Western District of Washington

Tacoma – A 48-year-old Longview, Washington, man was arrested this morning on a criminal complaint charging seven counts of making interstate threats, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  Mark Leonetti has allegedly repeatedly called U.S. Senators and members of the House of Representatives and left voicemails threatening bodily harm.  Leonetti will appear today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma.

“Making horrific and graphic threats to harm is always unacceptable, and we must always take threats of political violence seriously. In this instance, Mr. Leonetti refused to stop his conduct despite contact with law enforcement and mental health personnel,” said U.S. Attorney Brown.  “We acted now because it has become clear it is the only way to safeguard the community and those serving it.”

According to the criminal complaint, in 2021, Leonetti allegedly left more than 400 voicemails for members of Congress, several of which used slurs and were threatening.  This pattern of allegedly leaving voicemails for federal elected officials continued despite Leonetti being visited and warned several times by law enforcement and mental health professionals.  In early September 2022, he left threatening voicemails in the voicemail box of a congresswoman.  Emergency mental health professionals again contacted Leonetti after those calls.  In late September and October 2022, Leonetti left additional threatening voicemails for a different senator and a congressman.  The most recent voicemails were left on December 5, 2022 and contained bizarre and threatening statements about “murder” and “killing” individuals.

Making interstate threats is punishable by up to 5 years in prison.

The charges contained in the complaint are only allegations.  A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The case is being investigated by the FBI with assistance from the U.S. Capitol Police and the Longview Police Department.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Will Dreher.

Seattle – A 61-year-old Spanaway, Washington man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to eight years in prison for his key role in a large drug distribution ring, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Dwayne Douglas George was indicted in November 2021, along with 16 other defendants. George distributed significant amounts of methamphetamine and fentanyl in Western Washington, and acted as a courier, bringing large amounts of drugs to the northwest from California.  U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour noted “the large amount of methamphetamine and fentanyl in the case.  Both are extremely dangerous and caused a lot of damage in this community.”

“Mr. George obtained as much as seven pounds of methamphetamine at a time directly from the leader of this drug distribution ring – and fed the addiction of countless people struggling in our community,” said U.S. Attorney Brown.  “He also was poised to bring 80,000 fentanyl pills to our community. Both meth and fentanyl are claiming lives across western Washington.”

According to records filed in the case the investigation began in February 2020.  Various people working with law enforcement provided information regarding the drug distribution activities.  Aware of some of the group’s trafficking, law enforcement seized 9 pounds of methamphetamine in a traffic stop on May 16, 2020.  Another 30 pounds of meth were seized in a stop on April 2, 2021, and 57 pounds of methamphetamine and 20,000 fentanyl pills were seized in a traffic stop on September 28, 2021.  Additionally, on August 17, 2021, law enforcement seized 19 pounds of methamphetamine that conspirators attempted to mail to Fiji.

George helped the organization spread drugs to King, Pierce, Thurston, Lewis, Mason, and Kitsap counties. 

“Mr. George was a large-scale distributor of illegal narcotics which have caused countless deaths and sorrow for many families in the Pacific Northwest,” said Jacob D. Galvan, Acting Special Agent in Charge, DEA Seattle Field Division. “The DEA and all of its partners will continue to investigate, arrest and hold accountable individuals like Mr. George and those organizations that seek to bring harm to our communities.”

In asking for an eight-year prison sentence, prosecutors wrote to the court that George “…worked alongside members of a large transnational drug organization, selling pound-quantities of methamphetamine. Moreover, he also made the decision to get involved in the distribution of fentanyl, an incredibly dangerous and oftentimes lethal drug, that he never used himself. Based on his conduct, the amounts of drugs he was distributing, and his long criminal past, including more than 30 years of drug trafficking, George is not only deserving of a significant sentence, but such a sentence is also clearly necessary to protect the public.”

Judge Coughenour ordered George to serve four years of supervised release following his prison term.

This case is an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks. 

The investigation was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Seattle Field Division (SFD) Tacoma Resident Office (TRO) and Bremerton Police Department (BPD), with assistance from  Tahoma Narcotics Enforcement (TNET); the Seattle, Puyallup, Auburn, Federal Way, Kent, Bonney Lake, Tacoma,  and Lakewood Police Departments; the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office; Washington State Department of Corrections; Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team (JNET): Centralia and Chehalis Police Departments; Valley Narcotics Enforcement Team (VNET); and Washington State Patrol; Thurston Narcotics Team (TNT), Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office, and Mason County Sheriff’s Office; United States Postal Inspections Service (USPIS), Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF) with support from Northwest High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas ( HIDTA).

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys C. Andrew Colasurdo and William Dreher.

Seattle – Two of three defendants charged in a failed attempt to smuggle more than 400 pounds of methamphetamine and two pounds of fentanyl powder into Canada appeared in U.S. District Court in Seattle today, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  Erika A. Bocelle, 32 , of Providence, Rhode Island and John Michael Sherwood,  65, currently of Idaho,  appeared on an indictment today, connected to the April 2021 discovery of some $7 million of illegal drugs found on the beach near Port Angeles, Washington.

Bocelle, Sherwood and a third defendant, Kevin Christopher Gartry, 45, of British Columbia, Canada, are charged in a three-count indictment with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute, and conspiracy to commit international money laundering.  All three defendants are in custody on unrelated charges and are being brought to western Washington on the indictment returned in August 2022.

On April 7, 2021, beachcombers near Port Angeles reported a black duffel bag with drugs inside.  The Clallam County Sheriff’s office took possession of the bag found to contain 2 pounds of fentanyl powder and nearly 60 pounds of methamphetamine. The fentanyl powder was originally believed to be cocaine. Just days later, on April 11, 2021, a different beach walker reported another find – seven more duffel bags containing 342 pounds of methamphetamine.  The Sheriff’s Office estimated the street value of the drugs as nearly $7 million.

Due to the large quantity of drugs involved, the defendants face a mandatory minimum ten years to life in prison.

The charges contained in the indictment are only allegations.  A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The grand jury indictment was returned after an extensive investigation by the FBI, Homeland Security Investigation (HSI), U.S. Border Patrol and the Border Patrol Air and Marine Unit, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), and the Olympic Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Team (OPNET).

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Vince Lombardi.

Seattle – A 44-year-old resident of Dayton, Nevada, who previously resided in Burlington, Washington, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to production of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  Between 2014 and 2020, John Holcomb made sexually explicit videos of a young child left in his care. Holcomb faces a mandatory minimum 15 years in prison and up to 30 years in prison when sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert S. Lasnik on March 16, 2023.

According to records filed in the case, in 2020, law enforcement in Skagit County was investigating Holcomb for an unrelated criminal allegation.  As part of that investigation, law enforcement served a court authorized search warrant on Holcomb allowing them to seize his electronic devices. The forensic examination revealed videos depicting child sexual abuse.  Law enforcement then sought a new search warrant from a Skagit County Superior Court judge to further review the devices for images of child sexual abuse.

The forensic examination revealed three videos of Holcomb sexually abusing a child who was about 6 or 7 years old. 

As part of his guilty plea, Holcomb will register as a sex offender.

The case was investigated by the FBI, the Burlington Police Department, the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office, the Mt. Vernon Police Department, and the Oak Harbor Police Department.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Hampton and Special Assistant United States Attorney Laura Harmon.  Ms. Harmon is a Senior Deputy King County Prosecutor who is specially designated to prosecute child exploitation crimes in federal court.

Seattle – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington and Tri-Med Ambulance LLC, have reached a settlement agreement aimed at improving services for patients who are deaf or hard of hearing, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  The settlement resolves an Americans with Disabilities (ADA) complaint brought by the Northwest Justice Project on behalf of a South King County resident regarding emergency medical transport on September 7, 2020.  The ambulance crew had no auxiliary aids to allow communication with the patient and failed to notify the hospital that the patient needed communication services. 

“When emergency medical services are involved, it is critical that a patient can communicate with caregivers,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. “I am pleased Tri-Med will have new procedures and resources in place to ensure patients who are deaf or hard of hearing will have effective ways to communicate.”

According to the settlement agreement, Tri-Med will ensure it has appropriate auxiliary aids and services on hand for use with patients who are deaf or hard of hearing.  Each patient can be shown a pictograph which allows them to indicate the preferred method of communication: for example, sign language, lip reading or written communication.  Tri-Med will obtain relevant hardware and enter into contracts for video remote interpreting for each ambulance licensed for emergency response.  Tri-Med also agrees to notify the destination hospital if a patient needs communication assistive devices or services, so as not to delay important care.  The additional communication services must be provided without any additional charge to the patient.  Tri-Med will keep a log of the use of auxiliary services and how effective communication was ensured.

Tri-Med will provide training to it its ambulance personnel regarding the use of the communication services. The training will be reviewed and approved by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.  For the next three years the U.S. Attorney’s Office will review any complaints related to use of auxiliary aids for patients who are deaf or hard of hearing.  Each year Tri-Med will provide the U.S. Attorney’s Office with a written report regarding the use of auxiliary aids or services.

