November 20, 2019, Singletary, Shaquan Brown, and another co-conspirator set out to rob a Philadelphia laundromat and the attached residence.

At about 7:30 that morning, the three offenders, each armed with a firearm, encountered a laundromat employee. At gunpoint, they forced him inside the business and downstairs into its basement. At least one of the robbers repeatedly punched the victim, still at gunpoint, while the victim screamed for help. One of the offenders restrained the victim, tying his hands together behind his back.

Singletary and Brown then went upstairs into the laundromat owner’s residence. Upon encountering the owner, the defendant repeatedly punched him, and Brown assaulted a female victim who was also upstairs. The robbers stole approximately $30,000, which was to be used to renovate the business, then fled the scene.

Singletary subsequently provided information to Brown about an individual whom the defendant believed had substantial amounts of cash. Singletary instructed Brown to install a GPS tracker on their intended victim’s vehicle, to figure out where he lived, and Brown did so. The defendant directed Brown that Brown shouldn’t be afraid to get “grimy” and that “nothing is off limits” during the robbery.

On the morning of January 3, 2020, Brown and another person attempted to break into their target’s Chester County, Pa., residence to commit an armed home invasion robbery. When the home security alarm system went off, the police responded and arrested Brown after a foot chase, recovering duct tape, zip ties, and a firearm from Brown’s backpack.

“What Singletary and his buddies put their victims through was terrifying,” said U.S. Attorney Metcalf. “Being menaced at gunpoint and then physically assaulted is something they’ll likely never forget. All because the defendant would rather steal other people’s money than make an honest living of his own. As this case shows, we simply will not permit criminals to terrorize innocent people for profit.”

“Willie Singletary led a vicious robbery of a Philadelphia Laundromat, threatening their victims’ lives at gunpoint and brutalizing them,” said Eric DeGree, Special Agent in Charge of the ATF’s Philadelphia Field Division. “Having directed a further attempted robbery, Singletary is now going to federal prison where he will no longer endanger his neighborhood. ATF Philadelphia Field Division’s has a long history of partnership with the Philadelphia Police Department and U.S. Attorney’s Office, and we will continue to work tirelessly together to ensure justice for the victims and to make our communities safer.”

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

The case was investigated by the ATF and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Anthony J. Carissimi and J. Jeanette Kang.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that two men convicted of illegally reentering the United States after having been deported in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania were sentenced today.

Yovany Basurto, aka Yovany Basurt Leal, 33, a Mexican national, was sentenced this morning by United States District Court Judge Joseph F. Leeson Jr. to time served, exactly three months for illegally reentering the U.S. after having been deported.

In February of this year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) received electronic notification that Basurto had been arrested and processed by the Bridgeport Borough (Pa.) Police Department on a charge of driving under the influence (DUI).

He was arrested by ICE on a federal complaint and warrant, indicted in March, and pleaded guilty to illegal reentry last month.

The defendant had previously been arrested by ICE in October of 2018 for being in the U.S. without authorization and was removed from the country in February 2019. In June of the same year, the U.S. Border Patrol arrested Basurto in Laredo, Texas, after he illegally reentered the United States once again. That July, Basurto was removed from the U.S. for the second time. After serving the sentence imposed today, he will again be removed from the country.

Cristhian Vega-Guerra, 34, an Ecuadorian national, was sentenced this afternoon by United States District Court Judge Mitchell S. Goldberg to time served, approximately three months and for illegally reentering the U.S. after having been deported.

After receiving and investigating information that the defendant may be illegally residing in Lehigh County, ICE arrested Vega-Guerra on a federal complaint and warrant in January 2025. He pleaded guilty last month to a superseding information charging him with illegal reentry.

In March 2023, the U.S. Border Patrol had encountered Vega-Guerra near Eagle Pass, Texas, and arrested him for entering the U.S. without authorization. He was ordered removed and deported from the country that August. After serving the sentence imposed today, he will again be removed from the country.

“Illegal immigration strains our public services, endangers our citizens, and insults the rule of law,” said U.S. Attorney Metcalf. “If you keep coming into this country illegally, know that we will keep prosecuting you, and the penalties will keep getting steeper.”

“Yovany Basurto and Cristhian Vega-Guerra showed complete disregard for our nation’s immigration laws by repeatedly violating them and are therefore subject to removal,” said ICE ERO Philadelphia Field Office Director Brian McShane. “These sentences send a clear message that aliens who dismiss an immigration judge’s order of removal by illegally reentering the United States after being deported are committing a criminal offense.”

These cases were investigated by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations and are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Robert Schopf and Rebecca Kulik.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Zaven Yeghiazaryan, 44, of Newtown, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty before the Honorable Gerald J. Pappert to 13 counts of an indictment charging him with conspiracy, health care fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering in connection with his execution of a variety of schemes.

