Northern District of Texas

DALLAS—Francisco Javier Lopez Echeverria, 19, of Balch Springs, Texas, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay to serve 420 months in federal prison and a lifetime of supervised release, following his guilty plea to two child pornography offenses, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Echeverria has been in custody since his arrest in August 2016. He pleaded guilty in December 2016 to two counts of production of child pornography.

According to the factual resume filed in the case, on August 20, 2016, DPD executed a search warrant at Echeverria’s residence. Echeverria was at the residence along with a male 17-month-old child, John Doe. Echeverria acknowledged he possessed sexual explicit images of John Doe, who lived at the residence. Echeverria uploaded images and videos of child pornography to his Flickr account that he produced of John Doe. There are several videos and images that show Echeverria sexually abused the minor child on multiple occasions in May 2016 through July 2016.

In addition, the forensic review of Echeverria’s devices showed that Echeverria possessed additional child pornography. Currently six image files of Echeverria’s collection were of identified children known to law enforcement as victims of sexual abuse. Also, Echeverria possessed hundreds of additional images of nude toddlers and some nude infants.

These cases were brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/. For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ and click on the tab “resources.”

 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Shane Read prosecuted the case.

 

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LUBBOCK, Texas —Shaundel Rey Windom, 39, of San Angelo, Texas, was sentenced today by Senior U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings to 168 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in March 2017 to one count of transportation of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

According to documents filed in the case, Windom set up a Dropbox account on two separate occasions and uploaded several images and videos of child pornography. At the time Windom transported the files he knew the nature of the files and he knew that the files contained minor children under the age of eighteen.

 

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

 

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Tom Green County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Sucsy was in charge of the prosecution.

 

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LUBBOCK — Orlando Juarez Cardenas, 41, of San Angelo, was sentenced today before Senior U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings to 27 years in federal prison for the distribution of methamphetamine in San Angelo, Texas, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Cardenas pleaded guilty in March 2017 to one count of distribution and possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. Cardenas has been in custody since his arrest in January 2017.

According to plea documents filed in the case, on January 23, 2017, Cardenas contacted an individual and requested a meeting with him. During this meeting, Cardenas gave the individual $7,580 as buy money for methamphetamine that would be purchased in the Dallas area. The individual was advised to go to a location in Grand Prairie, Texas. This is the same meeting place where Cardenas has personally picked up drugs in the past. The individual was further advised to follow a Black Nissan Altima. The Nissan Altima stopped on a neighborhood street and a female got out of the vehicle and provided a designer department store bag in exchange for the $7,580 provided by Cardenas.

 

Inside the designer department store bag was 2,030 grams of methamphetamine, divided into two separate plastic baggies. Cardenas intended to repackage the methamphetamine and sell it to his clients in San Angelo and the surrounding area.

 

The Drug Enforcement Administration, the Texas Department of Public Safety-Criminal Investigations Division, and the San Angelo Police Department, Street Crimes Division investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell Lorfing was in charge of the prosecution.

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DALLAS — Jason Edgecombe, 40, and Cy Viator, 34, both of Houston, Texas, were sentenced this morning for their involvement in a “pill mill” operation, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

 

Viator pleaded guilty in May 2016 to one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and one count of unlawful use of a communication facility. U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater sentenced Viator to 140 months in federal prison on Count 1 and 48 months in prison on Count 2.

Edgecombe was sentenced before Judge Fitzwater to 3 months in federal prison. Edgecombe pleaded guilty in March 2017 to two counts of possession of a controlled substance. Judge Fitzwater ordered Edgecombe to report to serve his sentence on September 5, 2017.

Twenty-four individuals were indicted by a federal grand jury in Dallas in February 2015 on offenses related to their participation in the prescription drug distribution conspiracy. That indictment alleged that from at least January 2013 through July 2014, the defendants participated in a scheme to illicitly obtain prescriptions for pain medications, such as oxycodone and hydrocodone, and then distribute those controlled substances for profit. As part of the conspiracy, individuals, often homeless or of limited means, were recruited and paid to pose as patients at medical clinics, including the McAllen Medical Clinic, to obtain prescriptions to fill those prescriptions at designated pharmacies.

Superseding indictments were returned in December 2015 and in January 2016, and a total of 29 individuals have now been convicted and all have been sentenced. The defendants received sentences ranging from time served to 140 months imprisonment.

According to plea documents in Viator’s case, on November 14, 2013, Viator and a co-conspirator conspired to obtain oxycodone and hydrocodone pills in Dallas, Texas, and distribute them in Louisiana. Viator and the co-conspirator obtained 2,000 oxycodone 30mg pills and also hydrocodone pills. After obtaining the pills, Viator drove the co-conspirator to a FedEx location in Dallas to ship the pills in two separate packages to Louisiana. While the co-conspirator was inside the FedEx shipping the packages, Viator sent him text messages with two recipient’s names and addresses. One intended recipient was Viator in Scott, Louisiana. On November 15, 2013, before delivery, both packages were seized by law enforcement in Lafayette, Louisiana. Each package contained three pill bottles in Viator’s name bearing an address in DeSoto, Texas and a total of 2,000 Oxycodone 30mg pills and 500 hydrocodone pills.

 

According to plea documents in Edgecombe’s case, on various occasions Edgecombe possessed a quantity of 30mg oxycodone tablets and a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of 30mg oxycodone, a Schedule II controlled substance. Both were obtained without a valid prescription issued by a medical practitioner acting in the usual course of professional practice or as otherwise authorized by law but instead received them from co-conspirators.

 

This Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Louisiana State Police, the Grand Prairie Police Department, the Dallas Police Department, the Houston Police Department, the Arlington Police Department, the Greenville Police Department, the Parker County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Marshal’s Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Diplomatic Security Service.

 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Walters prosecuted.

 

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DALLAS — This morning, U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater sentenced Alejandro Farrera Cendejas, 33, of Dallas, to 240 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in October 2016 to one count of possession with intent to distribute a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Cendejas has been in custody since the time of his arrest in June 2016.

According to plea documents filed in the case, on May 18, 2017 Cendejas met an individual at a public parking lot in Dallas and sold a kilogram of methamphetamine for $6,700.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, Rockwall Police Department, Allen Police Department, and the Texas Department of Public Safety investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Suzanna Etessam was in charge of the prosecution.

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DALLAS — A federal grand jury in Dallas returned a one-count indictment last week charging Bilal Ahmed Khaleeq, a Dallas attorney and his assistant, Amna Cheema with conspiracy to commit marriage fraud, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Specifically, the indictment charges Khaleeq, 47, and Cheema, 37, with one count each of conspiracy to commit marriage fraud. If convicted, the count charged in the indictment carries a maximum statutory penalty of five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

Khaleeq made his initial appearance in federal court yesterday afternoon, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Horan and was released on supervised release. Cheema is scheduled to appear today before U.S. District Judge Godbey for a detention hearing.

“Immigration attorneys risk severe consequences when they choose to illegally profit by breaking U.S. immigration laws rather than building a profession on following those laws,” said Katrina W. Berger, special agent in charge of HSI Dallas. “HSI leads a Dallas-area Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force, and partners daily with many local law enforcement agencies to enforce immigration laws. HSI and our law enforcement partners will not tolerate immigration fraud — especially by immigration attorneys.”

 

According to the indictment, in May 2015, Khaleeq intentionally solicited Person A, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from India, to marry Cheema, a Pakistani national, for the purpose of obtaining lawful permanent residence for Cheema. In exchange for entering into a fraudulent marriage and proceeding through the permanent residence process, Person A received a payment of $745.00 with promises of additional monies upon approval of the Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status application (Form I-485). Cheema and Person A were married in Dallas County on June 15, 2015. Khaleeq arranged the marriage, advised Cheema regarding the filing of the Petition for Alien Relative (Form I-130) and represented the parties at the interview with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

 

After Cheema and Person A had been married, Khaleeq advised the parties on the preparation of the I-130 petition and supporting documents needed to make the marriage appear legitimate, including but not limited to, joint bank accounts, tax returns, bills concerning their joint residence and other fraudulent evidence including photos. On July 10, 2015, the parties filed Forms I-130 and I-485 with USCIS.

 

The indictment further alleges, from January 26, 2016, through March 7, 2017, Khaleeq, Cheema and Person A had several discussions regarding the immigration process and the documentary evidence needed to represent Cheema and Person A as a bona fide married couple for the purposes of the immigration benefit. In addition, Khaleeq coached Person A how to address the questions that would be posed during the USCIS interview process. Among other advisals, Khaleeq specifically instructed Person A to tell the USCIS Adjudications Officer that he cohabitated with Cheema even though that was a false statement. Khaleeq also advised Person A to leave some articles of clothing in Cheema’s residence to make it appear that he was residing there. Additionally, the parties discussed filing joint tax returns to provide additional evidence and discussed how long Person A and Cheema should remain married in order for her to obtain her lawful permanent residence.

 

An indictment is an accusation by a federal grand jury, and a defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty.

 

U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is investigating the case. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Lynn Javier is in charge of the prosecution.

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WICHITA FALLS, Texas — Juan Leonardo Tello, 50, of Dallas, Texas, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor following his guilty plea in March 2017 to one count of conspiracy to distribute five grams or more of methamphetamine, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Judge O’Connor sentenced Tello to 180 months in federal prison. Tello has been in custody since the time of his arrest in January 2017.

In May 2017, Judge O’Connor sentenced co-defendants Jackie Eugene Clayton, 38, to 235 months in federal prison, Juan Carlos Lopez, 53, to 100 months in federal prison and Rudy Roman Ramirez, 45, to 135 months in federal prison for their role in the methamphetamine conspiracy.

According to documents filed in Tello’s case, from December 2014 through December 3, 2015, Tello, on multiple occasions, obtained various amounts of methamphetamine to distribute to others. Tello distributed quantities of methamphetamine to numerous customers from Wichita Falls, including Ramirez and Lopez. Tello’s customers paid him for the methamphetamine in cash, by depositing money into bank accounts that Tello controlled, and by wiring money to Tello.

 

The case was investigated by the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Wichita County District Attorney’s Office, U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Walters was in charge of the prosecution.

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DALLAS — Craig Allen Otteson, 65, of McKinney, appeared today before U.S. Magistrate Paul D. Stickney and pleaded guilty to his role in a diamond investment scheme that the indictment alleged ran from approximately March 2011 to November 2013, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Specifically, Otteson pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud. He faces a maximum penalty of not more than 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Restitution could also be ordered. Sentencing is set before U.S. District Judge David Godbey on October 23, 2017.

Co-defendants Jay Bruce Heimburger, 58, of Dallas, and Christopher Arnold Jiongo, 56, of Houston, previously pleaded guilty to their roles in the scheme and are awaiting sentencing.

According to documents filed in the case, Otteson acted as the Managing Member and Chief Compliance Officer of Stonebridge Advisors, LLC, located on Belt Line road in Dallas. Stonebridge Advisors was involved as the Managing Partner of Worldwide Diamond Ventures, L.P., located at 6029 Belt Line in Dallas, and it acted as the General Partner of Worldwide Diamond. Heimburger acted as a Principal Partner of Worldwide Diamond, and he was also listed as the registered agent and Director of JBH Securities, Inc. located on San Rafael in Dallas. JBH Securities was primarily involved in the business of providing investment advice. Worldwide Diamond was primarily involved in the business of buying and reselling diamonds on the international market. On October 1, 2013, Worldwide Diamond filed for bankruptcy in the Northern District of Texas.

The indictment charged that Jiongo drafted $50,000 diamond notes which Jiongo, Otteson and Heimburger later used as investment vehicles to generate investment funds. As part of their original business plan, Jiongo, Otteson and Heimburger represented to American Safe Retirements (ASR) that all investment funds would be used to buy and resell diamonds and that every dollar invested would always be fully secured by the cash and diamond inventory of Worldwide Diamond. Jiongo, Otteson and Heimburger all understood that ASR would instruct ASR sales agents to represent to investors that every dollar invested through the diamond notes would always be fully secured by the cash and diamond inventory of Worldwide Diamond.

 

The indictment also alleged that sometime in the summer of 2011, Jiongo, Otteson and Heimburger all realized that their original business plan was not working out as planned and that the defendants therefore could not honor the original promises and representations made to investors. Rather than inform ASR and the investors of the changed circumstances caused by their failed business plan, Jiongo, Otteson and Heimburger chose to deceive ASR when they failed to inform ASR that 100% of all investment funds would not be secured by cash and/or the diamond inventory of Worldwide Diamond. By deceiving ASR, Jiongo, Otteson and Heimburger knew that they were also causing the investors to be deceived about the use of investor funds.