Tri-Med cooperated fully in the investigation. This settlement is not an admission of liability nor a concession that the complaint is not well founded.

The matter was resolved by Assistant United States Attorneys James Waldrop and Susan Kas.

For more information on the Civil Rights program in the Western District of Washington and on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) please visit our website: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdwa/civil-rights.

Seattle – A 42-year-old Snohomish County man was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 42 months in prison for illegal possession of firearms and destructive devices, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. James Wesley Bowden was arrested in November 2021, following an altercation at his property on Burn Road.  Sheriff’s deputies were called to the scene when Bowden threatened another man with a gun.  At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez, noted that Bowden’s drug addiction likely caused a substantial portion of his criminal conduct.

According to records filed in the case, when law enforcement responded to the report of the altercation, they found a room set up in the garage that was much like a laboratory with various chemicals and equipment consistent with the manufacturing of homemade explosives.

After they made sure the explosives were rendered safe, they discovered a removable panel in the floor of the garage that led to an underground bunker.  Inside the bunker were firearms, ammunition, grenades, silencers, ballistic armor, firearms accessories, and other equipment.  Two of the firearms had been modified to shoot as fully automatic machine guns.

In May 2022, Bowden pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of machineguns and possession of a destructive device.

Bowden was prohibited from possessing any firearms because of two prior felony convictions: Burglary (1998) and theft of a firearm (1998).

Personnel from the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF), FBI, Washington State Patrol and the Washington National Guard all worked to mitigate the hazards present at the Burn Road residence.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Cecelia Gregson.

Seattle – A 57-year-old Seattle woman who embezzled more than $2.1 million from her long-time employer was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to a year and a day in prison, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  Michele D. Sharar pleaded guilty on April 25, 2022, to wire fraud for the fraudulent fund transfers she made between 2014 and 2017, from the victim’s business bank accounts to her personal bank accounts.  The victim in this case asked that Sharar serve no prison time.  However, U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour said a sentence of incarceration was important because of the problem of bookkeepers and accountants stealing from small businesses. “These crimes happen so many times and do so much damage,” Judge Coughenour said.

According to records filed in the case, Sharar worked for Emerald City Athletics and Emerald City Health Properties for more than 25 years, rising to the role of Chief Financial Officer (CFO).  During a time period when the owner of the company had medical issues, Sharar began stealing money from the company to feed a shopping addiction.  Over a period of three years, she stole $2,144,551 by depositing third party checks to her own account, transferring money from company accounts to her own accounts, and writing checks on company accounts and depositing them to her own accounts.  Sharar then falsified the company financial reports to hide the fact that she had embezzled the money.

Sharar told her employer about the theft in 2018 and agreed to attempt to pay the money back.   Today Judge Coughenour ordered $2,144,551 in restitution, and ordered three years of supervised release to follow prison.

The FBI investigated the case.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael Dion. 

Seattle – A former Bellevue, Washington, resident who relocated to Miami, was convicted today in U.S. District Court in Seattle of 26 counts related to his multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. The jury deliberated about 11 hours before returning the verdicts following a nine-day trial. Volodimyr Pigida, 48, and his wife Marina Bondarenko, 39, operated a ‘work-at-home’ email scheme that ultimately crashed – but not before the two raided the company’s accounts to purchase homes, expensive cars, and a yacht. The two set up a series of trusts to try to hide the diverted assets from the bankruptcy trustee after the company declared bankruptcy. 

According to records filed in the case and testimony at trial, the company Pigida and his spouse formed, Trend Sound Promoter AMG Corp., was supposed to conduct advertising and music promotion over the internet. The couple sold ad-promoting packages whereby those who bought a package were to be paid for email marketing. The couple made claims to those purchasing the packages that they could make big money for sending emails on Trend Sound’s behalf. In reality, the only significant money being generated was from those purchasing the packages, and it was used to pay earlier purchasers as in a typical Ponzi scheme. Over time the company brought in over $22 million, and total losses to those purchasing the packages was over $11 million. As purchasers got wise and the money started to run out, Pigida and Bondarenko accelerated their looting of the company, eventually transferring $3.3 million out of the company for their personal benefit.

Between May 2013 and March 2014, the pair used more than $3 million in company funds to purchase four properties, a yacht, and numerous cars. When the company filed for bankruptcy protection, Pigida never revealed to the bankruptcy court that they had looted the company coffers and transferred assets purchased with that money to ten trusts they had established.  In all, the pair attempted to conceal $3,334,750 in assets from the bankruptcy court and creditors.

Pigida and Bondarenko were indicted for conspiracy and mail, wire, and bankruptcy fraud in November 2018. In September 2019, Bondarenko pleaded guilty to bankruptcy fraud and was sentenced to 38 months in prison. 

In closing argument, on November 29, 2022, Assistant United States Attorney Justin Arnold said the company, “was as far away from solvent [as] a company can be… This wasn’t mismanagement, this was lies.” Arnold said Pigida lied about investors from Hollywood and investors from Florida.  “You don’t get to lie to people [to] build your dream, and you don’t get to take their money,” AUSA Arnold said.

Pigida is scheduled for sentencing on March 24, 2023.

Conspiracy is punishable by up to five years in prison. Wire fraud and mail fraud are punishable by up to 20 years in prison for each count and a maximum fine of $250,00o or twice the losses to any victims of the offense. The various counts related to bankruptcy fraud are punishable by up to five years in prison for each count and a fine of up to $250,000. The actual sentence will be imposed by Judge Ricardo S. Martinez after considering the sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Justin Arnold and Philip Kopczynski.

Seattle – Six members of a drug distribution conspiracy operating in Skagit and Whatcom counties were charged federally today with various drug and firearms crimes, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  Enoc Martinez Lopez, aka “Victor,” 27, of Marysville, Washington, was the main supplier of drugs to other co-conspirators. He is charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, distribution of controlled substances (including heroin and fentanyl), and distribution of fentanyl.  Martinez Lopez appeared in U.S. District Court today, and has a detention hearing scheduled for tomorrow.

The other defendants will make their initial appearances in U.S. District Court in Seattle over the next few days.

“Drug trafficking organizations are spreading fentanyl pills throughout our district – from rural areas to urban centers,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  “I commend the coordinated efforts in Whatcom and Skagit Counties to expeditiously interdict these potentially deadly drugs.”

The criminal complaint details how various defendants interacted with supplier Martinez Lopez and other drug customers.  In April 2022, investigators initially saw Martinez Lopez meeting with defendant Adam Wisniewski, 41, of Bellingham, Washington at the Silver Reef Casino in Whatcom County.  Wisniewski was later arrested with more than 1,000 fentanyl pills, fentanyl powder and a firearm.  Wisniewski was arrested a second time in June 2022 with two firearms and fentanyl pills. Wisniewski is charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute, as well as two counts of illegal possession of firearms.  Wisniewski cannot legally possess firearms due to a felony drug possession conviction (2011) in Whatcom County Superior Court.

Defendant Manuel Garcia Munoz, 21, of Marysville, Washington is charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and distribution of heroin for a June 2022 sale of heroin.

Defendant Casey Landis, 39, of Bellingham, is charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute including methamphetamine and fentanyl.  In October 2022, Landis left a fanny pack on a counter at Silver Reef Casino that was found to contain fentanyl and meth. An analysis of Landis phone revealed extensive drug trafficking text messages with drug supplier Martinez Lopez and with drug customers.

Defendant Jesse Witteveen, 37, of Maple Falls, Washington, is charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute.  The criminal complaint alleges that on November 1, 2022, Witteveen tried to flee from police and tossed a bag of drugs out of his car window before he was taken into custody in rural Whatcom County.  A search of Witteveen’s car and residence turned up fentanyl pills, meth, multiple cell phones, firearms parts, and ammunition.

Finally, defendant Corbin Saunders, 43, of Bellingham, is charged with unlawful possession of firearms.  Saunders is the owner of a Tesla that was observed leaving a known drug involved residence in Bellingham.   The vehicle was stopped, and a drug dog alerted that it detected the odor of drugs in the vehicle.  Using a court authorized search warrant, law enforcement recovered methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin.  The Tesla also contained an AR-15 style rifle and a 9mm handgun.  Corbin Saunders cannot legally possess firearms due to felony convictions for theft and forgery and convictions for possession of heroin and methamphetamine, all in Whatcom County Superior Court.

“The results of today’s sweeping law enforcement operations show that the DEA, in close collaboration with our local, state and federal law enforcement partners, continue our collective commitment to safeguard our communities from the dangers of fentanyl poisoning by individuals who attempt to sell fake pills, often times doing so while armed,” said Jacob D. Galvan, Acting Special Agent in Charge, DEA Seattle Field Division. “This successful joint law enforcement operation has ensured these dangerous drugs, weapons, and dealers have been taken off our streets, ultimately making the communities we all live in safer places for everyone.”