The charges arose from the defendant’s commission of fraud offenses targeting, among others, government programs, including through the use of shell companies and false identities, between January 2020 and April 2024. The defendant’s fraud offenses targeted two government programs which offered relief during the Covid-19 pandemic: the Small Business Administration’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, and the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program. In addition, the defendant admitted that he participated in a scheme to defraud the Medicaid program.

Based upon his guilty pleas to the 13 counts, the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of 230 years in prison, a three-year period of supervised release, and a $3,250,000 fine, restitution of $334,905 and forfeiture. Sentencing is scheduled for September 4, 2025.

The case was investigated by the Social Security Administration – Office of the Inspector General, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, the United States Postal Inspection Service, Homeland Security Investigations, the Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General, the United States Department of Labor – Office of the Inspector General, the United States Department of Transportation – Office of the Inspector General and the State Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Mary E. Crawley and Special Assistant United States Attorney Megan Curran. 

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Kysem Humphrey, 19, and Jayquan Jett, 18, both of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, were arrested and charged by indictment with possession of a machine gun.

The indictment alleges that on December 17, 2024, officers with the Philadelphia Police Department recovered personally manufactured firearms, modified to be fully automatic weapons, that the defendants had hidden under their clothing when they boarded a SEPTA bus.

If convicted, the defendants each face a maximum possible sentence of 10 years in prison.

The case was investigated by the Philadelphia Police Department, SEPTA Transit Police, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Meagan Gordon.

The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that James J. Sirleaf, 65, of Darby, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty today before United States District Court Judge Paul S. Diamond to engaging in a multi-year scheme to assist clients with filing false income tax returns to fraudulently increase their refund amounts, as well as to filing false personal income tax returns for himself.

In April 2023, Sirleaf was charged by indictment with 15 counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false income tax returns and three counts of filing false personal income tax returns, and he pleaded guilty to all charges.

As detailed in court filings and admitted to by the defendant, at the time of the charged conduct, Sirleaf was the was the sole owner and operator of Metro Financial Services Inc., a tax preparation business in Philadelphia. Sirleaf prepared false and fraudulent Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) Forms 1040, or U.S. Individual Tax Returns, for client taxpayers for at least tax years 2016 through 2019.

Sirleaf included falsities on the tax returns — including false deductions, fabricated business expenses, and/or false dependent information — resulting in tax calculations lower than what the clients actually owed.

In addition, Sirleaf filed false returns for himself for tax years 2017 through 2019, failing to fully report his income, which resulted in an additional tax loss to the IRS.

In total, Sirleaf’s scheme caused a tax loss to the IRS of $219,622.

The defendant is scheduled to be sentenced on September 3, 2025, and faces a maximum possible term of 54 years’ imprisonment.

This case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Eileen Castilla Geiger.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced the unsealing today of a superseding indictment (“the indictment”) charging four businessmen and two companies with conspiracy and wire fraud offenses in connection with their execution of a nationwide telemarketing fraud scheme. The corporate defendants, Bene Market LLC and Seguro Medico LLC, doing business as Quick Health, Q Health, Benefits Now, Express Benefits, and YourBenefits4U (collectively, the “Bene Market Group”), operated a boiler room call center near Reading, Pennsylvania, which peddled discount health and dental plans to consumers through a series of false, misleading, and deceptive sales practices.

The businesses were controlled and managed by the principal architect of the alleged fraud scheme, defendant Alan Redmond, 42, of Wyomissing, Pa., who was supported by senior executives Arthur Walsh, 65, of West Lawn, Pa., and Jesus Barrera, 32, of Dillsburg, Pa., and head sales agent and manager Albert Groff, 44, of Wernersville, Pa.

The 44-page indictment returned by the federal grand jury alleges that, from at least January 2018 through December 2022, the defendants collected tens of millions of dollars in commissions by regularly and systematically deceiving and misleading consumers seeking health insurance through bait-and-switch sales tactics, which included tricking consumers into buying limited benefit plans that provided little or no coverage by falsely representing that the plans provided comprehensive health insurance coverage, also known as “major medical insurance,” or provided coverage equivalent to major medical insurance, when they did not. 

As alleged in the indictment, the Bene Market Group paid lead generators for the transfer of live calls with consumers looking to purchase healthcare insurance. Once transferred over, the Bene Market Group employees falsely told consumers that the company was “the national enrollment center for health insurance” and worked as a third-party broker to search and compare health insurance products across the entire marketplace to find the best coverage at the lowest rate. The Bene Market Group also falsely claimed to “work with over 30 of the top A-rated insurance companies” and to sell comprehensive health insurance policies from well-known, blue-chip insurers. In reality, the Bene Market Group did not search the marketplace, did not work with the touted A-rated carriers, and did not even sell major medical insurance. Instead, the Bene Market Group peddled a limited set of discount plans that had lower and more restricted benefits than major medical insurance. In some instances, the limited benefit plans sold by the defendants were not even insurance.