 

According to the plea documents signed by Otteson, during the period from February 2012 through March 2013, Otteson and Heimburger engaged in a scheme to defraud investors, and to obtain money and property from these investors by false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises. In plea papers filed with the court, Otteson admitted that he and Heimburger engaged in a scheme to defraud investors by fraudulently concealing from investors that investor funds were being used for unauthorized purposes unrelated to the purchase and resale of diamonds. Otteson also admitted that as part of the scheme to defraud investors, Otteson and Heimburger caused their sales agent to fraudulently sell promissory notes valued at $1,280,000 to 23 new clients in California.

 

The indictment alleged that during the period from 2011 through 2013, Otteson, Heimburger, and Jiongo caused over $6.4 million to be fraudulently collected from 77 Worldwide Diamond investors.

 

This case is one of many felony indictments of bankruptcy-related crimes prosecuted as part of the Bankruptcy Fraud Initiative (BFI), United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Texas. These prosecutions were the result of criminal referrals made by the United States Trustee’s Office in Dallas, Texas. Of the 26 defendants charged since 2013 as part of the BFI; 22 defendants have been convicted, 3 defendants are pending trial, and 1 defendant resulted in a mistrial.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is conducting the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Jarvis is in charge of the prosecution.

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DALLAS — Shatara Armstrong, 31, of Fort Worth, Texas, pleaded guilty today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul D. Stickney, to one count of use of a facility of interstate commerce in aid of a racketeering enterprise, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Armstrong faces a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. Armstrong will remain on bond pending sentencing which is set for November 1, 2017.

In May 2017 a federal grand jury in Dallas returned an indictment charging Armstrong along with Marquist Fulcher, aka “Keezie,” 28, Chapoleon Fischer, aka “Kidd,” 28, Marcus Speed, 26, and Tiffany Gideon, 22 with conspiracy to engage in child sex trafficking.

According to plea documents filed in Armstrong’s case, beginning in approximately 2014, Fulcher began acting as a pimp over several young girls and women. He facilitated the commercial sex acts of: fourteen year old Jane Doe 1, seventeen year old Jane Doe 2 and seventeen year old Jane Doe 4, among others. In late 2015, Fulcher asked Armstrong to assist him in his prostitution enterprise, and she agreed to do so. Fulcher and Armstrong rented rooms at various hotels for Jane Doe l, Jane Doe 2 and Jane Doe 4, and others, to use to engage in commercial sex acts. Fulcher and Armstrong created and posted advertisements on the commercial sex website Backpage.com for the girls and women, who in turn gave the proceeds from their commercial sex acts to Fulcher. On some occasions, when Fulcher was not present at the hotel, the girls and women gave their commercial sex proceeds to Armstrong, who later gave them to Fulcher.

 

Fulcher and Armstrong worked with other pimps, including Speed and Fischer, as part of their prostitution enterprise. The organization recruited victims in various ways, including finding them on the internet. Members of the group would trade girls amongst themselves as well. Some of the victims were recruited from the Dallas area, including sixteen year old Jane Doe 3. Fulcher, Speed and Fischer often rented rooms at the same hotels at the same time for their girls to engage in commercial sex acts. In addition, Armstrong sometimes rented rooms for Fischer and his girls to use to engage in commercial sex acts.

 

The pimps in this organization often used violence and threats of violence as a means to control the victims. Fulcher was often violent towards Armstrong in front of the girls that were working for him. This violence was meant to send a message to the others about what would happen to them if they did not do what Fulcher asked.

 

The Fort Worth Police Department and U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), both members of the North Texas Trafficking Taskforce, investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cara Foos Pierce and Myria Boehm are in charge of the prosecution.

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FORT WORTH – Nathaniel Roshaun Bowens, 34, of Fort Worth, Texas, was sentenced this morning by U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor to 400 months in federal prison, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

 

Bowens was convicted of five counts relating to the robbery of T-Mobile stores following a two-day trial in April, 2017. Specifically, Bowens was convicted of one count of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, two counts of interference with commerce by robbery, and two counts of using carrying and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to, and possessing and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. Bowens has been in custody since his arrest in January 2017.

 

According to evidence presented at trial, on October 5, 2015 Bowens entered the T-Mobile store located at 1801 Eastchase Parkway #115, Fort Worth, Texas, and obtained numerous cellular phones and other assorted electronics from the T-Mobile employees by threatened force, violence, and fear of immediate injury to the employees by using and brandishing a firearm.

 

On March 7, 2016, Bowens entered the T-Mobile store located at 981 N. Walnut Creek, Mansfield, Texas, and obtained numerous electronic devices and money from T-Mobile employees by threatened force, violence, and fear of immediate injury to the employees by using and brandishing a firearm.

 

On June 28, 2016, Bowens entered the T-Mobile store located at 2205 W. IH-20, Grand Prairie, Texas, and obtained numerous electronic devices and money from T-Mobile employees by threatened force, violence, and fear of immediate injury to the employees by using and brandishing a firearm.

 

On August 29, 2016, Bowens attempted to enter the T-Mobile store located at 3524 Altamesa Blvd, Fort Worth, Texas, to obtain numerous electronic devices and money from T-Mobile employees by threatened force, violence, and fear of immediate injury to the employees by using and brandishing a firearm but was unsuccessful.

 

On September 4, 2016, Bowens attempted to enter the T-Mobile store located at 2209 W. Berry St., Fort Worth, Texas, to obtain numerous electronic devices and money from T-Mobile employees by threatened force, violence, and fear of immediate injury to the employees by using and brandishing a firearm but was unsuccessful.

 

On September 4, 2016, Bowens entered the T-Mobile store located at 3524 Altamesa Blvd., Fort Worth, Texas, and obtained numerous electronic devices and money from T-Mobile employees by threatened force, violence, and fear of immediate injury to the employees by using and brandishing a firearm.

 

The case was investigated by the FBI, Fort Worth Police Department, Mansfield Police Department, Grand Prairie Police Department, Arlington Police Department, and the Dallas Police Department.

 

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian Poe and Chris Wolfe prosecuted.

 

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DALLAS — Mark Anthony Esparza, 32, of Dallas, was sentenced last week by U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater to 100 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in September 2016, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Esparza pleaded guilty to one count of convicted felon in possession of a firearm. Esparza has been in custody since the time of his arrest in June 2016.

According to evidence presented at the sentencing hearing, on October 18, 2015, officers with the Dallas Police Department arrested Esparza, who had previously been convicted for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and robbery, for possessing a .40 caliber pistol. Esparza also possessed heroin and methamphetamine with the firearm.

 

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and Dallas Police Department investigated the case. Deputy Criminal Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Tromblay prosecuted.

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LUBBOCK — Dimitrise Lyghts, 23, of Lubbock, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings to 293 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in March 2017 to one count of sex trafficking of a child related to his pimping a 15-year-old girl in Lubbock, Texas, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

In addition, at Friday’s sentencing hearing, Judge Cummings ordered that following his custody sentence, Lyghts must serve a 10-year term of supervised release. He must also register as a lifetime sex offender.

Co-defendant Marcelia Sanchez pleaded guilty in November 2016 to one count of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of a minor. Judge Cummings sentenced Sanchez in February 2017 to 60 months in federal prison.

“Make no mistake, the horrific crime of trafficking young girls for sex resides in the dark underbellies of even our best communities,” said U.S. Attorney Parker. “Together, we can get survivors the help they deserve, and ensure that traffickers who prey on the most vulnerable among us get the sentences they deserve.”

 

According to documents filed in the case, in late May 2016, Lyghts contacted a 15-year-old female, “K.M.,” by phone and by Facebook, suggesting that they could “hang out.” On June 3, 2016, Lyghts and a friend of his picked up K.M. and another girl at an apartment in Lubbock. Lyghts provided drugs to K.M., and asked her if she would run an ad on Backpage so they could get a hotel room. She agreed to do it once, and Lyghts ran an ad on K.M. in Backpage. Shortly after the ad was run in Backpage, Lyghts arranged with a man who called in response to the ad, for the man to pick up K.M. and take her to a motel in Lubbock. K.M. was picked up, as had been agreed, and went to the motel with the man, where they engaged in sexual intercourse for the payment of a fee.

 

Between June 3 and June 7, 2016, K.M., with the assistance and direction of Lyghts and Sanchez, was transported and provided for several male “customers” to engage in commercial sex acts. On several occasions, Lyghts received the payment made for the sex acts performed by K.M. Lyghts also personally drove K.M. to various meetings with men for the purpose of K.M. engaging in commercial sex acts with the men.

 

Project Safe Childhood (PSC) is a Department of Justice initiative that aims to combat the proliferation of technology-facilitated sexual exploitation crimes against children. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC marshals federal, state, tribal and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. These cases include prosecutions of child sex trafficking; sexual abuse of a minor or ward; child pornography offenses; obscene visual representation of the sexual abuse of children; selling or buying of children; and many more statutes. To learn more about PSC’s work, please visit: https://www.justice.gov/psc.

 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Lubbock Police Department investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Sucsy was in charge of the prosecution.

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DALLAS —A tax preparer who operated a tax preparation business in Irving, Texas, was sentenced yesterday for preparing false tax returns, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle sentenced Hector Gerardo Nunez yesterday afternoon to 35 months in federal prison and ordered him to pay $68,121.06 in restitution. On December 2, 2015 Nunez pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return.

According to the factual resume filed in his case, from at least 2007 through 2010, Nunez did business under the name of Speedy Tax Service, located on W. Airport Freeway in Irving. During this period, Nunez knowingly and willfully prepared, and caused to be filed with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), income tax returns that were materially false. Nunez would include false or inflated deductions and credits that were intended to produce a fraudulently inflated refund to be paid by the IRS. He would then collect a fee that was deducted from the refund generated by each return he prepared.

IRS Criminal Investigation investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Stokes prosecuted.

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DALLAS — A Dallas man who admitted to his role in a cocaine conspiracy was sentenced yesterday to a lengthy federal prison sentence, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

 

Corey Nelson, 40, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle to 230 months in federal prison following his guilty plea in September 2016 to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a schedule II controlled substance. Nelson has been in custody since mid-July 2015 following a law enforcement operation, led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Dallas Police Department and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, in which numerous defendants were arrested on drug distribution conspiracy and related charges outlined in a federal superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Dallas in June 2015.

 

According to documents filed in the case, from January 1, 2012 through June 23, 2015, Nelson engaged in a conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine. Nelson purchased multiple kilograms of cocaine and would resell the cocaine he purchased to other individuals involved in the conspiracy.

 

At yesterday’s sentencing hearing, Judge Boyle held Nelson responsible for 120 kilograms of cocaine.

 

At the time of Nelson’s arrest a firearm and $12,963 in United States Currency were seized.

 

The FBI, Dallas Police Department and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation led the investigation with assistance from the Texas Department of Public Safety; the DFW Department of Public Safety; the U.S. Department of State; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Transportation Security Administration; the U.S. Secret Service; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations; and the Fort Worth, McKinney, Mesquite, and Plano Police Departments.

 

Assistant U.S. Attorney George Leal prosecuted.

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DALLAS — Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tom Price, M.D., announced today the largest ever health care fraud enforcement action by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, involving 412 charged defendants across 41 federal districts, including 115 doctors, nurses and other licensed medical professionals, for their alleged participation in health care fraud schemes involving approximately $1.3 billion in false billings. Of those charged, over 120 defendants, including doctors, were charged for their roles in prescribing and distributing opioids and other dangerous narcotics. Thirty state Medicaid Fraud Control Units also participated in today’s arrests. In addition, HHS has initiated suspension actions against 295 providers, including doctors, nurses and pharmacists.

As part of that enforcement, Erik Bugen, 42, Jody Sheffield, 43, Matthew Hawrylak, 41, and Britt Hawrylak, 38, were charged by information for their role in a $36 million fraud scheme involving unnecessary and improperly prescribed toxicology and DNA cancer screening tests which were billed to TRICARE, announced the United States Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Texas.

Each defendant faces a maximum statutory penalty of 5 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

According to the one-count felony charge filed yesterday, from May 2014 and continuing to July 2017, Bugen, Sheffield, Matthew Hawrylak, and Britt Hawrylak caused false and fraudulent claims to be submitted for health care benefits. The false and fraudulent claims were for toxicology and DNA cancer screening tests that were not legitimately prescribed, not needed, not provided as billed, and which were the product of kickbacks.

 

Bugen, Sheffield, Matthew Hawrylak, and Britt Hawrylak operated ADAR Group, located in Killeen, Texas solely to achieve the objective of their scheme to defraud and to unlawfully enrich themselves by submitting false and fraudulent claims for health care benefits. Britt Hawrylak operated Tiger Racing Team, located in Fort Worth, Texas and Matthew Hawrylak operated Zorin Holdings, also located in Fort Worth, Texas. The Hawrylak’s received payments from Xpress Laboratories and Progen Lab for referring testing orders for TRICARE beneficiaries. Britt Hawrylak and Matthew Hawrylak then split payments from Xpress Laboratories and Progen Lab between themselves and Bugen and Sheffield.