Since the beginning of the investigation and through yesterday's takedown, law enforcement has seized: 11.5 kilos of fentanyl pills, 2.8 kilos of fentanyl powder, 5.7 kilos of cocaine, 1.6 kilos of heroin and 8.7 kilos of crystal meth, more than $186,000 in cash and nine firearms.

The charges contained in the complaint are only allegations.  A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

The investigation was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Bellingham Resident Office (DEA), working with the Whatcom County Drug and Gang Task Force, the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office, the Skagit County Interlocal Drug Enforcement Unit, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI),  Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington State Patrol, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force, the CBP Air & Marine Operations,  the Lummi Police Department, the Everson Police Department, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stephen Hobbs.

Seattle – A 22-year-old Seattle man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to four years in prison with 15 years of supervised release to follow, for Providing Material Support to a Designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  Elvin Hunter Bgorn Williams was arrested May 28, 2021, at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on criminal charges related to his alleged efforts to join the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization, to engage in violent acts of terrorism in the Middle East or the United States.  At today’s sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour said he was imposing a sentence far below the government’s request of 15 years because of Williams’ “mental health and history of mental health difficulties.”

“Mr. Williams persisted in his plans to join a terrorist organization and commit acts of violence, despite intervention from his family, his school, members of his mosque, and from the FBI,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  “Indeed, he repeatedly stated his intention to commit an act of terror here at home if he could not travel overseas.  Mr. Williams continues to pose a risk to the community.  It will be critically important that he be closely supervised after he is released from prison.”

Williams was arrested following a lengthy investigation into his efforts to join ISIS.

“Mr. Williams proved by his actions he was willing to join the Islamic State in hopes of furthering their ideology through violence,” said Richard A. Collodi, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Seattle field office. “He took concrete steps to fund his activities, procure equipment, and travel to the Middle East. I am grateful for how law enforcement was able to step in and stop him before he actually was able to achieve his goal.”

According to the plea agreement, in November 2020, Williams began telling family members he was a member of ISIS. Williams posted a video on Facebook in which he swore an oath of loyalty to a leader of ISIS. 

Using confidential sources close to Williams, the FBI monitored his activity and became aware of his efforts to travel to the Middle East and join ISIS. Williams expressed to his associates that if he could not travel overseas, he would commit an attack in the U.S. on behalf of ISIS. Williams began communicating with those he believed were ISIS recruiters who could get him to an ISIS terror cell in the Middle East or other parts of the world.

The plea agreement contains statements Williams made about his intentions: that he sought martyrdom, had “no problem with killing,” and hoped to be involved in beheading others.

In May 2021, Williams obtained a passport and pawned a laptop computer to raise funds for his travel. In early May 2021, Williams booked an airline ticket from Seattle to Amsterdam and on to Egypt to join ISIS. On Friday May 28, 2021, he went to Sea-Tac Airport to catch the first leg of his international flight. Williams was arrested at the departure gate.

In asking the court for a 15-year sentence prosecutors wrote to the court, “Sadly, this case is far from unique. ISIS and other terrorist groups engage in the recruitment of would-be supporters using online propaganda communication tools. Far too many U.S. persons fall prey to this recruitment and attempt to travel to fight with terrorist groups overseas or seek to commit local attacks in the name of terrorist organizations.”

The case was investigated by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force in Seattle with assistance from the King County Sheriff’s Office; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; Homeland Security Investigations; Federal Air Marshals; U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services; U.S Marshals Service; U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Transportation Security Administration; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Naval Criminal Investigative Service; Seattle Police Department; Bellevue Police Department; and Port of Seattle Police Department.

Assistant United States Attorney Todd Greenberg of the Western District of Washington’s Terrorism and Violent Crime Unit, and Trial Attorney Andrew Sigler of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting the case.

Seattle – A 36-year-old resident of Bothell, Washington, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to ten years in prison for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  Gabriel Vasquez-Ruiz has been in custody since a major drug ring takedown on December 16, 2020. At today’s sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour imposed five years of supervised release to follow the prison term.

According to records filed in the case, Vasquez-Ruiz was a high-volume drug distributor, able to order up pound quantities of methamphetamine for his customers.  On multiple occasions in early 2019, Vazquez-Ruiz sold a total of more than three pounds of methamphetamine to a person working with law enforcement.  Conversations intercepted by police in November 2020 established that Vazquez-Ruiz agreed to trade a half kilo of cocaine for an SUV and later ordered 5 pounds of meth.

The investigation of the drug ring resulted in the seizure of more than 247 pounds of methamphetamine, 35 pounds of heroin, 42,000 fentanyl pills, 24 firearms and more than $625,000 in cash and bank accounts.

Vazquez-Ruiz pleaded guilty on May 3, 2022, and in his plea agreement resolved both the federal charges and serious state charges.

In asking for a ten-year sentence prosecutors noted that Vazquez -Ruiz had been involved in drug dealing for many years.  “…he did not simply sell small amounts of drugs to support his own habit. Rather, he worked alongside high-ranking members of a large transnational drug organization, selling significant quantities of drugs and at points supplying the organization with cocaine,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memo.

This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Tacoma Residence Office in partnership with Tahoma Narcotics Enforcement Team (TNET), Kent Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations, SeaTac Police Department, Tacoma Police Department, Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force (SRDTF), the Skagit County Sheriff's Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). 

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys C. Andrew Colasurdo and Amy Jaquette.

Seattle – A 31-year-old Renton, Washington man was sentenced this week in U.S. District Court in Seattle to ten years in prison for his role in a violent, cartel connected drug distribution ring, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  Benjamin Fuentes was indicted in July 2020, along with more than a dozen coconspirators following an extensive, wire-tap investigation. U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour imposed the prison term and four years of supervised release to follow incarceration.

“This defendant was immersed in the violence of this drug trafficking ring – at one point firing a gun into the air and threatening to kill everyone inside a residence as part of his debt collection threats,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  “He and his coconspirators distributed massive amounts of methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, and potentially deadly fentanyl pills in King, Pierce, Lewis, and Snohomish Counties.  This sentence removes him from the community he damaged with his violent drug trade.”

According to records filed in the case, Fuentes worked as a drug distributor and debt collector for the drug trafficking organization that was connected to the violent CJNG cartel in Mexico.  Fuentes also served as a translator for leaders of the drug trafficking group when they could not understand English-speaking coconspirators.  During the wiretap, investigators repeatedly heard Fuentes discussing both drug distribution and obtaining firearms for violent debt collection on behalf of the organization.

When agents moved in on the drug ring they found methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine and fentanyl pills in a residence Fuentes shared with a DTO leader.  They also recovered four firearms, ballistic vests and $28,000 in cash.

In asking for a ten-year sentence Assistant United States Attorney Amy Jaquette wrote to the court, “This organization is one of the most violent our District has prosecuted. Given the extent of Fuentes’ involvement in drug distribution and his repeated role in violent debt collection for the conspiracy, a lengthy sentence is needed…. Fuentes also played an integral role in the DTO’s drug distribution – most notably, picking up a shipment of methamphetamine and 7,000 fentanyl pills for redistribution in our District. That quantity of fentanyl pills put innumerable lives at risk.”

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Tacoma Resident Office in partnership with Tahoma Narcotics Enforcement Team (TNET), Kent Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations, SeaTac Police Department, Thurston County Narcotics Team (TNT), the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI).

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Amy Jaquette and C. Andrew Colasurdo.

Seattle – Two Estonian citizens were arrested in Tallinn, Estonia November 20, 2022, on an 18-count indictment charging conspiracy, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The indictment was returned by a grand jury sitting in the Western District of Washington on October 27 and unsealed today following the arrests. 

According to the indictment, Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turõgin, both 37, are alleged to have induced hundreds of thousands of victims to purchase contracts in a cryptocurrency mining service called HashFlare and to invest in a virtual currency bank called Polybius Bank. Victims paid more than $575 million to the defendants’ companies. The defendants then used shell companies to launder the fraud proceeds and to purchase real estate and luxury cars.

“New technology has made it easier for bad actors to take advantage of innocent victims—both in the U.S. and abroad—in increasingly complex scams,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The department is committed to preventing the public from losing more of their hard-earned money to these scams and will not allow these defendants, or others like them, to keep the fruits of their crimes.”

“The size and scope of the alleged scheme is truly astounding. These defendants capitalized on both the allure of cryptocurrency, and the mystery surrounding cryptocurrency mining, to commit an enormous Ponzi scheme,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown of the Western District of Washington. “They lured investors with false representations and then paid early investors off with money from those who invested later. They tried to hide their ill-gotten gain in Estonian properties, luxury cars, and bank accounts and virtual currency wallets around the world. U.S. and Estonian authorities are working to seize and restrain these assets and take the profit out of these crimes.”

