Western District of Virginia

Harrisonburg, VIRGINIA – An Elkton man, who was the driver of a car pulled over in Shenandoah County and found to be illegally in possession of a firearm and illegal drugs, was sentenced today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Harrisonburg, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

Blake Morgan Stroop, 22, of Elkton, was sentenced today to 130 months’ imprisonment, with a five-year period of supervised release to follow. Stroop previously pled guilty to one count of conspiring to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

According to evidence presented at previous hearings by Assistant United States Attorney Jeb Terrien, on October 12, 2015, officers in Shenandoah County stopped a rental vehicle drive by Stroop, in which Ernest Wayne Good was the passenger. After smelling marijuana and hearing Good admit to smoking “a little while ago,” officers searched Good and Stroop and found various items, including methamphetamine and firearms, among other items. Good was previously convicted and sentenced to 68 months in federal prison for his crimes.

Later, on November 13, 2005, again in Elkton, Stroop and Good were again apprehended by law enforcement. On this occasion, Stroop was found in possession of a large amount of methamphetamine, approximately $12,070, and a loaded .380 caliber pistol with an obliterated serial number. Good was also found in possession of methamphetamine.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the RUSH Drug Task Force, Shenandoah County Sheriff’s Office, Elkton Police Department, and Strasburg Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Jeb Terrien and Special Assistant United States Attorney Thomas Duncombe prosecuted the case for the United States.

Roanoke, VIRGINIA – The sixth member of a conspiracy that targeted rural communities in the southeast to commit credit card fraud and aggravated identity theft pled guilty yesterday in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Roanoke, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

Quentin Bruce pled guilty yesterday to one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. Previously, five other co-conspirators, Keyshawn Berchel Hunter, 27, of Florence, S.C., Daquan Damese James, 24, of Darlington, S.C., Roland Marcell Bruce, 23, of Darlington, S.C. and Markese Davon Robinson, 21, of Darlington, S.C., each pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. A fifth defendant, Markese Tyshawn James, 22, of Darlington, S.C., pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud.

According to evidence presented during previous hearings by Assistant United States Attorney Ashley B. Neese, authorities in Pearisburg, Virginia responded to the Pearisburg Wal-Mart for a report of several males attempting to use multiple debit cards that make purchases that were declined. A loss prevention employee noted that he observed the same males in the store a week earlier, attempting the same scheme and gave authorities a description of the subjects vehicle.

Authorities located a vehicle matching the description given by the Wal-Mart employee parked nearby and approached it, noticing the strong smell of marijuana as they did. Based on the smell of marijuana, police searched the vehicle and recovered a bag of green leafy material near the driver’s seat, 16 Visa debit cards. Additional search of the occupants of the vehicle recovered 40 Visa gift cards in the van’s center console and 52 Visa gift cards, one credit card skimmer and one HP laptop computer elsewhere in the van. Forensic examination by the United States Secret Service performed later revealed that 89 of those cards were re-encoded with stolen credit card numbers.

Additionally, one of the conspirators admitted the group targeted Wal-Mart stores in the southeast because the store wanted to keep the lines moving, which worked to their advantage.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the United States Secret Service, the Pearisburg Police Department, and the Giles County Sheriff’s Office. The Office of the Commonwealth Attorney for Giles County also assisted with the overall prosecution. Assistant United States Attorney Ashley B. Neese prosecuted the case for the United States.

Roanoke, VIRGINIA – A pair of Christiansburg residents were sentenced today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Roanoke on Federal drug conspiracy charges, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

Timothy Wayne Radford, 49 and Melissa Dawn Lytton, 45, each previously pled guilty to conspiracy charges. Radford pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute and to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. Lytton pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute and to distribute methamphetamine. Today in District Court, Radford was sentenced to 135 months in federal prison. In a separate hearing today, Lytton was sentenced to 127 months in federal prison.

According to evidence presented at previous hearings by Assistant United States Attorney Ashley B. Neese, Radford and Lytton admitted to being involved in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine since at least late 2015 and continuing through March 2016, which was accountable for distributing between 1.5 and 5 kilograms of methamphetamine.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Virginia State Police and the Floyd County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Ashley B. Neese prosecuted the case for the United States.

Abingdon, VIRGINIA – A Tazewell woman, who illegally purchased firearms for her son and lied about the purchases, pled guilty yesterday in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Abingdon to a pair of federal charges, Acting United States Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

Glenna Elswick, 50, pled guilty yesterday to one count of making a false statement in connection with the acquisition of a firearm from a licensed dealer and one count of providing a firearm to a prohibited person.

According to evidence presented at yesterday’s guilty plea hearing by Assistant United States Attorney Zachary T. Lee, between October 2016 and February 2017, Elswick purchased at least seven firearms for her son, Matthew Elswick, who is prohibited from owning firearms due to his status as a previously convicted felon. In the process of purchasing the firearms, Elswick made false statements on ATF forms stating she was buying the firearms for her own use.

The investigation of the case was conducted by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant United States Attorney Zachary T. Lee prosecuted the case for the United States.

Roanoke, VIRGINIA –Five members of a Roanoke-based drug conspiracy that distributed methamphetamine in the city and to places as far west as Lynchburg and Amherst, pled guilty yesterday in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Roanoke, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

Yesterday in District Court, Lewis Cheresnowsky Jr., 35, of Roanoke, Brian Edward Roden, 37, of Roanoke, Joy Lynne Mason, 35, of Evington, Va., and Adam Royal McElvy, 34, of Roanoke, each pled guilty to one count of conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute and to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. Brandi Ann Doss, 35, of Roanoke, pled guilty yesterday to one count of conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute and to distribute a detectable amount of methamphetamine and one count of distributing methamphetamine.

According to evidence presented at yesterday’s guilty plea hearing by Assistant United States Attorney Ashley B. Neese, the conspiracy operated in and around the City of Roanoke from spring 2015 until late 2016. While a majority of the activity involved in the conspiracy was focused in the Roanoke-area, members of the conspiracy did distribute methamphetamine within the Lynchburg and Amherst regions of Virginia during part of the conspiracy.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Roanoke City Police, the Virginia State Police, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Roanoke HIDTA. Assistant United States Attorney Ashley B. Neese prosecuted the case for the United States.

A Danville, Virginia man pleaded guilty today to aiding in the preparation of a false tax return, announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle for the Western District of Virginia.

According to documents filed with the court, Timothy Harris, 49, owned and operated TNA Tax Services and TNT Tax Services, which were located in Danville and Rocky Mount. Harris admitted that he used these businesses to prepare false tax returns for clients that claimed bogus business losses in order to seek refunds to which his clients were not entitled. After the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) revoked Harris’s Electronic Filing Identification Number (EFIN) in December 2012, he used another person’s EFIN to continue filing tax returns. Harris admitted that his fraudulent conduct caused a tax loss of more than $250,000.

Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 24. Harris faces a statutory maximum sentence of three years in prison, a term of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg and Acting U.S. Attorney Mountcastle commended special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Trial Attorneys Michael C. Boteler and William M. Montague of the Tax Division, who prosecuted the case.

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

ROANOKE-A Danville, Virginia man pleaded guilty today to aiding in the preparation of a false tax return, announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle for the Western District of Virginia.

According to documents filed with the court, Timothy Harris, 49, owned and operated TNA Tax Services and TNT Tax Services, which were located in Danville and Rocky Mount. Harris admitted that he used these businesses to prepare false tax returns for clients that claimed bogus business losses in order to seek refunds to which his clients were not entitled. After the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) revoked Harris’s Electronic Filing Identification Number (EFIN) in December 2012, he used another person’s EFIN to continue filing tax returns. Harris admitted that his fraudulent conduct caused a tax loss of more than $250,000.

Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 24. Harris faces a statutory maximum sentence of three years in prison, a term of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg and Acting U.S. Attorney Mountcastle commended special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Trial Attorneys Michael C. Boteler and William M. Montague of the Tax Division, who prosecuted the case.

Abingdon, VIRGINIA – A federal inmate at United States Penitentiary at Lee County faces additional federal prison time after being sentenced this afternoon for resisting and assaulting a corrections officer, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

Darren Wall, 24, was sentenced this afternoon to imprisonment for a term of 60 months. He also was ordered to pay 24,714.32 in restitution. Wall previously pled guilty to one count of forcibly assaulting and resisting an officer and employee of the United States while that officer was engaged in the performance of official duties and during the commission of such offense did inflict bodily injury.

On May 9, 2016, Wall, while an inmate at USP Lee, resisted and assaulted a corrections officer while the officer performed his official duties. That assault caused bodily injury to the officer. Wall was also found in possession of a shank, an improvised knifelike weapon at the time of the incident.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Bristol, Virginia, office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney AUSA Randy Ramseyer is prosecuting the case for the United States.