 

According to the information filed in the case, Bugen and Sheffield would give Wal-Mart gift cards in exchange for urine and saliva specimens. These specimens were then mailed to Xpress Laboratories and Progen Lab for unnecessary toxicology and DNA cancer screening tests and billed to TRICARE by Cockerell Dermatopathology, a laboratory specializing in the evaluation of dermatologic disorders and located in Dallas, Texas. Bugen and Sheffield disguised the gift cards as a food assistance program for low-income beneficiaries. ADAR Group employees collected urine and saliva samples from as many as 200 beneficiaries per day.

 

Bugen and Sheffield paid doctors a flat fee per month to sign orders for toxicology and DNA cancer screening tests. The doctors never saw the patients and had no doctor-patient relationship with the patients. Beneficiaries did not receive the results of their tests. ADAR employees obtained signature stamps from the doctors and stamped the doctors’ signatures on testing orders before sending the forms to Xpress Laboratories and Progen Lab. ADAR Group employees also placed false diagnosis codes on TRICARE claim submissions to make it appear that the beneficiary needed the testing. This was done to ensure that TRICARE would accept, and pay, the claim.

 

Bugen, Sheffield, Matthew Hawrylak, and Britt Hawrylak caused to be submitted to TRICARE, at least approximately $36 million in false and fraudulent claims. TRICARE paid Cockerell approximately $4.8 million as payment for those claims.

The Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Veteran’s Affairs- Office of Inspector General, and Federal Bureau of Investigation, are investigating. Assistant U.S. Attorney Adrienne Frazior is in charge of the prosecution.

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DALLAS — Jay Bruce Heimburger, 58, of Dallas, appeared yesterday before U.S. Magistrate Paul D. Stickney and pleaded guilty to his role in a diamond investment scheme that the indictment alleged ran from approximately March 2011 to November 2013, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Specifically, Heimburger pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud. He faces a maximum penalty of not more than 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Restitution could also be ordered. Sentencing is set for October 16, 2017.

Co-defendant Christopher Arnold Jiongo, 56, of Houston, pleaded guilty in May 2017 to one count of wire fraud. Jiongo is scheduled to be sentenced September 11, 2017.

Craig Allen Otteson, 65, of McKinney, is scheduled to plead guilty to his role in the scheme on July 18, 2017.

According to documents filed in the case, Otteson acted as the Managing Member and Chief Compliance Officer of Stonebridge Advisors, LLC, located on Belt Line road in Dallas. Stonebridge Advisors was involved as the Managing Partner of Worldwide Diamond Ventures, L.P., located at 6029 Belt Line in Dallas, and it acted as the General Partner of Worldwide Diamond. Heimburger acted as a Principal Partner of Worldwide Diamond, and he was also listed as the registered agent and Director of JBH Securities, Inc. located on San Rafael in Dallas. JBH Securities was primarily involved in the business of providing investment advice. Worldwide Diamond was primarily involved in the business of buying and reselling diamonds on the international market. On October 1, 2013, Worldwide Diamond filed for bankruptcy in the Northern District of Texas.

According to the plea documents signed by Heimburger, during the period from February 20121 through March 2013, Otteson and Heimburger engaged in a scheme to defraud investors, and to obtain money and property from these investors by false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises.

 

The indictment charged that Jiongo drafted $50,000 diamond notes which Jiongo, Otteson and Heimburger later used as investment vehicles to generate investment funds. As part of their original business plan, Jiongo, Otteson and Heimburger represented to American Safe Retirements (ASR) that all investment funds would be used to buy and resell diamonds and that every dollar invested would always be fully secured by the cash and diamond inventory of Worldwide Diamond. Jiongo, Otteson and Heimburger all understood that ASR would instruct ASR sales agents to represent to investors that every dollar invested through the diamond notes would always be fully secured by the cash and diamond inventory of Worldwide Diamond.

 

The indictment also alleged that sometime in the summer of 2011, Jiongo, Otteson and Heimburger all realized that their original business plan was not working out as planned and that the defendants therefore could not honor the original promises and representations made to investors. Rather than inform ASR and the investors of the changed circumstances caused by their failed business plan, Jiongo, Otteson and Heimburger chose to deceive ASR when they failed to inform ASR that 100% of all investment funds would not be secured by cash and/or the diamond inventory of Worldwide Diamond. By deceiving ASR, Jiongo, Otteson and Heimburger knew that they were also causing the investors to be deceived about the use of investor funds.

 

In plea papers filed with the court, Heimburger admitted that he and Otteson engaged in a scheme to defraud investors by fraudulently concealing from investors that investor funds were being used for unauthorized purposes unrelated to the purchase and resale of diamonds. Heimburger also admitted that as part of the scheme to defraud investors, Heimburger and Otteson caused their sales agent to fraudulently sell promissory notes valued at $1,280,000 to 23 new clients in California.

 

The indictment alleged that during the period from 2011 through 2013, Otteson and Heimburger caused over $6.4 million to be fraudulently collected from 77 Worldwide Diamond investors.

 

This case is one of several felony prosecutions of bankruptcy-related crimes generated by the Bankruptcy Fraud Initiative in the Northern District of Texas. Twenty-six defendants have been charged as part of that initiative; 21 were convicted, one resulted in a mistrial and four are pending trial.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is conducting the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Jarvis is in charge of the prosecution.

# # #

DALLAS — Tatiana Renee Sallie, 20, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay to serve a total of 138 months in federal prison for her role in committing several violent armed robberies with a group in the Dallas area in 2015, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

 

Sallie pleaded guilty in November 2016 to one count of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery and one count of using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. Sallie has been in custody since her arrest in April 2016.

 

Judge Lindsay previously sentenced co-defendants Devonte Aaron Dillard, 25, to 240 months in federal prison; Michael Deshun Holland, Jr., 22, to 220 months in federal prison; Coby Cole Ditto, 22, to 168 months in federal prison; and Trenton Kyle Sirkel, 21, to 24 months in federal prison.

“These people are extremely dangerous,” said U.S. Attorney Parker. “Working with our local and federal partners to take them off our streets is a critical part of this office’s work.”

 

According to documents filed in the case and information presented in court, Sallie and her co-defendants robbed four convenience stores in April and May 2015. The group displayed a firearm to the store clerk in all four of the robberies.

On April 17, 2015, Sallie waited in the car while Dillard and Holland, armed with a loaded firearm, entered a Chevron Food Mart on Highway 80 in Mesquite, Texas. In the course of robbing the store, Dillard shot the clerk. Holland repeatedly punched the clerk in the face, continuing even after the clerk had been shot.

On May 8, 2015, Dillard, Holland, Ditto and Sirkel entered a 7-Eleven store on Interstate Highway 30 in Mesquite, brandished a firearm, and robbed the store.

On May 12, 2015, Dillard, Holland, Ditto and Sallie entered a 7-Eleven store on Gus Thomasson Road in Mesquite. The group brandished a firearm, struck a store clerk in the head with the firearm, and robbed the store.

That same night, Dillard, Holland, Ditto and Sallie went to the 7-Eleven store on Northwest Highway in Garland. The group brandished a firearm and robbed the store, during which time Holland and Dillard brutally beat the store clerk.

The case was investigated by the Mesquite Police Department, the Garland Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jamie L. Hoxie and Keith Robinson prosecuted.

# # #

DALLAS — Alexis C. Norman, 46, of Midlothian, Texas has been indicted on felony offenses stemming from a health care fraud conspiracy she ran from prison that involved the submission of more than $810,000 in false claims to Medicaid, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Norman is scheduled to make her initial appearance in federal court on July 14, 2017, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul D. Stickney.

On August 4, 2015, Norman pled guilty to one count of health care fraud in connection with a false billing scheme she ran using two companies she owned and operated, Greater Southwest Group, Inc. and Ellis County Community Services. As part of that scheme, Norman used the identities of licensed counselors and Medicaid clients without their knowledge or consent to submit claims to Medicaid for psychotherapy services that were not provided. Norman appeared before a United States District Court Judge for sentencing on April 7 and 8, 2016, and was sentenced to 105 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $2,969,045.97 in restitution to Medicaid. Norman has been in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons since April 8, 2016.

According to the indictment that was just unsealed, Norman ran a similar scheme while she was awaiting sentencing in her prior case, and continued to direct it after she was incarcerated. The indictment alleges that Norman, who is not licensed as a psychotherapist or other mental health provider, controlled and operated two counseling companies, Janus Children Services, Inc. (Janus) and Therapeutic Outreach Services (Therapeutic). As part of the scheme, according to the indictment, Norman and a coconspirator applied for and obtained group Medicaid provider numbers for Janus and Therapeutic. They then obtained the individual Medicaid provider numbers of licensed mental health professionals by soliciting applications for job opportunities on Craigslist but not hiring the individuals who applied. Norman and her coconspirators used these provider numbers, together with the names, dates of birth, social security numbers, and Medicaid numbers of approximately 156 Medicaid clients—mostly minor children—to submit claims for services that were not performed.

As a further part of the scheme to defraud, Norman and a coconspirator opened a bank account and leased office space in Tyler, Texas for Janus. Norman also opened a bank account and leased office space in Waco, Texas, for Therapeutic. Norman selected these locations for office locations to conceal the fraud from the law enforcement authorities in the DFW area that investigated her prior fraud. Other than using the office addresses for various Medicaid applications and submissions, the office spaces in both Tyler and Waco were never occupied or used.

The indictment alleges to conceal the fraud, Norman provided false testimony at her sentencing hearing on April 8, 2016, when she responded “No, sir.” to the question, “Have you ever submitted any claims to Medicaid or a Medicaid managed care organization under a business other than Greater Southwest Group or Ellis County Community Services?” In fact, Norman had submitted numerous false claims to Medicaid under Janus, including $1,575.00 in claims she submitted on April 7, 2016.

Norman is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, four counts of health care fraud, and four counts of aggravated identity theft. The indictment also includes a forfeiture allegation that would require the defendant, upon conviction, to forfeit to the U.S. any property traceable to the offense.

An indictment is an accusation by a federal grand jury and a defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty. If convicted, however, each count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and substantive health care fraud carries a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. The aggravated identity theft counts carry a mandatory statutory penalty of two years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General and the Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit are investigating. Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Brasher is in charge of the prosecution.

# # #

DALLAS — Alfonso Escobedo Garcia, 36, citizen of Mexico, was sentenced yesterday before U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay to 144 months in federal prison following his guilty plea in October 2016, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

 

Garcia pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance. Garcia has been in custody since the time of his arrest in March 2016.

According to plea documents in the case, on March 11, 2016, Garcia agreed to deliver 10 kilograms of methamphetamine in exchange for $115,000. Garcia was stopped by a Grand Prairie Police Officer who initiated a traffic stop for failing to come to a complete stop at a stop sign. During the traffic stop, it was determined that Mr. Garcia did not have a driver’s license and he was arrested. An inventory search of the vehicle found more than 500 grams of methamphetamine.

The Drug Enforcement Administration and the Grand Prairie Police Department investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney George Leal prosecuted.

 

 

# # #

AMARILLO, Texas — Five defendants appeared in federal court this week and were sentenced for their roles in robbing the Education Credit Union in Amarillo, Texas on September 23, 2016, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater sentenced Leonard Jovon Coulter, 29, Raul Garcia, 28, and Desire Valverde, 23, this afternoon. Coulter was sentenced to a total of 171 months in federal prison. Garcia was sentenced to a total of 147 months in federal prison and Valverde was sentenced to 97 months in federal prison.

Yesterday U.S. District Judge Fitzwater sentenced Richard Charles Cunningham, Jr., 39, to 169 months in federal prison and Keli Edwards, 35, to 21 months in federal prison.

Cunningham was ordered to pay $26,724.50 in restitution and the remaining defendants were ordered to pay $53,519.50 in restitution, joint and severally.

According to the plea documents, on September 23, 2016, Coulter and Cunningham Jr. entered the Education Credit Union located at 1801 FM 2381, Amarillo, Texas. Coulter approached the teller counter, pointed a firearm at the teller, and told the teller to give him all her money in the drawer. Coulter told the teller to not do or push anything or he would shoot her. The teller

told Coulter the drawers were locked. Coulter jumped the counter, pressed the firearm in the teller’s back, and told the teller to hurry. Coulter got money out of the teller’s drawer, and then he demanded access to the vault. The teller stated she could not access the vault.