“Mr. Potapenko and Mr. Turõgin are charged with defrauding investors out of more than half a billion dollars” said Richard A. Collodi, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Seattle field office. “Ultimately, their elaborate Ponzi scheme fell apart and they conspired to conceal and launder the money which they took from the victims of their scheme. Thanks to our partnership with the Estonian authorities, the two defendants will answer for the massive fraud they are accused of perpetrating.”

According to the indictment, Potapenko and Turõgin claimed that their business, HashFlare, operated a massive cryptocurrency mining operation. Cryptocurrency mining is the process of using computers to generate cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin, for profit. The defendants offered contracts under which customers could pay a fee to rent a percentage of HashFlare’s mining operations in exchange for the virtual currency produced by their portion of the operation. HashFlare’s website enabled customers to see the amount of virtual currency their mining activity had supposedly generated. Customers from around the world, including from western Washington, bought more than $550 million worth of HashFlare contracts between 2015 and 2019.

HashFlare allegedly did not have the virtual currency mining equipment it claimed to have. In fact, according to the indictment, HashFlare’s equipment performed Bitcoin mining at a rate of less than one percent of the computing power it purported to have. When investors asked to withdraw their mining proceeds, the defendants were not able to pay with the mined currency as promised. Instead, the defendants either resisted making the payments, or paid off the investors using virtual currency the defendants had purchased on the open market—not currency they had mined. HashFlare closed its operations in 2019.

In May 2017, Potapenko and Turõgin offered investments in a company called Polybius, which they said would form a bank specializing in virtual currency. The defendants promised to pay investors dividends from Polybius’ profits.  The men raised at least $25 million in this scheme and transferred most of the money to other bank accounts and virtual currency wallets they controlled. Polybius never formed a bank or paid any dividends.

The indictment also charges the defendants with conspiring to launder their criminal proceeds by using shell companies and phony contracts and invoices. The indictment alleges that the money laundering conspiracy involved at least 75 real properties, six luxury vehicles, cryptocurrency wallets, and thousands of cryptocurrency mining machines.

Both defendants appeared in court in Tallin, and are being held pending extradition to the U.S.

The men are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 16 counts of wire fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Each of these crimes is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

The charges contained in the indictment are only allegations. A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The FBI is investigating the case.

The United States thanks the Cybercrime Bureau of the National Criminal Police of the Estonian Police and Border Guard for its support with this investigation.   The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs (OIA) provided extensive assistance to the investigation.

This investigation and arrests demonstrate the great coordination and cooperation between U.S. and Estonian law enforcement. Estonia has been a crucial ally to disrupt this cyber-enabled crime, and the United States thanks the Estonians for their continued assistance and coordination.

Assistant United States Attorneys Seth Wilkinson and Jehiel I. Baer of the Western District of Washington, and Trial Attorneys Adrienne E. Rosen and Olivia Zhu of DOJ’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section are prosecuting the case.

Individuals who believe they may have been a victim in this case should visit www.fbi.gov/hashflare for more information.

Two Estonian citizens were arrested in Tallinn, Estonia, yesterday on an 18-count indictment for their alleged involvement in a $575 million cryptocurrency fraud and money laundering conspiracy.

The indictment was returned by a grand jury in the Western District of Washington on Oct. 27 and unsealed today.

According to court documents, Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turõgin, both 37, allegedly defrauded hundreds of thousands of victims through a multi-faceted scheme. They induced victims to enter into fraudulent equipment rental contracts with the defendants’ cryptocurrency mining service called HashFlare. They also caused victims to invest in a virtual currency bank called Polybius Bank. In reality, Polybius was never actually a bank, and never paid out the promised dividends. Victims paid more than $575 million to Potapenko and Turõgin’s companies. Potapenko and Turõgin then used shell companies to launder the fraud proceeds and to purchase real estate and luxury cars.

“New technology has made it easier for bad actors to take advantage of innocent victims – both in the U.S. and abroad – in increasingly complex scams,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The department is committed to preventing the public from losing more of their hard-earned money to these scams and will not allow these defendants, or others like them, to keep the fruits of their crimes.”

“The size and scope of the alleged scheme is truly astounding. These defendants capitalized on both the allure of cryptocurrency, and the mystery surrounding cryptocurrency mining, to commit an enormous Ponzi scheme,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown for the Western District of Washington. “They lured investors with false representations and then paid early investors off with money from those who invested later. They tried to hide their ill-gotten gain in Estonian properties, luxury cars, and bank accounts and virtual currency wallets around the world. U.S. and Estonian authorities are working to seize and restrain these assets and take the profit out of these crimes.”

"The FBI is committed to pursuing subjects across international boundaries who are utilizing increasingly complex schemes to defraud investors,” said Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “Victims in the U.S. and abroad invested into what they believed were sophisticated virtual asset ventures, but it was all part of a fraudulent scheme and thousands of victims were harmed as a result. The FBI thanks our national and international partners for their efforts throughout the investigation to help bring justice for the victims.”

According to the indictment, Potapenko and Turõgin claimed that HashFlare was a massive cryptocurrency mining operation. Cryptocurrency mining is the process of using computers to generate cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin, for profit. Potapenk and Turõgin offered contracts which, for a fee, purported to allow customers to rent a percentage of HashFlare’s mining operations in exchange for the virtual currency produced by their portion of the operation. HashFlare’s website enabled customers to see the amount of virtual currency their mining activity had supposedly generated. Customers from around the world, including western Washington, entered into more than $550 million worth of HashFlare contracts between 2015 and 2019.

According to the indictment, these contracts were fraudulent. HashFlare allegedly did not have the virtual currency mining equipment it claimed to have. HashFlare’s equipment allegedly performed Bitcoin mining at a rate of less than one percent of the computing power it purported to have. When investors asked to withdraw their mining proceeds, Potapenko and Turõgin were not able to pay the mined currency as promised. Instead, they either resisted making the payments, or paid off the investors using virtual currency the defendants had purchased on the open market—not currency they had mined. HashFlare closed its operations in 2019.

In May 2017, Potapenko and Turõgin offered investments in a company called Polybius, which they promised would form a bank specializing in virtual currency. They promised to pay investors dividends from Polybius’s profits. The men raised at least $25 million in this scheme and transferred most of the money to other bank accounts and virtual currency wallets they controlled. Polybius never formed a bank or paid any dividends.

The indictment also charges Potapenko and Turõgin with conspiring to launder their criminal proceeds by using shell companies and phony contracts and invoices. The money laundering conspiracy allegedly involved at least 75 real properties, six luxury vehicles, cryptocurrency wallets, and thousands of cryptocurrency mining machines.

Potapenko and Turõgin are both charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 16 counts of wire fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. If convicted, Potapenko and Turõgin each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The FBI is investigating the case.

The United States thanks the Cybercrime Bureau of the National Criminal Police of the Estonian Police and Border Guard for its support with this investigation. The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs provided extensive assistance to the investigation.

This investigation and today’s arrest demonstrate the great coordination and cooperation between U.S. and Estonian law enforcement. Estonia has been a crucial ally to disrupt this cyber-enabled crime, and the United States thanks the Estonians for their continued assistance and coordination.

Trial Attorneys Adrienne E. Rosen and Olivia Zhu of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Seth Wilkinson and Jehiel I. Baer for the Western District of Washington are prosecuting the case.

Individuals who believe they may have been a victim in this case should visit www.fbi.gov/hashflare for more information.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Seattle – A 48-year-old Bremerton, Washington man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 9 years in prison for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour noted that it was Michael Wood’s third federal conviction, and that he did poorly while on supervised release. “He has the most revocations (of supervised release) that I have seen in 40 years on the bench,” Judge Coughenour said.

“Mr. Wood has racked up state and federal convictions for drug dealing, partnering with some of the most violent drug cartel members our district has seen,” said U.S. Attorney Brown.  “He was distributing multiple pounds of methamphetamine.  The damage his extensive drug dealing has done to the community cannot be overstated.”

In this most recent conviction, Wood was distributing methamphetamine for a leader of a drug operation tied to Mexico’s Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).  An extensive wire-tape investigation resulted in the indictment of 19 defendants in July 2020.  When authorities went to arrest Wood at the half-way house where he had been residing, he fled and avoided arrest for nearly a year.  He was taken into custody on June 10, 2021, after once again attempting to run from police. Wood pleaded guilty on July 27, 2022.

In asking for a significant sentence, prosecutors described Wood’s lengthy criminal history.  He was first convicted of possession of methamphetamine in 2001.  He also possessed a firearm.   In 2003 he was first convicted federally for distributing methamphetamine for a large drug trafficking organization.  In 2011 he was convicted of drug trafficking in Kitsap County.  While on supervision for the 2011 drug case, he was charged federally in 2015, again for distributing meth for a large drug organization.  Wood was released in 2018, and while on supervision for both the 2011 state case and 2015 federal case, he committed the drug distribution crimes for which he was sentenced today.

“Wood’s history demonstrates that he has spent the vast majority of his life engaged in drug trafficking. On his third federal conviction, he has not been deterred from the criminal lifestyle and rather, has continued at each turn to associate himself with high-level drug trafficking organizations that supplied him with significant quantities of methamphetamine to redistribute. His complete noncompliance with terms of supervision further underscores the need for a significant sentence,” Assistant United States Attorney Amy Jaquette wrote in the government sentencing memo.

