Eastern District of Virginia

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A federal indictment was unsealed today charging 11 members and associates of MS-13 in connection with the 2016 murders of two juveniles in Fairfax County.

According to allegations in the indictment, in August 2016, Elmer Zelaya Martinez, Erick Palacios Ruiz, Ronald Herrera Contreras, and Josue Vigil Mejia conspired together and with others to lure a 17 year-old male, who they suspected was a member of a rival gang, to a park in Fairfax County in order to attack and kill him. After killing him and to conceal evidence linking them to the juvenile’s disappearance and murder, these four defendants and their co-conspirators buried the juvenile’s remains.

The indictment further alleges that in September 2016, Elmer Zelaya Martinez, Erick Palacios Ruiz, Ronald Herrera Contreras, Henry Zelaya Martinez, Oscar Contreras Aguilar, Yonathan Melgar Martinez, Pablo Miguel Barrera Velasco, Anderson Villatoro, Francisco Avila Avalos, and Fredys Baires Abarca conspired together and with others to lure a 14 year-old male to the same park in Fairfax County where he was attacked and killed because he was thought to be cooperating with law enforcement. This juvenile’s remains were also buried.

The below table lists the name of each defendant, at least one alias, age, country of origin, and the charge(s).

Name

Age, Country of Origin

Charges

Elmer Zelaya Martinez, aka “Killer”

27, El Salvador

Conspiracy to Kidnap

Erick Palacios Ruiz, aka “Cara de Malo”

20, El Salvador

Conspiracy to Kidnap

Ronald Herrera Contreras, aka “Speedy”

20, El Salvador

Conspiracy to Kidnap

Josue Vigil Mejia, aka “Horror”

21, El Salvador

Conspiracy to Kidnap

Henry Zelaya Martinez, aka “Certero”

24, El Salvador

Conspiracy to Kidnap

Oscar Contreras Aguilar, aka “Atrevido”

20, El Salvador

Conspiracy to Commit Murder in Aid of Racketeering; Conspiracy to Kidnap

Yonathan Melgar Martinez, aka “Oso”

21, El Salvador

Conspiracy to Kidnap

Pablo Miguel Barrera Velasco, aka “Oscuro”

20, El Salvador

Conspiracy to Kidnap

Anderson Villatoro, aka “Enterrado”

21, El Salvador

Conspiracy to Kidnap

Francisco Avila Avalos, aka “Picador”

20, El Salvador

Conspiracy to Kidnap

Fredys Baires Abarca, aka “Lil Clandestino”

20, El Salvador

Conspiracy to Kidnap

 

If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

The case was also investigated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Operation Devils's Background. The OCDETF program is a federal multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force that supplies supplemental federal funding to federal and state agencies involved in the identification, investigation, and prosecution of major drug trafficking organizations. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Nancy McNamara, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and Colonel Edwin C. Roessler Jr., Fairfax County Chief of Police, made the announcement after the indictment was unsealed. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rebeca H. Bellows, J. Tyler McGaughey, and Alexander E. Blanchard are prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:18-cr-123.

An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

NORFOLK, Va. – A Portsmouth man was sentenced today to 10 1/2  years in prison for felon in possession of a firearm, and using, carrying, or possessing a firearm in relation to and in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

According to court documents, approximately one month after receiving a federal probation sentence for conspiring to straw-purchase firearms, Andre Peoples, 22, and his wife, co-defendant Tashayla Cameron, who was also a convicted felon, began dealing crack cocaine from their home. Peoples conducted the transactions while armed and wearing his ankle monitor.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Thomas L. Chittum, III, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) Washington Field Division, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Mark S. Davis. Assistant U.S. Attorneys William B. Jackson and Andrew C. Bosse prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:18-cr-8.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Honduran national pleaded guilty today to illegal reentry after removal and conspiring with others to transport illegal aliens to various locations in the United States.

“Mr. Zelaya-Ortiz was deported twice before his latest arrest,” said G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “He was removed in December 2012, and then he illegally returned. He was removed a second time in June 2014, and he illegally returned again. Just two months ago, Fairfax County Police officers found him smuggling six other illegal aliens who he was transporting to various points across the country in exchange for money. After Mr. Zelaya-Ortiz completes his sentence in this case, he will be deported, at taxpayer expense, for a third time. The Department of Justice is committed to prioritizing criminal immigration enforcement. This is an issue of public safety. People cannot be permitted to continuously flout the law.”

According to court documents, Danny Josue Zelaya-Ortiz, aka “Jose Castro”, 29, was part of a conspiracy to charge illegal aliens in the United States a fee for transporting them from Texas to other states across the country. In April 2018, Zelaya-Ortiz picked up at least six alien passengers, all of whom had been smuggled into the United States from the Mexico border. Zelaya was driving the passengers towards Maryland and the New York area when his vehicle was stopped in Virginia by Fairfax County Police on April 25, 2018. He was cited for an improper vehicle tag display and driving without an operator’s license. Homeland Security Investigations special agents responded to the scene after it was determined Zelaya-Ortiz and the passengers had no lawful status in the United States. Zelaya-Ortiz admitted he knew the passengers were illegal aliens and that he received payments for his role in the scheme. At the time of the crime, Zelaya-Ortiz had been in the country illegally after having been twice removed by immigration officials.

“Human smugglers time and time again demonstrate a total disregard for both our laws and for human life,” said Patrick J. Lechleitner, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C. “HSI will continue to enforce the laws these criminals attempt to skirt, and continue to disallow all of the nefarious activities these smuggling schemes fund.”

Zelaya-Ortiz pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport illegal aliens and illegal reentry after deportation. He faces a maximum penalty of 12 years in prison when sentenced on September 14. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Patrick J. Lechleitner, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C., and Colonel Edwin C. Roessler Jr., Fairfax County Chief of Police, made the announcement after Senior U.S. District Judge Claude M. Hilton accepted the plea. Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys Raizza K. Ty and Christopher Kaltsas are prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:18-cr-235.

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – A Chesapeake woman was sentenced today to 46 months in prison for embezzling over $1.1 million from a Hampton business.

According to court documents, Susan Gray, 47, engaged in a scheme to embezzle funds from, Harbor Construction Company, Inc., from January 2012 through January 2017. Gray transferred approximately $1,185,245.64 from Harbor Construction’s payroll accounts to her own personal accounts. She used these embezzled funds for own enrichment including making over $100,000 in ATM withdrawals, travel, jewelry, entertainment, restaurants, and retail purchases, and the purchase of a new car. During tax years 2012 through 2016, Gray failed to report $990,932.25 in unauthorized and embezzled funds on her filed income tax returns.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Kelly R. Jackson, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Washington, D.C. Field Office, IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Mark S. Davis. Managing Assistant U.S. Attorney Howard J. Zlotnick prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 4:17-cr-130.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A federal jury convicted an Annandale man today on charges of conspiracy, aiding in the preparation of false tax returns, mail and wire fraud. The jury also determined that over $1.34 million should be forfeited as proceeds of the crime.

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Jose Manlapaz, 55, owned and operated a tax preparation business named JBM Financial Services or JBM Financial Group in Falls Church, Virginia.  Between 2007 and 2017, Manlapaz prepared thousands of false tax returns for his clients by adding false or inflated items, including education credits, childcare expenses, and fake businesses.  Manlapaz knew that the items he added to client returns would cause many clients to be audited, and set up a document mill in the Philippines called TMendoza Accounting Services to fabricate fake receipts and tax forms that he could submit on behalf of his clients to the IRS.  Manlapaz made money by charging higher fees for getting clients higher refunds and for preparing fraudulent responses to IRS audit notices.  After he learned of the criminal investigation in 2013, Manlapaz and JBM kept preparing false tax returns, but removing his preparer information so it looked like his clients were submitting the returns. 

Manlapaz was convicted on Wednesday of conspiracy, aiding in preparation of false tax returns, mail fraud and wire fraud. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison when sentenced on September 28. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Kelly R. Jackson, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Washington, D.C. Field Office, IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga accepted the verdict. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Katherine L. Wong and Kimberly R. Pedersen are prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:17-cr-115.

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – A Hampton man pleaded guilty today to leading a family-run heroin trafficking conspiracy which distributed large quantities of heroin in Virginia.

“Mr. Joe led a large-scale heroin trafficking conspiracy for many years in Hampton Roads,” said G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “Investigating and prosecuting heroin and fentanyl trafficking crimes is a top priority of this office as we continue to battle this deadly epidemic. I want to thank our investigative partners at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations Norfolk for their terrific work on this important case.”

According to court documents, William Arthur Joe, aka Pops, aka Unc, aka Rudy K, 67 of Hampton, was the leader of a large heroin trafficking organization on the Virginia Peninsula. The organization received heroin from sources of supply in New York and New Jersey and would then sell it in the Hampton Roads area. As head of the organization, Joe employed multiple family members and acquaintances to distribute the heroin. Joe’s organization was the focus of a two-year investigation involving controlled purchases of heroin, law enforcement surveillance and multiple court authorized wire taps. The Joe organization operated from at least 2014 until Joe’s arrest in June 2017 and was responsible for distributing more than three kilograms of heroin.

Joe pleaded guilty to continuing criminal enterprise and faces a mandatory 20 years in prison when sentenced on September 24. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Michael K. Lamonea, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Norfolk, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson accepted the plea. Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric M. Hurt is prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 4:17-cr-65.

NORFOLK, Va. – Two Portsmouth men were sentenced yesterday to a combined 26 years in prison for their involvement in a massive heroin and crack cocaine conspiracy in Hampton Roads.

According to court documents, Antonio Brown, aka “Tony Legal,” 42, was a lieutenant in the drug trafficking organization, and Roman Hurdle, aka “Rome,” 38, was Brown’s driver and crack manufacturer, or “cook.” The men were part of a massive heroin and crack cocaine drug-trafficking conspiracy which included at least 10 participants. The men are responsible for distributing roughly three kilograms of heroin, four kilograms of crack, and over 20 kilograms of powder cocaine.

Brown was sentenced to 17 1/2 years in prison. Hurdle was sentenced to 9 years in prison.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Scott W. Hoernke, Acting Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Washington Field Division, made the announcement after sentencing by Senior U.S. District Judge Robert G. Doumar. Assistant U.S. Attorney William B. Jackson prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:18-cr-40.

*UPDATE on June 21, 2018: The following statement provides additional clarity to this press release (originally issued on June 18, 2018) and includes a revised headline. Please attribute the statement to Joshua Stueve, Director of Communications for EDVA. "As stated in the Statement of Facts for defendants Cross and McKnight, numerous victims of the LFCU identity theft fraud also identified themselves to DOJ as victims of the OPM Data Breach. The Government continues to investigate the ultimate source of the PII used by the defendants and how this PII was obtained.”