The indictment charges further that, as a result of the defendants’ bait-and-switch scheme, tens of thousands of purchasing consumers were left without insurance coverage for the majority of their medical, dental, and prescription costs. For some consumers with serious health care needs, the lack of coverage from the limited benefit plans sold by the defendants caused financial hardship and left them in significant medical debt in the tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars.

According to the indictment, in order to keep the fraud scheme going, Redmond and the manager defendants used unlicensed sales employees to sell the limited benefit plans; bundled products together to mimic major medical insurance; trained the sales employees with misleading scripts and sales pitches to use on the phones; used a variety of trade names and aliases when selling plans; engaged in “churning” and “policy-flipping” by reselling and upselling existing consumers; omitted and downplayed material restrictions about the limited plans sold; overbilled and double-billed consumers; told consumers to ignore or disregard the verification disclaimers or disclosures; altered recorded sales calls after the fact to deceive regulators; withheld information about the limited benefit plans from sales employees; ignored complaints from consumers, carriers, and regulators; and refused or delayed refunds to consumers.

The indictment charges further that Redmond obscured his control of defendant Seguro Medico by using nominees, including his spouse, and used funds fraudulently obtained from victim purchasers to buy personal properties, commercial properties, jewelry, airline tickets, event tickets, private school tuition, and limousine services. The other manager defendants also received significant payments or distributions, as a result of the fraud scheme.

The indictment further alleges that, between 2019 and 2022, Redmond caused Bene Market and Seguro Medico to withhold over $1.2 million in trust fund taxes from the wages and paychecks of employees, but Redmond did not pay over these withheld amounts to the IRS on behalf of the employees, as required.

If convicted of the conspiracy, wire fraud, and tax offenses, defendant Alan Redmond faces a maximum possible sentence of 635 years’ imprisonment, a five-year period of supervised release, and a $6,750,000 fine, along with restitution and forfeiture of various properties and money. Defendants Arthur Walsh, Jesus Barrera, and Albert Groff each face 600 years’ imprisonment, a five-year period of supervised release, and a $5,000,000 fine, along with restitution and forfeiture.

The case was investigated by the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation, with assistance from the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Samuel S. Dalke and Mary E. Crawley.

The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Keith Dougherty, 69, of College Park, Maryland, was convicted today at trial of one count of threatening to assault and murder United States judges with the intent to impede, intimidate, and interfere with them while they were engaged in the performance of official duties, and with the intent to retaliate against them on account of their performance of official duties, and three counts of mailing threatening communications.

Dougherty was charged by indictment in July of last year with those offenses.

As detailed in court filings and proven at trial, the defendant has mailed and/or filed motions containing threatening language directed at federal judges, on numerous occasions and in several federal districts. He had already been prosecuted and convicted by a federal jury in December of 2021 for such filings and served a 41-month prison term in that case, followed by a three-year period of supervised release.

Just months into that supervised release, he uttered more threatening communications, so his supervised release was revoked, and he was returned to prison. While back in prison serving the violation sentence, he again mailed and/or filed the same sort of threatening language, resulting in the July 2024 charges and today’s trial conviction.

The defendant is scheduled to be sentenced at a later date and faces a maximum possible term of 40 years’ imprisonment, three years of supervised release, and a $1,000,000 fine.

“No judge should have to fear that one of their rulings might provoke a violent attack in response,” said U.S. Attorney Metcalf. “Keith Dougherty knows that threatening judges is a crime. He’s already been prosecuted, convicted, and served previous time for sending these vile communications. His behavior is unacceptable, and today’s verdict ensures he’ll answer for it and remain safely behind bars.”

The case was investigated by the U.S. Marshals Service and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joseph LaBar.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Tina Marie Farley, 49, of Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, was sentenced today by United States District Court Judge Joshua D. Wolson to 420 months in prison, 10 years of supervised released, and $3,000 in restitution for facilitating, permitting, and participating in the sexual abuse of a minor, and the manufacture of child pornography.

Farley was charged by indictment in December 2023 with those offenses and pleaded guilty in January of this year.

As detailed in court documents and admitted to by the defendant, beginning around October 2017 and over the course of approximately 18 months, Farley facilitated the sexual abuse of Minor 1 by Farley’s boyfriend, including engaging in sexual contact with Minor 1, and filming and photographing the sexual abuse. At times, Farley was present for and even participated in the sexual abuse and filming/photographing of the abuse. Minor 1 was 12 to 13 years old at the time.

“This defendant badly betrayed a child who trusted her, and now must be held to account for that exploitation,” said U.S. Attorney Metcalf. “Those who sexually abuse children cause lasting harm, an emotional toll that’s unfathomable. My office and the FBI are working aggressively every day to find and prosecute child predators, to keep them from hurting more innocent victims.”

“The exploitation of children is one of the most egregious crimes the FBI investigates,” said Gabriel Poling, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of FBI Philadelphia. “Today’s sentencing underscores the FBI and our partners’ commitment to safeguarding children and ensuring that those who harm them will be brought to justice.”

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit projectsafechildhood.gov.