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Tacoma Resident Office in partnership with Tahoma Narcotics Enforcement Team (TNET), Kent Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations, SeaTac Police Department, Thurston County Narcotics Team (TNT), the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI).

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Amy Jaquette and C. Andrew Colasurdo. 

Seattle – U.S. Attorney Nick Brown today congratulated law enforcement partners and members of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for its work being named the outstanding OCDETF investigation in the eleven district Pacific Northwest region.  The investigation and prosecution of drug ring leader Bradley Woolard and his co-conspirators was named the top 2022 investigation in the region comprising Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Northern and Eastern Districts of California.

The drug ring distributed fentanyl pills in Snohomish, Skagit, and Whatcom counties.  The ringleader, Woolard, 42, of Arlington, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his conviction on 28 counts involving conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, conspiracy to commit money laundering, money laundering, illegal gun possession, and possessing drugs with the intent to distribute them.  Co-defendants, Anthony Pelayo, 34, of Marysville, was sentenced to 15 years in prison, and a $150,000 fine and Jerome Isham, 40, of Everett, was sentenced to 10 years in prison. 

The OCDETF Award recognizes the investigative agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF), the U.S. Marshals Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) and the Lynnwood Police Department, Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, and Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office.  Assistant United States Attorneys Karyn Johnson and Mike Lang led a team of 13 attorneys and support staff who worked on the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The award, the highest given by the program, is intended to recognize the law enforcement team for its “extraordinary achievement of the disruption/dismantlement of a major criminal organization/network.”

Seattle – U.S. Attorney Nick Brown today highlighted Department of Justice grants awarded to Seattle and King County to assist with issues of opioid abuse and reentry to the community for those involved in the criminal justice system.  The three awards total more than $4 million.

“More and more, opioid addiction impacts our friends, neighbors, and loved ones. And anyone walking in our city today sees the harm of opioid addiction in those who live on our streets with little hope of a better life,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  “These grant funds from the Justice Department are for locally designed programs to help with the addiction crisis.”

The largest grant is to the city of Seattle -- $1,597,836 -- for a program that will provide transitional housing and other services to women who have substance use disorder and are transitioning out of jails and prisons.  The Seattle Police Department will work with the Department of Corrections and case managers to address the multiple needs of women reentering the community.

King County is awarded $1,586,310 to support the creation of an Overdose Fatality Review process in King County that can serve as a community-based rapid response network to develop strategies for the treatment and prevention of overdose.  The grant will help fund naloxone kits for law enforcement and first responders.  Grant funds will also be used to help establish networks to provide education and information about emerging drug trends.

King County’s Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention also received $842,851 to improve educational opportunities in the correctional setting.  The funding is aimed at enhancing educational services at the county corrections facilities by using technology and programs tailored to the inmates’ language and educational level.

All three grants are from DOJ’s Bureau of Justice Assistance.

Seattle – Two men who served as drug runners for a Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) cartel connected drug trafficking organization were sentenced to prison today following an extensive wiretap investigation, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. In sentencing 28-year-old Armando Fierro-Ponce to eight years in prison, U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour noted that he had acted as a debt collector for the organization, obtaining guns and making threats of violence against those who owed the group money.

“A wiretap investigation captured the criminal conduct of these two defendants, and the roles they played in the organization.  Fierro-Ponce discussed obtaining firearms and threatening those in debt to the organization,” said U.S. Attorney Brown. “Fortunately, law enforcement was listening, and able to intervene before threats of kidnapping and assault became a reality.  Now, both men are heading to prison for their part in an organization that trafficked pound quantities of methamphetamine, heroin, and potentially deadly fentanyl pills throughout King, Snohomish, Lewis, and Pierce Counties.”

Fierro-Ponce was among nineteen people indicted in July 2020, following an 18-month investigation of the drug trafficking organization. The drug trafficking group disguised methamphetamine in candles to smuggle it into the Pacific Northwest.  When the candle wax was melted, the methamphetamine was then processed into crystal meth and sold.

During the two months that law enforcement was monitoring phones of the drug organization, there were multiple times when Fierro-Ponce was heard discussing firearms and violent debt-collection activities. Law enforcement responded to these threats by flooding the area near the potential victim with law enforcement, warning the potential victim and/or making arrests to prevent the violence.

A second drug runner for the organization, 27-year-old Edgar Luna-Garcia, was sentenced to five years in prison. Luna-Garcia was trusted by the organization with large loads of methamphetamine and was called on to clean out a stash house following a shooting.

Neither Fierro-Ponce nor Luna-Garcia have legal status in the United States and likely will be deported following their prison terms.  

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Tacoma Resident Office in partnership with Tahoma Narcotics Enforcement Team (TNET), Kent Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations, SeaTac Police Department, Thurston County Narcotics Team (TNT), the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI).

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Amy Jaquette and C. Andrew Colasurdo.  

Seattle – A 37-year-old Lynnwood, Washington, man pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to making interstate threats and a hate crime: interference with a Federally Protected Activity, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  Joey David George has been in federal custody since his arrest on July 22, 2022.  In his plea agreement George admits he made threatening telephone calls from at or near his home in Lynnwood, to grocery stores in Buffalo, New York, restaurants in California and Connecticut, and a marijuana dispensary in Maryland.  Sentencing is scheduled in front of U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez on December 16, 2022.

According to the plea agreement, on July 19, 20, and 21, 2022, George telephoned multiple grocery stores in Buffalo, New York and threatened to shoot Black people in the stores.   George told the staff at the store to “take him seriously” and ordered the store to clear out the customers as he was “nearby” and “preparing to shoot all Black customers.” One store closed.  The threats followed a racially motivated shooting at another Buffalo grocery store in May 2022.   Law enforcement traced the phone number and identified George as the person who made the calls.

In addition to the calls to Buffalo, George admits that in May 2022, he called a restaurant in San Bruno, California.  In that call George allegedly threatened to shoot Black and Hispanic patrons in the restaurant.  He told law enforcement that he made the threat to strike fear in the Bay Area Black community.

On September 11, 2021, George called a cannabis dispensary in Rockville, Maryland, and used racial slurs as he threatened to shoot and kill Black people at the business.  George admitted his racial hate to local law enforcement who used caller ID to trace the call.  The dispensary shut down and hired extra security, causing a loss of over $50,000.  On that same day George also called a Denny’s restaurant in Enfield, Connecticut and threatened Black patrons at the restaurant.

In his plea agreement George agrees to pay restitution to the impacted businesses. 

Making interstate threats in punishable by up to five years in prison.  Interfering with a Federally Protected Activity is punishable by up to ten years in prison.

Prosecutors have agreed to limit their sentencing recommendation to the high end of the federal sentencing guidelines range.  Judge Martinez is not bound by prosecutors’ recommendation and can impose any sentence up to the 10-year statutory maximum after considering the sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.

The case was investigated by the FBI with the assistance of multiple local police departments.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Thomas Woods and Rebecca Cohen in consultation with the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. 

Seattle – The leader of a military-style bank robbery, who later assaulted a co-defendant and tried to hire someone to kill a federal prosecutor, was resentenced today to 31 years in prison for his crimes, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  Luke Elliott Sommer, 36, of Peachland, British Columbia, Canada, had successfully petitioned U.S. District Judge James L. Robart to review his sentence based on his youth at the time of the crimes and his reform while in prison.  In reducing the sentence from 43 years to 31 years, Judge Robart first noted that Sommer’s crimes “are some of the most extreme, violent and dangerous actions to come before this court.”

“Luke Sommer told the court, and the victims of his crimes, that he had truly changed and expressed his sorrow for his actions,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  “He claims to be committed to working on his reform and doing what is right – he now has more than a decade to demonstrate that commitment while he remains incarcerated.”

Luke Sommer was originally sentenced to 24 years in prison on December 12, 2008, for Conspiracy to Commit Armed Bank Robbery, Armed Bank Robbery, Brandishing a Firearm During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence, and Possession of an Unregistered Destructive Device – Hand Grenade. Sommer was the mastermind of the August 7, 2006, robbery of a Tacoma branch of Bank of America. Five men, including Sommer, participated in the robbery. Two were armed with fully automatic AK-47 machine guns. Sommer and another man carried loaded semi-automatic handguns. The men wore soft body armor to protect themselves in case of a shoot-out with police and carried hundreds of rounds of extra ammunition. Sommer told the others that he wanted to use the proceeds of the robbery to start a crime family to rival the Hell’s Angels in British Columbia, Canada. The men escaped with more than $50,000 but were quickly tracked down and arrested thanks to an alert citizen who noted the license plate of the getaway car.

Today, three victims of the bank robbery told the court how they suffered following the crime with post-traumatic stress and anxiety.  The former branch manager described how she saw the red dot of Sommer’s laser site pointed at her young tellers.  “The staff was never the same, I will never be the same,” the branch manager said.