Harrisonburg, VIRGINIA – A Virginia man who purchased and later distributed a misbranded drug that was intentionally masked to look like candy was sentenced yesterday in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Harrisonburg, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

Christopher Michael Sweeney II, 21, of Cross Junction, Va., was sentenced yesterday to four years in federal prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. Sweeney pled guilty on February 3, 2017, to one count of conspiracy to ship and receive a misbranded drug in interstate commerce with the intent to defraud and mislead.

According to evidence presented at the earlier guilty plea hearing and at yesterday’s sentencing, between June 2015 and September 2015, Sweeney bought Smarties candy laced with flubromazolam on the “dark web” and resold it, at substantial profit. Flubromazolam is a designer synthetic drug not approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for human consumption because it is toxic and can cause serious bodily injury or even death when ingested. However, at the time Sweeney illegally trafficked in it, flubromazolam was not listed as a scheduled drug under either federal or state law. The Commonwealth of Virginia has since listed it as a Schedule I drug.

Sweeney misleadingly told his customers the substance was “Xanax” or “like Xanax,” even though he knew some of his purchasers were blacking out and having car accidents after taking it. On September 21, 2015, distributed Smarties laced with flubromazolam to a female victim, who formerly resided in Winchester, Virginia. That flubromazolam contributed to the female victim’s overdose and death.

“It is unfortunate that we could only prosecute this serious crime with tragic consequences under the FDA’s misbranding statute,” said Acting United States Attorney Mountcastle. “Sweeney distributed this dangerous drug for profit by disguising it as candy and falsely claiming that it was Xanax, ruthlessly ignoring the substantial risk of death posed by this drug. My heart goes out to parents of the young victim and I deeply regret that the unscheduled nature of this drug precluded a prosecution for more serious crimes. I commend AUSA Erin Kulpa, the Northwest Virginia Regional Drug and Gang Task Force, the Virginia State Police, and the Drug Enforcement Administration for bringing Sweeney to justice.”

“This is a great example of the challenge that law enforcement faces in a society where there are constantly evolving controlled substance analogues that are being produced abroad and ordered by utilizing the dark web. We are pleased to have a successful prosecution and even more so that flubromazolam is now recognized as a Schedule I controlled substance in the Commonwealth of Virginia,” said Supervisory Special Agent Josiah C. Schiavone, Coordinator of the Northwest Virginia Regional Drug and Gang Task Force for the Virginia State Police. “The successful prosecution was the result of excellent collaboration between the United States Attorney’s Office of the Western District, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Northwest Virginia Regional Drug and Gang Task Force.”

“When you buy drugs from an unscrupulous distributor, who’s only concern is their own profit, you take an unnecessary risk with your own life which may end in tragic consequences. The complexity of the laws regarding synthetic drugs and the use of the dark web made this a difficult case to prosecute,” said DEA Washington Division Special Agent in Charge Karl C. Colder. “We are pleased to be part of the successful prosecution team in this investigation.”

The investigation of the case was conducted by Northwest Virginia Regional Drug and Gang Task Force, the Virginia State Police and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant United States Attorney Erin M. Kulpa prosecuted the case for the United States.

Abingdon, VIRGINIA – A registered nurse who worked at a medical facility in Roanoke pled guilty yesterday to a federal charge of tampering with a consumer product, namely fentanyl, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

Kevin Carter, 28, of Roanoke, Va., waived his right to be indicted and pled guilty yesterday to a one count information charging him with tampering with a consumer product, fentanyl, that affects interstate or foreign commerce, with reckless disregard for the risk that another person be placed in danger of death or bodily injury. At sentencing, scheduled for September 20, 2017, at 11:00 a.m., Carter faces a maximum statutory penalty of up to 10 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $250,000.

“In the face of an increasing number of overdoses involving fentanyl across the country and the Commonwealth, prosecuting individuals who divert fentanyl and other opioids is a top priority of the United States Attorney’s Office,” Acting United States Attorney Mountcastle said today. “We are committed to prosecuting, to the maximum extent under the law, individuals who unlawfully divert, import, or distribute fentanyl or other opioids.”

“FDA oversees the U.S. supply of medicines to ensure that they are safe and effective, and those who knowingly tamper with medicines for patients put their health at risk,” said Mark S. McCormack, Special Agent in Charge, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations’ Metro Washington Field Office. “Our office will continue to pursue and bring to justice those who violate laws designed to protect the public health.”

According to information presented at yesterday’s guilty plea hearing by Assistant United States Attorney Randy Ramseyer. On or about December 15, 2016, Carter tampered with liquid syringes of fentanyl by removing a syringe of liquid fentanyl from the anesthesia cart in an operating room for his own use and replacing the stolen syringe with another syringe, labeled fentanyl, which contained no fentanyl.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations and the Virginia State Police. Assistant United States Attorney Randy Ramseyer prosecuted the case for the United States.

Abingdon, VIRGINIA – A Florida man, who previously pled guilty to failing to register as a sex offender in Virginia, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison yesterday, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle and Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring announced.

Christopher Matthew Marsh, 40, of Wytheville, VA, formerly of Tallahassee, FL, pled guilty earlier this year in District Court to failing to register as a sex offender, in violation of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). Marsh was sentenced yesterday to serve 30 months in federal prison, to run consecutively to a 30 month sentence imposed in state court in Florida for failing to comply with sexual predator reporting requirements in that state.

According to evidence presented by Virginia Assistant Attorney General and Special Assistant United States Attorney Suzanne Kerney-Quillen when Marsh pled guilty, Marsh had been previously convicted of an attempted capital sexual offense in Florida in 1997, which required him to register as a sex offender for life under SORNA. Marsh complied, to some extent, with provisions of SORNA following his release from prison until June 2016 when probation officers in Florida received notification that his GPS monitor strap had been cut off, resulting in the issuance of a warrant for his arrest. Marsh was subsequently located at a motel in Wytheville, VA, where he had resided in August 2016. A review of the Virginia Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act revealed that Marsh had not registered as a sex offender in Virginia.

The United States Marshal’s Service conducted the investigation of the case. Special Assistant United States Attorney M. Suzanne Kerney-Quillen, a Virginia Assistant Attorney General assigned to the Attorney General’s Major Crimes and Emerging Threats Section, prosecuted the case for the United States.

Roanoke, VIRGINIA – A Roanoke man was sentenced this morning on a pair of federal charges related to cocaine distribution and illegal firearms possession, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

Antonio Maurice Payne, 29, of Roanoke, Va., was sentenced this morning to 84 months in federal prison. Payne previously pled guilty to one count of illegal possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon and one count of possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Roanoke City Police Department conducted the investigation of the case. Assistant United States Attorney Andrew Bassford prosecuted the case for the United States.

Harrisonburg, VIRGINIA – Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced today that a former staffer with Harrisonburg Votes, a political organization affiliated with the Democratic Party, who was paid to register area voters during the weeks leading up to the 2016 National Election, admitted in federal court that he caused 18 fraudulent Virginia Voter Registration Forms to be submitted to the local registrar’s office.

Andrew J. Spieles, 21, Harrisonburg, pled guilty today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Harrisonburg to a one-count Information charging him with knowingly transferring false Virginia Voter Registration Forms. As part of the plea agreement, Spieles agreed to a prison sentence of 100 to 120 days.

According to evidence presented at today’s guilty plea hearing by Assistant United States Attorney Jeb Terrien, in July 2016 Spieles’ job was to register as many voters as possible and reported to Democratic Campaign headquarters in Harrisonburg.

In August 2016, Spieles was directed to combine his registration numbers with those of another individual because their respective territories overlapped. After filling out a registration form for a voter, Spieles entered the information into a computer system used by the Virginia Democratic Party to track information such as name, age, address and political affiliation. Every Thursday an employee/volunteer hand-delivered the paper copies of the registration forms to the Registrar’s Office in Harrisonburg.

On August 15, 2016, an employee of the Registrar’s Office contacted law enforcement after another employee in the office recognized a registration form submitted in the name of the deceased father of a Rockingham County Judge. The Registrar’s Office discovered multiple instances of similarly falsified forms when it reviewed additional registrations. Some were in the names of deceased individuals while others bore incorrect middle names, birth dates, and social security numbers. The Registrar’s Office learned that the individuals named in these forms had not in fact submitted the new voter registrations. The assistant registrar’s personal knowledge of the names of some of the individuals named in the falsified documents facilitated the detection of the crime.

Spieles admitted that he prepared the false voter registration forms by obtaining the name, age, and address of individuals from “walk sheets” provided to him by the Virginia Democratic Party, fabricating a birth date based on the ages listed in the walk sheet, and fabricating the social security numbers. Spieles admitted that he created all 18 fraudulent forms himself and that no one else participated in the crime.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Harrisonburg Police Department. The Rockingham County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office also assisted in the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Jeb Terrien prosecuted the case for the United States.