The case was investigated by the FBI, with the Conshohocken Police Department and the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Meghan Claiborne and Kelly Harrell.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Isiah Kangar, 52, was sentenced today by United States District Court Judge Mark A. Kearney to 12 months in prison, 90 days of supervised release, a $1,000 fine, and $100 special assessment for conspiracy to defraud the United States, visa fraud, and attempted unlawful procurement of citizenship. Following the conclusion of his sentence, the defendant will be removed from the United States.

In 2009, Kangar, who was born in Liberia, posed as his brother when he applied for a visa to enter to the United States as the unmarried son of a lawful permanent resident. Once in the United States, he became a lawful permanent resident and obtained a “green card” under the false identity, which enabled him to remain in the United States for over a decade. In 2022, he applied for U.S. citizenship using documents bearing his brother’s identity, including the green card, a Pennsylvania driver’s license, and a Liberian passport.

In February 2024, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania indicted the defendant on multiple charges related to immigration fraud. He pleaded guilty to three counts against him in November.

“The defendant built his life here on a foundation of lies,” said U.S. Attorney Metcalf. “His fraud on the U.S. government spanned 15 years and required not just deceit, but apparent preparation and planning. With a finite number of immigrant visas available each year, he took a spot that could have gone to someone more deserving. Bottom line: anyone who wants to come to our country must do so 100% legally.”

“Preserving the integrity of our immigration system is essential to national security and public trust. Fraudulent schemes that undermine lawful immigration processes will be investigated and prosecuted,” said Edward V. Owens, Special Agent in Charge of HSI Philadelphia. “Through close collaboration with the Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, HSI remains dedicated to identifying and prosecuting individuals who seek to manipulate the system for personal gain.”

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Chelsea Schinnour with the Department of Justice’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions section, and Eastern District of Pennsylvania Assistant United States Attorneys Kelly Harrell and Patrick Brown. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, Philadelphia, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, also provided assistance. 

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Henry Ford, also known as Cleothus Lefty Jackson, 51, of Port St. Lucie, Florida, entered a plea of guilty today before United States District Court Judge Joel H. Slomsky to one count of securities fraud and seven counts of wire fraud.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Ford founded and operated a business named Fallcatcher, the stated goal of which was to develop and market an electronic system designed to track use of medication by addiction recovery patients to prevent relapse.

In May 2018, Ford was seeking additional investors in Fallcatcher, which had been running out of funding. At this time, Ford used an acquaintance in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania who had access to a network of investors to raise funds from these investors. Ford provided his acquaintance false and misleading information about the Fallcatcher investment proposal, so that the acquaintance would agree to send the information to his investor network.

Additionally, Ford made presentations in person to potential investors, who were part of this acquaintance’s network, at locations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. During these presentations, Ford made false and misleading statements regarding the proposed investment opportunity and showed investors a fraudulent letter of interest, which falsely stated that a major insurance company had agreed to conduct a pilot program using Fallcatcher’s system. Ford caused his acquaintance to distribute further false and misleading statements after these presentations.

As a result of these deceptive fundraising efforts, Ford caused approximately 50 investors to invest approximately $5 million in total in Fallcatcher.

In 2018, the Securities & Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) began to investigate Fallcatcher. During the SEC investigation, in the fall of 2018 and the first half of 2019, Ford took various actions to conceal his fraud upon the investors in Fallcatcher. For example, Ford, through his counsel, produced to the SEC an email purporting to show that the fraudulent letter of interest described above was legitimate. In fact, the email produced to the SEC, like the letter of interest, was also shown to be false and fabricated.

The defendant is scheduled to be sentenced on August 14, 2025.

The case was investigated by the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Patrick J. Murray and Francis A. Weber. The SEC’s New York Regional Office investigated and litigated the civil securities fraud charges which formed the basis of a portion of the criminal prosecution.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Isaiah Smith, 18, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was arrested and charged by indictment with one count of possession of child pornography.

The indictment alleges that Smith possessed visual depictions of prepubescent minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. As detailed in court filings, these visual depictions included videos that the defendant recorded as he sexually abused two different child victims, a six-year-old girl, and a nonverbal three-year-old boy, on multiple occasions, over more than a year. The child sexual abuse material was discovered after a friend of the defendant walked in on Smith orally raping one of the child victims.

If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment, with a mandatory minimum of five years up to lifetime supervised release, mandatory financial penalties, and mandatory registration as a sex offender under SORNA and Megan’s Law.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit projectsafechildhood.gov.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Philadelphia Police Department Special Victims Unit and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michelle Rotella.

The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Imoleayo Samuel Aina, aka “Alice Dave,” 27, of Nigeria entered a plea of guilty before United States District Court Judge Joel H. Slomsky Monday to cyberstalking, interstate threat to injure reputation, receiving proceeds of extortion, money laundering conspiracy, and four counts of wire fraud, in connection with the sexual extortion and death of a young man in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Aina and co-defendant Samuel Olasunkanmi Abiodun, 25, were arrested on a complaint and warrant in Nigeria, taken into custody by the FBI on July 31, 2024, and extradited to the United States to face charges in this case. They and another Nigerian co-defendant, Afeez Olatunji Adewale, 25, were then charged by indictment in August 2024.