In addition to the bank robbery, in 2010 Sommer was convicted of offering an undercover FBI task force officer as much as $20,000 for murdering an Assistant United States Attorney. Law enforcement was alerted to Sommer’s interest in hiring a hit man in January 2009, barely a month after Sommer was sentenced for the bank robbery. Sommer moved forward with the plot in March 2009, when he tried to hire the undercover officer telling him he wanted news reports of the hit to reflect that it was “murder not an accident.”

Additionally, on January 23, 2009, Sommer used a prison-made knife to attack a co-defendant in the bank robbery case. The two men were to be housed separately at the Federal Detention Center at SeaTac, but Sommer schemed to get to the other man’s prison unit with the weapon. Sommer attacked the other inmate, fighting until the two were pulled apart by staff. Sommer continued to yell and threaten the safety of the victim. Although the victim suffered a minor stab wound and multiple abrasions, neither man had to be hospitalized.

In reducing Sommer’s sentence, Judge Robart noted that “punishment is not vengeance or retaliation.”  The judge said he put weight on the letters from Bureau of Prisons staff who indicate Sommer has “worked hard to do the right thing while incarcerated.”

Assistant United States Attorneys Todd Greenberg and Teal Miller handled the resentencing.

Seattle – A federal judge sentenced Herdade Lokua, 34, and Jospin Mujangi, 32, of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), to prison for their roles in trafficking wildlife products from DRC to Seattle. Lokua was sentenced to 20 months in prison and Mujangi was sentenced to 14 months in prison. Both men had pleaded guilty to conspiracy and Lacey Act charges on July 13. 

At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour said, “The message must be conveyed that if you get caught you are going to jail…. This is an ugly trade in the body parts of majestic animals.”

The court determined that Lokua was the organizer of a trafficking operation involving more than five other co-conspirators whose goal was to ship a cargo container full of elephant ivory, white rhinoceros horn and pangolin scales to Seattle. Mujangi helped package the wildlife products and handled the financial details to process the payment through a Chinese bank and then back to DRC.

“Today’s sentence demonstrates that wildlife trafficking leads to prison, and that we are committed to prosecuting this crime,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “I commend our Homeland Security Investigations and DRC partners in stopping this trafficking ring before tons of protected wildlife products entered the illegal market.”

“Wildlife trafficking is decimating many species worldwide and has broader impacts to a country’s economic development and security,” said Special Agent in Charge Robert Hammer, who oversees Homeland Security Investigations (HSI operations in the Pacific Northwest. “HSI is proud of our international public and private sector partnerships who enabled the success of this investigation and will continue to leverage those partnerships to target and dismantle future trafficking organizations who seek profit over the risk of extinction.”

“The elephant in the room has been addressed today as Mr. Jujangi and Mr. Lokua receive their just rewards for trafficking illegal wildlife products,” said Special Agent Bret Kressin, IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Seattle Field Office. “Conservation efforts on behalf of endangered and protected animals is critical to their continued survival, and IRS-CI is proud to work with our partners both domestically and internationally in order to safeguard these creatures.”

In their prior guilty pleas, both defendants admitted that, beginning in November 2019, they agreed to smuggle the wildlife products at issue to the United States. They worked with a middleman to negotiate the sales and coordinate imports to Seattle. Between August and September 2020, Lokua and Mujangi made several small sales to build trust with the buyers. They sent three packages containing approximately 49 pounds of ivory from Kinshasa. They arranged for the ivory to be cut into smaller pieces and painted black; the packages were then falsely labeled as containing wood.

Lokua and Mujangi acknowledged that in June 2021, they sent nearly five pounds of rhinoceros horn to Seattle using a similar scheme. Lokua discussed sending two tons of ivory and one ton of pangolin scales concealed in a shipping container. He stated that payment would have to be routed through a bank account in China before they could access the cash in Kinshasa.

Lokua and Mujangi admitted that they traveled to Seattle on Nov. 2, 2021, to meet with prospective buyers who were actually undercover federal agents. After negotiating the details for 4,900kg of ivory, 3kg of rhinoceros horn, and 1,500kg of pangolin scales, worth $3.5 million, agents arrested both men in Edmonds, Washington.

The investigation was part of “Operation Kuluna,” an international operation conducted between HSI Seattle, the government of the DRC and the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa. After the arrests, the task force in DRC acted on information provided by HSI Seattle to seize 2,067 pounds of ivory and 75 pounds of pangolin scales in Kinshasa worth over $1 million, all contraband related to wildlife trafficking.

The Lacey Act is the nation’s oldest wildlife trafficking statute and prohibits, among other things, falsely labeling shipments containing wildlife. The United States, DRC and approximately 181 other countries are signatories to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). CITES is an international treaty that restricts trade in species that may be threatened with extinction. CITES has permit requirements for protected wildlife, and the indictment alleges that the defendants did not obtain any of the necessary papers or declarations from DRC or the United States.

The CITES treaty has listed the white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) as a protected species since 1975 and the African elephant (Loxodanta africana) since 1977. All species of pangolin were added to the CITES appendix with the greatest level of protection in 2017. All three mammals are threatened by poaching and habitat loss.

HSI Seattle conducted the investigation, with assistance from IRS Criminal Investigation. Senior Trial Attorneys Patrick M. Duggan and Ryan C. Connors of the Environmental Crimes Section with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington represented the government.

Seattle – United States Attorney Nick Brown announced today that Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) Seth Wilkinson will lead the efforts for the Western District of Washington in connection with the Justice Department’s nationwide Election Day Program for the upcoming November 8, 2022, general election.  AUSA Wilkinson has been appointed to serve as the District Election Officer (DEO) and in that capacity is responsible for overseeing the District’s handling of election day complaints of voting rights concerns, threats of violence to election officials or staff, and election fraud, in consultation with Justice Department Headquarters in Washington.

“Every citizen must be able to vote without interference or discrimination and to have that vote counted in a fair and free election,” said U.S. Attorney Brown.  “Similarly, election officials and staff must be able to serve without being subject to unlawful threats of violence.  The Department of Justice will always work tirelessly to protect the integrity of the election process.”

The Department of Justice has an important role in deterring and combatting discrimination and intimidation, threats of violence directed at election officials and workers, and election fraud.  The Department will address these violations wherever they occur.  The Department’s longstanding Election Day Program furthers these goals and also seeks to ensure public confidence in the electoral process by providing local points of contact within the Department for the public to report possible federal election law violations.

Federal law protects against such crimes as threatening violence against election officials or staff, intimidating or bribing voters, buying and selling votes, impersonating voters, altering vote tallies, stuffing ballot boxes, and marking ballots for voters against their wishes or without their input.  It also contains special protections for the rights of voters, and provides that they can vote free from interference, including intimidation, and other acts designed to prevent or discourage people from voting or voting for the candidate of their choice.  The Voting Rights Act protects the right of voters to mark their own ballot or to be assisted by a person of their choice (where voters need assistance because of disability or inability to read or write in English).  

United States Attorney Brown stated that: “The franchise is the cornerstone of American democracy.  We all must ensure that those who are entitled to the franchise can exercise it if they choose, and that those who seek to corrupt it are brought to justice.  In order to respond to complaints of voting rights concerns and election fraud during the upcoming election, and to ensure that such complaints are directed to the appropriate authorities, AUSA/DEO Wilkinson will be on duty in this District throughout the voting period.  He can be reached by the public at the following telephone number: 206-553-7970.”

In addition, the FBI will have special agents available in each field office and resident agency throughout the country to receive allegations of election fraud and other election abuses on election day.  The local FBI field office can be reached by the public at 206-622-0460.

Complaints about possible violations of the federal voting rights laws can be made directly to the Civil Rights Division in Washington, DC by phone at 800-253-3931 or by complaint form at https://civilrights.justice.gov/ .

United States Attorney Brown said, “Ensuring free and fair elections depends in large part on the assistance of the American electorate.  It is important that those who have specific information about voting rights concerns or election fraud make that information available to the Department of Justice.”

Please note, however, in the case of a crime of violence or intimidation, please call 911 immediately and before contacting federal authorities.  State and local police have primary jurisdiction over ballot drop boxes, and almost always have faster reaction capacity in an emergency.

Seattle – Three significant drug trafficking groups responsible for trafficking more than 1,000 pounds of methamphetamine and hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills are facing federal charges tonight, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Two indictments charging a total of eleven defendants were unsealed late yesterday following law enforcement activity in two states. Six additional defendants were indicted and arrested in September. Despite the arrests tied to a wire-tap investigation, the traffickers named in the most recent indictments continued their trafficking activities.

“These individuals were bringing large loads of meth, heroin, fentanyl and cocaine from Mexico across the border and up I-5 to the Pacific Northwest,” said U.S. Attorney Brown. “Even when an RV loaded with drugs was pulled off the highway and seized by law enforcement, they weren’t deterred. The wiretap revealed various organizations continued to recruit drivers and vehicles to transport their drugs throughout our District.”