Abingdon, VIRGINIA – Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced today that Operation Rolling Thunder, a joint investigation conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, has resulted in twenty-four arrest warrants being issued for individuals charged with conspiring to distribute methamphetamine in Southwest Virginia, and North Carolina. In addition to the arrest warrants being issued, law enforcement agents executed one search warrant today in furtherance of the investigation. The following individuals were arrested today and charged:

1. Rodriguez, Sanson P.

2. Hoyt, Amy

3. Nester, Grandy

4. Bilyeu, Amber “Rose”

5. Hawks, Karen

6. Sexton, Walter “Butch”

7. Sellers, Larry

8. Cochran, Brittany

9. Bowman, Timothy

10. Freeman, Annette

11. Hunley, Brad

12. Phipps, Shawanna

13. Graff, Brian

14. Alley, Riley

15. Maxwell, Calvin Jermaine

16. Norman, David

17. Long, Lelana

18. Choate, Jonathan

19. Humphries, Kevin

20. Parsons, Jackie Christopher

21. Jones, Jessalyn

22. Grose, Vicky

23. Sawyers, Stacey Jerome

24. Anders, Travis Brian

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office, Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, Surry County Sheriff’s Office, Virginia State Police, North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, Galax Police Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, United States Marshals Service, United States Secret Service and the Lexington, N.C. Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Zachary T. Lee will prosecute the case for the United States.

An arrest warrant is only a charge and not evidence of guilt. The defendant is entitled to a fair trial with the burden on the government to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Abingdon, VIRGINIA – A physician assistant, who allowed phentermine tablets to be distributed using her Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) registration, was sentenced yesterday in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Abingdon, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

Melissa Lynn Hartwell, 41, of Marion, Va, was sentenced yesterday to probation for a term of three years and was ordered to pay $4,500 in fines and assessments. Hartwell was found guilty following a jury trial on one count of conspiring to distribute a controlled substance (phentermine), one count of conspiracy to allow the use of her DEA registration number by another person, 20 counts of distributing phentermine and 20 counts of allowing the use of her DEA registration by another person.

According to evidence presented at trial by Assistant United States Attorney Randy Ramseyer, Hartwell worked as a physician assistant at MTRx, a weight loss clinic in Bristol, Tennessee, operated, at the time, by Marvin Allen Stanley and owned by his wife, Tracey Michelle Stanley. The Stanleys previously pled guilty to their roles in the conspiracy.

Evidence at trial showed that Hartwell allowed the Stanleys to use her DEA registration number to order phentermine and dispense phentermine to individuals who Hartwell never examined. The clinic was open Monday through Saturday, but Hartwell typically only worked on Mondays and Fridays. On days she did not work, patients received phentermine without ever being examined by Hartwell. Hartwell later signed and initialed the patient charts to indicate she approved the dispensing of the phentermine.

Also, Hartwell and the Stanleys allowed a person who did not work at the clinic to fill out patient charts and obtain and deliver phentermine to her friends and acquaintances. Once or twice a week, Norma Jean Marsh, a.k.a. “Trixie,” a registered nurse, went to MTRx and spent 15 or 20 minutes filling out patient files for friends and acquaintances of hers from the Saltville area. Then Hartwell and the Stanleys provided her with phentermine for those friends and acquaintances. Several of those individuals never were seen as patients at the clinic. Marsh previously pled guilty to her role in the conspiracy.

Phentermine is a Schedule IV controlled substance. It is related chemically and pharmacologically to amphetamine, which is extensively abused.

The investigation of this case was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Tactical Diversion Squad in Roanoke, with the assistance of the Virginia Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Bristol (Tennessee) Police Department, and Saltville (Virginia) Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Randy Ramseyer prosecuted the case for the United States.

Abingdon, VIRGINIA – A federal grand jury sitting in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Abingdon returned two indictments yesterday against two United States Bureau of Prisons correctional officers who were employed at United States Penitentiary Lee County (USP-Lee), Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

The grand jury has charged Joseph Collins, 43, of Pennington Gap, Va., with one count of making a false statement and using a false writing in a matter within the executive branch of the United States government. In addition, the grand jury has charged Michael Barnette, 34, of Dryden, Va., with ten counts of making a false statement and using a false writing in a matter within the executive branch of the United States government.

The indictment alleges that both Collins and Barnette falsified inmate urine drug screen forms and forged inmate signatures while employed at USP-Lee. The indictment further alleges that some of the forms stated that urine drug screens had been completed on inmates that were no longer incarcerated at USP-Lee.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General and the United States Bureau of Prisons. Assistant United States Attorney Zachary T. Lee will prosecute the case for the United States.

A Grand Jury Indictment is only a charge and not evidence of guilt. The defendant is entitled to a fair trial with the burden on the government to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Abingdon, VIRGINIA – The 8,000 square-foot facility known as the Big Blue Sportsman’s Club in McDowell, Kentucky, which had hosted cockfights for more than 30 years, was razed following the guilty pleas of the property’s two owners in March. Those two individuals, Shirley Ray Slone and Vernon Kelly Slone, have been sentenced in Federal Court, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle and Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring announced.

Yesterday in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Abingdon, Shirley Ray Slone, 73, and Vernon Kelly Slone, 69, both of McDowell, Kentucky, who had forfeited $100,000 as part of their plea agreements, were sentenced to probation for a term of one year. At a previously hearing, each pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to cause others to attend a cockfight. In addition, the pair agreed to pay for the complete destruction of the 8,000 square-foot facility known as the Big Blue Sportsman’s Club. The demolition of pit was completed in early May.

Shirley and Vernon Slone owned the property in McDowell, Kentucky that housed the Big Blue Sportsman’s Club, a 5,000-member club that hosted cockfights for more than 30 years. The facility, a 8,000 square-foot building that featured arena-style seating, multiple fighting pits and a restaurant, was the site of a law enforcement raid in 2014. Federal charges relating to cockfighting, gambling and narcotics arose out of the investigation. According to testimony presented in today’s hearing, the Slones began hosting cockfights at Big Blue in 1977 and quit operating the facility in the early 1990s. They then leased the facility to others for use as a cockfighting pit. The individuals who rented the facility paid the Slones $3 for each person who attended a cockfight.

Seven other individuals were previously convicted and sentenced for their roles in the Big Blue cockfighting conspiracy, as follows:

           Defendant                               Imprisonment:

Russell D. Peaks                                 24 months

Jonathan Robinson                            12 months

Wesley Dean Robinson                        6 months

Joshua Stumbo                                     10 months

Sonya Stumbo                                      10 months

Walter Stumbo                                     18 months

Jimmy Crate Willis                                probation

Assistant United States Attorney Randy Ramseyer and Special Assistant United States Attorney/Virginia Assistant Attorney General Michelle Welch prosecuted these cases on behalf of the United States. The case was investigated by the United States Department of Agriculture – Office of Inspector General, the Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control Bureau of Law Enforcement, and the Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office. In addition, the following agencies assisted with arrests, search warrants and other related proceedings: Virginia Animal Fighting Task Force; Virginia State Police Tactical Team; Southwest Virginia Regional Task Force; Botetourt County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office; Wise County, Virginia, Sheriff’s Office and Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office; Virginia State Veterinarian’s Office; United States Homeland Security Investigations; Kentucky State Police; the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky; and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Abingdon, VIRGINIA – A California man, who was previously found guilty following a five-day jury trial on conspiracy and mail fraud charges in relation to his role in a conspiracy to defraud the United States Food and Drug Administration by misbranding synthetic steroids was sentenced today in federal court, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

Sitesh Bansi Patel, 33, of Irvine, Calif., was sentenced today to imprisonment for a term of eight months, ordered to forfeit $77,000, and fined $50,000. He was convicted following a five-day jury trial of one count of conspiracy to defraud the FDA, one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and three counts of mail fraud.

Patel, who holds a Pharm.D degree and is a licensed pharmacist, is the vice president of SK Labs, a California-based supplement manufacturer. In 2008 and 2009, Patel used SK Labs to produce H-Drol and M-Drol. The products labeled M-Drol and H-Drol contained prohormones, a/k/a synthetic steroids. The products were misbranded because the labels identified them as “dietary supplements” when, in fact, they were drugs. The active ingredients in H-Drol and M-Drol are now classified by the DEA as anabolic steroids. In 2009, when it became widely known in the supplement industry that these types of products were being actively investigated by the FDA, SK Labs quit producing H-Drol and M-Drol. However, beginning in December 2010, Patel arranged for the manufacture of H-Drol and M-Drol by others at another facility in California. Patel, working as go-between, received, at his home, shipments of raw powder, labels, and money. Patel transported those items to a shopping mall parking lot. Patel then arranged for the finished product to be shipped to Virginia.

The raw powder used to manufacture these products was imported from Xinli “Eric” Li, a Chinese national, who pleaded guilty in federal court in Abingdon on December 4, 2015. Li forfeited $1.6 million and served five months in prison prior to being deported to China.