The manager was then ordered to come and open the vault. After Coulter took the money from the vault, the tellers and manager were ordered to the ground. Coulter and Cunningham exited the Credit Union with approximately $60,067.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Potter County Sheriff’s office investigated the robbery. Agents learned through their investigation that Garcia was a get-a-way driver and planned this robbery with Coulter and Cunningham. Later, agents stopped Garcia in his pickup and located $5,020 in United States Currency packaged in Education Credit Union bank bands. Agents also recovered two firearms in Garcia’s vehicle, including the firearm Coulter used during the robbery.

Agents conducted a search warrant on Garcia’s residence. Agents located a backpack that had $23,890 in United States Currency, and some of the bills were packaged with Education Credit Union bank bands.

Later, FBI agents learned that Garcia and Coulter were involved in another Education Credit Union Robbery on May 25, 2016. Agents learned through their investigation that Valverde, an employee of Education Credit Union at the time, helped Garcia plan both robberies by providing Garcia information of how and when to commit each robbery. FBI agents discovered that Valverde was in contact with Garcia by phone during each robbery. On May 25, 2016, Valverde was working as a teller and gave Coulter money from her drawer. Garcia paid Valverde a portion of the money taken from the Education Credit Union robbery on May 25, 2016, for her help.

According to plea documents filed in Edwards’ case, Edwards was Coulter’s girlfriend and was watching out for law enforcement on September 23, 2016, when Coulter and Cunningham entered the Credit Union to commit the robbery. Edwards drove Cunningham away from the Credit Union after the robbery to Garcia’s vehicle. Cunningham, Coulter, and Garcia met at Edwards’ residence prior to the robbery and discussed committing the robbery.

The FBI, Amarillo Police Department, the Potter County District Attorney’s Office and the Potter County Sheriff’s Department investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Frausto prosecuted.

# # #

AMARILLO, Texas — Ai Inthavong Lopez, 37, of Amarillo, Texas, was sentenced this morning before U.S. District Court Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater to 34 months in federal prison following her guilty plea to one count of mail fraud, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Judge Fitzwater ordered Lopez to pay $426,044.66 in restitution. Lopez was also ordered to report to the Bureau of Prison on August 22, 2017.

According to plea documents, from May 2014, and continuing through November 2015, Lopez participated in a scheme involving the sale of fictitious vouchers for future airline travel.

Specifically, Lopez, and persons acting at her direction, would telephonically contact customers in the United States who were falsely informed that they could purchase a voucher for either a round-trip domestic or international flights. Lopez claimed to customers that she was Stephanie Cancino, and that she received discounts on airline tickets through her employment.

Lopez would persuade some customers of her scheme, who did not know of the fraudulent nature of the scheme, to telephonically contact other customers to purchase airline vouchers for future travel. Customers who purchased vouchers would provide personal information, such as name, email address, phone number, and credit card information to Lopez. Lopez would receive money from customers via the United States Postal Service, PayPal, wire transfers, bank transfers, and credit card payments. Lopez, at times, would use the customer’s credit card to purchase other customers’ flight tickets.

To entice customers, Lopez would contact customers about vouchers for one-day sales or special promotions. Lopez knew actual airline tickets purchased by Lopez cost significantly more than the amount a customer paid to purchase the voucher. Lopez continued to solicit customers by promising vouchers below the market rate. Lopez would often have the customers purchase their airline tickets when they were stranded and Lopez would promise to reimburse the customer for the amount they spent. Several times during the course of this scheme, Lopez provided a check to customers to reimburse them for their loss, but the check would be returned to the customer by the bank due to insufficient funds. Lopez would then stop communication with the customer.

As a result of the scheme, Lopez’s false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises fraudulently induced customers to issue monetary payments to Lopez, and for the benefit of Lopez, resulting in a total loss of approximately $401,955.06.

 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Amarillo Police Department investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Frausto prosecuted.

 

# # #

AMARILLO, Texas — Today, Russell Tim Shen, 69, Andre Jorge Hernandez, 39, and Ernesto Esteve, 50, all from Miami, Florida, appeared before U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater and pleaded guilty to their roles in a marihuana distribution conspiracy, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

 

Specifically, Shen and Hernandez pleaded guilty to one count of distribution and possession with intent to distribute marihuana. They face a maximum penalty of 5 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Esteve pleaded guilty to one count of misprision of a felony. He faces a statutory maximum of 3 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing for all three defendants is scheduled for October 23, 2017.

 

According to plea documents filed in the case, in December 2013, Esteve traveled from Florida to Colorado with Hernandez. While in Colorado, Esteve purchased thousands of dollars’ worth of supplies and equipment used to grow and cultivate marihuana plants. In February 2014, Esteve’s credit card was used to purchase additional materials used for the growth and cultivation of marihuana plants.

 

On March 14, 2014, Esteve paid for one-way flights from Miami, Florida, to Denver, Colorado, for Shen, who was an officer with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection stationed in Miami, Florida and Hernandez. Shen and Hernandez landed in Denver, Colorado, shortly after midnight on March 15, 2014. Shen and Hernandez rented a car in Denver, Colorado, which was due in Miami, Florida, on March 17, 2014.

 

On March 15, 2014, a Childress, Texas police officer pulled over a vehicle for following too closely. The vehicle was a rental car driven by Shen. During the stop, Shen identified himself to the police officer as a federal law enforcement officer. The passenger in the vehicle was identified as Hernandez, also a resident of Miami, Florida. Based on suspicious behavior, the Childress police officer asked for consent to search the vehicle. Shen refused to provide consent. So the police officer deployed his canine, who was already on the scene, to conduct a free-air sniff of the car. The police officer then informed Shen and Hernandez that he was going to search the car based on the canine’s alert. During the search, police found approximately 71 gross pounds of suspected marihuana in the trunk of the vehicle.

 

During an interview with law enforcement, Esteve made misleading statements to the agents about Shen’s and Hernandez’s conspiracy to distribute marihuana in an attempt to conceal the crime.

 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Childress Police Department, Amarillo Police Department, Douglas County, Colorado Sheriff's Office and Castle Rock, Colorado Police Department are conducting the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Taylor is in charge of the prosecution.

 

 

# # #

LUBBOCK, Texas — Arnoldo Mendoza Lepez, 44, of Littlefield, Texas, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge D. Gordon Bryant, Jr. this afternoon and pleaded guilty to his role in a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

 

Lepez pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. He faces not less than 10 years and up to life in federal prison and a $10,000,000 fine. A sentencing date has not been set.

 

Co-defendants Joseph Raymond Jaramillo, Jr., 30, and Zahir Rivera-Pineda, 27, pleaded guilty earlier this month to their role in the conspiracy and are awaiting sentencing.

 

According to plea documents filed in the case, on May 5, 2017, New Mexico State Police stopped a vehicle being driven by Rivera-Pineda that was found to contain approximately 20 pounds of suspected methamphetamine near Albuquerque, New Mexico. Agents with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) were able to determine that the methamphetamine was destined for a specific residence located in Littlefield, Texas. HSI agents coordinated with agents from the Lubbock County, Texas Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to complete the delivery of the methamphetamine to the residence in an attempt to identify the individuals receiving the narcotics.

 

Shortly after the methamphetamine was delivered to the residence in Littlefield, agents executed a search warrant. Inside the residence, agents located Jaramillo, Jr. and Lepez. Inside the room with Jaramillo and Lepez, agents located in plain view several of the bundles containing the methamphetamine that had just been delivered to the house. Inside a hidden compartment located in the closet of the same room, agents discovered the remainder of the bundles containing the recently delivered methamphetamine. Also in the room were two firearms. Agents also located several other firearms throughout the residence.

 

The methamphetamine located in the residence weighed a total of 8,833 grams.

 

The U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Drug Enforcement Administration, Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office, and New Mexico State Police are conducting the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Long is in charge of the prosecution.

 

 

# # #

DALLAS — Connie Su Moser, a/k/a “Vivian” and “Song Ye Hong,” 64, of Lewisville, Texas, appeared this afternoon before U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle and pleaded guilty to charges related to the operation of the Doll House massage parlor in Dallas, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

 

Moser pleaded guilty to one count of use of a facility of interstate commerce in aid of a racketeering enterprise and one count of misprision of a felony. She faces a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for October 26, 2017.

 

Co-conspirator Kum Shugars, 68, pleaded guilty in June 2017 to one count of use of a facility of interstate commerce in aid of a racketeering enterprise and one count of misprision of a felony. Sentencing for Shugars is scheduled for October 12, 2017.

 

The other defendant charged in the case, Allen Nash, a/k/a “A-1,” 31, of Dallas, is charged with one count each of sex trafficking of children; transportation of a minor to engage in commercial sex acts; felon in possession of ammunition; sex trafficking through force, fraud or coercion and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. Nash is scheduled to begin trial on July 17, 2017.

According to plea documents in Moser’s case, between June 1, 2012 and March 1, 2015, Moser engaged in a prostitution enterprise at the Doll House in Dallas, Texas. Moser purchased the Doll House from its previous owner in 2012. Moser would frequently visit the Doll House to pick up money and to check on her managers, including Shugars, as well as her employees. Moser was involved in hiring of the women that worked at the Doll House, and she knew that commercial sex acts were occurring regularly there. Various employees would post ads on the commercial sex website Backpage.com to locate customers for the Doll House, and customers would often respond to the ads either by calling to make an appointment or by walking into the spa. Clients would then arrange to come to the Doll House under the guise of receiving a '”body rub,” but in reality would pay for and receive commercial sex. The clients would pay an initial fee to the spa manager, and then the client would then be taken into a room by one of the female employees, where the commercial sex acts would occur. The employee would receive a “tip” once the commercial sex act had been performed, and the employee would pay a portion of this money back to the Doll House each day.

The Texas Department of Public Safety, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations, Dallas Police Department, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office – all members of the North Texas Trafficking Taskforce – are investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cara Foos Pierce is in charge of the prosecution.

# # #

DALLAS — Carolina Giselle Berrio, a/k/a “Carolina Slocum Berrio,” “Karrie,” 37, of Lafayette, Louisiana, was sentenced last week for her involvement in a “pill mill” operation, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Specifically, Berrio was sentenced before U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater to 78 months in federal prison. Berrio pleaded guilty in March 2017 to one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.

Twenty-four individuals were indicted by a federal grand jury in Dallas in February 2015 on offenses related to their participation in the prescription drug distribution conspiracy. That indictment alleged that from at least January 2013 through July 2014, the defendants participated in a scheme to illicitly obtain prescriptions for pain medications, such as oxycodone and hydrocodone, and then distribute those controlled substances for profit. As part of the conspiracy, individuals, often homeless or of limited means, were recruited and paid to pose as patients at medical clinics, including the McAllen Medical Clinic, to obtain prescriptions to fill those prescriptions at designated pharmacies.

Superseding indictments were returned in December 2015 and in January 2016, and a total of 27 individuals have now been convicted.

According to plea documents in Berrio’s case, on December 18, 2013, Berrio negotiated to purchase a quantity of oxycodone 30mg pills from co-conspirator Cornelius Robinson, her supplier. Robinson asked for a higher price to deliver the oxycodone to Berrio in Lafayette, Louisiana, and a lower price if Berrio picks up the pills in Houston. Robinson agreed to supply Berrio with oxycodone 30mg at $18.50 per pill, and Berrio agreed to pick up the pills in Houston, Texas. Berrio sought 300 oxycodone 30mg pills with the intent to distribute them at a later time. In addition, Berrio admits to purchasing additional quantities of oxycodone 30 mg pills from Robinson in both March and May of 2014 that she intended to distribute at a later time.

This Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation is being conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Louisiana State Police, the Grand Prairie Police Department, the Dallas Police Department, the Houston Police Department, the Arlington Police Department, the Greenville Police Department, the Parker County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Marshal’s Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Diplomatic Security Service.

 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Walters is in charge of the prosecution.

 

# # #

AMARILLO, Texas — Kelly Neil Black, 24, of Fritch, Texas, appeared today in federal court before U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater and pleaded guilty to one count of transportation of child pornography, announced John Parker, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas.

Black, who has been in custody since the time of indictment in March 2017, faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of supervised release. Sentencing is scheduled for October 23, 2017.

According to documents filed in the case, on September 22, 2016, a search warrant was executed at Black’s residence in Fritch, Texas. Law enforcement located several items that contained child pornography. A forensic examination later revealed that the items seized by law enforcement contained approximately 2,300 images that had been previously identified as known images containing child pornography.

 

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

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Texas Rangers, Hutchinson County Sheriff’s Office and the Potter County Attorney’s Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Frausto is in charge of the prosecution.