Aina is scheduled to be sentenced on August 11 and faces a statutory maximum of lifetime imprisonment.

Abiodun pleaded guilty in December to money laundering conspiracy and four counts of wire fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 10 and faces a statutory maximum of 100 years’ imprisonment.

Adewale has also been charged with money laundering conspiracy and four counts of wire fraud. He remains in Nigeria, pending extradition to the U.S.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Abington Township Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Patrick Brown.

Aina and Abiodun were extradited to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania with assistance of the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the FBI Legal Attaché in Abuja, and the FBI. The support and assistance of Nigerian security authorities was essential to this effort, notably that of Nigeria’s Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the Federal Ministry of Justice’s International Criminal Justice Cooperation Department, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Ismael Terrero-Terrero, 22, of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was sentenced today by United States District Court Judge Timothy J. Savage to 40 months’ imprisonment and $26,798 in restitution for multiple burglaries in which he stole more than 150 guns from licensed firearms dealers.

The defendant was charged by indictment in January of 2024, and pleaded guilty this January to three counts of theft of firearms from a federal firearms licensee and one count of possession of a stolen firearm.

As detailed in court filings, on April 28, 2023, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) was notified of a burglary at a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) in Easton, Pennsylvania. Surveillance video showed that, at approximately 2:40 a.m., the defendant used a pry bar to make entrance into the building and immediately began taking AK-style pistols and AR-style rifles from the wall. He then used the pry bar to break open three glass display cases that contained pistols, placed the guns into a bag, and exited the building with 29 stolen firearms.

In the early morning hours of June 29, 2023, law enforcement officers were dispatched to an FFL in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania, for a report of a security alarm activation. Surveillance video showed that at approximately 1:35 a.m., the defendant and another man forced entry into the building. They broke the firearm display cases with a metal tool, took handguns from the display case and put them into a backpack. The men then exited the business and fled the scene with 44 stolen firearms.

On August 11, 2023, at approximately 4:16 a.m., the Telford Police Department (TPD) in Telford, Pennsylvania, received a notification of a burglar alarm activation at an FFL in the borough. Approximately three minutes later, a TPD officer arrived at the location and observed a male with a duffle bag entering the passenger seat of a nearby vehicle, which immediately started to flee from the officer. The officer’s pursuit of the vehicle was terminated a short time later, consistent with TPD policy. Upon examination of the scene and review of video surveillance footage, investigators determined that the defendant and another man had forced entry into the FFL and smashed multiple display cases containing firearms. The men then loaded numerous firearms into a large bag and a rolling suitcase, leaving the store with 82 stolen firearms.

“This defendant committed three separate burglaries, stealing an astonishing 157 firearms,” said U.S. Attorney Metcalf. “These guns have now found their way into our communities and are being recovered in shootings and other crimes from Connecticut to the Caribbean. Terrero-Terrero was actively putting guns in criminals’ hands and the repercussions will continue, at society’s expense. Public safety demands that we prevent offenders from getting their hands on guns — and punish those providing a steady stream of illegal weapons.”

“Stolen guns are crime guns that endanger our communities,” said Eric DeGree, Special Agent in Charge of the ATF’s Philadelphia Field Division. “Ismael Terrero-Terrero burglarized three Pennsylvania gun shops, stealing more than 150 firearms connected to crimes up and down the East Coast and overseas. Working with the Montgomery County Detective Bureau, Pennsylvania State Police, local police departments, and U.S. Attorney’s Office, this far-reaching and dangerous criminal operation was ended, and the perpetrator is going to prison for years.”

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

The case was investigated by the ATF and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Maureen McCartney.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Breyanna Cornish, 30, Jawayne Brown, 40, and Ahmad Nasir, aka Hussain Abdussamad, 44, all of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, entered pleas of guilty before United States District Court Judge Gerald J. Pappert this week in connection with a scheme to smuggle contraband — including drugs, phones, chargers, cigarettes, and knives — into the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center (“PICC”) from April through July of 2021.

The defendants were charged by indictment in August of last year, with Nasir pleading guilty this morning to one count of conspiracy to commit federal program bribery, one count of federal program bribery, one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of buprenorphine, and one count of possession with intent to distribute a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of buprenorphine.

Brown pleaded guilty on Monday to one count of conspiracy to commit federal program bribery, one count of federal program bribery, and one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of buprenorphine.

Cornish pleaded guilty on Monday to one count of conspiracy to commit federal program bribery and one count of federal program bribery.