“Dangerous people are filling our streets with guns and drugs – and people are dying,” said Seattle Police Chief Adrian Z. Diaz. “The entire SPD, including its officers and investigators, have made getting firearms and illegal narcotics off our streets a top priority. We know this months-long investigation, arrests, and seizures will result in lives saved. With more than 350,000 fentanyl pills taken by SPD’s narcotics unit alone this year and shootings in Seattle up 29% in 2022, we thank our local and federal partners for their help in prioritizing this life-saving work.”

Even before yesterday’s search of 14 locations in Washington and California, the drug, gun, and cash totals seized by law enforcement were significant:  1,016 pounds of meth; 9 kilos of fentanyl powder and 330,000 fentanyl pills; 25 kilos of cocaine; and 15.5 kilos of heroin. Law enforcement seized 43 guns and more than $1 million in cash.

“This operation would be considered a success purely by the volume of illegal drugs taken off the streets” said Richard A. Collodi, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Seattle field office. “When we consider a drug trafficking organization was dismantled and the number of illegal firearms recovered through our federal and local partnerships, the positive impact to the Puget Sound region will be immediately felt.”

“The amount of dangerous narcotics seized during this investigation is staggering,” said Jacob D. Galvan, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Seattle Field Division. “Just looking at the fentanyl seized, since four out of 10 fake pills contain a lethal dose, that was enough to kill 132,000 people. This investigation shows our state, local and federal partnerships are needed so we can keep our communities safe, healthy, and free from these dangerous narcotics.”

Those named in the indictments unsealed yesterday include:

• Jose Paleo, 29, of La Mirada, California
• Octavio Guzman, 24, of Huntington Park, California
• Glauco Guardado Rodriguez, 25, of Seattle
• Araceli Salas, 30, of Maywood, California
• Maria Rangel Aguilar, 44, of Huntington Park, California
• Miguel Thomas, 33, of Tukwila, Washington
• Tad Fulton, 48, of Seattle
• Ryan Holmquist, 34, of Issaquah, Washington
• Timothy Hursh, 38, of SeaTac, Washington
• Ryan Terry, 44, of Duval, Washington
• Abel Cruz, 32, of Des Moines, Washington

Six defendants were arrested earlier this year on a September 21, 2022, indictment:

• Agustin Gutierrez Valencia, 32, of Kent, Washington
• Daniel Vazquez Arroyo, 32, of Kent, Washington
• Rosalio Reynoso Arellano, 51, of Los Angeles
• Ernesto Casillas, 46, of Los Angeles
• Benigno Hernandez aka Ivan Santos Arellano, 32, of Kent, Washington
• Jesus Toledo Pardo, 56, of SeaTac, Washington

Two additional defendants were arrested on criminal complaints yesterday:

• Luis Valenzuela-Haro, 32, of Seattle

• Michael Kinzel, 37, of Renton, Washington

As for totals from the searches yesterday, law enforcement seized more than two kilos of fentanyl, 4.5 kilos of heroin, ten pounds of methamphetamine and 67 firearms. Also taken by law enforcement: high-capacity rifle magazines, thousands of rounds of ammunition, two sets of body armor, one ballistic shield.

The defendants are charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute. Because of the amount of drugs involved, many face a mandatory minimum ten years in prison. One defendant is charged with carrying a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime, which leads to an enhanced sentence. One group of defendants is charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The charges contained in the indictment and criminal complaints are only allegations. A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The investigations were led by the FBI field offices in Seattle and Los Angeles, with assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Seattle Police Department, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), and Homeland Security Investigations, both the LA and Seattle offices.

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Casey Conzatti, Lyndsie Schmalz, and Marci Ellsworth.

Seattle – A former financial services representative at Alaska USA Federal Credit Union was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to one year and a day in prison for bank fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Lee Michael Griffin, 31, previously of Mount Vernon, Washington, stole more than $129,000 from an elderly bank customer by making unauthorized transfers from the woman’s account to his own.  U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour imposed three years of supervised release to follow the prison term.

According to records filed in the case, Griffin had worked at the credit union for almost two years when he made his first illegal transfer from the elderly victim’s bank account to a lender to pay off his $7,000 loan. Over the next three years, even after he had left the employ of the credit union, he made 65 additional transfers to do things such as pay his mortgage, pay for a new car and other personal expenses. The victim’s account settings had been changed to stop the mailing of paper statements, and instead just sent electronic statements. However, the victim did not have computer access. The theft was discovered when the victim was hospitalized, and a nephew began assisting with her finances. He discovered the thefts from the account and worked at length with the credit union to ensure the funds were restored.

Noting that Griffin and his wife had declared bankruptcy in 2013, Assistant United States Attorney James Oesterle wrote to the court, “Having taken advantage of the opportunity to get his financial affairs in order and make the most of the fresh start offered by the bankruptcy code, he chose another path. He turned to another source of loan forgiveness, stealing from a seemingly inactive bank account holding thousands of dollars. Mr. Griffin’s conscious choice reflects a character trait no different from a defendant who brazenly steals property only to return time and again emboldened by the fact that they were not caught. The criminal conduct becomes habitual, unburdened by any moral clarity. It reflects an abject failure to distinguish right from wrong and recognize and appreciate the harm it inflicts on others.

Griffin, who now lives in Gilbert, Arizona, paid full restitution to the credit union of $129,194.31 at the sentencing hearing.

The case was investigated by the FBI.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney James Oesterle.

Seattle – Two men were arrested in Bellingham, Washington, and a third was arrested in North Carolina, in connection with distribution of more than 75,000 fentanyl pills, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Guillermo Vieyra Salas, 22, and Jaime Alonso Hernandez-Hernandez, 41, appeared in U.S. District Court in Seattle yesterday. A third defendant, identified as Manuel Lugo, was arrested in Wilmington, North Carolina and will appear in U.S. District Court there on Monday October 24, 2022.

“Taking these fentanyl-laced pills off the street is a top priority for federal law enforcement,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. “In this case, the defendants were allegedly able to order up thousands of pills worth more than $100,000. Keeping these potentially deadly pills out of our community is a win.”

“There have been far too many deaths in Whatcom County attributable to fentanyl overdoses,” said Whatcom County Sheriff Bill Elfo. “We were pleased to join forces with our federal partners to disrupt the criminal enterprises that are bringing this deadly menace into our community.”

According to records filed in the case, in August 2022, agents with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) learned of a drug trafficking network that was bringing fentanyl pills to Western Washington from Mexico. In August 2022, agents, acting in an undercover capacity, purchased an initial batch of 2,000 fentanyl pills. In September, the agents put in a request for 75,000 pills for $112,000. The deal was set for September 28,2022, near the Bellingham airport. While one co-conspirator was delivering the drugs to one location, two other men met with undercover agents at a coffee shop where the undercover agents briefly showed the two men what appeared to be $112,000 in cash.

“Those who peddle fentanyl-laced pills do so with extreme indifference to the people they might kill, all in the name of profits,” said Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Robert Hammer, who oversees HSI operations in the Pacific Northwest. “We will continue to work exhaustively with our law enforcement partners to protect the communities which we serve from the scourge of fentanyl and the devastation it causes.”

All three men were arrested this week and are charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. Because of the quantity of drugs involved, the men face a mandatory minimum of ten years, and up to life, in prison.

The charges contained in the criminal complaint are only allegations. A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with the assistance of Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations, the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Yunah Chung.

Seattle – A registered sex offender, who was on state probation following a ten-year prison sentence for molesting a young boy, was sentenced today to 10 years in federal prison for possession of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. John Wesley Stewart, 56, was arrested in May 2018, in Des Moines, Washington, when officers with the Washington State Department of Corrections found him with unauthorized electronic devices. The devices had more than 200 images of child rape and abuse. U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez imposed lifetime supervised release to follow this prison term.

“Mr. Stewart has repeatedly demonstrated that he cannot safely live in the community and will continue to victimize children.” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. “This ten-year sentence and lifetime of federal supervision are aimed at protecting the community.” 

According to records filed in the case, in 2007, Stewart was prosecuted for molesting a young boy left in his care. Prior to being charged with that crime, Stewart had served as a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician and paramedic in Whatcom County. He had also served as a foster parent.  Following his 2007 conviction for rape of a child and possession of child pornography, Stewart was incarcerated until 2016. He was placed on state probation for life.  Within six months of completing sex offender treatment, he was caught with hundreds of images of child sexual abuse.

In asking for the ten-year sentence prosecutors wrote to the court, “Child pornography offenses are, by their nature, horrific. Those who collect and share images and videos of children being raped and tortured further a market that thrives on the sexual abuse of children. The collection of this material drive demand for new material and normalize horrific acts of sexual exploitation. And it subjects victims of child abuse to perpetual re-victimization, knowing that the digital record of their worst moments forever travels the globe to satisfy the sexual appetite of child predators.”