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – A Maryland woman pleaded guilty today to participating in a scheme to use the stolen identification information of victims of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) data breach to obtain fraudulent personal and vehicle loans through Langley Federal Credit Union (LFCU).

According to court documents, Kariva Cross, 39, of Bowie, participated in and recruited others to engage in a fraudulent identity-theft scheme targeting LFCU. In 2015 and 2016, LFCU received numerous online membership and consumer loan applications in the names of stolen identities that were victims of the OPM data breach. LFCU approved and issued the requested memberships and loans prior to determining that they had been sought using the stolen personal identifying information of others. LFCU disbursed loan proceeds via checks and transfers into the checking and savings accounts opened through these fraudulent applications. Vehicle loan proceeds were disbursed by checks made payable to individuals posing as vehicle sellers, while personal loan proceeds were disbursed to LFCU accounts opened in connection with the fraudulent loan applications and transferred to accounts of others. Cross and others then accessed and withdrew the fraudulently obtained loan proceeds. 

Cross pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. She faces a maximum penalty of 30 years and a consecutive mandatory minimum of two years in prison when sentenced on October 26. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Co-defendant Marlon McKnight pleaded guilty to the same charges on June 11.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Eric Shen, Inspector in Charge of the Washington Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and Michael C. Grinstead, Acting Chief of Newport News Police, made the announcement after U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert J. Krask accepted the plea. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian J. Samuels is prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 4:17-cr-118.

NORFOLK, Va. – Nine local men and women have pleaded guilty for their respective roles in a conspiracy to fraudulently obtain and sell approximately 9,000 oxycodone pills in Hampton Roads.

“Prosecuting opioid related crimes is one of our top priorities,” said G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “The resources and collaborative efforts used to investigate and prosecute this case are proof positive of the impact of federal, state, and local cooperation. The Eastern District will remain steadfast in its pursuit of those who spread this poison in our communities.”

According to court documents, from February to September 2017, Deonte Farrow and Quentia Fields led a conspiracy to fraudulently obtain Oxycodone pills from various pharmacies in the Hampton Roads area for the purpose of selling the pills on the streets for a profit. Farrow and Fields manufactured and drafted prescriptions for Oxycodone pills from their home computers and printers, using the name and DEA registration numbers of real physicians, without the physician’s knowledge. Farrow and Fields then worked with co-conspirators, Harvey Williams, Lucion Liles and Quanisha Platt, to recruit individuals to serve as runners, such as Tynasia Smith, Travis Smith, Juan Ramirez, and Tykeiah Benn, who would take the prescriptions to various pharmacies in the Tidewater area to be filled. Platt, who had worked in several pharmacies, knew how to draft a prescription so that it looked legitimate to a pharmacy. The runners either were paid in money or given a quantity of the Oxycodone pills for their services. The listed patient on the written prescriptions were either the name of a co-conspirator or the name of some other real person, sometimes without that person’s knowledge. In total, approximately 20 physicians’ names and DEA registration numbers were used on the fraudulent prescriptions without the doctor’s knowledge.

“The drug dealing activities of Farrow and Fields have caused direct harm in the Tidewater community,” Scott W. Hoernke, Acting Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Washington Field Division. Harm to those to whom they were dealing as well as to the reputations of those whose names were fraudulently used. All of this was done strictly for the Farrow Drug Trafficking Organization’s greed. By arresting Farrow and his drug dealing associates, investigators have been able to ensure that thousands of diverted pharmaceutical drugs are not being released on the street.

This investigation was conducted by the Richmond Tactical Diversion Squad, in cooperation with the Chesapeake, Norfolk and Virginia Beach Police Departments, and the Virginia State Police.   

Name

Age, City

Sentencing Info

Deonte Farrow

28, Norfolk

Maximum penalty of 20 years on August 14

Tynasia Smith

22, Chesapeake

Maximum penalty of 20 years on November 5

Quentia Fields

27, Norfolk

Maximum penalty of 20 years on November 5

Travis Smith

31, Norfolk

Maximum penalty of 20 years on September 11

Harvey Williams

27, Chesapeake

Maximum penalty of 20 years on September 10

Lucion Liles

28, Norfolk

Maximum penalty of 20 years on July 31

Quanisha Platt

24, Norfolk

Maximum penalty of 20 years on July 30

Juan Ramirez

31, Norfolk

Maximum penalty of 20 years on July 30

Tykeiah Benn

27, Norfolk

Maximum penalty of 20 years on September 10

 

Each defendant pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obtain oxycodone by fraud and to distribute oxycodone. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Scott W. Hoernke, Acting Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Washington Field Division, made the announcement after Senior U.S. District Judge Robert G. Doumar accepted the plea. Assistant U.S. Attorney William D. Muhr is prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:18-cr-15.

RICHMOND, Va. – A Mexican national who has illegally entered the United States on at least four occasions and has over a dozen convictions including assault on a child, was sentenced today to eight years in prison.

“In 24 years in the United States, Mr. Santos-Ochoa has been convicted of 17 crimes,” said G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “The Department of Justice is committed to prioritizing criminal immigration enforcement. Especially those like Mr. Santos-Ochoa, who enter this country illegally and then commit further crimes, will be found, prosecuted, held accountable, and removed. This is an issue of public safety and national security, and one that we take very seriously.”

According to court documents, Victor Santos-Ochoa, 45, was convicted of 17 misdemeanor violations in California, Georgia and Virginia between 1992 and 2007, including repeated immigration violations and state criminal convictions, and has used approximately 20 different aliases and five different dates of birth.

Santos-Ochoa was indicted and pleaded guilty to illegally reentering the United States after having been removed following conviction for an aggravated felony. He will be removed from the United States immediately following the completion of his prison sentence.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Russell Hott, Field Office Director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations Washington, D.C., made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson. Assistant U.S. Attorney S. David Schiller prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:17-cr-151.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Florida man pleaded guilty today to using Kik, an instant messaging mobile application, to coerce and entice a minor.

According to court documents, in late 2016, Anthony C.A. Martin, 27, of Pensacola, began communicating via Kik with a 15 year-old female living in Alexandria. In March 2017, over Kik, they discussed Martin traveling from Ohio, where he was living at the time, to Virginia to have sexual intercourse with the minor victim and then transport her back to Ohio. Days later, Martin met the minor victim in a room at a hotel in Alexandria, where the two had sex before driving to Ohio.  There, Martin used Kik to ask the minor victim to send him explicit photographs and videos. The minor victim complied, using Kik to transmit to Martin, among other things, a video of her masturbating. Later, in June 2017, after the minor victim had returned to Virginia, Martin again traveled to Alexandria, where he met the minor victim at a different hotel and recorded their sexual encounter with his cell phone.

Martin pleaded guilty to coercion and enticement of a minor and faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison when sentenced on September 7. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

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

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Nancy McNamara, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and Michael L. Brown, Alexandria Chief of Police, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga accepted the plea. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alexander E. Blanchard and Kellen S. Dwyer are prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:18-cr-238.

NORFOLK, Va. – A Suffolk man pleaded guilty today to possession with intent to distribute heroin and possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime.

According to court documents, Henry Scott, 53, was a significant distributor of heroin in Suffolk.  After conducting four controlled purchases of heroin from Scott for a total amount of 50 grams, the Suffolk Police and DEA obtained a search warrant for Scott’s person, his residence and his vehicle.  Inside Scott’s vehicle agents discovered 64 grams of heroin. Inside his residence agents found 27 grams of heroin along with an AR-15 style firearm with a 60-round drum magazine.

Scott pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute heroin and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug distribution. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and a maximum sentence of life in prison when sentenced on October 1. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Scott W. Hoernke, Acting Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Washington Field Division, made the announcement after Senior U.S. District Judge Robert G. Doumar accepted the plea. Assistant U.S. Attorney William D. Muhr is prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:18-cr-54.

RICHMOND, Va. – A Guatemalan national pleaded guilty today for conspiring to distribute over five kilograms of cocaine knowing and intending that it would be unlawfully imported into the United States.

According to court documents, Brayan Alexander Gramajo Jolomna, 31, was a member of a large-scale international drug trafficking organization (DTO) based in Central America. Between June 2015 and June 2016, Gramajo assisted in the purchase and transportation of cocaine on behalf of the DTO. Specifically, Gramajo kept inventory records for the DTO documenting the transportation of thousands of kilograms of cocaine from parts of Guatemala to the Mexican border, with intent to import the drugs into the United States. In addition, Gramajo assisted in the construction of a self-propelled semi-submersible vessel, the maritime pickup of large amounts of cocaine off the Guatemalan coast, and the transportation of various amounts of cocaine via land routes throughout Central America. In May 2016, Gramajo, along with other co-conspirators, participated in a search and rescue recovery effort of approximately 500 kilograms of cocaine lost at sea by the DTO off the Pacific coast of Guatemala.

The case was investigated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Operation Go Explorers. The OCDETF program is a federal multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force that supplies supplemental federal funding to federal and state agencies involved in the identification, investigation, and prosecution of major drug trafficking organizations. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply.

Gramajo pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine for the purpose of importation into the United States and faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison when sentenced on September 28.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Scott W. Hoernke, Acting Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Washington Field Division, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson accepted the plea.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Erik S. Siebert, Peter S. Duffey, and Heather H. Mansfield are prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:16-cr-67.

NORFOLK, Va. – A Portsmouth man pleaded guilty today to possession with intent to distribute cocaine and possessing firearms during a drug trafficking crime.

According to court documents, Antwon Grant, 45, was involved in a large scale drug organization that stretched from Virginia to Maryland, DEA agents obtained a search warrant for storage unit Grant rented at a facility in Chesapeake. A court authorized search of the self-storage unit revealed 662 grams of cocaine and five firearms.

Grant pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute cocaine, and possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking offense. He faces a maximum penalty of life in prison when sentenced on September 18. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Scott W. Hoernke, Acting Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Washington Field Division, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson accepted the plea. Assistant U.S. Attorney William D. Muhr is prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:18-cr-50.

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – A retired soldier pleaded guilty today to receiving and selling stolen government property that had been initially delivered to at Fort Eustis.

According to court documents, Francis “Edward” Roach, 55, of Yorktown, is a retired soldier who served in the U.S. Army from 1982-2006. He owned and operated A & E Automotive Repair of Denbigh, Inc., a local repair shop based in Newport News. From August 2010 through mid-2015, Roy E. Friend, who worked as the Chief of Logistics and Program Management, Aviation and Missile Command at Fort Eustis, made over 600 orders and fraudulently obtained over approximately $2.3 million worth of goods through the General Services Administration (GSA) Advantage website using his GSA Advantage account. All of the orders were paid for with funds belonging to the United States. Some of these items, including boxes of tools and or other equipment, were taken to A & E Automotive where they were resold by Roach for private financial gain. Roach sold items to individuals at discounted prices providing false explanations as to how he obtained the equipment.