M-Drol listed its single active ingredient as 2a, 17a di methyl etiocholan 3-one, 17b-ol, a chemical nomenclature for methasterone, also known as “Superdrol.” The FDA has identified methasterone as a “designer steroid” or “designer drug”, a structural or functional analog of a controlled substance designed to mimic the pharmacological effects of the original drug. H-Drol listed its single active ingredient as 4-chloro-17a-methyl-androst-1,4-diene-3-17b-diol, the nomenclature for a designer drug identified as halovar, a clone of halodrol. Both products were deemed to be misbranded drugs because the label was false, that is, the product was labeled as a “dietary supplement” but contained a “steroid” or drug. Therefore, neither product met the definition of a dietary supplement. Both products were popular among those seeking an increase in muscle mass and loss of body fat and were distributed widely in the U.S. and overseas, both at retail stores and via the internet. The use of anabolic steroids or dietary supplements that contain anabolic steroids or designer steroids may trigger numerous adverse health effects in the human body.

The investigation, known as Operation Grasshopper, has resulted in the forfeiture of over $3.5 million and felony convictions for seven different individuals from Virginia, California, Florida, New York and China.

The investigation was conducted by the United States Food and Drug Administration – Office of Criminal Investigations. The Pittsylvania County Sheriff’s Office provided valuable assistance in the case. Assistant United States Attorney Randy Ramseyer prosecuted the case for the United States.

Roanoke, VIRGINIA – A Roanoke man, who worked while receiving disability benefits from the Railroad Retirement Board, pled guilty yesterday in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Roanoke, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

James Sexton, 66, pled guilty yesterday to one count of theft of government money. At sentencing, Sexton faces a maximum possible sentence of up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and restitution.

According to evidence presented at yesterday’s guilty plea hearing, Sexton began receiving disability benefits from the Railroad Retirement Board in 1997 and acknowledged that he was required to report any work he performed or earnings to the government. However, he admitted yesterday that he failed to report $475,645 in income earned through employment with various financial companies.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Railroad Retirement Board, Office of the Inspector General. Assistant United States Attorney Charlene R. Day prosecuted the case for the United States.

Lynchburg, VIRGINIA – A citizen of Mexico, who on four occasions was removed from the United States only to return later without lawful permission, was sentenced this morning on a federal immigration charge, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

Adolfo Castaneda-Garcia, 45, a native of Mexico, was sentenced today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Lynchburg to 21 months in federal prison. Castaneda-Garcia previously pled guilty to one count of illegally reentering the United States without obtaining express consent of the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to reapply for admission.

According to evidence presented at a previous hearing by Assistant United States Attorney Charlene R. Day, Castaneda-Garcia was first encountered by Immigrations officials at or near Denver, Colorado in February 1996 while serving a state prison sentence for possession of a controlled substance. The defendant was sentenced to four years in prison for this conviction and later removed to Mexico. Over the next decade, Castaneda-Garcia was arrested, incarcerated, removed from the United States and encountered by Border Patrol officers at least four times in Arizona, California and Texas.

On June 17. 2016, officials with the Rockbridge Regional Jail in Lexington, Va., contacted officials with Immigrations and Customs and Enforcement officers and informed them that Castaneda-Garcia was arrested in Buena-Vista on state drug charges.

Harrisonburg, VIRGINIA – A Winchester man, who routinely traveled to Baltimore and brought back large quantities of heroin to Winchester for distribution, was sentenced yesterday in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Harrisonburg, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

Joshua Dillon Burkhart, 27, of Winchester, Va., was sentenced yesterday to 108 months in federal prison. Burkhart previously pled guilty to one count of conspiring to distribute and to possess with the intent to distribute more than 100 grams of heroin.

According to evidence presented by Assistant United States Attorney Erin M. Kulpa, should this matter have gone to trial, the United States would have proven beyond a reasonable doubt, that from approximately June 2014 and October 2014, Burkhart, and others, participated in a conspiracy to traffic large amounts of heroin from Baltimore to Winchester. Burkhart distributed at least 1,000 grams of heroin in the Winchester area during this time, using the previously convicted Christopher Giles, and others, as his Baltimore sources of supply.

Throughout the life of the conspiracy, Burkhart traveled to Baltimore one or two times per month to purchase heroin. He paid $100 per gram of heroin and the most he ever purchased per trip was 110 grams of heroin.

Burkhart sold heroin to customers in and around Winchester in quantities ranging from one-half gram to one gram per sale. He sold the heroin for $240 per gram. Burkhart knew that some of his customers were sub-distributors.

The investigation of the case was conducted by Drug Enforcement Administration and the Northwest Virginia Regional Drug and Gang Task Force, which is comprised of the Virginia State Police, the Winchester Police Department, the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office, the Clarke County Sheriff’s Office, the Front Royal Police Department, the Strasburg Police Department, the Page County Sheriff’s Office, the Warren County Sheriff’s Office, and the Shenandoah County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Erin M. Kulpa prosecuted the case for the United States.

Roanoke, VIRGINIA – A Salem man, who directed his then-girlfriend to sell a machine gun, pled guilty this week in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Roanoke to a federal firearms charge, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

Billy James Carter, 45, of Salem, Va., pled guilty this week to one count of unlawfully transferring a firearm.

According to evidence presented by Assistant United States Attorney Ashley B. Neese, in April 2016, Carter directed his then-girlfriend to sell an AK-47 style rifle to a friend in Montgomery County, Virginia for $1,900. The rifle featured both semiautomatic and automatic fire styles.

The investigation of the case was conducted by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Ashley B. Neese prosecuted the case for the United States.

Abingdon, VIRGINIA – A Wise man, who illegally removed Ginseng plants from the National Forest, was sentenced today in the United States District Court, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

Mark Evan Buchanan, 47, of Wise, Va., was sentenced today to two years of probation. He was ordered to pay $3,690 in restitution. Buchanan previously pled guilty to one count of attempting to transport, sell, receive or acquire plants in interstate commerce knowing that said plants were taken in an unlawful manner.

According to evidence presented in court by Special Assistant United States Attorney Kathleen Carnell, Buchanan possessed 246 wild Ginseng roots from the George Washington and Jefferson National Forrest knowing that it was illegal to take, possess, acquire and transport wild Ginseng from the National Forest. Buchanan intended to sell the Ginseng roots.

The investigation of the case was conducted by Special Agent James Willett of the U.S. Forest Service. Assistant United States Attorney Special Assistant United States Attorney Kathleen Carnell prosecuted the case for the United States.

Charlottesville, VIRGINIA – A federal grand jury in Charlottesville returned an indictment yesterday against a former detective with the Madison County Sheriff’s Office, who was previously assigned to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force [ICAC], charging him with nine counts related to the sexual exploitation of minors, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

The indictment charges Bruce Arlie Harvey, 41, of Reva, Virginia, with three counts of transporting minors across state lines with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, three counts of interstate travel with minors with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, two counts of production of child pornography, and one count of possession of child pornography.

The indictment alleges the criminal activity involved two minor female victims who had contact with Harvey while he worked as a karate instructor between 1998 and 2007. Harvey, a former instructor at the Virginia Tong Leong School of Karate in Madison, was arrested earlier this month via a federal criminal complaint.

The investigation is ongoing and being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Virginia State Police. Assistant United States Attorney Nancy S. Healey and Trial Attorney Lauren S. Kupersmith of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the United States Department of Justice are prosecuting the case.

A Grand Jury Indictment is only a charge and not evidence of guilt. The defendant is entitled to a fair trial with the burden on the government to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

If you have any information about these crimes or information about a potential victim, please contact the FBI at 800-CALL-FBI. Investigators and victim specialists are available to assist you.

Roanoke, VIRGINIA – A Roanoke man, who used a peer-to-peer file-sharing network that allowed others to access his images of hardcore child pornography, was sentenced today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

William Rhodes, a.k.a. “Billy Rhodes,” a.k.a. “BillRho,” a.k.a. “hel_yeh1,” age 26, of Roanoke, Va., was sentenced today to 120 months in federal prison, to be followed by 15 years of supervised release. Rhodes previously pled guilty to one count of knowingly distributing or receiving or attempting to distribute or receive child pornography.

According to a factual statement filed in court by Assistant United States Attorney Nancy S. Healey, on March 23, 2014, an undercover task force officer with the Federal Bureau of Investigation working in Texas, accessed a peer-to-peer file sharing network, and identified a computer with a particular IP address as a potential source of files associated with hash values previously known to belong to images of child pornography. The undercover agent successfully downloaded 1,432 images from this torrent, the vast majority of which depicted prepubescent females engaged in sexually explicit conduct and sadistic abuse, including depictions of infants and toddlers.

On September 10, 2014, an FBI task force officer working in Richmond downloaded approximately 320 images from the same torrent from a different IP address. The investigation revealed that the downloads were associated with the same Roanoke, Virginia address.

A search warrant was executed at that Roanoke residence in the early morning hours of February 2, 2015. The defendant, William Rhodes, was the adult son of the homeowners and was living at the home. He was briefly interviewed during the search and told investigators he knew why there were there, without specifically mentioning the downloading of child pornography.