As detailed in court filings and admitted to by the defendants, Nasir, who was then detained pre-trial at PICC, worked with Brown, who was not incarcerated, Cornish, who was then a PICC correctional officer (“CO”) employed by the Philadelphia Department of Prisons (“PDP”), and several other associates to purchase and assemble contraband. Cornish then smuggled the contraband into PICC, where Nasir sold the contraband to other inmates for a profit. Nasir then instructed associates to pay Cornish for her role smuggling the contraband into the prison and Brown for his work purchasing and assembling the packages.

On July 10, 2021, PDP conducted a search of the cell Nasir shared with another inmate. In a compartment in the ceiling behind a light fixture, officers recovered 19 cellphones, 20 cellphone chargers, one rapid charger, two super glues, two screwdrivers, one roll of tape, three hunting knives, one Ziploc bag containing the synthetic cannabinoid commonly known as K2, one Ziploc bag of tobacco, one alprazolam pill, and at least 110 packets of Suboxone.

Following the search of the cell, officers conducted a search of Nasir and his cellmate. Officers recovered a cellphone from the person of each of them. Text messages and WhatsApp messages extracted from the cell phone recovered from Nasir’s person revealed that from June 19, 2021, to July 6, 2021, CO Cornish, Nasir, and Brown discussed via text specific contraband items to be acquired, the delivery of contraband packages, and payments for the items and to co-conspirators. Nasir simultaneously sent messages to multiple inmates about the purchase and delivery of contraband.

The defendants are scheduled to be sentenced in August. Cornish faces a maximum possible term of 15 years’ imprisonment, Brown a maximum possible term of 25 years’ imprisonment, and Nasir a maximum possible term of 35 years’ imprisonment.

The case was investigated by the FBI, with significant assistance from the Philadelphia Department of Prisons, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Meghan Claiborne and Ruth Mandelbaum.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Richard Thompson, 57, of Falls Church, Virginia, Shaun Hanrahan, 66, of Hampton, Virginia, and Darren Hannam, 57, of Haymarket, Virginia, were charged by indictment with honest services fraud through bribery for engaging in schemes to pay off Thompson, in exchange for Thompson steering millions of dollars in Amtrak work to companies owned by Hanrahan, Hannam, and others.

Thompson was the Director of Network Planning and Engineering for Amtrak and had a leadership role in designing information technology (“IT”) systems and selecting IT vendors and subcontractors to perform IT work for Amtrak. Hanrahan was the owner of Awarity, LLC, a small business providing management consulting and computer-related services. Hannam and Co-schemer #1 were the principals of Arch Technology, an IT company.

The indictment alleges that, from about 2015 through 2021, Thompson engaged in bribery schemes with each of three companies who were his favored vendors in the Amtrak contracting process — Awarity, Arch Technology, and 20/20 Teknology, owned by Co-schemer #2. In each of these schemes, as alleged, Thompson repeatedly shared proprietary Amtrak bid information and other documents with his favored vendors before Amtrak contracts were awarded, giving the favored vendors advantages in the Amtrak contracting processes.

The indictment further alleges that Thompson likewise collaborated with them on bid and contracting documents, manipulated bidding lists, and structured existing contractual relationships, so that his favored vendors would get lucrative subcontracting deals and bypass Amtrak’s competitive bidding process. The defendants allegedly tried to conceal their scheme from Amtrak and other authorities by communicating with Thompson on his personal email accounts rather than his Amtrak email.

The Amtrak work involved in these schemes included, among other things, the design and installation of nationwide WiFi networks, IT equipment purchases, the installation of audio-visual equipment in Amtrak’s offices in Washington, DC, and a major project to improve the gates that provided access to Amtrak railroad tracks across the country. According to the indictment, for steering and attempting to steer this work to his favored vendors, Thompson received a stream of benefits from each vendor. For example, Hanrahan provided Thompson with payments of cash totaling at least $97,000; Hannam and Co-schemer #1 provided Thompson with expensive electronics valued at approximately $9,500, including Apple computers. Co-schemer #2 provided Thompson with an automobile, free hotel and condominium stays in Ocean City, Maryland, and $40,000 in cash.

The defendants are all charged with multiple counts of honest services wire fraud through bribery. Hannam is also charged with falsification of records for allegedly trying to cover up the scheme after federal agents executed search warrants in this matter.

If convicted, the defendants face maximum possible sentences of 20 years in prison for each count of honest services fraud in the indictment.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Amtrak Office of Inspector General and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Louis D. Lappen and Jason Grenell.

The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Michael Jefferson, 42, of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, a correctional officer at Federal Detention Center (FDC) Philadelphia, was arrested today and charged by indictment with one count of aggravated sexual abuse, one count of sexual abuse, one count of sexual abuse of a ward, and one count of deprivation of rights under color of law, arising from his alleged sexual abuse of an FDC inmate under his authority.

The indictment alleges that on or about July 6, 2024, the defendant knowingly caused and attempted to cause the victim to engage in a sexual act by using force, resulting in bodily injury to the victim.

The indictment further alleges that, while acting under color of law, Jefferson willfully deprived the victim of her right not to be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment, a right secured and protected by the Constitution and laws of the United States, which includes the right to be free from sexual abuse by a correctional officer.