The property received and stolen by Roach was a portion of an over $800,000 fraud committed by civilian employees of the Department of Defense, who were also retired soldiers.

Friend pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 33 months in prison for his role in the scheme, along with another former Department of Defense employee. Roach pleaded guilty to theft of government property and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison when sentenced on October 18. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Carol Fortine Ochoa, Inspector General, General Services Administration (GSA), Robert E. Craig, Special Agent in Charge for the Defense Criminal Investigative Service’s (DCIS) Mid-Atlantic Field Office, and Martin Culbreth, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office, made the announcement after U.S. Magistrate Judge Douglas E. Miller accepted the plea. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian J. Samuels is prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 4:17-cr-108.

RICHMOND, Va. – A man who led a $9 million nationwide credit card fraud scheme was sentenced today to 10 years in prison.

According to court documents, Michael Cooper, 30, of Orlando, Florida, owned and operated several different entities for the sole purpose of defrauding credit card customers, credit card companies, and various Internet service companies by obtaining refunds of money paid by credit card customers to these Internet service companies. Between 2012 and 2016, Cooper and employees of his entities, Homeland Arbitration LLC, Smith Associates, P.A., and Cohen Associates, LLP, targeted Internet service companies that offered to assist individuals in setting up or managing an Internet presence for their small business. Cooper and his employees located former clients of these companies and misrepresented that they worked at a law firm, provided legal services, and conducted “arbitration” to recover money credit card customers previously paid to the Internet service companies. Unbeknownst to these credit card customers, Cooper and his employees then impersonated these individuals in phone calls and written communications with the individual’s credit card companies, and fabricated contracts and other documents to obtain refunds on their behalf. Cooper charged his clients 40 percent of any amount recovered on their behalf. In total, Cooper and his employees obtained more than $9 million in fraudulent refunds from at least 76 different businesses.

In addition to Cooper, the following four individuals who were employed by Cooper have pleaded guilty to offenses arising from their unlawful participation in the credit card refund scheme described above:

Name, Age

City, State

Convictions

Sentencing Date

Dustin Lee Faulkner, 24

Orlando, FL

Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud

June 12

Ashley R. Davis, 34

Fort Lauderdale, FL

Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud

June 12

Gustavo Carvajal, 28

Coral Springs, FL

Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud

July 12

Michael E. Gordon, 29

Jacksonville, FL

Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud

August 3

 

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Adam S. Lee, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Field Office, Kelly R. Jackson, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Washington, D.C. Field Office, IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and Joseph Cronin, Acting Inspector in Charge of the Washington Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, made the announcement after sentencing by Senior U.S. District Judge Robert E. Payne. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Katherine Lee Martin and Thomas A. Garnett prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:17-cr-124.

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – A Norfolk woman pleaded guilty today to an embezzlement scheme that resulted in a loss of over $300,000.

According to court documents, Evelyn Gregory, 49, worked as the office manager of a women’s health clinic from 2007 through April 2016, and had access to multiple office credit cards which she misappropriated for her own use without the practice’s knowledge or consent. During this time Gregory incurred $250,000 in unauthorized purchases of office credit cards. As Gregory’s scheme progressed, she stopped paying office expenses, which caused the practice to accrue debts of which the owners were not aware due to the fact that Gregory concealed her activities by withholding credit card statements from the practice’s accountants. In the latter years of her tenure, Gregory started a debt collection company to which she referred debts owed to the practice without the owner’s knowledge or consent. Gregory and her son operated this company, and aggressively pursued patients for payment, collecting nearly $50,000 in funds owed to the practice.  Gregory did not use the collected funds to satisfy the patients’ debt, instead charging the debt off the practice’s books and depositing the collected funds into her personal accounts.

Gregory pleaded guilty to money laundering and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison when sentenced on September 12. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Kelly R. Jackson, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Washington, D.C. Field Office, IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and Joseph Cronin, Acting Inspector in Charge of the Washington Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson accepted the plea. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian J. Samuels and Kaitlin Gratton Cooke are prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 4:18-cr-21.

Today, a federal jury convicted Kevin Patrick Mallory, 61, a former Central Intelligence Agency case officer of Leesburg, Virginia, on espionage charges related to his transmission of classified documents to an agent of the People’s Republic of China.

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers, U.S. Attorney G. Zachary Terwilliger for the Eastern District of Virginia and Assistant Director in Charge Nancy McNamara of the FBI’s Washington Field Office made the announcement after Senior U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III accepted the verdict.

“It is a sad day when an American citizen is convicted of spying on behalf of a foreign power,” said Assistant Attorney General Demers.  “This act of espionage was no isolated incident.  The People's Republic of China has made a sophisticated and concerted effort to steal our nation's secrets.  Today's conviction demonstrates that we remain vigilant against this threat and hold accountable all those who put the United States at risk through espionage.”

“There are few crimes in this country more serious than espionage,” said U.S. Attorney Terwilliger.  “This office has a long history of holding those accountable who betray their country and try and profit off of classified information. This case should send a message to anyone considering violating the public’s trust and compromising our national security by disclosing classified information. We will remain steadfast and dogged in pursuit of these challenging but critical national security cases.”

“This trial highlights a serious threat to U.S. national security,” said Assistant Director in Charge McNamara.  “Foreign intelligence agents are targeting former U.S. Government security clearance holders in order to recruit them and steal our secrets. This case should send a message to foreign intelligence services and those caught up in their web: we are watching and we will investigate and prosecute those who willfully violate their obligations to protect national security secrets. I want to start by thanking the prosecutors of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the trial attorneys of the Justice Department and particularly the special agents, analysts and professional staff of the FBI’s Washington Field Office for their hard work.”

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, in March and April 2017, Mallory travelled to Shanghai and met with an individual, Michael Yang, whom he quickly concluded was working for the People’s Republic of China Intelligence Service (PRCIS).  During a voluntary interview with FBI agents on May 24, 2007, Mallory stated that Yang represented himself as working for a People’s Republic of China think tank, however Mallory stated that he assessed Yang to be a Chinese Intelligence Officer.

Mallory, a U.S. citizen who speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese, told FBI agents he travelled to Shanghai in March and April to meet with Yang and Yang’s boss.  After Mallory consented to a review of a covert communications (covcom) device he had been given by Yang in order to communicate covertly with Yang, FBI agents viewed a message from Mallory to Yang in which Mallory stated that he could come in the middle of June and he could bring the remainder of the documents with him at that time.  Analysis of the device, which was a Samsung Galaxy smartphone, also revealed a handwritten index describing eight different documents later determined to be classified.  Four of the eight documents listed in the index were found stored on the device, with three being confirmed as containing classified information pertaining to the same U.S. government agency.  One of those documents was classified TOP SECRET, while the remaining two documents were classified SECRET.  FBI analysts were able to determine that Mallory had completed all of the steps necessary to securely transmit at least four documents via the covcom device, one of which contained unique identifiers for human sources who had helped the U.S. government.

Evidence presented at trial included surveillance video from a FedEx store in Leesburg where Mallory could be seen scanning the eight classified documents and a handwritten table of contents onto a micro SD card.  Though Mallory shredded the paper copies of the eight documents, an SD card containing those documents and table of contents was later found carefully concealed in his house when it was searched on June 22, 2017, the date of his arrest.  A recording was played at trial from June 24, 2017, where Mallory could be heard on a call from the jail calling his family to ask them to search for the SD card.

Mallory has held numerous positions with various government agencies and several defense contractors, including working as a covert case officer for the CIA and an intelligence officer for the Defense Intelligence Agency.  As required for his various government positions, Mallory obtained a Top Secret security clearance, which was active during various assignments during his career.  Mallory’s security clearance was terminated in October 2012 when he left government service.

Mallory was convicted of conspiracy to deliver, attempted delivery, delivery of defense information to aid a foreign government, and making material false statements.  He faces a maximum penalty of life in prison when sentenced on Sept. 21.  The statutory maximum penalty is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys John T. Gibbs and Colleen E. Garcia of the Eastern District of Virginia, and Trial Attorney Jennifer Kennedy Gellie of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A federal jury convicted a former Central Intelligence Agency case officer today on espionage charges related to his transmission of classified documents to an agent of the People’s Republic of China.

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, in March and April 2017, Kevin Patrick Mallory, 61, of Leesburg, travelled to Shanghai and met with an individual, Michael Yang, whom he quickly concluded was working for the People’s Republic of China Intelligence Service (PRCIS). During a voluntary interview with FBI agents on May 24, 2007, Mallory stated that Yang represented himself as working for a People’s Republic of China think tank, however Mallory stated that he assessed Yang to be a Chinese Intelligence Officer.

“There are few crimes in this country more serious than espionage,” said G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “This office has a long history of holding those accountable who betray their country and try and profit off of classified information. This case should send a message to anyone considering violating the public’s trust and compromising our national security by disclosing classified information. We will remain steadfast and dogged in pursuit of these challenging but critical national security cases.”

Mallory, a United States citizen who speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese, told FBI agents he travelled to Shanghai in March and April to meet with Yang and Yang’s boss. After Mallory consented to a review of a covert communications (covcom) device he had been given by Yang in order to communicate covertly with Yang, FBI agents viewed a message from Mallory to Yang in which Mallory stated that he could come in the middle of June and he could bring the remainder of the documents with him at that time. Analysis of the device, which was a Samsung Galaxy smartphone, also revealed a handwritten index describing eight different documents later determined to be classified. Four of the eight documents listed in the index were found stored on the device, with three being confirmed as containing classified information pertaining to the same U.S. government agency. One of those documents was classified TOP SECRET, while the remaining two documents were classified SECRET. FBI analysts were able to determine that Mallory had completed all of the steps necessary to securely transmit at least four documents via the covcom device, one of which contained unique identifiers for human sources who had helped the United States government.

“It is a sad day when an American citizen is convicted of spying on behalf of a foreign power,” said Assistant Attorney General Demers. “This act of espionage was no isolated incident.  The People's Republic of China has made a sophisticated and concerted effort to steal our nation's secrets.  Today's conviction demonstrates that we remain vigilant against this threat and hold accountable all those who put the United States at risk through espionage.”

Evidence presented at trial included surveillance video from a FedEx store in Leesburg where Mallory could be seen scanning the eight classified documents and a handwritten table of contents onto a micro SD card. Though Mallory shredded the paper copies of the eight documents, an SD card containing those documents and table of contents was later found carefully concealed in his house when it was searched on June 22, 2017, the date of his arrest. A recording was played at trial from June 24, 2017, where Mallory could be heard on a call from the jail calling his family to ask them to search for the SD card.