# # #

AMARILLO, Texas — Jose Emmanuel Morales Rittingger, 29, was sentenced this morning before U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater to 121 months in federal prison for possessing with the intent to distribute more than 17,000 grams of heroin, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

 

Rittingger pleaded guilty in March 2017 to one count of possession with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin and has been in custody since the time of his arrest in August 2016. Rittingger is a Mexican citizen and was in the United States illegally at the time of the offense. He will be deported after serving his sentence.

 

Co-defendant Joel Lara Merida, 31, was sentenced earlier this year by U.S. District Judge Fitzwater to 51 months in federal prison. Merida pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin and aiding and abetting in November 2016.

 

“It is imperative that we reduce the supply of heroin,” said U.S. Attorney Parker. “Drug overdose deaths involving heroin continue to climb sharply, more than tripling in the last four years.”

 

According to documents filed in the case, on August 15, 2016, a Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Trooper stopped a 1995 BMW for driving in the left lane when not passing and obstructed view through the windshield. Upon making contact with the driver of the vehicle, who was later identified as Merida, and the passenger, who was later identified as Rittingger, the Trooper noticed indicators of possible criminal activity. The Trooper asked Merida for consent to search the vehicle and Merida voluntarily consented to the search. Eighteen bundles in an aftermarket compartment under the back seat were located. There were nine bundles wrapped in black tape, four bundles were wrapped in cellophane, and five bundles were wrapped in silver tape. The heroin had a gross weight of 44.26 pounds and field tested positive for the presence of heroin.

 

Subsequent testing confirmed that the substance seized was, in fact, heroin, a Schedule I controlled substance, with a net weight of approximately 17,388 grams.

 

The case was investigated by the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joshua Frausto and Sean Taylor prosecuted.

 

 

# # #

LUBBOCK, Texas — Jessica Christine Holl, 29, of Lubbock, Texas, was sentenced this morning before Senior U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings to 210 months in federal prison for her role in a conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

 

Holl pleaded guilty in March 2017 to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and furanyl fentanyl.

 

Co-defendants Sidney Caleb Lanier, 36, and Jamie Marie Robertson, 32, both of Lubbock, Texas, were both sentenced on June 9, 2017. Lanier was sentenced to 135 months in federal prison following his guilty plea in February 2017 to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl. Robertson was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison following her guilty plea also in February 2017 to one count of unlawful use of a communications facility.

 

The defendants have been in custody since their arrest in October 2016 following a law enforcement operation led by Lubbock Police Department and special agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration focused on the distribution in the Lubbock area of the highly potent synthetic opioid, fentanyl.

 

“Fentanyl is responsible for a sharp increase in overdoses and deaths across the country and poses a very high risk of death to not only users, but law enforcement and first responders as well,” said U.S. Attorney Parker. “Our local, state and federal partners will continue to push back hard on those who peddle this poison in our communities.”

 

While fentanyl can serve as a direct substitute for heroin in opioid-dependent individuals, it is a dangerous substitute as it is 50 times more potent than heroin and results in frequent overdoses that can lead to respiratory depression and death. Cheaper than heroin, fentanyl can be ingested, inhaled or absorbed through the skin; just a few milligrams, equivalent to a few grains of table salt, may be deadly.

 

According to documents filed in this case, from approximately January 2013 to October 27, 2016, Lanier, Holl, and Robertson did knowingly and intentionally combine, conspire, confederate and agree with each other to intentionally distribute and possess with intent to distribute a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl, a Schedule II controlled substance. Lanier supplied Holl and Robertson with large amounts of Fentanyl he purchased online on the Darknet from China using Bitcoin, a digital currency. The Fentanyl was shipped to various addresses in the Lubbock area, prepared by the defendants and sold for use.

 

The case was investigated by the Lubbock Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeff Haag is in charge of the prosecution.

 

# # #

FORT WORTH, Texas — Robert Dion Ables, 40, of Hutchins, Texas, was sentenced this morning by U.S. District Judge John McBryde to 960 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in March 2017 to one count of receipt of child pornography and two counts of production of child pornography. Today’s announcement was made by U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Ables has been in custody since his arrest in December 2016 on a related federal criminal complaint.

“The sexual victimization and exploitation of these young girls is profoundly sad,” said U.S. Attorney Parker. “It is also, obviously, a serious crime for which the penalties are justifiably significant.”

 

According to documents filed in the case, in December 2016, U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents conducting a child pornography investigation served a search warrant at Ables’ residence in Hutchins, Texas. Ables acknowledged that, beginning in 2014, while he was living in the Fort Worth and Arlington area, he used social media applications such as Kik messenger on his phone to initiate contact with minor females. During his conversations, Ables convinced these females to send nude photographs of themselves.

 

At times Ables would coerce these females to send additional sexually explicit images by threatening to expose the female’s pictures on social media such as Facebook.

 

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

The U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Saskatchewan Internet Child Exploitation Unit (ICE) were in charge of the international investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney A. Saleem prosecuted.

# # #

DALLAS —Wesley Michael Woodyard, 66, most recently from Dallas, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater to 87 months in federal prison for his role in a scheme to defraud Ace European Insurance Company (ACE) located in London, England of more than $4.6 million from approximately 2002 through 2013, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Woodyard pleaded guilty in December 2016 to one count of wire fraud. Woodyard has been in custody since the time of his arrest in Minnesota in June 2016. Judge Fitzwater also order Woodyard to pay $3,943,179 in restitution and serve a three year term of supervised release following his release from federal prison.

According to documents filed in the case, Woodyard owned and operated Ringler Associates of North Texas, Incorporated (RANT). From approximately 1993 through 2015, RANT contracted with Ringler Insurance Agency to act as its agent to sell annuities provided by insurance underwriters whose products were offered for sale through Ringler Insurance Agency.

Ringler Associates, Incorporated (RAI) acted as a parent company for Ringler Insurance Agency and other subsidiaries conducting insurance business on behalf of RAI.

RANT settled insurance claims primarily by selling structured settlements (through annuities) offered for sale through Ringler Insurance Agency. The beneficiaries of these annuities were frequently victims of long term disability related injuries and/or death related to employment. While a policy beneficiary could choose to take a lump sum payment from the insurance company, usually the beneficiary agreed to be compensated through a structured settlement. The annuity would pay the beneficiary a set amount either monthly, quarterly or annually, for an extended period of time, often for the life of the beneficiary. Annuities usually offered the most cost-effective means for an insurance company to pay out a structured settlement. RANT sold annuities available on the open market through Ringler Insurance Agency.

According plea documents, during 2002 through 2013, Woodyard devised a scheme to defraud and to obtain money and property by false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises. Woodyard engaged in a pattern of deceitful conduct and made false representations designed to fraudulently induce representatives of Ace European Insurance Company (ACE) to send 11 wire transfers totaling approximately $4,674,258 to one or more bank accounts controlled by Woodyard. ACE initially sent these funds to companies acting as a third party administrator who then transferred the ACE funds to Woodyard. As charged in the indictment, Woodyard stole $4.6 million which was intended to be used to purchase annuities for beneficiaries of ACE European insurance policies. The beneficiaries directly impacted by Woodyard’s extensive and lengthy scheme were United Nations employees who were either injured or killed in connection with their employment.

 

Woodyard falsely represented to ACE, as well as third party administrators Roger Rich and Company, and Vanbreda International, that Woodyard intended to lawfully use all funds received from ACE to purchase several life insurance annuity contracts from Metropolitan Life, Incorporated or some other legitimate insurance company. Woodyard also caused ACE funds to be sent from Roger Rich and Vanbreda directly to RANT rather than to the annuity provider and thus denied Ringler Insurance Agency its commission earned for the transaction. Woodyard fraudulently concealed from ACE and others that Woodyard unlawfully used the majority of ACE funds for Woodyard’s own personal financial benefit. As a result of this scheme, from 2002 through 2013, Woodyard fraudulently obtained a total of about $4,674,258 from ACE European Insurance Company.

As charged in the indictment, Woodyard made a total of about $857,626 in so-called “lulling payments” during the period from October 2004 through June 2014. These lulling payments were made by Woodyard in an effort to give beneficiaries the false impression that Woodyard had actually purchased legitimate insurance annuity contracts for these beneficiaries. Woodyard made these lulling payments in order to make detection of his extensive 11 year scheme more difficult. For restitution purposes, Woodyard was given credit for these lulling payments. Including all relevant conduct losses and credits, Woodyard was ordered to pay total restitution of $3,943,179.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Jarvis prosecuted.

# # #

DALLAS — Arslen Ramin Ayeze, a tax return preparer who managed a tax preparation business in Dallas, Texas, appeared last week in federal court in Dallas, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Renee Toliver, and pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and assisting in the preparation of a tax return, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Ayeze, who was remanded to custody following his guilty plea for a violation of his conditions of pretrial release, faces a maximum statutory penalty of three years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine and restitution. Sentencing is set for October 11, 2017, before U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade.

According to the factual resume filed in the case, from 2008 through 2010, Ayeze was a tax preparer doing business under the name of Universal Tax in Dallas, Texas. On January 20, 2010, Ayeze prepared and electronically filed with the IRS, a 2009 U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, Form 1040, on behalf of K.G. which was false and fraudulent. In preparing the tax return, Ayeze deceived the I.R.S. by falsely including a business loss deduction in the amount of $10,575 for a purported sole proprietorship operated by K.G. Ayeze knew K.G. had not incurred the loss and was not entitled to claim the deduction on the tax return. The false deduction of $10,575 resulted in an actual tax loss to the United States in the approximate amount of $2,557.

 

The investigation was conducted by Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Stokes is in charge of the prosecution.

# # #

DALLAS — Following a one-week trial in Dallas, Texas, before U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater, a federal jury has convicted Daryl Glenn Pawlak, 39, of Burleson, Texas, of two counts of child pornography offenses. The announcement was made today by U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Specifically, late Friday afternoon, the jury convicted Pawlak of one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of access with intent to view material containing child pornography involving a prepubescent minor. Pawlak faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in federal prison for each count and a $250,000 fine. Following the verdict, Judge Fitzwater remanded Pawlak into custody. Sentencing is set for October 20, 2017.

This case arose from an FBI undercover operation involving an illegal member-only hidden-services website called Playpen. Playpen was dedicated to the advertisement and distribution of child pornography. Because Playpen operated as a hidden-services site, it was only available to users of the TOR network. The TOR network allows users and hidden-services sites anonymity by concealing the actual IP addresses of users and hidden-services sites.

 

Playpen categorized posts containing child pornography within forums and sub-forums according to the victim child’s age, gender, and type of sexual abuse endured, such as “Girls HC,” “Incest,” and “Toddlers.” Many of these posts displayed a preview image of child pornography, a link to download more child pornography, and a password to open the downloaded files. The website itself required a username and password to enter. Approximately 417,000 usernames were registered on Playpen at the time it was removed from the Internet.

 

Through the course of its investigation, the FBI discovered that the Playpen website was being run from within the United States. The FBI seized the server hosting the Playpen website and made the decision to conduct a limited, monitored, authorized two-week operation to catch individuals who had logged onto the site and clicked on certain posts within the site.

 

Pawlak was one of the individuals caught as a result of the FBI’s operation. Pawlak registered the username “notsoslow” with Playpen in September 2014 and had spent approximately 14.6 hours logged into the website prior to the FBI’s two-week operation.

 

The government presented evidence at trial showing on the morning of March 4, 2015, the last day of the FBI’s operation, Pawlak logged onto the Playpen site as user “notsoslow,” using his work computer at his house in Burleson, Texas. After clicking on a post within the site, the FBI deployed a network investigative technique (NIT) to “notsoslow’s” computer. The NIT instructed “notsoslow’s” computer to send to the FBI certain identifying pieces of information, including the actual IP address that was connecting the computer to the Internet, the MAC address of the network interface card of the computer, the name of the computer, and the username logged onto the computer.

 

Computer data captured as a result of the NIT showed that the MAC address, computer name, and username were consistent with having come from a computer that was provided to Pawlak by his employer (Employer One). The actual IP address resolved to Pawlak’s home address in Burleson, Texas. Forensic artifacts from this work computer showed that user “d.pawlak” had logged onto the computer earlier that morning and downloaded WinZip, a program that could be used to decompress files similar to many that were contained in Playpen.

 

Computer data collected during the FBI’s operation showed that a few minutes after the NIT deployed, user “notsoslow” navigated and clicked on two posts containing prepubescent child pornography, both of which were hosted in the “Pre teen Photos” “Girls HC” section of Playpen. Data from the Playpen server reflected that “notsoslow” had spent approximately 90 minutes logged into the site during the FBI’s two-week operation.