A forensic examination of the defendant’s computer conducted by the Virginia State Police revealed substantial corroborating evidence that proved the defendant was the person responsible for the downloads conducted by the task force officers, including Skype chat evidence suggesting that the defendant had transferred videos from the same torrent to another individual.

The investigation of the case was conducted by Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Virginia State Police and the Roanoke City Police. Assistant United States Attorney Nancy S. Healey and Jessica Urban, U.S. Department of Justice, Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, are prosecuting the case for the United States.

Roanoke, VIRGINIA – Five men, who target rural communities in the southeast to commit credit card fraud and aggravated identity fraud pled guilty during a series of hearings this week in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Roanoke, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

The conspirators, Keyshawn Berchel Hunter, 27, of Florence, S.C., Daquan Damese James, 24, of Darlington, S.C., Roland Marcell Bruce, 23, of Darlington, S.C. and Markese Davon Robinson, 21, of Darlington, S.C., each pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. A fifth defendant, Markese Tyshawn James, 22, of Darlington, S.C., pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud. The investigation remains ongoing and additional defendants may be charged.

According to evidence presented during this week’s hearings by Assistant United States Attorney Ashley B. Neese, authorities in Pearisburg, Virginia responded to the Pearisburg Wal-Mart for a report of several males attempting to use multiple debit cards that make purchases that were declined. A loss prevention employee noted that he observed the same males in the store a week earlier, attempting the same scheme and gave authorities a description of the subjects vehicle.

Authorities located a vehicle matching the description given by the Wal-Mart employee parked nearby and approached it, noticing the strong smell of marijuana as they did. Based on the smell of marijuana, police searched the vehicle and recovered a bag of green leafy material near the driver’s seat, 16 Visa debit cards. Additional search of the occupants of the vehicle recovered 40 Visa gift cards in the van’s center console and 52 Visa gift cards, one credit card skimmer and one HP laptop computer elsewhere in the van. Forensic examination by the United States Secret Service performed later revealed that 89 of those cards were re-encoded with stolen credit card numbers.

Additionally, one of the conspirators admitted the group targeted Wal-Mart stores in the southeast because the store wanted to keep the lines moving, which worked to their advantage.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the United States Secret Service, the Pearisburg Police Department, and the Giles County Sheriff’s Office. The Office of the Commonwealth Attorney for Giles County also assisted with the overall prosecution. Assistant United States Attorney Ashley B. Neese prosecuted the case for the United States.

Harrisonburg, VIRGINIA – A Mount Crawford based trucking company that formerly hauled United States mail, as well as four of its officers, the President, Vice-President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, pled guilty yesterday in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Harrisonburg to federal conspiracy charges, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

Beam Brothers pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, that is falsification of records in contemplation of a federal matter. Beam Brothers Holding, the parent company of Beam Brothers Trucking, also pled guilty today to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

As part of the plea agreement, Beam Brothers agreed to pay a fine of $250,000 and forfeit $2,000,000 of fraudulently obtained proceeds. Beam Brothers will also pay approximately $1,000,000 in restitution to drivers who were defrauded of their pay.

In addition, the four most senior officers of the company pled guilty to related misdemeanor conspiracy charges. In separate Informations, Gerald Wayne Beam, 67, Garland Crawford Beam, 62, Shaun Crawford Beam, 36, all of Mount Crawford, and Nickolas Gene Kozel, 40, of Harrisonburg, each pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, to knowingly violate the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) highway safety regulations.

According to evidence presented by Assistant United States Attorneys Stephen J. Pfleger and Christopher Kavanaugh, between 1999 and 2017, Beam Brothers Trucking knowingly violated the FMCSA safety regulations by encouraging, permitting, causing or requiring drivers for Beam Brothers Trucking to make trips in violation of federal safety regulations designed to prevent commercial motor vehicle crashes caused by fatigued drivers. .

Those violations included; falsely recording their duty statuses; encouraging and permitting some Beam Brothers Trucking commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers to falsify their time sheets to report fewer hours worked than they actually worked; telling some Beam Brothers Trucking CMV drivers that they would not be paid for short rest periods, for time waiting for their trailers to be loaded or unloaded at postal facilities; failing to inform some Beam Brothers Trucking CMV drivers of pay requirements of the mail contracts; failing to review and consider some Beam Brothers Trucking CMV drivers’ request for additional pay and failing to pay some Beam Brothers Trucking CMV drivers as required under the federal Service Contract Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act and the mail contracts.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the U.S. Postal Service, Office of the Inspector General, the Department of Transportation, Office of the Inspector General, the Department of Labor, Office of the Inspector General and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations. Assistant United States Attorney Stephen J. Pfleger and Christopher Kavanaugh prosecuted the case for the United States.

Charlottesville, VIRGINIA – An inmate, who smuggled heroin into the Central Regional Jail and then distributed the drug to other inmates, pled guilty today to federal drug charges, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle and Colonel Frank E. Dyer III, Superintendent of the Central Virginia Regional Jail, announced.

Derrick Lamont Colbert, 39, of Orange, Va., pled guilty this afternoon in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Charlottesville to three counts of distribution of heroin. Colbert will be sentenced on August 25, 2017 at 11:00 a.m.

According to evidence presented at today’s hearing by Assistant United States Attorney Ronald M. Huber, Colbert was sentenced by a state court on April 28, 2016 for gun and drug charges and received a 12-month active sentence. After sentencing, Colbert was immediately transported from court to the Central Virginia Regional Jail to serve his sentence. The following morning, Colbert was assigned to an “open” cell block, a block that housed many inmates.

Within hours of Colbert being assigned to his cell block, correctional officers at the Central Virginia Regional Jail responded to reports of a sick inmate in that same cell block. Officers discovered Victim A having what appeared to be a seizure. While medical personnel attended to Victim A and called emergency services, other correctional officers screened inmates housed in the cell block and identified four other inmates displaying similar symptoms of drug intoxication. All five inmates were transported to UVA Culpeper Hospital for treatment.

While the affected inmates were being treated at the hospital, other jail personnel conducted an investigation into the source of any drugs that may have been brought into the facility. Ultimately it was determined that Colbert had secreted heroin on his person prior to his sentencing hearing on this previous day and brought the substance into the jail where he distributed the narcotic to other inmates.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Central Virginia Regional Jail. Assistant United States Attorney Ronald M. Huber prosecuted the case for the United States.

Abingdon, VIRGINIA – Five Max Meadows, Virginia residents, who skimmed over $1 million in cash from a Wythe County store and then failed to pay taxes on that money, pled guilty today to federal conspiracy charges, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

Harold Hart, 80, Larry Dean Ball, 68, Mary Carroll Ball, 67, Katrina Rose Freeman, 42, and Gary Daniel Musick, 45, all of Max Meadows, waived their rights to be indicted and pled guilty today to Informations charging them each with one count of conspiracy to impair, impede or obstruct the lawful function of the Internal Revenue Service and to commit wire fraud. At sentencing, each defendant faces a maximum possible penalty of up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

The defendants have agreed to pay, within 60 days of today’s hearing, over $440,000 in evaded federal taxes, interest and penalties, over $100,000 in evaded state taxes, interest, and penalties, over $40,000 in fines, and a forfeiture of over $29,000. The United States seized over $275,000 in cash from the defendants while executing search warrants in Wythe County in August 2016.

According to evidence presented at today’s hearing by Assistant United States Attorney Randy Ramseyer, The Old Fort Western Store in Wythe County was opened in the 1990s by Hart and Larry Ball and is operated as a retail western wear facility that sells western apparel, footwear, saddles and other items. Hart is the grandfather of Freeman and Musick. Larry Ball is the husband of Mary Ball and the father of Freeman.

Beginning in 2010, Hart, Larry Ball, Mary Ball, Freeman and Musick agreed that cash would be skimmed from the income of Old Fort, no sales tax would be paid on the skimmed cash, some of the skimmed cash would be used to pay certain employees a cash payroll in addition to their regular pay checks, some of the skimmed case would be used to pay Old Fort Partnership rent in addition to the rent check it received each month and the remainder of the skimmed cash would be disturbed to Hart, Larry and Mary Ball, Musick and Freeman and another person.

Between 2010 and 2016, the conspirators skimmed $1,121,458 in cash from Old Fort for the purpose of hiding this income from the Internal Revenue Service and the Virginia Department of Taxation.

United States District Judge James P. Jones accepted the defendants guilty pleas and scheduled sentencing hearings for September 18, 2017, in Abingdon.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Bristol, Virginia, office of the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Randy Ramseyer is prosecuting the case for the United States.

Roanoke, VIRGINIA – Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced today the sentencing of a local woman on a federal methamphetamine charge.

Jessica Machelle Garlic, 30, of Woodlawn, Va., previously pled guilty in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Roanoke to one count of conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute and to distribute 5 grams or more of methamphetamine. Today in District Court, Garlic was sentenced to 65 months in federal prison.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Virginia State Police, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, the Galax Police Department, the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office and the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Ashley Neese prosecuted the case for the United States.