“This trial highlights a serious threat to U.S. national security,” said Nancy McNamara, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. “Foreign intelligence agents are targeting former U.S. Government security clearance holders in order to recruit them and steal our secrets. This case should send a message to foreign intelligence services and those caught up in their web: we are watching and we will investigate and prosecute those who willfully violate their obligations to protect national security secrets. I want to start by thanking the prosecutors of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the trial attorneys of the Justice Department and particularly the special agents, analysts and professional staff of the FBI’s Washington Field Office for their hard work.”

Mallory has held numerous positions with various government agencies and several defense contractors, including working as a covert case officer for the CIA and an intelligence officer for the Defense Intelligence Agency. As required for his various government positions, Mallory obtained a Top Secret security clearance, which was active during various assignments during his career. Mallory’s security clearance was terminated in October 2012 when he left government service.

Mallory was convicted of conspiracy to deliver, attempted delivery, delivery of defense information to aid a foreign government, and making material false statements. He faces a maximum penalty of life in prison when sentenced on September 21. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, John C. Demers, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, and Nancy McNamara, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement after Senior U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III accepted the verdict. Assistant U.S. Attorneys John T. Gibbs, Colleen E. Garcia, and Trial Attorneys Jennifer Kennedy Gellie and Evan Turgeon of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case. 

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:17-cr-154.

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – A former City of Hampton employee was sentenced today to 16 years in prison and a lifetime of supervised release for distribution of child pornography.

According to court documents, Robert Dobbins, 36, of Hampton, was discovered after federal law enforcement received information from a foreign law enforcement agency regarding the user “DEATHLYROSE55” on Website A. In September 2017, the user responded to a foreign law enforcement officer working in an undercover capacity and indicated that he had committed a hands on offense against a child. He also sent the investigator a mega link, which contained child pornography. Law enforcement linked the email address to a residence in Hampton, and determined that Dobbins was previously convicted of receipt and possession of child pornography in January 2005, while he was employed by the U.S. Navy.

During the execution of a federal search warrant, Dobbins, who at the time was a city of Hampton employee, acknowledged accessing child pornography from his city-issued Samsung smartphone using the internet. Dobbins admitted to agents that he cut and pasted photographs from Facebook of his friends’ daughters and re-posted them on his Website A account, “DEATHLYROSE55.”  Dobbins also stated that he “traded” links to child pornography images and videos with other individuals who he met online utilizing Website A.

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

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Michael K. Lamonea, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Norfolk, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Mark S. Davis. Assistant U.S. Attorney Megan M. Cowles prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 4:17-cr-129.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A federal grand jury returned an indictment today charging a Dumfries man with distributing Fentanyl, a very potent pain killer used in the medical profession, that resulted in the non-fatal overdose of a Virginia woman.

According to the indictment, since November 2017, Christopher Sorensen, 31, engaged in a conspiracy to distribute Fentanyl, distributed Fentanyl, distributed oxycodone, and possessed Fentanyl and oxycodone with the intent to distribute such substances.

Sorensen is charged with one count of Fentanyl distribution causing serious bodily injury as well as six other drug-distribution counts. If convicted, Sorensen faces a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Nancy McNamara, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement. Assistant United States Attorney James L. Trump and Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Reilly and Kaitlin Paulson are prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:18-cr-237.

An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

RICHMOND, Va. – A federal grand jury returned an indictment today charging a two Romanian nationals with bank fraud, debit card fraud, and aggravated identity theft.

According to the indictment, Florin Bersanu, 31, and Viorel Naboiu, 43, participated in a scheme to insert skimming devices inside the card slots of multiple banks in Virginia, West Virginia and Florida. As bank customers conducted ATM transactions, the skimming devices captured the victim customers’ debit card numbers when they inserted their cards into the ATM slot. Bersanu and Naboiu also installed small, covert surveillance cameras, disguised to blend into the ATMs’ exterior, which videoed the finger movements of bank customers as they entered their PINs during the transactions. The defendants later encoded the skimmed debit card numbers onto blank plastic magnetic stripe cards, and using the videoed PINs they made cash withdrawals from the victim customers’ bank accounts. The defendants are accused of stealing at least $42,756.80 in funds from BB&T Bank and Henrico Federal Credit Union in Virginia, United Bank in West Virginia, and Pen Air Federal Credit Union and Eglin Federal Credit Union in Florida.

Bersanu and Naboiu are charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, aggravated identity theft and access device fraud. If convicted, they face maximum possible sentences of 30 years on the bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud charges, 10 years on the access device fraud charge, and a mandatory minimum term of two years for aggravated identity theft that must run consecutive to any other punishment imposed. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Adam S. Lee, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Field Office, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian R. Hood is prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:18-cr-75.

An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Fredericksburg man pleaded guilty yesterday to running a drug trafficking conspiracy and illegally dealing over 200 firearms.

According to court documents, beginning in August 2015 and continuing through his arrest in March 2018, Bobby Perkins, Jr., 29, supervised a conspiracy to distribute marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine, crack cocaine, and heroin in Fredericksburg and Stafford County. During the course of the conspiracy, Perkins routinely carried on his person semi-automatic pistols to avoid being robbed of his drugs and the proceeds of his drug-distribution activities. Additionally, Perkins supplied his co-conspirators with firearms, which they used in furtherance of the conspiracy.

Separately, during an approximately five-month period in 2015, in Stafford County, Hanover County, and Henrico County, Perkins engaged in the business of dealing in firearms without a license. Perkins acquired and re-sold over 200 semi-automatic pistols, at least 106 of which have been recovered by law enforcement. Most of the firearms were recovered in Washington, D.C., with others found in Maryland, Virginia, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Perkins knew that several of the individuals to whom he sold the firearms were convicted felons.

Perkins pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug-trafficking crime, and dealing in firearms without a license. He faces a mandatory minimum of ten years and a maximum of life in prison when sentenced on August 31. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Thomas L. Chittum, III, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) Washington Field Division, made the announcement after Senior U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis, III accepted the plea. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alexander E. Blanchard and Carina A. Cuellar are prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:18-cr-214.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Maryland woman pleaded guilty today for her role in leading a conspiracy to distribute oxycodone.

According to court documents, Louise S. Edwards, 38, was previously employed as a medical assistant at doctor’s offices in Arlington and Alexandria. From 2011 through December 2017, Edwards stole blank prescription pads and electronically-generated fraudulent prescriptions using a medical recordkeeping system to which she had access by virtue of her position as an employee. Edwards had others write or fill the fraudulent prescriptions and return the full bottles to her. Edwards then sold the full bottles for further distribution. During the conspiracy, Edwards facilitated the fraudulent filling of at least 353 prescriptions, totaling 42,360 pills of 30 milligram oxycodone.

Edwards pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute oxycodone, and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison when sentenced on September 7. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Nancy McNamara, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema accepted the plea. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew A. Anzaldi and Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander E. Blanchard are prosecuting the case, and former Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Evans provided assistance investigating the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:18-cr-155.

NORFOLK, Va. – A Williamsburg man who told an FBI undercover employee that he wanted to commit jihad was sentenced today to five years in prison for passport fraud and making false statements in his application to join the United States military.

According to court documents, Shivam Patel, 28, was working in China in the summer of 2016 when he flew to the Kingdom of Jordan, was arrested, detained, and then returned to the United States. Patel told an undercover employee and a confidential source that he wanted to join a “Muslim army” and commit jihad. After returning to the United States, he applied to join the Army and Air Force. When asked about his prior foreign travel as part of his applications, Patel did not disclose his trips to China or Jordan. After he was asked to show an Army recruiter his passport, which would have revealed his prior travel to the recruiter, he filed an application for a new passport, falsely claiming that he had accidentally thrown his old passport away. Special agents from the FBI recovered that passport, which documented his undisclosed travel, when they arrested him in July 2017.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, John C. Demers, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, and Martin Culbreth, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Mark S. Davis accepted the plea. Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew C. Bosse and Trial Attorney Justin Sher of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:17-cr-120.

RICHMOND, Va. – James River Air Conditioning Company, located in Richmond, has agreed to pay $625,000 to the United States to settle a federal civil fraud lawsuit alleging that it underpaid its workers and submitted false certified payroll reports for work it performed on federal construction and renovation projects.

James River subcontracted to perform plumbing, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) work on seven separate federal renovation and construction projects located in and around the Richmond area. The Davis-Bacon Act, together with the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act, requires that contractors on federal projects submit weekly payroll reports certifying that they correctly classified their workers according to work actually performed and that workers be paid not less than prevailing wages and benefits for each classification, as determined by the U.S. Department of Labor. The United States initiated an investigation after a qui tam (or whistleblower) lawsuit was filed under the federal False Claims Act.

The False Claims Act permits the government time to investigate allegations in qui tam complaints and to intervene in such lawsuits. Based on its investigation of the allegations, the United States intervened, the case was unsealed and the Government filed a complaint. The alleged conduct occurred between 2012 and 2015.

The False Claims Act also permits whistleblowers to receive a share of any recovery. The whistleblower in this case will receive $106,250 from the settlement. The case is captioned United States ex rel. Nathan Kirchgessner v. James River Air Conditioning Company, Civil No. 3:16-cv-232 (JAG).

The resolutions obtained in this matter were the result of a coordinated effort between the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, the Army Criminal Investigation Command, Department of Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General.

The matter was investigated by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert McIntosh. The civil claims settled by this False Claims Act agreement are allegations only; there has been no determination of civil liability.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Fairfax man was sentenced today to five years in prison for downloading videos depicting the sexual abuse of children.

According to court documents, Gabriel Lin, 25, used a peer-to-peer file-sharing network to search for and download child pornography videos. Lin also stored more than 600 videos and 10,000 images of children being sexually abused on electronic devices in his residence. Some of this material depicted children as young as infants and toddlers.

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

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Nancy McNamara, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle P. Reynolds prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:17-cr-278.

NORFOLK, Va. – A Norfolk man pleaded guilty yesterday to armed robbery and firearms charges in relation to his participation in several armed robberies in Hampton Roads.

According to court documents, Lorenzo E. Roscoe, 30, admitted to committing armed robberies of two Dollar General stores, two 7-Eleven stores and one Family Dollar store located in Norfolk, Chesapeake and Portsmouth.

Roscoe pleaded guilty to Hobbs Act robbery and brandishing a firearm during a robbery. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 7 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life when sentenced on September 6. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Martin Culbreth, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office, made the announcement after U.S. Magistrate Judge Douglas E. Miller accepted the plea. Assistant U.S. Attorney William D. Muhr is prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:18-cr-57.