 

The government also presented evidence that two different work computers that had been assigned to Pawlak by two different employers both contained prepubescent child pornography in files associated with Pawlak’s computer usernames. The computer assigned to Pawlak by Employer One had forensic artifacts reflecting that the TOR browser had been installed, deleted, and reinstalled several times while the computer was assigned to Pawlak. The FBI also found forensic artifacts associated with the Playpen site, as well as file names consistent with child pornography. The jury heard testimony at trial that it appeared that Pawlak had undertaken some efforts to delete evidence of child pornography before returning the computer to Employer One.

 

On Pawlak’s second work computer, which had been assigned to him for merely three months, the FBI found over 800 images of child pornography and videos of child pornography depicting prepubescent children. Forensics also revealed that software used to wipe a computer’s hard drive was downloaded onto the computer shortly before Pawlak’s employer sent it to the FBI.

 

The FBI spoke with Pawlak as a part of its investigation. Pawlak confessed that he had been using his work computers to look at child pornography. He told the FBI that he began looking at child pornography sometime in 2012, he used TOR to find child pornography, and estimated that he had spent, on average, approximately half an hour a week on child pornography. Pawlak told the FBI that he preferred child pornography that depicted girls between the ages of 7-11 years old.

 

As a result of the FBI’s operation, at least 350 U.S.-based individuals have been prosecuted nationwide. At least 55 American children who were subjected to sexual abuse have been successfully identified or rescued, including at least four in the North Texas area. This case was prosecuted as a part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

 

The FBI investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jamie L. Hoxie and Paul Yanowitch are in charge of the prosecution.

# # #

DALLAS — Tasha Lashaun Wilson, of Dallas, was sentenced last Friday by Chief U.S. District Judge Barbara M. G. Lynn to serve a prison sentence of 12 months and one day for theft of government funds, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Wilson pleaded guilty in July 2015 to one count of theft of government money. Chief Judge Lynn ordered that Wilson be immediately remanded into federal custody at the conclusion of the sentencing hearing. Wilson was also order to pay back the loss to the government, none of which Wilson had attempted to pay back prior to the sentencing hearing.

According to documents filed in the case, on October 24, 2012, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) received information about a Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCV) tenant believed to have a financial interest in the residence where she was living in Frisco, Texas.

A review of Wilson’s Dallas Housing Authority (DHA) tenant file revealed that she had been a HCV program participant since 2003. It was also determined that Wilson received United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and Medicaid assistance.

In 2010, Wilson was looking for a place to live while she was a participant in the HCV program. Wilson’s friend agreed to sign up to be an approved landlord in the HCV program so Wilson could live in his house in Frisco, Texas while she remained in the HCV program. As part of the process to be approved as a landlord, Wilson’s friend submitted a direct deposit form into which DHA would deposit money to subsidize Wilson’s rent. This direct deposit form listed a bank account to which both Wilson and her friend were signatories, but the submitted form did not disclose Wilson as a signatory to the account. Wilson told investigators that prior to submitting the direct deposit form, she told her friend that disclosing Wilson as a signatory to the joint bank account would be a problem because it would get her kicked out of the HCV program. Wilson’s friend told her that he would make sure Wilson’s name did not appear on the direct deposit form.

In September of 2010, Wilson completed and submitted an application to have her HCV rental subsidy transferred to her friend’s house in Frisco, Texas. From 2010 through into 2014, DHA deposited money into the joint bank account believing that it was sending money to Wilson’s landlord to subsidize her rent. Instead, Wilson accessed and spent the money at retailers and restaurants. Wilson was required to go through an annual re-certification process through which she was required to report income; Wilson did not disclose to DHA or HUD that she had access to, and was spending money from, the joint bank account. When confronted by law enforcement, Wilson admitted that she actively concealed the joint bank account because she knew that if she had reported it, she would have been kicked out of the HCV program.

An analysis of Wilson’s DHA HAP payments history from November 1, 2010, through February 28, 2014, revealed losses to DHA/HUD totaling $60,073.00. Similarly, an analysis of Wilson's SNAP benefit payments and Medicaid payments made during the same time period reveal losses to the government totaling $7,370.00 and $9,836.37, respectively.

HUD investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamie L. Hoxie prosecuted.

# # #

DALLAS — Fahim Ahmed Khan, 59, of Houston, Texas, was sentenced this morning for his involvement in a “pill mill” operation, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Specifically, Khan was sentenced before U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater to 51 months in federal prison. In addition to his prison sentence, he was ordered to pay a $17,500 fine. Khan pleaded guilty in August 2016 to one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, namely oxycodone. Judge Fitzwater ordered Khan to report to serve his sentence on September 5, 2017.

Twenty-four individuals were indicted by a federal grand jury in Dallas in February 2015 on offenses related to their participation in the prescription drug distribution conspiracy. That indictment alleged that from at least January 2013 through July 2014, the defendants participated in a scheme to illicitly obtain prescriptions for pain medications, such as oxycodone and hydrocodone, and then distribute those controlled substances for profit. As part of the conspiracy, individuals, often homeless or of limited means, were recruited and paid to pose as patients at medical clinics, including the McAllen Medical Clinic, to obtain prescriptions to fill those prescriptions at designated pharmacies.

Superseding indictments were returned in December 2015 and in January 2016, and a total of 26 individuals have now been convicted.

According to plea documents in Khan’s case, beginning in January 2013 and continuing through July 29, 2014, Khan, who has never been a licensed medical practitioner, has never held a DEA registration number, and has never been authorized to distribute or dispense oxycodone, a Schedule II controlled substance, obtained oxycodone with the intent to distribute it at a later time.

 

Khan established relationships with medical professionals and clinic owners, including co-conspirators, Muhammad Faridi and Dr. Richard Andrews of McAllen Medical Clinic in Dallas, Texas, to assist in the illegal distribution of oxycodone. Khan also pursued relationships with prescription ring leaders and agreed to bring patients to clinics and assisted patients in obtaining prescriptions. Khan would then collected between $420 and $600 in cash from each patient who obtained a prescription for oxycodone. The money collected was then distributed among Faridi, Andrews, himself, and office staff.

 

This Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation is being conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Louisiana State Police, the Grand Prairie Police Department, the Dallas Police Department, the Houston Police Department, the Arlington Police Department, the Greenville Police Department, the Parker County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Marshal’s Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Diplomatic Security Service.

 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Walters is in charge of the prosecution.

 

# # #

DALLAS — Bruce Kevin Hawkins, 52, of Desoto, Texas, appeared in federal court on June 20, 2017 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Renee Harris Toliver and pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Hawkins faces a maximum statutory penalty of twenty years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Restitution could also be ordered. Hawkins has been in custody since the time of his arrest in January 2017. Sentencing has not yet been scheduled.

A federal grand jury in Dallas returned an indictment in December 2016 charging Hawkins and three others with felony offenses stemming from a “foreclosure rescue scheme” they ran from approximately February 2012 through January 2013. Mark Demetri Stein, 36, of Carrollton, Texas, and Richard Bruce Stevens, 51, of San Antonio, Texas, are scheduled to begin trial on August 28, 2017. Christina Renee Caveny, 37, of Dallas, pleaded guilty earlier this month. A sentencing date for Caveny will be set at a later date.

According to documents filed in the case, Stein operated Real Estate Solutions, Stevens used Texas Real Estate Services, and Hawkins formed ERealty Mortgage Group, LLC, as foreclosure rescue companies. The conspirators used third parties to contact homeowners and offer them an opportunity to get out of their present home loans and receive a new home loan with a reduced interest payment and reduced monthly payment. Hawkins and other conspirators falsely represented to homeowners that they had “investors” standing by who were ready to quickly purchase the homeowner’s present loan from the lender holding the current mortgage. They also falsely represented that they would use investors to purchase the homeowner’s loan from the original lender at a greatly reduced price through a “short sale” process.

Furthermore, Hawkins and other conspirators falsely represented to the homeowners that the homeowners had the legal authority to transfer their homeowner’s deed to the defendants.

 

As part of the scheme, the conspirators fraudulently required homeowners to start making all future loan payments to them based on fraudulent so-called “loans,” and they also told homeowners to ignore late payment notices sent by lenders. As part of the scheme, the conspirators conducted a fraudulent “closing” for each homeowner where they caused the homeowner to pay them a large down payment on the new “loan,” and they also had the homeowner sign fraudulent documents, such as a promissory note, deed of trust, special warranty deed, and/or a so-called “land trust.”

 

Further, according to plea documents, the conspirators falsely represented to homeowners that the conspirators could “sell” their property back to the homeowner with a new loan, when the conspirators well knew they did not legally own the property. The conspirators also told homeowners to ignore notices of nonpayment from their present lender as they continued to unlawfully collect monthly so called “mortgage payments” from homeowners. In fact, conspirators instructed several homeowners to file for bankruptcy but to not follow up with the bankruptcy process as an additional means to delay foreclosure and conceal the conspirators’ criminal conduct. Conspirators concealed that all down payment and monthly mortgage payments fraudulently collected from homeowners was spent for their own personal benefit.

The defendants recruited at least 70 distressed and vulnerable homeowners who were facing the imminent threat of foreclosure on their homes and fraudulently collected a total of at least $242,000 from them.

This case is one of several felony prosecutions of bankruptcy-related crimes prosecuted as a result of the Bankruptcy Fraud Initiative in the Northern District of Texas. Since May 2013, a total of 26 defendants have been charged as part of that initiative. To date, 20 defendants have been convicted, one resulted in a mistrial, and five are pending trial.

The Dallas FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Jarvis is in charge of the prosecution.

# # #

DALLAS — A 27 year-old Dallas, Texas, man, Francisco Turrubiartes, who pleaded guilty in April 2016 to one count of production of child pornography, was sentenced this morning by U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade to 240 months in federal prison, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

“The sexual exploitation and victimization of underage girls, here 13 years old, is a despicable and heinous crime,” said U.S. Attorney Parker. “My office will continue to aggressively prosecute those who engage in this reprehensible behavior.”

 

According to documents filed in the case, on August 10, 2012, Turrubiartes persuaded, induced and enticed a 13-year-old minor, Jane Doe #3, to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct. Turrubiartes using an alias pretended to be a minor female on Facebook and asked Jane Doe #3 to send nude photos. The offense began when Turrubiartes sent a Facebook message to a 15-year-old minor, Jane Doe #1, using the same alias and asked her to send nude photos of herself. After Jane Doe #1 sent him several sexually explicit photos of herself, Turrubiartes then asked Jane Doe #1 to get Jane Doe #3 to send him naked photos. Turrubiartes threatened to post Jane Doe #1’s nude images all over the internet and tell her mother if she did not get Jane Doe #3 to send him images of her. Following the August 10, 2012 incident, Jane Doe #3 received a Twitter message stating, “send more images or I will post them and tell your mom.” Turrubiartes continued threatening Jane Doe #3 for three years. He also demanded that Jane Doe #1 send sexually explicit photos of her then two-year old niece, and he asked Jane Doe #3 for nude photos of her six-year-old sister.

 

A search of Turrubiartes computer revealed several Facebook conversations with other people where Martinez asked them to send him nude photos of children.

 

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

The Dallas Police Department and the FBI investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Camille Sparks prosecuted.

 

# # #

DALLAS – A McKinney, Texas, man, Moiz Mumtaz Ali, 36, appeared last week before U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater and pleaded guilty to one count of failure to develop, implement, and maintain an anti-money laundering program, announced John Parker, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas.

Ali faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a $500,000 fine. He will remain on bond pending sentencing, which is set for October 13, 2017.

 

According to plea documents filed in the case, Ali operated, and managed Gateway Newsstands (“Gateway”), located at 700 North Pearl Street, Dallas Texas. The business included a convenience and check-cashing store and was registered as a money service business, with the ability to cash checks for customers and members of the general public. Ali was responsible for Gateway’s check cashing operations and oversaw the day-to-day operations of the store, approved transactions, and maintained control of the business’ bank accounts.

 

Between December 2010 through June 2012, Ali negotiated and cashed approximately 3,423 United States Treasury checks totaling approximately $16,600,000.00. The vast majority of the checks were addressed to individuals with out-of-state addresses. Most of the checks had been obtained through fraud, either because the checks were based on fraudulent federal tax returns or because the checks had been stolen.

 

According to the factual resume, Ali failed to require and/or retain copies of any identification documents applicable to the party cashing the Treasury checks or to the payees whose names were on the Treasury checks he accepted and cashed. In those very limited instances in which Ali purportedly required identification and retained a copy of such identification, Ali failed to take any steps to verify whether the identification document was false, fictitious, or counterfeit.