Abingdon, VIRGINIA – A Virginia man, who sponsored animals during cockfights at the Big Blue Sportsmen’s Club in McDowell, Kentucky, was sentenced today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Abingdon, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle and Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring announced.

Jimmy Crate Willis, 78, of Clintwood, Va., previously pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to knowingly sponsor and exhibit an animal in an animal fighting venture. Today in District Court, Willis was sentenced to1-year probation, a fine of $250 and a $100 special assessment.

According to evidence presented at previous hearings, Shirley and Vernon Slone owned the property in McDowell, Kentucky that housed the Big Blue Sportsman’s Club, a 5,000-member club that hosted cockfights for more than 20 years. The facility, a 10,000 square-foot building that featured arena-style seating, multiple fighting pits and a restaurant, was the site of a law enforcement raid in 2014. Federal charges relating to cockfighting, gambling and narcotics arose out of the investigation.

To date, nine individuals have been convicted for their roles in the cockfighting conspiracy run out of the Big Blue facility. Most recently, Russell D. Peaks, who raised fighting birds in Wise County, Virginia, and brought them to Big Blue to fight, was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison for allowing a minor to attend a cock fight, distribution of hydrocodone and conspiracy to facilitate cockfighting.

In 2014, Walter Stumbo was sentenced to 18 months for his role in the Big Blue conspiracy, Joshua Stumbo and Sonya Stumbo were each sentenced to 10 months in federal prison for their roles in the conspiracy. Jonathan Robinson was sentenced to 12 months and one-day in federal prison and Wesley Robinson was sentenced to 6 months in prison.

In March 2017, the owners of the facility Shirley Ray Slone, 73, and Vernon Kelly Slone, 69, both of McDowell, Kentucky, each pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to cause others to attend a cockfight. In addition, the pair forfeited $100,000 and agreed to pay for the complete destruction of the 10,000 square-foot facility known as the Big Blue Sportsman’s Club

In addition to forfeiting $100,000 and paying for the destruction of Big Blue, the Slones each face up to one year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000. They are scheduled to be sentenced on June 8, 2017 at 2:30 p.m. in U.S. District Court in Abingdon.

Assistant United States Attorney Randy Ramseyer and Special Assistant United States Attorney/Virginia Assistant Attorney General Michelle Welch are prosecuting these cases on behalf of the United States. The case is being investigated by the United States Department of Agriculture – Office of Inspector General, the Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control Bureau of Law Enforcement, and the Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office. In addition, the following agencies assisted in the arrests or related proceedings: Virginia Animal Fighting Task Force; Virginia State Police Tactical Team; Southwest Virginia Regional Task Force; Botetourt County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office; Wise County, Virginia, Sheriff’s Office and Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office; Virginia State Veterinarian’s Office; United States Homeland Security Investigations; Kentucky State Police; the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky; and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Abingdon, VIRGINIA – A Virginia woman, who conspired with others to commit wire fraud, was sentenced today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Abingdon Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

Deborah Diana Lawson, 60, of Raven, Va., previously to a one count Information charging her with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Today in District Court, Lawson was sentenced to probation for a term of three years and ordered to make restitution to the Internal Revenue Service in the amount of $7,712.

According to evidence presented by Assistant United States Attorney Randy Ramseyer, in or around March 2015 Lawson's co-conspirator caused a fraudulent tax return refund to be sent via wire to Lawson’s bank account in Russell County, Virginia. Lawson caused proceeds of the fraudulent tax return refund to be sent via wire transfer from the Western District of Virginia to an account in Buffalo, New York.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the United States Secret Service and the Russell County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Assistant United Attorney Randy Ramseyer prosecuted the case for the United States.

Roanoke, VIRGINIA – A Blacksburg man was sentenced today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Roanoke on a pair of federal charges, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

Matthew Jeremy Holland, 24, of Blacksburg, Va., previously pled guilty to one count of distribution of cocaine and one count of possessing a firearm by a previously convicted felon. Today in District Court, Holland was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison.

According to evidence presented by Assistant United States Attorney Andrew Bassford, Holland was charged after attempting to sell cocaine and a firearm to an informant with the New River Regional Drug Task Force.

The investigation of the case was conducted by New River Regional Drug Task Force and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant United States Attorney Andrew Bassford prosecuted the case for the United States.

Abingdon, VIRGINIA – An Ohio woman, who conspired with an inmate at the United States Penitentiary in Lee County, Virginia (USP-Lee) to smuggle methamphetamine into USP-Lee, was sentenced yesterday, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

Nicole Diane Shroyer, 46, of Dayton, Ohio, previously pled guilty today to one count of conspiring to provide an inmate of a prison a prohibited object, in this case methamphetamine. Shroyer was sentenced yesterday to imprisonment for a term of 24 months.

According to evidence presented, Shroyer and others she conspired with, made several phone calls to arrange transport of the methamphetamine to the inmate, who was housed at USP Lee. On January 31, 2016, Shroyer secreted the methamphetamine inside her body to avoid detection, brought methamphetamine to USP-Lee, entered a restroom after entering USP-Lee, removed the methamphetamine from inside her body, and surreptitiously passed the methamphetamine to an inmate, Jermaine Jeffries. Jeffries was previously convicted for his role in the conspiracy and was sentenced to imprisonment for a term of 60 months.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Prisons. Assistant United States Attorney Randy Ramseyer prosecuted the case for the United States.

Lynchburg, VIRGINIA – A Waynesboro man was sentenced today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Lynchburg to a federal gun charge, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

Miguel Angel Fernandez, 19, of Waynesboro, Va., previously pled guilty to one count of knowingly possessing a stolen firearm. Today in District Court, Fernandez was sentenced to 13 months in federal prison and 2 years of supervised release thereafter.

During a previous hearing, the United States stated that its evidence included the following: on Sunday, September 11, 2016, a United States Park Ranger approached Fernandez and several others near a vehicle that was parked along the Blue Ridge Parkway near milepost 41 in Rockbridge County to inquire about litter outside of the vehicle. As the Ranger approached the vehicle to see if the occupants needed assistance, he told the occupants he needed to speak to them about the trash on the ground. It was at this point the Ranger smelled the odor of alcohol emanating from the vehicle.

While talking to passenger Fernandez, who appeared to be intoxicated, the Ranger noticed a bulge in Fernandez’s waistband and recovered a Springfield Armory XD .40 caliber semiautomatic pistol. The gun had been reported stolen within the prior two days from the glovebox of a car. In a post-Miranda statement, Fernandez admitted that he knew the gun was stolen but he did not know who stole it and was just holding the gun for a friend.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the National Park Service. Assistant United States Attorney Nancy S. Healey prosecuted the case for the United States.

Abingdon, VIRGINIA – A Bristol woman, who along with a husband and wife were accused of healthcare fraud, pled guilty today to related charges, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle, Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring and Nick DiGiulio, Special Agent in Charge, Philadelphia Regional Office for U.S. Health and Human Services - Office of Inspector General announced today.

Deborah Branch, 65, of Bristol, Va., pled guilty today to one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and one count of wire fraud. Previously, Bryan Harr Sr. and Melissa Harr, pled guilty to related charges for their roles in the conspiracy. Branch will be sentenced on July 13, 2017 at 10 a.m.

According to evidence presented at today’s guilty plea hearing, Bryan Harr Sr. and his wife, Melissa Harr, hired Branch to work with one of their children, who suffers from intellectual and physical disabilities and who qualifies for services paid for by Virginia Medicaid, including personal assistance, respite and residential support services. These services are available to qualified individuals pursuant to Virginia Medicaid’s Intellectual Disability (ID) waiver program. The ID waiver program is designed to provide critical services that enable a recipient to remain at home instead of being placed in an institution. Recipients or their guardians are permitted to hire workers of their own choosing to provide these services which are paid for by Virginia Medicaid. Branch was paid through two different Virginia Medicaid contractors: Public Partnerships, LLC and ResCare (formerly known as Creative Family Solutions).

From January 2010 until September 2015, Branch, with the knowledge of Melissa Harr and Bryan Harr Sr., submitted time sheets claiming Branch was providing services for Harr’s disabled son when she was not. In exchange for assisting Branch in being paid for work she did not do, Branch paid the Harrs approximately $200 every two weeks. Virginia Medicaid’s Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) paid out $350,641.02 to the contractors based on these time sheets, of which $207,854.43 was paid to Branch. More importantly, the Harr’s disabled son did not receive the services he legitimately needed pursuant to the ID waiver program.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Virginia Attorney General’s Office, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, and the Bristol Virginia Police Department. Special Assistant United States Attorney Janine M. Myatt, a Virginia Assistant Attorney General, is prosecuting the case for the United States.