RICHMOND, Va. – A Richmond man was sentenced today to 39 months in prison for bank fraud and identity theft.

According to court documents, Rellkwaun Carle, 22, used social media platforms to recruit accountholders of local banks to provide their debit cards and PINs. For more than two years, Carle used the associated accounts to deposit worthless and counterfeit checks totaling over $130,000. Carle withdrew funds credited upon these deposits in a series of transactions, causing losses to multiple banks of nearly $60,000.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Joseph Cronin, Acting Inspector in Charge of the Washington Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and Alfred Durham, Chief of Richmond Police, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge M. Hannah Lauck. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas A. Garnett and Kaitlin G. Cooke prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:17-cr-163.

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – A federal jury convicted a woman last night on multiple charges of wire fraud, bank fraud and filing false federal income tax returns.

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Sherea Darnell, 34, who recently resided in Williamsburg, worked as the practice manager for the Cullom Eye and Laser Center in Williamsburg from 2012 to 2016. Both Darnell and Dr. Robert Cullom were actually W-2 employees of Riverside. Over a four-year period, Darnell used three of Dr. Cullom’s credit cards to conduct personal transactions for her own benefit totaling approximately $514,000. She also obtained access to Dr. Cullom’s Wells Fargo Advisors accounts, which she used to pay the balances of the credit cards without his authority, including an account that had been established to pay for medical equipment, but which Darnell diverted into making payments on the credit cards.  Darnell used the victim’s credit cards to pay for her son’s pre-school tuition which she deducted on her 2016 tax return. She also took over $90,000 in cash advances, transferred funds into her personal bank accounts, hired a maid service, purchased high-end clothing and airline tickets for herself and her family and made a deposits and payments on luxury vehicles. Darnell failed to report any of these funds obtained via the credit cards on her tax returns for the years 2013-2015. Following her resignation in August 2016, Darnell continued to use Dr. Cullom’s credit cards to pay her moving expenses, obtain additional cash advances and make other purchases until Dr. Cullom discovered the fraud and shut down the accounts.

Darnell faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison when sentenced on October 24. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Kelly R. Jackson, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Washington, D.C. Field Office, IRS-Criminal Investigation, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Henry Coke Morgan, Jr. accepted the verdict. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Howard J. Zlotnick and Brian J. Samuels are prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 4:17-cr-92.

NORFOLK, Va. – A federal jury convicted a Portsmouth man today for his role in leading a heroin trafficking conspiracy that distributed in excess of 100 kilograms of heroin over a 10-year period in Hampton Roads from 2007 through 2017.

“Those who choose to pump poison into our communities will be held accountable for their actions,” said G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “Let this case be an example of how this will end for those who choose to destroy families by trafficking opioids. I want to thank our trial team and our investigative partners for their extraordinary effort and dedication to this important case. This is a textbook example of the power of true federal, state, and local collaboration.”

According to court documents and testimony, the FBI began investigating Leroy Perdue, 45, of Portsmouth, and his associates after the arrests of other heroin dealers he supplied, including the Alonzo Outten Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO) in 2015, and the 2016 arrest of Carlos Brown, who was ultimately convicted in EDVA and sentenced to 30 years for Distribution of Heroin Resulting in Death. Over the last decade more than a dozen drug dealers in Hampton Roads were supplied wholesale quantities of heroin by Perdue.

“My team and I have been working hand-in-hand with our federal and local partners to interrupt the supply of heroin and fentanyl into Hampton Roads,” said Attorney General Mark R. Herring. “Operation Hardest Hit and other multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional operations like it are putting dangerous suppliers behind bars while we continue to educate the public on the dangers of opioids and pursue a comprehensive community based response to this crisis. I appreciate all the hard work and cooperation of local, state, and federal law enforcement and prosecutors who brought this defendant and his co-conspirators to justice.”

On June 22, 2017, the FBI, in partnership with the Chesapeake Police Department’s Vice and Narcotics Unit and the Virginia State Police, executed an interdiction operation and arrest, which resulted in the recovery of over 800 grams of heroin with a street value in excess of $50,000.

“Today’s successful conviction was a team effort by our investigative partners and prosecutors who worked side by side to systematically crush this dangerous distribution network and protect Hampton Roads from predators who profit from poisoning our community,” said Martin Culbreth, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Division. “The heroin epidemic is one of the most devastating threats to the community we have seen in a generation and the FBI is dedicated holding traffickers and criminal organizations accountable for their part in proliferating this crisis.”

Less than two months later, in the early morning hours of Aug. 14, 2017, over 300 law enforcement agents made arrests and executed nearly a dozen search warrants in Virginia, Georgia, and New York. The takedown was the result of a multi-year, multi-jurisdictional, and multi-agency Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation designated Operation Hardest Hit.

“Through Operation Hardest Hit, HSI and its law enforcement partners struck back against one of Hampton Roads’ most notorious heroin dealers and his associates,” said Michael K. Lamonea, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of HSI Norfolk. “Heroin is a deadly drug that has absolutely no place in our communities.”

At trial, the United States presented video evidence of Perdue selling heroin during an undercover operation. On the day of Perdue’s arrest, the FBI also recovered a notebook next to Perdue’s bed with lyrics to a song in which he proclaimed himself the “Dogfood King” – dogfood being a common coded reference to heroin.

Perdue was convicted of conspiracy to manufacture and distribute heroin, interstate travel in aid of racketeering, and possession with intent to distribute heroin. He faces a mandatory penalty of life in prison when sentenced on September 19. Twelve of his co-conspirators have already been sentenced to a combined total of over 173 years’ in prison. See table below for additional details.

Name, Age

Hometown

Guilty Plea

Sentence

Abraham Atkins, 35

Portsmouth

Sept. 5, 2017

20 Years

Eddie L. Tyson, 46

Portsmouth

Sept. 5, 2017

15 Years

Edward Muckle, 32

Portsmouth

Sept. 5, 2017

9 years

Jamars Cooper, 26

Portsmouth

Sept. 5, 2017

11 years

Victoria Waller, 42

Portsmouth

Sept. 6, 2017

10 years, 6 months

Dominic Diablo Mosley, 35

Portsmouth

Sept. 6, 2017

15 years

Nicholas Godwin, 37

Portsmouth

Sept. 6, 2017

12 years, 4 months

Kevin Lawrence, 37

Portsmouth

Sept. 7, 2017

13 years

Tywon McKelvy, 42

New York

Oct. 3, 2017

19 years, 6 months

Darion Perdue, 24

Portsmouth

Oct. 17, 2017

19 years

Christina James

New York

Oct. 18, 2017

5 years

Rhadu Schoolfield, 33

Portsmouth

Oct. 18, 2017

24 years

 

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Mark R. Herring, Attorney General of Virginia, Martin Culbreth, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Division, Michael K. Lamonea, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of HSI Norfolk, and Kelvin L. Wright, Chief of Chesapeake Police, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson accepted the verdict.

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Tidewater Violent Crime Task Force, in partnership with HSI’s Norfolk Field Office, Chesapeake Police Department, and the Virginia State Police. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney John F. Butler and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew Bosse and William B. Jackson prosecuted the case.

The case was investigated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), Operation Hardest Hit. The OCDETF program is a federal multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force that supplies supplemental federal funding to federal and state agencies involved in the identification, investigation, and prosecution of major drug trafficking organizations. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:17-cr-116.

NORFOLK, Va. – A former U.S. Navy sailor, formerly of Norfolk, was sentenced today to 40 months in prison and 20 years of supervised release for possession of child pornography.

According to court documents, Dustin Lee Sharbono, 29, of Kalispell, Montana, downloaded hundreds of images and videos of child pornography prior to a deployment. Sharbono’s criminal activity was revealed when a fellow Sailor discovered Sharbono’s cellular phone misplaced in a common area aboard the ship. The Sailor attempted to identify the phone’s owner, and stumbled upon images of child pornography within the “Kik Messenger” application.  NCIS’ investigation of Sharbono, who was by then at sea, discovered a laptop computer and tablet device in Sharbono’s possession, both containing additional child pornography.

Sharbono attempted to conceal his activity by using an application known as “Hide It Pro,” which stores files in a seemingly benign folder on one’s digital media devices, and disguises itself as an audio manager application. Metadata associated with the Kik application, and other child pornography media in Sharbono’s possession confirmed that he downloaded the images in the weeks leading up to his deployment while his ship was in port in Norfolk.

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

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Cliff Everton, Special Agent in Charge of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) Norfolk Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney David A. Layne prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:17-cr-121.

A program manager for the U.S. Department of State pleaded guilty yesterday to stealing federal funds intended for a foreign exchange program maintained by her employer, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney G. Zachary Terwilliger of the Eastern District of Virginia, Special Agent in Charge Matthew J. DeSarno of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal Division and Inspector General Steve A. Linick of the U.S. Department of State.

Kelli R. Davis, 48, of Bowie, Maryland, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit theft of public funds and engage in honest services wire fraud before U.S. Senior District Judge T.S. Ellis III of the Eastern District of Virginia.  Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 24.   

According to admissions made in connection with her plea, Davis was a Program Specialist for the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Office of Citizen Exchanges.  She also served as the Program Manager and Grants Officer Representative for the Sports Visitors Program, which sponsored foreign exchanges for emerging youth athletes and coaches from various countries.  The exchange program was managed by George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, through a federal grant and cooperative agreement with the State Department.  

Between February 2011 and March 2016, Davis conspired with others to steal portions of the federal money allocated to the Sports Visitor Program by, among other things, falsifying vendor-related invoices and making fraudulent checks payable to a government contractor, Denon Hopkins, who supplied transportation services for the program.  In total, Davis and Hopkins, stole approximately $17,335 from the State Department.  They have both admitted that Hopkins used portions of the funds to pay kickbacks to Davis to retain his transportation contract.  In addition, Davis stole an additional $17,777 from the program over a multi-year period.  

The Department of State’s Office of Inspector General and the FBI’s Washington Field Office investigated the case.  Trial Attorney Edward P. Sullivan of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly R. Pedersen of the Eastern District of Virginia are prosecuting the case.  

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Beginning in the early morning hours of Dec. 6, 2017, over 300 law enforcement agents and officers executed a coordinated takedown codenamed Operation Tin Panda. To date, this major operation has resulted in the conviction of 36 individuals on federal firearms and drug charges.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) Washington Field Division and the FBI’s Washington Field Office began Operation Tin Panda in the Spring of 2017. In collaboration with federal and local law enforcement, investigators and prosecutors began jointly investigating Blood gangs and other drug distributors involved in violent crime and other criminal activity in Northern Virginia. Multiple criminal acts were tied to gang and drug activity, including homicide, malicious wounding, robbery, shootings, and drug and firearms distribution. During the course of this investigation, more than 40 individuals throughout Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, and California, who were illegally selling firearms and controlled substances or were involved in other criminal acts, have been arrested on federal firearms and drug charges.