Jefferson has been suspended from his position by the Bureau of Prisons.

If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of life in prison.

The case was investigated by the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Meghan Claiborne.

The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Mark Snedden, 69, of Munster, Indiana, entered a plea of guilty today before United States District Court Judge Wendy Beetlestone to conspiracy to commit federal program bribery and making and presenting a false claim.

The defendant was charged by information with those offenses last month.

As presented in the information, on or about December 10, 2015, a masonry restoration contractor (the “Contractor”) was awarded a $58,473,000 contract by Amtrak to be the main contractor on a façade repair and restoration project at Amtrak’s 30th Street Station in Philadelphia.

Federal funding supplied approximately 90 percent of the money Amtrak used to pay the Contractor for the repair and restoration of the 30th Street Station façade.

The defendant was the sole owner and President of the Contractor with responsibility to provide executive oversight of the Vice Presidents of the Contractor and the Contractor’s performance on the 30th Street Station façade project.

Donald Seefeldt, Lee Maniatis, and Khaled Dallo, each charged elsewhere, were Vice Presidents of the Contractor, with responsibility to supervise the Contractor’s performance on the 30th Street Station façade project.

Amtrak Employee #1 was employed by Amtrak as the Project Manager on the repair and restoration project. In that capacity, Amtrak Employee #1 was responsible for communicating with the Contractor about the work being done on 30th Street Station. Amtrak Employee #1 was also responsible for reviewing the invoices, change orders, and requests for payment that the Contractor submitted to Amtrak. Amtrak Employee #1 had the power to approve or reject these invoices, change orders, and requests for payment. Although Amtrak Employee #1 did not have the singular authority to approve Amtrak payments to the Contractor, his approval was a critical step in that process.

The contract between Amtrak and the Contractor prohibited Snedden and other Contractor officials from “offer[ing] to any Amtrak employee, agent, or representative any cash, gift, entertainment, commission, or kickback for the purpose of securing favorable treatment with regard to award or performance of any contract or agreement.”

As detailed in the information and admitted to by the defendant, from in or about May 2016 through in or about November 2019, in Philadelphia, in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and elsewhere, the defendant conspired and agreed with others known and unknown to the United States Attorney, including Amtrak Employee #1, Lee Maniatis, Khaled Dallo, and Donald Seefeldt, to commit an offense against the United States, that is, to knowingly and corruptly give, offer, and agree to give, a thing of value to Amtrak Employee #1, intending to influence and reward Amtrak Employee #1 in connection with any business, transaction and series of transactions.

Specifically, the information alleges, Donald Seefeldt, Lee Maniatis, Khaled Dallo, and others known to the United States Attorney, with Snedden’s knowledge and agreement, provided Amtrak Employee #1 with gifts and other things of value totaling approximately $323,686, including, among other things, paid vacations, jewelry, cash, dinners, entertainment, a dog, training for that dog, and transportation, to ensure that Amtrak Employee #1 used his power and influence to benefit the Contractor during the performance of the 30th Street Station Repair and Restoration Project.

In return for these gifts and other things of value, Amtrak Employee #1 used his position at Amtrak to access internal agency information available only to Amtrak employees about the 30th Street Station Project and shared this internal information with the defendant and other officials with the Contractor.

The information further alleges that Amtrak Employee #1 used his position at Amtrak to approve additional, more expensive changes to the 30th Street Station Repair and Restoration Project, thereby increasing the amount and value of the work to be performed by the Contractor. These additional expenses were reflected in a series of change orders or contract modifications. In total, Amtrak Employee #1 approved over $52 million of additional payments from Amtrak to the Contractor. Amtrak Employee #1 and officials with the Contractor falsely inflated the true costs of some of the work to be performed by the Contractor under these change orders, causing Amtrak to be substantially overbilled by over $2 million for the completion of the 30th Street Station Repair and Restoration Project.

Snedden is scheduled to be sentenced on August 13 and faces a maximum possible term of 10 years’ imprisonment.

The case was investigated by the FBI, the Amtrak Office of Inspector General, and the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jason Grenell.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Brian Zenszer, 44, of Warminster, Pennsylvania, entered a plea of guilty today before United States District Court Judge Harvey Bartle III on one count of distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.

Zenszer was charged by indictment in December of last year.

As presented in court filings and admitted to by the defendant, on or about July 21, 2024, Zenszer knowingly distributed a visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and, on or about November 6, 2024, possessed a Samsung cellular phone containing visual depictions of minors, including one or more prepubescent minors who had not attained 12 years of age, engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

The charges arose from two CyberTips reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) regarding two accounts on the Kik messaging app that had uploaded suspected files of child pornography. Investigators determined both accounts belonged to Zenszer.