Charlottesville, VIRGINIA – A Madison County Sheriff’s Office detective, assigned to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force [ICAC], was arrested this morning and charged via federal criminal complaint with four counts relating to the sexual exploitation of minors, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle, Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Virginia State Police Colonel Steve W. Flaherty and Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Division John J. Lenkart, announced today.

Bruce A. Harvey, 40, of Reva, Va., has been charged with two counts of transporting minors across state lines with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and two counts of interstate travel with minors with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. The alleged criminal activity involved two minor female victims who had contact with Harvey while he worked as a karate instructor. The alleged criminal conducted occurred between 1998 and 2007.

Harvey, a former instructor at the Virginia Tong Leong School of Karate in Madison, had his initial appearance this afternoon in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Charlottesville and remains in custody pending further court action.

The investigation of the case is ongoing and being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Virginia State Police. Assistant United States Attorney Nancy S. Healey and Lauren S. Kupersmith, Trial Attorney for the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the United States Department of Justice will prosecute the case for the United States.

A criminal complaint is only a charge and not evidence of guilt. The defendant is entitled to a fair trial with the burden on the government to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

If you have any information about these crimes or information about a potential victim, please contact the FBI at 800-CALL-FBI. Investigators and victim specialists are available to assist you.

A Madison County, Virginia, Sheriff’s Office detective, assigned to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC), was arrested this morning and charged via federal criminal complaint with four counts relating to the sexual exploitation of minors.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle of the Western District of Virginia, Colonel Steve W. Flaherty of the Virginia State Police and Acting Special Agent in Charge Division John J. Lenkart of the FBI’s Richmond Division made the announcement.

Bruce A. Harvey, 40, of Reva, Virginia, has been charged with two counts of transporting minors across state lines with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and two counts of interstate travel with minors with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. The alleged criminal activity involved two minor female victims who had contact with Harvey while he worked as a karate instructor. The alleged criminal conduct occurred between 1998 and 2007.

Harvey, a former instructor at the Virginia Tong Leong School of Karate in Madison, had his initial appearance this afternoon in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Charlottesville and remains in custody pending further court action.

The charges contained in a complaint are merely accusations, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The investigation of the case is ongoing and being conducted by the FBI and the Virginia State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy S. Healey of the Western District of Virginia and Trial Attorney Lauren S. Kupersmith of the Justice Department’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) are prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and 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.

If you have any information about these crimes or information about a potential victim, please contact the FBI at 800-CALL-FBI. Investigators and victim specialists are available to assist you.

Roanoke, VIRGINIA – A pair of Marion residents pled guilty this week in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Roanoke to federal conspiracy charges, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

Charles J. Wojciechowicz, 33, of Marion, pled guilty yesterday to one count of conspiracy to distribute a measurable quantity of a mixture containing methamphetamine. In a separate hearing today in U.S. District Court in Roanoke, Danny Douglas Meadows, 41, of Marion, also pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute a measurable quantity of a mixture of methamphetamine. At sentencing, the defendants face up to 20 years in federal prison.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Virginia State Police, the Smyth County Sheriff’s Office and the Claytor Lake Drug Task Force. Assistant United States Attorney Andrew Bassford prosecuted the case for the United States.

Abingdon, VIRGINIA – A Big Stone Gap man was indicted last week by a federal grand jury sitting in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Abingdon on wire and mail fraud charges, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

Michael Paul Riebe, 30, of Big Stone Gap, Va., was indicted last week on five counts of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud.

According to the indictment, Riebe's company purchased property located at 18182 U.S. Highway 58 in Castlewood, Virginia, in October 2013, for a price of $470,500. Riebe's company used that property as a funeral home. In November 2013, Riebe obtained insurance coverage on the property for up to $850,000. In October 2014, that insurance was increased to $1,200,000.

In the early morning hours of October 22, 2014, the Russell County Sheriff’s Office received a report that the funeral home located at 18182 U.S. Highway 58 in Castlewood was on fire.

The indictment alleges that Riebe made, via electronic and mail submissions, claims for reimbursement from his insurance provider for personal and business losses as a result of the fire for items that were not actually destroyed in the fire.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Russell County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Russell County Commonwealth’s Attorney and Special Assistant United States Attorney Brian Patton will prosecute the case for the United States.

A Grand Jury Indictment is only a charge and not evidence of guilt. The defendant is entitled to a fair trial with the burden on the government to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Lynchburg, VIRGINIA – The final two defendants in an interstate drug trafficking conspiracy were sentenced today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Lynchburg, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

Ivan Rodriguez Chavez, 36, of Forest, Va., who was previously convicted of one count of conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, was sentenced today to a term of imprisonment of 180 months. In a separate hearing, the Court imposed a sentence of 104 months upon defendant Brent Michael Hutchins, 28, of Goode, Va., who had been convicted of conspiring with Chavez to distribute methamphetamine and of possessing a firearm while being an unlawful user of a controlled substance.

During previous hearings in U.S. District Court, Justin Ray Goodman and William Matthew Hylton had been sentenced to 100 months and 94 months, respectively, for their roles as distributors on behalf of the conspiracy. Christiana Hudgins received a sentence of 36 months.

The investigation of the case was conducted by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office and the Roanoke City Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Donald R. Wolthuis and Special Assistant United States Attorney Kari Munro prosecuted the case for the United States.

Roanoke, VIRGINIA – A Roanoke man pled guilty this morning to a pair of federal charges related to cocaine distribution and illegal firearms possession, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

Antonio Maurice Payne, 29, of Roanoke, Va., pled guilty this morning in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Roanoke to one count of illegal possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon and one count of possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Roanoke City Police Department conducted the investigation of the case. Assistant United States Attorney Andrew Bassford prosecuted the case for the United States.

Abingdon, VIRGINIA – A federal inmate at United States Penitentiary at Lee County faces additional federal prison time after pleading guilty this morning to resisting and assaulting a corrections officer, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

Darren Wall, 24, waived his right to be indicted and pled guilty this morning to a one count Information charging him with one count of forcibly assaulting and resisting an officer and employee of the United States while that officer was engaged in the performance of official duties and during the commission of such offense did inflict bodily injury.

United States District Judge James P. Jones scheduled a sentencing hearing for July 6, 2017, at 2:30 p.m., in Abingdon. At sentencing, Wall faces a sentence of imprisonment for a term of between five and eight years

According to evidence presented to the court today by Assistant United States Attorney Randy Ramseyer, on May 9, 2016, on May 9, 2016, Wall, while an inmate at USP Lee, resisted and assaulted a corrections officer while the officer performed his official duties. That assault caused bodily injury to the officer.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Bristol, Virginia, office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney AUSA Randy Ramseyer is prosecuting the case for the United States.

Abingdon, VIRGINIA – A former senior vice-president with BB&T, who stole cash from bank vaults to which she had access through her employment with the bank, pled guilty to federal embezzlement charges this morning in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Abingdon, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

Melissa D. Huffman, 46, of Roanoke, Virginia, waived her right to be indicted and pled guilty this morning to a one count Information charging embezzlement from a FDIC-insured bank.

United States District Judge James P. Jones scheduled a sentencing hearing for August 1, 2017, at 2:30 p.m. At sentencing, Huffman faces a maximum possible penalty of up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $1,000,000. Huffman agreed to make full restitution and to pay more than $30,000 toward restitution by May 24, 2017.

Between 2014 and December 2016, Huffman worked as a senior vice-president and regional branch operations manager for BB&T. As part of her official duties, Huffman had access to the vaults of BB&T’s banks throughout the Western District of Virginia. On several occasions, Huffman stole case from the vaults she visited and caused the shortages to be attributed to subordinate employees at the banks. The branches from which she stole cash included Boonsboro, Fort Hill, Martinsville, Tanglewood, Tazewell, and Warrenton.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the United States Secret Service. Assistant United States Attorney Randy Ramseyer is prosecuting the case for the United States.

A federal grand jury sitting in Roanoke, Virginia, returned an indictment today charging a Danville, Virginia resident with filing false tax returns, announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle for the Western District of Virginia.

According to the indictment, Timothy Harris owned and operated tax return preparation businesses in Danville and Rocky Mount, Virginia. From 2011 through 2014, Harris allegedly filed federal tax returns that claimed bogus business losses to which his clients were not entitled. The indictment charges that after the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) revoked Harris’s Electronic Filing Identification Number (EFIN) in December 2012, he used another person’s EFIN to file additional tax returns.

An indictment is not a finding of guilt. Individuals charged in indictments are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

If convicted, Harris faces a statutory maximum sentence of three years in prison for each count. He also faces a term of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg and Acting U.S. Attorney Mountcastle commended special agents of IRS–Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Trial Attorneys Michael C. Boteler and William M. Montague of the Tax Division, who are prosecuting the case.

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

A grand jury in the Western District of Virginia indicted a Concord, Virginia couple for filing false federal tax returns and conspiring to structure currency transactions, announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle for the Western District of Virginia. The husband, Barry Edwards was also charged with tax evasion and corruptly endeavoring to impede the internal revenue laws.