Operation Tin Panda also resulted in the seizure of over 95 firearms, $150,000 in cash, nine vehicles with an estimated value of over $300,000, and approximately 3 pounds of cocaine base, 10 pounds of cocaine, 7 pounds of crystal methamphetamine, 5 pounds of heroin, 4 pounds of ecstasy, 227 pounds of marijuana, and 79 pounds of THC.

Operation Tin Panda was led by the ATF’s Washington Field Division and the FBI’s Washington Field Office. The DEA, U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Prince William County Police Department, Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office, Fairfax County Police Department, Alexandria Police Department, Stafford County Sherriff’s Office, Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office, King George County Sheriff’s Office, Caroline County Sheriff’s Office, Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, Prince George’s County Police Department, Maryland, and the Metropolitan Police Department, provided significant assistance during the operation.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Thomas L. Chittum, III, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) Washington Field Division, and Nancy McNamara, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Carina A. Cuellar and Colleen E. Garcia are prosecuting the case.

The case was investigated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Operation Tin Panda. The OCDETF program is a federal multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force that supplies supplemental federal funding to federal and state agencies involved in the identification, investigation, and prosecution of major drug trafficking organizations. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.  Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER.

Please see the included table, which lists the name, age, hometown, respective charge(s), and resulting or potential sentence for each federal defendant who has been convicted.

Name, Age

City

Conviction(s)

Result

Tarvell Vandiver, 29

Woodbridge

Conspiracy to Distribute 280 grams or more of Cocaine Base, 5 kilograms or more of Cocaine, 100 grams or more of Heroin, and Use and Carry of a Firearm During and in Relation to a Drug Trafficking Crime.

Faces 20 years on September 28.

Jerry McAllister, 42

Laurel, Maryland

Conspiracy to Distribute 100 grams or more of Heroin.

Sentenced to 60 months.

Rashourn Niles, 37

Woodbridge

Conspiracy to Distribute 280 grams or more of Cocaine Base, 5 kilograms or more of Cocaine, and 100 grams or more of Heroin.

Faces a mandatory minimum of 20 years and a maximum of life on August 31.

Chennor Bah, 30

Woodbridge

Conspiracy to Distribute 500 grams or more of Cocaine, and Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime.

Faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life on June 15.

Tavon Bailey, 27

District Heights, Maryland

Felon in Possession of a Firearm.

Faces a maximum of 10 years on June 1.

Brandon Edler, 23

Fredericksburg

Conspiracy to Distribute 28 grams or more of Cocaine Base, Felon in Possession of a Firearm.

Faces a mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum of 40 years on June 8.

Mark Ketter, 39

Alexandria

Conspiracy to Distribute 100 grams or more of Heroin.

Faces a mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum of 40 years on June 22.

Ishmil Hardwick, 25

Woodbridge

Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl, Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime.

Faces a mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum of life on August 24.

Michael Lederer, 31

Woodbridge

Possession of a Firearm by a Prohibited Person.

Faces a maximum of 10 years on September 14

Sade Anglin, 28

Woodbridge

Maintaining a Drug Premise.

Faces a maximum of 20 years on August 3.

Cory Patterson, 34

Fredericksburg

 

Conspiracy to Distribute one kilogram or more of Heroin, Use and Carry of a Firearm During and in Relation to Drug Trafficking.

Sentenced to 15 years.

Nasiru Carew, 35

Dale City

Conspiracy to distribute 1,000 kilograms or more of Marijuana and THC.

Faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life on August 24.

Nathaniel Bruce Cobbold, 27

Woodbridge

Conspiracy to Distribute Marijuana and THC.

Faces a maximum of 20 years on June 1.

Jamar Cox, 30

Hyattsville, Maryland

Use and Carry of Firearm During and in Relation to a Drug Trafficking Crime.

Faces a mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum of life on June 8.

Robert Evans, 27

Woodbridge

Conspiracy to Distribute THC.

Faces a maximum of 20 years on June 29.

Deion Wright, 25

Alexandria

Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime.

Faces a mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum of life on June 22.

Kelvin Bennett, 27

Washington, D.C.

Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime.

Faces a mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum of life on June 15.

Ezana Demisse, 25

Alexandria

Use and Carry of a Firearm During and in Relation to Drug Trafficking.

Faces a mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum of life on June 1.

Izeah Williams, 31

Woodbridge

Conspiracy to Distribute Marijuana and THC.

Faces a maximum of 20 years on June 15.

Tayvon Patterson, 24

Elkridge, Maryland

Conspiracy to Distribute Marijuana and THC, Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime.

Faces a mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum of life on June 1.

Devon Byrd, 26

King George

Possession of THC with the Intent to Distribute, and Use and Carry of a Firearm During and in Relation to a Drug Trafficking Crime.

Faces a mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum of life on June 1.

Samantha Winter, 22

Culpepper

Possession of a Firearm by a Prohibited Person, False Statements During the Purchase of a Firearm, False Statement to a Licensed Firearms Dealer.

Faces a maximum of 25 years on July 20.

Alpha Kamara, 20

Woodbridge

Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime.

Sentenced to 60 months.

Orean Anthony Hayden, 29

Alexandria

Use and Carry of a Firearm During and in Relation to a Drug Trafficking Crime.

Sentenced to 60 months.

Tavon Ferguson, 24

Triangle

Felon in Possession of a Firearm.

Sentenced to 27 months.

Raheem Kelly, 39

Woodbridge

Conspiracy to Distribute 28 grams or more of Cocaine Base.

Faces a mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum of 40 years on July 27.

Bryan Matthews, 19

Alexandria

Use and Carry of a Firearm During and in Relation to a Drug Trafficking Crime.

Sentenced to 60 months.

Anthony Lozada, 18

Woodbridge

Use, Carry, Brandish, and Discharge of a Firearm During and in Relation to a Drug Trafficking Crime.

Sentenced to 10 years.

Kaitlyn McCabe, 19

Woodbridge

False Statements During the Purchase of a Firearm.

Faces a maximum of five years on June 22.

Derek Harden, 22

Woodbridge

False Statements During the Purchase of a Firearm.

Faces a maximum of 10 years on June 29.

Bassam Hassan Ramadan, 31

Woodbridge

Conspiracy to Distribute 50 grams or more of Methamphetamine, Use and Carry of a Firearm During and in Relation to a Drug Trafficking Crime.

Faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years and a maximum of life on June 22.

Marcus Andrei Harris, 27

Washington, D.C.

Conspiracy to Distribute 50 grams or more of Methamphetamine, Use and Carry of a Firearm During and in Relation to a Drug Trafficking Crime.

Sentenced to 15 years.

Frederick Preston Gaarsoe Turner, 36

Woodbridge

Conspiracy to Distribute 50 grams or more of Methamphetamine, Possession of Methamphetamine with the Intent to Distribute, two counts of Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime.

Faces a mandatory minimum of 40 years and a maximum of life on June 29.

Cydrick Delrosario, 58

Springfield

Conspiracy to Distribute 50 grams or more of Methamphetamine.

Sentenced to 132 months.

Teodoro Gonzales, 37

Woodbridge

Conspiracy to Distribute 50 grams or more of a Mixture of Methamphetamine, Felon in Possession of a Firearm.

Sentenced to 108 months.

Shannon Marie Sisney, 44

Virginia Beach

Conspiracy to Distribute 50 grams or more of Methamphetamine.

Sentenced to 50 months.

Luthgardo Roque Arao, 47

Alexandria

Conspiracy to Distribute 50 grams or more of Methamphetamine.

Sentenced to 120 months.

A federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia returned an indictment today charging a Centreville, Virginia man with multiple counts of production of child pornography.

According to the indictment, Kenneth Wayne Burk, 37, among other things, used, employed, and coerced a child to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing images of that conduct, and he did so on multiple occasions. His arraignment is scheduled on June 8 at 9 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema for the Eastern District of Virginia. 

Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Tracy Doherty-McCormick of the Eastern District of Virginia, Special Agent in Charge Matthew J. DeSarno of the FBI’s Washington Field Office and Fairfax County Chief of Police Colonel Edwin C. Roessler Jr., made the announcement.  

The case is being investigated by the FBI and the Fairfax County Police Department.  Trial Attorney Kyle P. Reynolds of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Whitney D. Russell of the Eastern District of Virginia are prosecuting the case.

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

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A federal grand jury returned an indictment today charging a Maryland man with felon in possession of firearms, conspiracy to straw purchase firearms, and making false statements to federal firearms licensees.

According to the indictment, between Dec. 3, 2017 and Jan. 6, 2018, Keith Haddock II, 26, and his co-conspirators straw purchased 27 firearms from various gun shows and gun stores using thousands of dollars of cash provided by Haddock. The straw purchasers immediately provided the firearms to Haddock. Several of the firearms have since been recovered by local law enforcement in Maryland at crime scenes or in the unlawful possession of others. Haddock was unable to purchase the firearms himself or possess the firearms because he was previously convicted of two felonies in Montgomery County, Maryland. 

Haddock is charged with possession of a firearm by a felon and conspiracy to straw purchase firearms, among other crimes, and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison if convicted. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Tracy Doherty-McCormick, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Thomas L. Chittum, III, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) Washington Field Division, made the announcement after the indictment was returned. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas U. Murphy II and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Williamson are prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:18-cr-236.

An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced today the appointment of G. Zachary Terwilliger as Interim United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 546, effective May 25.

“Zach Terwilliger has a strong record that any prosecutor would be proud of,” Attorney General Sessions said. “He rose through the ranks in the Eastern District of Virginia, from summer intern to Assistant United States Attorney who made a name for himself successfully prosecuting MS-13 members, Bloods members, and firearm offenders and putting them behind bars. He has excelled both in the courtroom and now in some of the highest leadership roles at the Department of Justice. I am confident that he will continue to serve with distinction in this important new role.”

As the chief federal law enforcement officer in the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA), Terwilliger will supervise the prosecution of all federal crimes and the litigation of all civil matters in which the United States has an interest. Additionally, Terwilliger will lead a staff of over 250 prosecutors, civil litigators, and support personnel located in Alexandria, Newport News, Norfolk, and Richmond.

Terwilliger began his career at EDVA as an intern in 1999, and returned in 2005 to serve as a summer law clerk. In 2008, after serving as a law clerk for the Honorable K. Michael Moore in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Terwilliger was appointed as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney through a partnership with the Virginia Attorney General’s Office, where he was an integral member of the Alexandria Division’s Project Safe Neighborhood initiative that focused on removing the most violent criminals from the community. Terwilliger was hired as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in 2010 and assigned to the Major Crimes Unit, where he prosecuted numerous violent crime, fraud, organized crime, and human trafficking cases, and managed law enforcement task forces focusing on human trafficking and firearms. In addition to his prosecutorial duties, Terwilliger served as a counselor to former U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride, providing advice on legal, ethical, and personnel issues, and served as a spokesperson for EDVA.