 

Ali was required to develop, implement, and maintain an effective anti-money laundering program reasonably designed to prevent being used to facilitate money laundering. The program was required to have written policies, procedures, and controls governing the verification of customer identification, the filing of reports as required by law, the creation and retention of records, and responses to law enforcement requests. Ali failed to follow these requirements and took no steps to prevent his store from being used to facilitate criminal activity and launder money.

 

The case was investigated by Department of the Treasury’s Office of Inspector General, the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Secret Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney P.J. Meitl is prosecuting the case.

 

# # #

DALLAS — Gilberto Gomez, 37, of Dallas, Texas, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge David C. Godbey to 652 months in federal prison for his role in a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Gomez was convicted in March 2017, following a four-day jury trial before U.S. District Judge David C. Godbey, on one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine, one count of possession with intent to distribute marijuana, and two counts of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Gomez has been in custody since his arrest in March 2016.

Co-conspirator Felix Cantu, 30, pled guilty in March 2017 to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Sentencing is set for July 24, 2017.

“Prosecuting armed drug traffickers, like Gilberto Gomez, will continue to be a top priority of our office,” said U.S. Attorney Parker.

The government presented evidence at trial that beginning in November 17, 2015 until March 1, 2016 Gomez and Cantu operated a drug distribution enterprise from Gomez’s residence on Palacios Avenue in West Dallas. After a four-month long investigation, DEA and the Dallas Police Department executed a search warrant on the residence and recovered more than $37,000 in cash and over $40,000 worth of narcotics. To protect his drugs, Gomez installed three-inch steel coverings for the windows and a coded-entry metal gate in the hallway leading to the master bedroom. Gomez travelled to California every two weeks to purchase marijuana. He concealed the newly purchased marijuana in hidden compartments of vehicles and shipped them back to Texas on open-air tractor-trailers. In an effort to keep drugs off the streets in that neighborhood, the U.S. Attorney’s Office is seeking an order to forfeit the house since it was used for the criminal activity.

The Drug Enforcement Administration and the Dallas Police Department investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rachael Jones and P.J. Meitl prosecuted.

# # #

ABILENE, Texas — Two Abilene, Texas, men, who each pleaded guilty in February 2017 to one count of sexual exploitation of a child, were sentenced today to hefty federal prison sentences, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Terrell Orlando Kinchen, 20, and Troy Lee Applin, Jr., 23, were both sentenced by U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor to 240 months each in federal prison.

“What these men did to this 12-year old girl is shocking and despicable,” said U.S. Attorney Parker. “The total depravity displayed by these defendants justifies these sentences.”

 

According to plea documents filed in the case, between January 1, 2016, and July 7, 2016, Kinchen knowingly employed, used, persuaded, induced, enticed, and coerced, a 12-year-old female, Jane Doe 1, to engage in sexually explicit conduct. Kinchen did so for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct to mail, ship, or transport to others.

 

Kinchen and Applin met at Kinchen’s apartment. After arriving at the apartment, Applin used an Apple iPhone, to produce a video of “Jane Doe 1” engaging in sexual explicit conduct with Kinchen. Applin also used the cellular telephone to make a video recording of “Jane Doe 1” engaging in sexual explicit conduct with him in the bathroom of the apartment. After the videos were recorded, they were transmitted over the internet by Snapchat and Facebook. “Jane Doe 1” was twelve years of age at the time.

 

The cases were brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/. For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ and click on the tab “resources.”

 

The U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Abilene Police Department and Traffick911 investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Juanita Fielden was in charge of the prosecutions.

 

# # #

DALLAS — The U.S. Department of Justice will hold the National Summit on Crime Reduction and Public Safety on June 20-21, 2017 in Bethesda, Maryland. The Summit will gather representatives from federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement, victim and community advocacy groups, and academia to discuss how to best support and replicate successful local violent crime reduction efforts. Speakers will include Vice President of the United States Michael Pence, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

U.S. Attorney John Parker, Grand Prairie Police Chief Steve Dye, and Dallas Police Assistant Chief Paul Stokes will participate in discussions on a variety of topics related to violent crime reduction efforts.

“I’m very excited about this opportunity to listen to our local law enforcement partners and explore how we in the federal sector can further enhance our existing collaboration to reduce crime,” said U.S. Attorney Parker.

In February, the Attorney General established the Department’s Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety. This internal working group is identifying ways that the federal government can best support crime reduction work across the country.

# # #

LUBBOCK, Texas — A Lubbock, Texas, man, Brian Landon Brown, 32, appeared today before U.S. Magistrate Judge D. Gordon Bryant Jr. and pleaded guilty to a federal offense stemming from his role in a fentanyl distribution conspiracy, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

 

Brown pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute furanyl fentanyl. He faces a statutory penalty of not more than twenty years in federal prison and a $1 million fine. Judge Bryant recommended that the district court accept Brown’s guilty plea.

 

According to plea documents filed in the case, on October 17, 2016, Brown was arrested in Lubbock, Texas, on an unrelated arrest warrant. At the time of his arrest, Brown possessed a vial of .291 net grams of Furanyl Fentanyl. Brown admitted that he typically sold several grams of Furanyl Fentanyl per day and that, several months before his arrest, he started selling at least 10 grams of Furanyl Fentanyl per day.

 

On October 6, 2016, at 2:30 p.m. Brown met a 26-year-old male and sold Furanyl Fentanyl to that individual. Around 4:15 - 4:30 a.m. on October 7, 2016, that same individual was discovered unconscious in a bathroom. At approximately 5:05 a.m. that same day, the individual was pronounced dead. The Lubbock County Medical Examiner (LCME) did an autopsy and determined that the cause of death was drug toxicity from Furanyl Fentanyl. A postmortem forensic toxicology analysis revealed 1.9 ng/mL of Furanyl Fentanyl in the individual’s blood.

 

Fentanyl is a potent synthetic opioid analgesic that is about 30 to 40 times stronger than heroin and up to 100 times more powerful than morphine. Besides analgesia, Fentanyl produces a variety of pharmacological effects, including alteration in mood, euphoria, drowsiness, respiratory depression, suppression of cough reflex, constriction of pupils, and impaired gastrointestinal mobility. Fentanyl is a Schedule II controlled substance.

 

Furanyl Fentanyl is a controlled substance analogue that has a chemical structure substantially similar to Fentanyl, a Schedule II controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act, and has a stimulant, depressant, or hallucinogenic effect on the central nervous system that is substantially similar to or greater than the stimulant, depressant, or hallucinogenic effect on the central nervous system of Fentanyl, a Schedule II controlled substance.

 

The case is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Lubbock Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeffrey Haag and Russell Lorfing are in charge of the prosecution.

 

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DALLAS — Wilbert James Veasey, Jr., 65, of Dallas, was sentenced this morning in federal court in Dallas on a health care fraud conspiracy conviction, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Veasey was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay to 210 months in federal prison and order to pay $23,123,897.18 in restitution to Medicare and $506,880.08 in restitution to Medicaid. He has been in custody since February 2016, after violating his conditions of release.

 

Veasey, along with co-defendants, Jacques Roy, M.D., 59, of Rockwall, Texas; Cynthia Stiger, 54, of Dallas; and Charity Eleda, R.N., 56, of Rowlett, Texas, were each convicted following a six-week-long trial on one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. In addition, Roy was convicted on eight, Veasey on three and Eleda on four counts of health care fraud. Roy was also convicted on two counts of making a false statement relating to healthcare matters and one count of obstruction of justice. Eleda was also convicted on three counts of making false statements for use in determining rights of benefit and payment by Medicare.

 

Three other defendants charged in the case, Cyprian Akamnonu and his registered nurse wife, Patricia Akamnonu, both of Cedar Hill, Texas, and Teri Sivils, of Midlothian, Texas, each pleaded guilty before trial to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Cyprian and Patricia Akamnonu are each currently serving a ten-year federal prison sentence. They were also ordered to pay $25 million in restitution. Sivils pleaded guilty in April 2015, and was sentenced to 3 years probation.

 

The government presented evidence at trial that Dr. Roy, Stiger, Veasey and Eleda engaged in a large-scale, sophisticated health care fraud scheme in which they conspired together and with others to defraud Medicare and Medicaid through companies they owned/controlled: Medistat Group Associates, P.A., Apple of Your Eye Health Care Services, Inc., Ultimate Care Home Health Services and Charry Home Care Services.

 

As part of the conspiracy, Stiger, Veasey and Eleda, along with others, improperly recruited individuals with Medicare coverage to sign up for Medicare home health care services. Eleda recruited patients from The Bridge homeless shelter in Dallas, sometimes paying recruiters $50 per beneficiary they found and directed to her vehicle parked outside the shelter’s gates. Eleda and other nurses would falsify medical documents to make it appear as though those beneficiaries qualified for home health care services that were not medically necessary. Eleda and the nurses prepared Plans of Care (POC), also known as 485’s, which were not medically necessary, and these POCs were delivered to Dr. Roy’s office and not properly reviewed by any physician.

 

Dr. Roy instructed his staff to certify these POCs, which indicated to Medicare and Medicaid that a doctor, typically Dr. Roy, had reviewed the treatment plan and deemed it medically necessary. That certifying doctor, typically Dr. Roy, certified that the patient required home health services, which were only permitted to be provided to those individuals who were homebound and required, among other things, skilled nursing. This process was repeated for thousands of POCs, and, in fact, Medistat’s office included a “485 Department,” essentially a “boiler room” to affix fraudulent signatures and certifications.

 

Once an individual was certified for home health care services, Eleda, nurses who worked for Stiger and Veasey, and other nurses falsified visit notes to make it appear as though skilled nursing services were being provided and continued to be necessary. Dr. Roy would also visit the patients, perform unnecessary home visits, and then order unnecessary medical services for the recruited beneficiaries. Then, at Dr. Roy’s instruction, Medistat employees would submit fraudulent claims to Medicare for the certification and recertification of unnecessary home health care services and other unnecessary medical services.

 

The government presented further evidence at trial that the scope of Dr. Roy’s fraud was massive; Medistat processed and approved POCs for 11,000 unique Medicare beneficiaries from more than 500 different home health agencies. Dr. Roy entered into formal and informal fraudulent arrangements with Apple, Charry, Ultimate and other home health agencies to ensure his fraudulent business model worked and that he maintained a steady stream of Medicare beneficiaries.

 

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG), and the Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force supervised by the Criminal Division Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.

 

Assistant U.S. Attorneys P.J. Meitl and Nicole Dana and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham prosecuted the case.

 

 

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FORT WORTH — Ryan Steve Magee, a citizen of Canada, was sentenced this morning by Senior U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means to 97 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $2,372,573 in restitution, following his guilty plea in February 2017 to one count of wire fraud, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Magee, 34, was indicted in July 2016 on five counts of wire fraud. Magee was arrested in December 2016, and has remained in custody since his arrest.

According to plea documents filed in his case, Magee was a business man and an active day trader in the U.S. stock market. Beginning in 2011, and continuing until the end of 2013, Magee devised and operated a scheme to obtain money by means of false and fraudulent material pretense and representations. Magee solicited and obtained money from victim investors by making false representations about how their money would be invested, how much of their money would be invested, how much their investment was earning, how much money they had in their account, and by making other false statements.

 

Specifically, J.C. and D.C. decided to invest some of their savings with him. At Magee’s direction, D.C. wired $35,000 to Magee’s account on August 12, 2011. After Magee received the money from D.C., he immediately diverted $25,000 for his own personal expenditures. Magee then deposited the remaining $10,000 into his day-trading account located at Interactive Brokers (IB). Magee sent weekly emails to J.C. and D.C. entitled “Trading Update,” which falsely showed the beginning account principal of $35,000 and the daily gains, even though Magee had diverted $25,000 of the investors’ money to his own personal use.

 

In November 2011, J.C. and D.C. cashed in J.C.’s 401(k) and wired $240,000 to Magee’s account. After Magee received the $240,000, he immediately diverted approximately $160,000 to his personal accounts, transferring only $80,000 into his IB trading account. Magee again sent weekly “Trading Update” emails claiming to have deposited the entire $240,000 in the IB account. Though he lost approximately $75,000 by the end of the month and his trades for November 2011, were a negative 70 percent, Magee listed 200 percent gains in the weekly “Trading Update” emails he sent to J.C. and D.C, between November 16 2011, and November 30, 2011.

 

On April 10, 2013, in the final “Trading Updates” email Magee sent to J.C. and D.C., Magee claimed their account balance was over $1.3 million. However, Magee’s IB account statement for the time period ending March 31, 2013, showed that Magee’s IB account had a negative cash balance of $9,578. J.C. and D.C. suffered a total loss of approximately $275,000. Between May 2010 and September 2013, other victims of the fraudulent scheme in the United States and Canada suffered a total loss of approximately $2,097,573.

 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy Larson prosecuted.