The defendant is scheduled to be sentenced on July 29 and faces a maximum possible term of 40 years’ imprisonment and a mandatory minimum term of five years in prison.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit projectsafechildhood.gov.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Maureen McCartney.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that James Sessoms, 60, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, entered a plea of guilty today before United States District Court Judge Chad F. Kenney on one count of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) fraud, seven counts of false statements in connection with health care benefits, and seven counts of Social Security fraud.

Sessoms was charged by indictment with those offenses in October of 2024, arising from his scheme to use stolen identities and Social Security numbers (SSNs) to file for government benefits, including SNAP and Medicaid, with a total loss to the government of $1,063,633. As part of the scheme, the defendant would sell the fraudulently acquired SNAP cards for profit at a local supermarket.

As detailed in court filings and admitted to by the defendant, from in or about November 2019 through in or about November 2023, Sessoms defrauded the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) of SNAP benefits, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (PA DHS) of Medicaid benefits, by submitting false and fraudulent benefit applications, including false and fraudulent identification documents in connection with his applications.

As part of the scheme, Sessoms obtained or created the names, SSNs, and personally identifiable information for several fictitious persons, and obtained the names and personally identifiable information of other persons, including valid SSNs, which he placed on the applications for SNAP and Medical benefits, which were submitted to PA DHS under penalty of perjury. To obtain these benefits, Sessoms also submitted false and fraudulent driver’s licenses bearing his photograph under those fictitious and other persons’ names.

On some of the online applications, the defendant added purported family members, such as a spouse and children, which caused for more funds to be awarded for SNAP benefits, but also caused additional Medicaid costs, including additional costs for all of the added family members. To obtain these benefits with family members on the applications, Sessoms submitted fraudulent names and personally identifiable information for a spouse and children, to include fraudulent birth certificates for the children. The Social Security numbers utilized in connection with these identities were valid SSNs, assigned by the Commissioner of Social Security, but assigned to other individuals than the names alleged by the defendant.

From in or about November 2019 to in or about November 2023, PA DHS, with joint federal funding from HHS, provided Medicaid coverage to Sessoms under his numerous aliases, as well as to his purported family members as he indicated on his fraudulent applications.

From in or about November 2019 through in or about November 2023, PA DHS, with federal funding from the USDA, provided SNAP benefits to Sessoms under his numerous aliases, as well as to his purported family members as he indicated on his fraudulent applications.

The defendant is scheduled to be sentenced on August 21 and faces a maximum possible term of 90 years’ imprisonment.

The case was investigated by the USDA Office of Inspector General, Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, HHS Office of Inspector General, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Pennsylvania Office of State Inspector General and is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Megan Curran.

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf welcomed Deputy Attorney General of the United States Todd Blanche for a visit to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (EDPA) on Friday. Deputy AG Blanche was accompanied by Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove.

During their visit, Deputy AG Blanche and Principal Associate Deputy AG Bove met with U.S. Attorney Metcalf and his leadership team to talk about significant issues and cases in the District, and spoke with the office’s prosecutors and professional staff.

In his remarks to EDPA personnel, Deputy AG Blanche discussed Department of Justice priorities, including combating transnational gangs, violent crime, drug trafficking, and illegal immigration, and expressed his appreciation for the office’s steadfast commitment to upholding the rule of law and making communities across the District safer.

Deputy AG Blanche and Principal Associate Deputy AG Bove also met with federal, state, and local law enforcement leaders to underscore the importance of our partnerships in improving public safety, and traveled to Philadelphia’s Kensington section to see firsthand the devastating toll of the ongoing opioid epidemic on the neighborhood and its residents.

“We were honored to host Deputy Attorney General Blanche for the first visit of his tenure to a U.S. Attorney’s Office,” said U.S. Attorney Metcalf. “It was an opportunity to highlight both the important casework being done here to benefit the people of Eastern Pennsylvania, as well as the ongoing public safety challenges that remain. My office will continue to work in lockstep with the Department of Justice and our partners at every level to address those challenges and prosecute the criminals responsible.”

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Shahiem Groover, 45, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was arrested today and charged by indictment with possession with intent to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine, discharging a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime, and possession of a firearm by a felon.

As alleged in court filings, on February 24, 2025, Groover was the driver and sole occupant of a Buick with a suspended license plate. Philadelphia police officers observed the suspended plate and pulled the defendant over for a routine traffic stop. The defendant initially stopped his car and got out to speak with officers, but eventually got back into the car, rolled up his windows, locked the doors, and fled at high speed.

The pursuit lasted several blocks, until Groover jumped out of his car and ran up the street. As officers caught up to the defendant, he stumbled. While on the ground, he allegedly produced a loaded Sterling Arms .22 caliber pistol, turned, and fired one shot at the closest officer. After a brief struggle, the defendant was arrested and the pistol recovered. Detectives subsequently searched the defendant’s car and located cocaine and methamphetamine packaged in a manner consistent with drug trafficking.

Groover had previously been convicted in a court in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year and was not permitted to possess a firearm.

If convicted, the defendant faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum possible sentence of life imprisonment.

The case was investigated by the Philadelphia Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Parisi.

The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.