Since January 2017, Terwilliger has served on detail as an Associate Deputy Attorney General. In December 2017, he added the role of Chief of Staff in the Office of the Deputy Attorney General.  In these roles, he has been a principal advisor to the Department of Justice leadership in areas such as corporate compliance, federal, state and local law enforcement cooperation, violent crime reduction, and other critical matters.

Terwilliger earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government and Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia, and graduated with the highest honors from the William & Mary School of Law. 

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

RICHMOND, Va. – A Guatemalan citizen pleaded guilty today to conspiring to distribute over five kilograms of cocaine knowing and intending that it would be unlawfully imported into the United States. 

According to court documents, Paulo Cesar Montenegro Arevalo, 41, was a member of a large-scale international drug trafficking organization (DTO) based in Central America. Between June 2015 and June 2016, Montenegro assisted in the purchase and transportation of approximately 1,107 kilograms of cocaine on behalf of the DTO. Specifically, Montenegro managed a transportation team for the DTO that moved large amounts cocaine from parts of Guatemala to the Mexican border, with intent to import the drugs to the United States. In addition, Montenegro conducted purity tests on cocaine for the DTO prior to purchase from sources of supply. In May 2016, Montenegro, along with other co-conspirators, participated in a search and rescue recovery effort of approximately 500 kilograms of cocaine lost at sea by the DTO off the Pacific coast of Guatemala.

Montenegro Arevalo pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison when sentenced on September 7. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The case was investigated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Operation Go Explorers. The OCDETF program is a federal multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force that supplies supplemental federal funding to federal and state agencies involved in the identification, investigation, and prosecution of major drug trafficking organizations. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply.

Tracy Doherty-McCormick, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Karl C. Colder, Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Washington Field Division, made the announcement after U.S. Magistrate Judge David J. Novak accepted the plea. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Erik S. Siebert, Peter S. Duffey, and Heather H. Mansfield are prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:16-cr-67.

RICHMOND, Va. – A Dinwiddie County man pleaded guilty today to production of child pornography.

According to court documents, throughout 2017, Thomas Burke, 34, sexually abused two minors under 12 years of age and produced images of the abuse with his cell phone. Federal agents executed a search warrant at Burke’s Dinwiddie County residence after the images he produced were discovered by Australian law enforcement on the computers of an Australian individual who was being investigated for child pornography offenses. Burke had sent the images, as well as other child pornography, to the Australian defendant over the “Kik” application on his cell phone.

Burke pleaded guilty to production of child pornography and faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years and a maximum penalty of 30 years when sentenced on August 23. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

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

Tracy Doherty-McCormick, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Patrick J. Lechleitner, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C., made the announcement after U.S. District Judge M. Hannah Lauck accepted the plea. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Gene Fishel is prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:18-cr-19.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Woodbridge woman pleaded guilty today to conspiring with others to distribute oxycodone.

According to court documents, Tatiana Bailey, 31, was employed as a medical assistant at INOVA Bariatric Surgery Medical Practice from at least February 2015 to October 2015, where she had access to blank prescriptions. On multiple occasions, Bailey stole blank oxycodone prescriptions and forged some of them using an INOVA doctor’s name and registration number. She then sold blank and forged prescriptions to others who would fill them and use or distribute the oxycodone. Through the course of the conspiracy, Bailey facilitated the fraudulent filling of over 90 prescriptions, totaling approximately 6,520 oxycodone pills.

Bailey pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison when sentenced on September 28. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.  A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Tracy Doherty-McCormick, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Karl C. Colder, Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Washington Field Division, and Colonel Gary T. Settle, Virginia State Police Superintendent, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady accepted the plea.  Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys Allison Garnett and Troy A. Edwards, Jr. are prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.  Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:18-cr-222.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Colombian national pleaded guilty today to his involvement in trafficking 490 kilograms of cocaine bound for the United States from Colombia.

According to court documents, Marco Antonio Robayo Barbosa, 64, was a cocaine trafficker who worked with brokers to coordinate multi-hundred kilogram shipments of cocaine from sources in Colombia to destinations around the world. Robayo Barbosa’s sources of supply included cocaine “laboratories” controlled by members of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (also known as the “FARC”), a group designated by the United States as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Robayo Barbosa was personally involved in the distribution of approximately 490 kilograms of cocaine, which the DEA seized in Costa Rica in October 2013, and which Robayo Barbosa intended to be smuggled into the United States.

Robayo Barbosa pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine for the purpose of importation into the United States and faces a mandatory minimum of ten years in prison when sentenced on August 24. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Tracy Doherty-McCormick, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Karl C. Colder, Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Washington Field Division, made the announcement after Senior U.S. District Judge Claude M. Hilton accepted the plea. Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine E. Rumbaugh and Trial Attorney Michael Waits of the Narcotic & Dangerous Drug Section are prosecuting the case.

The case was investigated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), Operation Perdition. The OCDETF program is a federal multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force that supplies supplemental federal funding to federal and state agencies involved in the identification, investigation, and prosecution of major drug trafficking organizations. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:15-cr-168.

NORFOLK, Va. – A former investment adviser in Chesapeake was sentenced today to 12 1/2 years in prison for orchestrating an investment scheme that caused his clients to lose over $6 million.

According to court documents, Roger Odell Hudspeth, II, 49, was an investment adviser and sole owner of Dominion Investment Advisors, LLC. Hudspeth, along with other associates, sold fraudulent, unregistered securities to his clients. Hudspeth performed inadequate due diligence into the fraudulent investment offerings and concealed that the offerings were created, offered, and controlled by his associate, who previously had been banned by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for fraudulent activities.

As part of the scheme, Hudspeth and others held social security maximization seminars to obtain clients who were often in or near retirement. Hudspeth steered investors to investment offerings that were highly speculative, illiquid, and high risk by making material misrepresentations and omissions. Hudspeth’s clients lost over $6 million as a result of the securities fraud scheme, and Hudspeth received over $700,000 in ill-gotten gains, including $20,000 that he used to put a down payment on a Range Rover.

In early 2016, the Virginia State Corporation Commission entered a judgment order against Hudspeth revoking his licenses, permanently closing Dominion Investment Advisors, LLC, and prohibiting Hudspeth from engaging in any investment advisory activities in the future.

Tracy Doherty-McCormick, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Martin Culbreth, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office, Kelly R. Jackson, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Washington, D.C. Field Office, IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and Joseph Cronin, Acting Inspector in Charge of the Washington Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, made the announcement after sentencing by Senior U.S. District Judge Robert G. Doumar. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Melissa E. O’Boyle and Elizabeth M. Yusi prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.  Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:17-cr-122.

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – A federal jury convicted a Newport News man today of attempted receipt of obscene images depicting the sexual abuse of children, obstruction of justice, destruction of evidence, and penalties for a registered sex offender.

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Elmer E. Eychaner, III, 46, previously was convicted in federal court of child pornography crimes in 2008. On June 13, 2016, the defendant began a period of federal supervision in the Eastern District of Virginia. The defendant originally was prohibited from having a computer, but he requested a computer so that he could look for a better job. The probation office allowed the defendant to have a computer that was monitored through a third-party company, RemoteCOM.

On November 17, 2016, the defendant went onto his government-monitored computer and searched for obscene cartoon images depicting the sexual abuse of minors. He utilized voice recognition software, Cortana, to try to evade the computer-monitoring software. After he was finished searching for the obscene images, he deleted his search history. The next day, he called his federal probation officer and confessed. When the probation officer told him she was coming to collect his computer, he admitted that he had removed the hard drive and thrown it down a storm drain.

Eychaner previously was convicted of promoting obscenity to minors in North Dakota on August 21, 1992, and gross sexual imposition in North Dakota on May 10, 1994.

Eychaner faces a mandatory minimum of 25 years in prison when sentenced on August 23, 2018. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

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

Tracy Doherty-McCormick, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Martin Culbreth, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Mark S. Davis accepted the verdict. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lisa R. McKeel and Megan M. Cowles are prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 4:17-cr-76.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A federal grand jury returned an 11-count indictment today charging two Syrian men with offenses relating to their participation in a conspiracy to engage in computer hacking as members of the “Syrian Electronic Army” or “SEA.”

Ahmad ‘Umar Agha, who is known online as the “The Pro,” and Firas Dardar, who uses the nickname “The Shadow,” were indicted on conspiracy charges and multiple counts of aggravated identity theft.

According to allegations in the indictment, under the name “Syrian Electronic Army,” the conspirators focused on spearphishing U.S. government, military, international organizations, and private-sector entities, including the Executive Office of the President, the U.S. Marine Corps, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Public Radio, the Associated Press, Reuters, The Washington Post, The New York Times, CNN, The Onion, USA Today, The New York Post, Time, Human Rights Watch, and scores of other entities and individuals. Agha and Dardar would research targets and then engage in dedicated spearphishing attacks on victim organizations. When the conspiracy’s spearphishing efforts were successful, Agha and Dardar allegedly would use stolen usernames and passwords to deface websites, redirect domains to sites controlled or utilized by the conspiracy, steal electronic mail, and hijack social media accounts.

The alleged offenses of conspiracy and conspiracy to commit wire fraud carry maximum prison terms of 5 and 20 years in prison, respectively, and the alleged aggravated identity theft charges carry a collective mandatory prison term of 2 years in prison and a maximum 18 years in prison. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Tracy Doherty-McCormick, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, John C. Demers, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, and Nancy McNamara, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement after the indictment was returned.

The case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office with assistance from other law enforcement agencies including the NASA Office of the Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jay V. Prabhu and Maya D. Song, and Trial Attorneys Scott McCulloch, Nathan Charles, and Brandon Van Grack of the Justice Department’s National Security Division are prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:18-cr-221.

An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Fairfax man pleaded guilty today to conspiring to launder money on behalf of a group of individuals, causing funds to be transferred to bank accounts located in the United States and overseas.

According to court documents, from at least 2014 through at least November 2015, Tuyen Huu Nguyen, 54, participated in a money laundering conspiracy in which co-conspirators obtained stolen funds—either via emails that duped victims into transferring money to certain bank accounts controlled by Nguyen or by acquiring control of a victim’s bank account—and caused those funds to be transferred Nguyen’s accounts.  It was Nguyen’s role, upon receiving the proceeds of these frauds, to move the funds to financial accounts located in the United States and in foreign countries.  Some of the bank accounts that Nguyen used for his laundering activities were opened in the names of corporate entities that Nguyen owned and controlled but which did not have any employees.