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DALLAS — Martavious Detrel Banks Keys, a/k/a “Cheese” and “Matt,” 34, was sentenced this morning by U.S. District Judge David C. Godbey to Life in federal prison for felony child sex trafficking offenses. The announcement was made today by U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Keys was convicted in February 2017, following a three-day jury trial, on two counts of child sex trafficking and one count of sex trafficking through force, fraud or coercion. Keys has been in custody since the time of his arrest in May 2016.

“The absolute horror that these two girls were subjected to is unimaginable and profoundly sad,” said U.S. Attorney Parker. “The total depravity displayed by the shocking nature of this crime justifies this sentence.”

According to documents filed in his case, from approximately March 15, 2015, through April 18, 2015, Keys recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, provided, obtained or maintained two minor females, 15-year-old Jane Doe 1 and 14-year-old Jane Doe 2, causing them to engage in commercial sex acts. In addition, he used force, fraud or coercion to cause Jane Doe 1 to engage in commercial sex acts.

Specifically, Keys placed commercial sex advertisements on Backpage.com for Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2. As a result of the Backpage advertisements, the two minor females engaged in numerous commercial sex acts at Keys’ direction. Keys would negotiate with “clients” over text messages pretending to be the minor females. Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 worked out of Keys’ residence. In addition, Jane Doe 1 also saw commercial sex clients at various hotels in the Dallas area. Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 engaged in numerous sex acts a day, sometimes even up to sixteen per day. Keys, who was unemployed, kept all of the proceeds from the commercial sex acts; purchasing various items with the money, including a Chevrolet Tahoe with aftermarket rims.

Keys sexually assaulted and physically assaulted both Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 during the ordeal. In addition, he threatened Jane Doe 1 with a gun, and threatened both girls with harm if they did not continue to engage in commercial sex acts.

Members of the North Texas Trafficking Taskforce, including the Mesquite Police Department, Department of Public Safety (Garland), U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and Child Protective Services investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cara Foos Pierce and Myria Boehm prosecuted the case.

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AMARILLO — Three Amarillo residents have been charged by a federal criminal complaint stemming from their role in selling large quantities of methamphetamine, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

 

Specifically, the complaint charges Miguel Angel Bravo-Farias, 41, Hector Terrazas, 25, and Rogelio Xochitl Amparan, 29, with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. The three defendants made appearances in federal court this week before U.S. Magistrate Judge Clinton E. Averitte, who ordered them to remain in custody pending the detention hearings set for June 14, 2017.

 

According to the affidavit filed with the federal complaint, on June 8, 2017, an operation was conducted to purchase 20 pounds of methamphetamine. Law enforcement met with Bravo-Farias, an illegal immigrant, and Terrazas at a Denny’s Restaurant located on I-40 in East Amarillo. Bravo-Farias and Terrazas were in possession of a box containing five plastic bags filled with methamphetamine. Bravo-Farias and Terrazas were arrested at the scene.

 

A search of Terrazas’ residence revealed a white plastic container with crystal like residue, an igloo style container with a crystal like substance, and 34 empty glass bottles with crystal like substance on the spouts in a bedroom. In the refrigerator, there were two igloo style containers with liquid substance believed to be liquid methamphetamine. In the same room was a closet that was converted into a work station with drying equipment. The closet contained fans and opened igloo style containers. On the floor there were used plastic gloves and utensils that had crystal like substance on them. The residence was used as a conversion lab from liquid to crystal methamphetamine.

 

The investigation revealed Xochitl Amparan as the head of the methamphetamine distribution operation.

 

A federal complaint is a written statement of the essential facts of the offense charged, and must be made under oath before a magistrate judge. A defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. The U.S. Attorney’s office has 30 days to present the matter to a grand jury for indictment. The penalty for the offense charged in the criminal complaints is a maximum statutory penalty of life in federal prison and a $1 million fine.

 

The Amarillo Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration investigated the case with assistance from the Randall County Sheriff’s Office, the Potter County Sheriff’s Office, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Potter County District Attorney’s Office.

 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Anna Bell is prosecuting.

 

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LUBBOCK, Texas —Kelly Turner, 35, of San Angelo, Texas, was sentenced today by Senior U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings to 188 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in March 2017 to one count of distribution of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

According to documents filed in the case, on July 6, 2016, Turner distributed two images depicting a minor female, under the age of eighteen years, engaged in sexually explicit conduct. In addition to the two images, Turner received and possessed hundreds of images and videos depicting minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct, which he intentionally sought out and found on the Internet.

 

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

 

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Tom Green County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Sucsy was in charge of the prosecutions.

 

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DALLAS — A licensed pharmacist, Kumi Frimpong, who owned and operated the Cornerstone Pharmacy, located on Bolton Boone Drive in Desoto, Texas, was sentenced this morning for his involvement in a “pill mill” operation, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Specifically, Frimpong, 57, of Dallas, was sentenced before U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater to 24 months in federal prison and ordered to surrender $41,112 to the United States that constitute proceeds from dispensing oxycodone during the conspiracy. Frimpong pleaded guilty in September 2016 to one count of conspiracy to illegally distribute oxycodone. Frimpong was ordered to report to serve his sentence no later than September 5, 2017.

“Diverted prescription pain pills kill more people in this country than heroin, while simultaneously fueling demand for heroin itself,” said U.S. Attorney Parker. “Eighty percent of heroin users started by abusing prescription pain pills first. Those who divert legitimate drugs from their lawful, therapeutic purposes to illicit, deadly purposes all in the name of money are no better than any other drug trafficker and will be treated accordingly.”

 

Frimpong admitted that during the conspiracy, which began in January 2013 and continued through July 2014, he and his co-conspirators distributed and caused to be distributed at least 40,000 30mg oxycodone pills in Dallas, and elsewhere that he dispensed based on prescriptions issued in the name and DEA registration number of co-conspirator, Dr. Richard Andrews of McAllen Medical Clinic.

After their arrests in January 2016, Dr. Andrews and co-defendant pharmacists Frimpong and Ndufola Kigham were ordered to surrender their DEA registration numbers, preventing Dr. Andrews from issuing prescriptions for controlled substances and Frimpong and Kigham from dispensing controlled substances. Frimpong and Kigham also surrendered their stock of controlled substances that they had at their pharmacies to DEA.

Twenty-four individuals were indicted by a federal grand jury in Dallas in February 2015 on offenses related to their participation in the prescription drug distribution conspiracy. That indictment alleged that from at least May 2013 through July 2014, the defendants participated in a scheme to illicitly obtain prescriptions for pain medications, such as oxycodone and hydrocodone, and then distribute those controlled substances for profit. As part of the conspiracy, individuals, often homeless or of limited means, were recruited and paid to pose as patients at medical clinics, including the McAllen Medical Clinic, to obtain prescriptions to fill those prescriptions at designated pharmacies.

Superseding indictments were returned in December 2015 and in January 2016, and a total of 31 individuals have now been charged. All of the defendants have pleaded guilty.

This Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation is being conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Louisiana State Police, the Grand Prairie Police Department, the Dallas Police Department, the Houston Police Department, the Arlington Police Department, the Greenville Police Department, the Parker County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Marshal’s Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Diplomatic Security Service.

 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Walters is in charge of the prosecution.

 

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LUBBOCK, Texas — Sidney Caleb Lanier, 36, and Jamie Marie Robertson, 32, both of Lubbock, Texas, were sentenced this morning before Senior U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings for their roles in a conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

 

Lanier was sentenced to 135 months in federal prison following his guilty plea in February 2017 to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl. Robertson was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison following her guilty plea also in February 2017 to one count of unlawful use of a communications facility.

 

Co-defendant Jessica Christine Holl, 29, of Lubbock, Texas, pleaded guilty in March 2017 to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and furanyl fentanyl and is scheduled to be sentenced June 30, 2017.

 

“Fentanyl is responsible for a sharp increase in overdoses and deaths across the country and poses a very high risk of death to not only users, but law enforcement and first responders as well,” said U.S. Attorney Parker. “Our local, state and federal partners will continue to push back hard on those who peddle this poison in our communities.”

 

The defendants have been in custody since their arrest in October 2016 following a law enforcement operation led by Lubbock Police Department and special agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration focused on the distribution in the Lubbock area of the highly potent synthetic opioid, fentanyl.

 

While fentanyl can serve as a direct substitute for heroin in opioid-dependent individuals, it is a dangerous substitute as it is 50 times more potent than heroin and results in frequent overdoses that can lead to respiratory depression and death. Cheaper than heroin, fentanyl can be ingested, inhaled or absorbed through the skin; just a few milligrams, equivalent to a few grains of table salt, may be deadly.

 

According to documents filed in this case, from approximately January 2013 to October 27, 2016, Lanier, Holl, and Robertson did knowingly and intentionally combine, conspire, confederate and agree with each other to intentionally distribute and possess with intent to distribute a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl, a Schedule II controlled substance. Lanier supplied Holl and Robertson with large amounts of Fentanyl he purchased online on the Darknet from China using Bitcoin, a digital currency. The Fentanyl was shipped to various addresses in the Lubbock area, prepared by the defendants and sold for use.

 

The case was investigated by the Lubbock Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeff Haag is in charge of the prosecution.

 

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DALLAS — Juan Salazar-Sanchez, aka “Mario Ayala Guzman” and “Manuel Barreto-Sanchez,” 50, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle to 225 months in federal prison for his role in a heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine distribution conspiracy, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Salazar-Sanchez pleaded guilty in October 2016 to one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine. Salazar-Sanchez has been in custody since his arrest.

“The convictions of Juan Salazar-Sanchez and his co-conspirators are indicative of law enforcement’s continued commitment to fully identify, investigate and bring to justice drug trafficking organizations determined to make a living from those struggling with addiction,” said U.S. Attorney Parker.

Salazar-Sanchez and four others were arrested in early June 2016 by special agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Dallas Police Department who were conducting an operation into bulk distribution of crystal methamphetamine and bulk U.S. currency.

All defendants have been sentenced for their roles in the conspiracy to the following:

     Uriel Aguirre-Arzate, 21, 180 months

     Isidro Romero-Madriz, 20, 70 months

     Maricela Mendoza, 20, 11 months

 

According to documents filed in the case, on June 6, 2016 law enforcement executed a search at a residence on Reynolds Avenue in Dallas, Texas where the four defendants resided. Law enforcement located four loaded firearms and 75.7 grams of methamphetamine in a bedroom used by Salazar-Sanchez. A loaded firearm, 11,703 grams of methamphetamine, 3,354.6 grams of cocaine and 443.5 grams of heroin were located in a bedroom used by Aguirre-Arzate. 25,681.9 grams of cocaine and 1,116.8 grams of heroin were located in another bedroom used by Mendoza and Romero-Madriz. A total of $371,000 was also located in the residence.

 

The DEA and the Dallas Police Department investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cara Pierce and Myria Boehm prosecuted.

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LUBBOCK, Texas — Jerry Ba Nguyen, 25, of Las Vegas, was sentenced today before Senior U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings to 36 months in federal custody for interfering with flight crew members and attendants, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Nguyen pleaded guilty in February 2017 to one count of interference with flight crew members and attendants. Nguyen has been in custody since his arrest in September 2016.

According to plea documents filed in the case, on September 22, 2016 Nguyen was a passenger on American Airlines flight 2542 in route from Ontario, California, to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, which was diverted to Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport, after Nguyen, knowingly interfered and attempted to interfere with the performance of the duties of a flight crew member and flight attendant, lessening their ability to perform their duties, by assaulting and intimidating the flight attendant and flight crew member by refusing to comply with instructions from flight attendants.

Nguyen came to the attention of the flight attendants as the plane was leaving the gate in Ontario, appearing agitated and walking toward the front of the aircraft as it prepared to take off. Flight attendants were able to calm him down, and the plane departed. After takeoff, however, Nguyen’s erratic behavior continued; he mumbled that the SIM card had been stolen from his phone and he made suicidal statements. He also stated that the police were not his friends, and the U.S. government was responsible for the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Nguyen was asked to remain in his seat by the flight crew on multiple occasions, but refused. Flight attendants were so concerned about his behavior that they recruited several passengers to assist with physically restraining Nguyen if it became necessary.

Upon final approach, Nguyen walked to the front of the aircraft and was near the cockpit door. Flight attendants instructed Nguyen numerous times that he needed to be seated for landing, but Nguyen refused to take his seat. Due to Nguyen’s proximity to the cockpit door, the lead flight attendant signaled other passengers to subdue Nguyen.

The Captain declared an emergency and diverted the flight to Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport, where it landed safely. Nguyen was removed from the plane and taken into custody

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Transportation Security Administration, the Lubbock Police Department and the Lubbock International Airport Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Haag prosecuted.

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