The indictment, which was unsealed today following arrest and arraignment, alleges that Barry Edwards, 53, and his wife, Joanne Edwards, 49, created two purported religious missions in 2006, which they used as nominees to receive income Barry Edwards earned selling nutritional supplements. indictment further alleges that Barry and Joanne Edwards deposited this income into bank accounts they held in the nominee names. It is alleged that the couple withdrew more than $400,000 in cash from the nominee accounts, in increments less than $10,000, to evade bank-reporting requirements. y allegedly then deposited the funds into their personal bank accounts to pay personal expenses including car payments and their children’s tuition. Barry Edwards also allegedly used the funds to purchase a five-acre farm in Concord, Virginia. According to the indictment, they did not report this income on their 2013 or 2014 tax returns.

The indictment further alleges that Barry Edwards corruptly endeavored to impede the internal revenue laws by establishing nominee entities, directing that his income be paid to them and filing false tax returns for 2013 through 2015 that omitted this income.

An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

If convicted, Barry and Joanne Edwards each face a maximum statutory sentence of five years in prison for the conspiracy charge, and a maximum statutory sentence of three years in prison for each count of filing a false tax return. Barry Edwards also faces a maximum statutory sentence of five years in prison for each tax evasion count and a maximum statutory sentence of three years in prison for corruptly endeavoring to impede the internal revenue laws. They also face a term of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg and Acting U.S. Attorney Mountcastle thanked special agents of Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Trial Attorney Sean Beaty of the Tax Division and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Kari Munro, who are prosecuting the case.

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

Abingdon, VIRGINIA – A Bristol man, who along with his wife and another woman, was accused of healthcare fraud charges, has pled guilty to related federal charges, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle, Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring and Nick DiGiulio, Special Agent in Charge, Philadelphia Regional Office for U.S. Health and Human Services - Office of Inspector General announced today.

Bryan Harr Sr., 41, of Bristol, Va., pled guilty yesterday in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Abingdon to one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. Melissa Harr previously pled guilty to one count conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. Deborah Branch, 64, is also charged as part of the conspiracy.

Bryan Harr Sr. admitted yesterday that he and his wife, Melissa Harr, hired Branch to work with one of their children, who suffers from intellectual and physical disabilities and who qualifies for services paid for by Virginia Medicaid, including personal assistance, respite and residential support services. These services are available to qualified individuals pursuant to Virginia Medicaid’s Intellectual Disability (ID) waiver program. The ID waiver program is designed to provide critical services that enable a recipient to remain at home instead of being placed in an institution. Recipients or their guardians are permitted to hire workers of their own choosing to provide these services which are paid for by Virginia Medicaid. Branch was paid through two different Virginia Medicaid contractors: Public Partnerships, LLC and ResCare (formerly known as Creative Family Solutions).

From January 2010 until September 2015, Branch, with the knowledge of Melissa Harr and Bryan Harr Sr., submitted time sheets claiming Branch was providing services for Harr’s disabled son when she was not. In exchange for assisting Branch in getting paid for work she did not do, Branch paid the Harrs approximately $200 every two weeks. Virginia Medicaid’s Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) paid out $350,641.02 to the contractors based on these time sheets, of which $207,854.43 was paid to Branch. More importantly, the Harr’s disabled son did not receive the services he legitimately needed pursuant to the ID waiver program.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Virginia Attorney General’s Office, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, and the Bristol Virginia Police Department. Special Assistant United States Attorney Janine M. Myatt, a Virginia Assistant Attorney General, is prosecuting the case for the United States.

Roanoke, VIRGINIA – A Rocky Mount man, who contacted at least two local teenagers via social media and exchanged explicit sexual messages with them and attempted to coerce them into meeting with him to engage in sex acts, was sentenced today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Roanoke, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

David Lee Fox, 63, of Rocky Mount, Va., previously pled guilty to two counts of coercion and enticement of a juvenile. Today in District Court, Fox was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison and 20 years of supervised release upon his release.

According to evidence presented at previous hearings by Assistant United States Attorney Ronald M. Huber, in August 2015 Fox initiated contact with a 14-year-old female, Victim A, via Facebook. Victim A initially ignored the defendant, who over numerous days continued to attempt to engage her in conversation.

On September 30, Victim A responded to Fox’s attempts at conversation and Fox told Victim A she was pretty. The conversation quickly turned sexual, with Fox asking if Victim A had a picture of herself in a bar or bikini and if she could take one and send it to him. Fox told Victim A to promise not to tell anybody about their conversation. Victim A told her parents about the exchanges with Fox. On that same day, Victim A’s parents contacted the ICAC/Franklin County Sheriff Office about the exchanges and gave law enforcement permission to assume control of Victim A’s Facebook account. All messages from Victim A’s Facebook account after that date were controlled by law enforcement.

Between October 2 and October 22, Fox initiated contact with Victim A’s Facebook account multiple times. On October 21, Fox asked Victim A is she knew Victim B.

On October 22 Fox expressed concern about Victim A’s family discovering their conversation, but Victim A reassured him. Fox then went on to discuss his penis size and asked Victim A about her breasts as well as her sexual experiences. Fox asked if Victim A would meet him and continued to describe sexual acts he would like to do to Victim A. Victim A agreed to meet Fox at the Franklin County Baptist Church around 4 p.m. on the afternoon of October 22.

On the afternoon of October 22, an investigator with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, the Virginia State Police and the Rocky Mount Police waited at the church for Fox to arrive. When law enforcement observed a man fitting Fox’s description arrive in the church’s parking lot to meet who he thought was Victim A, he was arrested and charged with solicitation of a minor to perform sex acts.

Prior to his arrest, Fox was also simultaneously being investigated for his online interactions with another minor female. On October 2, 2015, a Roanoke County Police detective contacted the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office regarding Victim B, another juvenile female, who had received a suspicious message from Fox’s Facebook account. The parents of Victim B gave law enforcement permission to assume control of their daughter’s Facebook account.

As with Victim A, Fox again engaged in sexual conversations with Victim B, asking her to send him pictures of herself in her bra and bikini and stressed to not let anyone know what the two of them were talking about. Unlike with Victim A, with Victim B, Fox initially lied about his age, at first saying he was a teenager himself before later admitting he was much older.

Throughout multiple conversations, Fox repeatedly described sex acts he wanted to perform on Victim B, sent her images of himself and images sexual in nature and, on multiple occasions attempted to make plans to meet her in person. The night Fox and Victim B planned to meet in person, Fox cancelled, telling Victim B he had to go out of town, however, he was in fact going to meet Victim A, where he was ultimately arrested.

The investigation of the case was conducted by Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, the Southern Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Franklin County Commonwealth’s Attorney, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations, the Virginia State Police and the Rocky Mount Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Ronald M. Huber prosecuted the case for the United States.

Roanoke, VIRGINIA – The final defendant in a conspiracy that brought heroin into the Roanoke region from New York and Maryland was sentenced today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Roanoke, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

Juan Reyes, 35, of Bronx, New York, who previously pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute heroin, was sentenced today in District Court to 38 months in federal prison.

Several co-conspirators convicted as part of the case were previously sentenced in U.S. District Court. Kelly Marie Combs, 28, of Salem, Va., was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison. Hameen Shahid Irvin, 41, of Roanoke, Va., who was sentenced 90 months in federal prison. Devona Sue Terry was sentenced to 57 months in prison. Cleveland Terry was sentenced to 132 months in prison.

According to evidence presented at previous hearings by Assistant United States Attorneys Ashley B. Neese and Jennie L. M. Waering, members of the conspiracy were responsible for trafficking large amounts of heroin into the Roanoke region from New York and Baltimore. Evidence showed members of the conspiracy regularly drove to New York and Baltimore to buy heroin and returned to Roanoke with the drug for redistribution.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Roanoke County Police Department and the Virginia State Police. Assistant United States Attorneys Ashley B. Neese and Jennie L. M. Waering prosecuted the case for the United States.

Lynchburg, VIRGINIA – A Lynchburg man, who previously pled guilty to a federal bankruptcy fraud charge, was sentenced today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Lynchburg, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

Randall K. Falwell, 56, of Lynchburg, previously pled guilty to one count of bankruptcy fraud. Today in District Court, Falwell was sentenced to three months in prison, followed by a two-year term of supervised release. In addition, the Court ordered Falwell to pay a fine of $10,000 and to pay more than $17,000 in restitution to the bankruptcy estate as compensation for harm caused by his fraudulent conduct.

According to evidence presented at previous hearings by Special Assistant United States Attorney Kari Munro, Falwell knowingly and fraudulently made false statements under oath in two separate bankruptcy proceedings. Specifically, Falwell claimed that he owned partial interests in real property without disclosing to the bankruptcy trustee that he had sold the properties some months earlier.

The investigation of the case was conducted by United States Trustee’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Jennie L. M. Waering and Special Assistant United States Attorney Kari Munro prosecuted the case for the United States.