In total, the amount of money intended to be laundered by Nguyen and his co-conspirators, in a manner that was reasonably foreseeable to Nguyen, was $1.365 million. The total amount actually laundered by Nguyen and his co-conspirators was $260,000.

Nguyen’s sentencing has been scheduled for August 10, 2018.  The offense of conspiracy to commit money laundering carries a maximum term of incarceration of 20 years in prison.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Tracy Doherty-McCormick, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, John P. Cronan, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and Patrick J. Lechleitner, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C., made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema accepted the guilty plea. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander P. Berrang, Senior Counsels Ryan K. Dickey and James S. Yoon of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, and Trial Attorney Kendrack D. Lewis and Former Trial Attorney Elizabeth Wright of the Justice Department’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section investigated and prosecuted the case.  Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Nguyen and former Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph V. Longobardo provided assistance investigating the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.  Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:18-cr-194.

A Manassas Park, Virginia man pleaded guilty today to producing and distributing child pornography. 

 

Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Tracy Doherty-McCormick of the Eastern District of Virginia and Assistant Director in Charge Nancy McNamara of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady of the Eastern District of Virginia. 

 

Michael Gerald Moody, 44, pleaded guilty to two counts of producing child pornography and one count of distributing child pornography.  According to admissions made in connection with his guilty plea, Moody admitted that, between 2017 and February 2018, he used a child to engage in sexually explicit conduct and he captured numerous images of that conduct with his cellular phone.  In addition, Moody engaged in text chats with other individuals through the online messaging application Kik Messenger.  These chats principally focused on the exchange of child pornography and discussions of the sexual abuse of children.  In the course of these chats, Moody distributed child pornography—including images that he himself produced, as well as other images—to at least eight other individuals. 

 

Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 14.

 

The case is being investigated by the FBI with the assistance of the Manassas Park Police Department.  Trial Attorney Kyle P. Reynolds of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay V. Prabhu of the Eastern District of Virginia are prosecuting the case.

 

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

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The United States and the Commonwealth of Virginia have filed a notice of intervention in a whistleblower’s lawsuit that involves the provision of concrete panels to Phase II of the Dulles Metrorail Project (“Dulles Project”). The case was unsealed today.

In March 2016, the whistleblower, or “Relator”, filed an under seal qui tam complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia pursuant to the whistleblower provisions of the federal False Claims Act and the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act. Following an investigation by the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General, the United States and the Commonwealth of Virginia filed a combined notice of intervention against Universal Concrete Products Corporation, Donald Faust Jr., and Andrew Nolan. The United States and the Commonwealth of Virginia will file a complaint in the coming weeks.

The United States and the Commonwealth of Virginia did not intervene in the Relator’s allegations against the general contractor for Phase II of the Dulles Project, Capital Rail Constructors (CRC).

The United States is represented in this matter by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, and the Commonwealth of Virginia is represented by the Virginia Attorney General’s Office.

The qui tam complaint contains allegations only. There has been no determination of civil liability.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:16-cv-316.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Manassas Park man pleaded guilty today to producing and distributing child pornography.

According to court documents, Michael Gerald Moody, 44, admitted that, between 2017 and February 2018, he used a child to engage in sexually explicit conduct and he captured numerous images of that conduct with his cell phone. In addition, Moody engaged in text chats with other individuals through the online messaging application Kik Messenger. These chats principally focused on the exchange of images of child sexual abuse and discussions of the sexual abuse of children. In the course of these chats, Moody distributed child pornography, including images that he himself produced, as well as other images, to at least eight other individuals.

Moody pleaded guilty to two counts of producing child pornography and one count of distributing child pornography and faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in prison when sentenced on September 14. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

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

Tracy Doherty-McCormick, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, John P. Cronan, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and Nancy McNamara, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady accepted the plea. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay V. Prabhu and Trial Attorney Kyle P. Reynolds of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section are prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:18-cr-170.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A federal jury convicted a Latvian “non-citizen,” meaning a citizen of the former USSR who had been residing in Riga, Latvia, of three counts related to his operation of “Scan4you,” an online counter antivirus service that helped computer hackers to determine whether the computer viruses and other malicious software they created would be detected by antivirus software.

Ruslan Bondars, 37, was convicted after a five-day jury trial of one count of conspiracy to violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and one count of computer intrusion with intent to cause damage.

“Ruslan Bondars designed and operated a service that provided essential aid to some of the world’s most destructive hackers,” said Tracy Doherty-McCormick, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “This verdict demonstrates our commitment to holding such actors accountable. I commend the work of the agents and prosecutors, both in the United States and in Latvia, who worked together to bring him to justice.”

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, from at least 2009 until 2016, Ruslans Bondars, 37, operated Scan4you, which for a fee provided computer hackers with information they used to determine whether their malware would be detected by antivirus software, including and especially by antivirus software used to protect major U.S. retailers, financial institutions and government agencies from computer intrusions.

“Ruslans Bondars helped hackers test and improve the malware they then used to inflict hundreds of millions of dollars in losses on American companies and consumers,” said John P. Cronan, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.  “Today’s verdict should serve as a warning to those who aid and abet criminal hackers: the Criminal Division and our law enforcement partners consider you to be just as culpable as the hackers whose crimes you enable—and we will work tirelessly to identify you, prosecute you, and seek stiff sentences that reflect the seriousness of your crimes.”

For example, one Scan4you customer used the service to test malware that was subsequently used to steal approximately 40 million credit and debit card numbers, as well as approximately 70 million addresses, phone numbers and other pieces of personal identifying information, from retail store locations throughout the United States, causing one retailer approximately $292 million in expenses resulting from the intrusion.

Another Scan4you customer used the service to assist the development of “Citadel,” a widely used malware strain that was used to infect over 11 million computers worldwide, including in the United States, and resulted in over $500 million in fraud-related losses. The Citadel developer took advantage of a special feature of Scan4you that allowed its integration directly into the Citadel malware toolkit through an Application Programming Interface, or API. The API tool allowed Scan4you users the flexibility to scan malware without the need to directly submit the malware to Scan4you’s website.

At its height, Scan4you was the largest service of its kind and had at least thousands of users. Malware developed with the assistance of Scan4you included some of the most prolific malware known to the FBI and was used in major computer intrusions committed against American businesses.

Scan4you differed from legitimate antivirus scanning services in multiple ways. For example, while legitimate scanning services share data about uploaded files with the antivirus community and notify their users that they will do so, Scan4you instead informed its users that they could upload files anonymously and promised not to share information about the uploaded files with the antivirus community.

Bondars faces a maximum penalty of 35 years in prison when sentenced on September 21. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Tracy Doherty-McCormick, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, John P. Cronan, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and Matthew J. DeSarno, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal Division, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady accepted the verdict. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kellen S. Dwyer and Laura Fong, along with Trial Attorneys C. Alden Pelker and Ryan Dickey of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS), prosecuted the case.

The Government of Latvia, including the Latvia State Police International Cooperation Department, the Latvia State Police Cybercrime Unit, and the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Latvia – International Cooperation Division, provided assistance and support during the investigation.  Additional assistance was provided by the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs, the FBI’s Atlanta Field Office and the Operational Technology Division, and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the District of Minnesota and the Northern District of Georgia.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:16-cr-228.

A federal jury today convicted a  Latvian “non-citizen,” meaning a citizen of the former USSR who had been residing in Riga, Latvia, of three counts related to his operation of “Scan4you,” an online counter antivirus service that helped computer hackers to determine whether the computer viruses and other malicious software they created would be detected by antivirus software, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Tracey Doherty-McCormick of the Eastern District of Virginia and Special Agent in Charge Matthew J. DeSarno of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal Division.         

 

Ruslans Bondars, 37, was convicted after a five-day jury trial of one count of conspiracy to violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and one count of computer intrusion with intent to cause damage and aiding and abetting. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 21.

 

“Ruslans Bondars helped hackers test and improve the malware they then used to inflict hundreds of millions of dollars in losses on American companies and consumers,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Cronan.  “Today’s verdict should serve as a warning to those who aid and abet criminal hackers: the Criminal Division and our law enforcement partners consider you to be just as culpable as the hackers whose crimes you enable—and we will work tirelessly to identify you, prosecute you, and seek stiff sentences that reflect the seriousness of your crimes.”

 

“Ruslan Bondars designed and operated a service that provided essential aid to some of the world’s most destructive hackers,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Doherty-McCormick. “This verdict demonstrates our commitment to holding such actors accountable. I commend the work of the agents and prosecutors, both in the United States and in Latvia, who worked together to bring him to justice.”

 

According to testimony at trial and court documents, from at least 2009 until 2016, Bondars operated Scan4you, which for a fee provided computer hackers with information they used to determine whether their malware would be detected by antivirus software, including and especially by antivirus software used to protect major U.S. retailers, financial institutions and government agencies from computer intrusions. 

 

For example, one Scan4you customer used the service to test malware that was subsequently used to steal approximately 40 million credit and debit card numbers, as well as approximately 70 million addresses, phone numbers and other pieces of personal identifying information, from retail store locations throughout the United States, causing one retailer approximately $292 million in expenses resulting from the intrusion.   

 

Another Scan4you customer used the service to assist the development of “Citadel,” a widely used malware strain that was used to infect over 11 million computers worldwide, including in the United States, and resulted in over $500 million in fraud-related losses.  The Citadel developer took advantage of a special feature of Scan4you that allowed its integration directly into the Citadel malware toolkit through an Application Programming Interface, or API.  The API tool allowed Scan4you users the flexibility to scan malware without the need to directly submit the malware to Scan4you’s website.   

 

At its height, Scan4you was one of the largest services of its kind and had at least thousands of users.  Malware developed with the assistance of Scan4you included some of the most prolific malware known to the FBI and was used in major computer intrusions committed against American businesses. 

 

Scan4you differed from legitimate antivirus scanning services in multiple ways.  For example, while legitimate scanning services share data about uploaded files with the antivirus community and notify their users that they will do so, Scan4you instead informed its users that they could upload files anonymously and promised not to share information about the uploaded files with the antivirus community. 

 

The FBI Washington Field Office investigated the case.  Trial Attorneys C. Alden Pelker and Ryan Dickey of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kellen Dwyer and Laura Fong of the Eastern District of Virginia are prosecuting the case. The Government of Latvia, including the Latvia State Police International Cooperation Department, the Latvia State Police Cybercrime Unit, and the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Latvia – International Cooperation Division, provided assistance and support during the investigation.  Additional assistance was provided by the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs, the FBI’s Atlanta and Minneapolis Field Offices and the Operational Technology Division, and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the District of Minnesota and the Northern District of Georgia.