Stewart has been ordered to pay $6,000 in restitution to the known victims pictured in the images on his devices.

The case was investigated by the Washington State Department of Corrections and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Cecelia Gregson.

Seattle – A Washington man was indicted today by a federal grand jury in Seattle, Washington, in connection with a May 15, 2018, shooting that damaged a Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall.

Mikey Diamond Starrett, aka Michael Jason Layes, 50, of Olympia, Washington, was charged in a superseding indictment with one count of damage to religious property, including the use of a dangerous weapon. He also was charged with one count of use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. The original indictment charged the defendant with one count of unlawful possession of an unregistered firearm.

According to the indictment, on or about May 15, 2018, the defendant used a semi-automatic rifle to deface, damage and destroy religious real property at the Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom Hall of Yelm, Washington, because of the religious character of the property.

If convicted, the defendant faces a sentence of up to 20 years in prison on the charge of damage to religious property involving the use of a dangerous weapon. If convicted on the unlawful possession of an unregistered firearm charge, the defendant faces a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. The defendant faces a sentence of at least 10 years in prison to run consecutive to any sentence imposed for the remaining firearms offense. 

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney Nick Brown for the Western District of Washington made the announcement.

The ATF Seattle Field Division, the FBI Seattle Office and the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office investigated the matter. Trial Attorney Matthew Tannenbaum of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca S. Cohen for the Western District of Washington are prosecuting the case. 

For more information and resources about the department’s work to combat hate crimes, visit www.justice.gov/hatecrimes.

An indictment is merely an allegation and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Seattle – U.S. Attorney Nick Brown announced today that 17 tribes in Western Washington will get millions of federal dollars to support programs focused on community safety.  The grant awards total more than $15.8 million.

“It is fitting that on this day when we wear purple to show support for victims of domestic violence, we are announcing significant grants to tribal communities to assist victims of crime, in ways that are tailored by the tribes to fit the needs of their citizens,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  “Some of these grants strengthen the re-entry services for enrolled tribal members leaving jails and prisons – this is critical work for increasing community safety.”

Sixteen of the Western Washington tribes will receive grants to improve services for victims of crime.  The tribes and grant amounts are:

• Quinault Indian Nation - $1,889,616
• Lummi Nation - $504,456
• Cowlitz Indian Tribe - $410,246
• Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe - $347,240
• Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe - $347,240
• Nooksack Indian Tribe - $410,246
• Squaxin Indian Tribe - $410,246
• Nisqually Indian Tribe - $504,456
• Puyallup Tribe of Indians - $918,594
• Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians - $347,240
• Jamestown S’Kallam Tribe - $347,240
• Swinomish Indian Tribal Community - $410,246
• Tulalip Tribes of Washington - $609,742
• Muckleshoot Indian Tribe - $504,456
• Port Gamble S’Kallam Tribe - $410,246
• Skokomish Indian Tribe - $410,246

Two tribes successfully competed for grants to improve re-entry services for tribal citizens leaving jails or prisons. The Port Gamble S’Kallam tribe was awarded $750,000 and the Puyallup Tribe was awarded $899,672.

Two tribes focused applications on drug treatment and drug courts: The Makah Indian Tribe was awarded $742,362 for its Tribal Healing and Wellness Court.  The Lummi Nation was awarded $1 million to expand care and reduce barriers for those suffering with addiction and mental health issues.  It’s Drug Court and Family Court services will be enhanced.

Two tribes were awarded grants under the Support for the Adam Walsh Act program. The Skokomish Tribe was awarded $396,361 for implementation if its sex offender registration program. Similarly, the Nooksack Tribe was awarded $376,841 for its sex offender registration program.

Two tribes were awarded grants to assist them in reviewing and reinvigorating their tribal justice programs.  The Swinomish Tribe was awarded $105,000 to help develop a comprehensive strategic plan for its justice system, and an additional $450,000 for a new advocacy program for child victims of crime.  The Port Gamble S’Kallam tribe was awarded $1,211,379 for physical improvements to its justice center, including its Behavioral Health Center.

Finally, the Quinault Indian Nation was awarded $637,923 to enhance its ability to share data with the National Criminal Background Check System (NICS).

Seattle – A 23-year-old Seattle resident is charged federally with production and possession of child pornography following an investigation by the Seattle Police Internet Crimes against Children task Force.  Antonio Diego Brugnoli-Baskin was taken into custody this morning and appeared in federal court today.  Brugnoli-Baskin was previously charged in King County Superior Court. 

 Brugnoli-Baskin remains detained pending additional hearings.

According to the criminal complaint, Brugnoli-Baskin came to the attention of law enforcement when electronic service provider Google Inc. reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that an account later associated with Brugnoli-Baskin had uploaded 129 images of child sexual abuse.  Law enforcement sought to determine the owner of the account and location of the account owner.  Brugnoli-Baskin was contacted by law enforcement in early September 2022.  Law enforcement learned he has been offering his services as a baby-sitter.

Production of child pornography is punishable by a mandatory minimum 15 years in prison to life in prison.  Possession of child pornography is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

The charges contained in the criminal complaint are only allegations.  A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The case is being investigated by the Seattle Police Internet Crimes against Children Task Force (ICAC) and the FBI. 

Any families whose children may have been left in Brugnoli-Baskin’s care can contact SPD’s Internet Crimes Against Children detective christine.nichols@seattle.gov.

The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Laura Harmon.  Ms. Harmon is a Deputy King County Prosecutor specially designated to prosecute child exploitation crimes in federal court.

Seattle – U.S. Attorney Nick Brown today announced 19 U.S. Department of Justice grants totaling nearly $10 million that will support community safety, meet the needs of law enforcement, and provide a foundation for youth violence intervention programs.  The grant funding is through four different DOJ programs, with the bulk of the grants awarded via the Byrne grant program.

“Each year police and sheriff’s departments identify specific needs and apply for Byrne Grant funding.  These federal dollars help each department meet its local priorities,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  “Western Washington organizations also obtained funding for innovative programs aimed at youth violence intervention.  I’m pleased to see the Peacemaking Academy, the Children and Youth Justice Center, Burien’s Enhanced Youth Services, and the Washington Partnership on Juvenile Justice all obtained substantial federal dollars to support their work.”

The Alliance for Gun Responsibility Foundation was awarded $300,000 to support the Peacemaking Academy – a program that works to divert juveniles from the traditional court process to a transformative approach that utilizes Peacemaking Circles.

The Children and Youth Justice Center in Seattle was awarded $2 million to support the Leadership, Intervention & Change (LINC) program working with 200 at-risk youth in King County, to reduce youth gun violence and gang involvement.

The city of Burien Enhanced Youth Services program was awarded $300,000 for its violence intervention program that works with families and youth to provide therapeutic and restorative services to disrupt community violence.

Finally, nearly $1 million was awarded to Washington State Partnership Council on Juvenile Justice for its work focused on innovations and improvement to the juvenile justice system.  The funds support increasing alternatives to incarceration as well as re-entry services for youth who have been incarcerated.

Ten cities, three counties and Washington State were awarded Byrne grants to support local police needs.  Washington State was awarded $3.7 million which can be used to support local jurisdictions’ needs.  The other Byrne grant recipients are:

• Seattle - $829,956
• Tacoma- $310,110
• Lakewood -$42,486
• Bellingham $38,840
• Bremerton -$15,979
• Lynnwood - $10,528
• Marysville - $14,207
• Everett – $37,989
• Puyallup - $11,618
• Longview - $10,664
• Kitsap County - $42,997
• Thurston County - $25,621
• Clark County - $120,575

In addition to the Byrne grant funding, the City of Seattle was awarded nearly $1 million for its body-worn camera program.  The funding will help migrate and integrate the 2.1 million digital files that SPD has from its body-worn cameras.  The migration to the cloud will assist in making the videos available for investigators as well and the Seattle City Attorney’s Office and King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

The Byrne Grants are named in honor of New York City Police Officer Edward R. Byrne, who was killed in the line of duty on February 26, 1988. Officer Byrne was just 22 years old.

Seattle – The U.S. Department of Justice and the Center for Endodontic Care, Inc. d/b/a Dental Specialty Clinic (DSC) have resolved a complaint that the clinic failed to provide interpretation services to a patient who is deaf, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  The clinic agrees to undertake a number of improvements to ensure appropriate interpreter services for clients who are deaf.  The complainant in the case will be paid $45,000 in compensation for the discrimination she suffered.

“Effective communication with patients is critical in medical and dental appointments, and auxiliary aids and services are required by law for patients who need them,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  “Our office is a leader in bringing these cases on behalf of Washingtonians who are deaf or hard of hearing.  I hope that providers will assess and improve their services for those who are deaf and hard of hearing before complaints, such as this one, require federal intervention.”

According to the settlement agreement the complainant scheduled emergency dental treatment with the Dental Specialty Clinic (DSC) in June 2020.  The complainant had been told by her routine dentist that due to pain she was suffering, she needed to have her wisdom teeth removed and possibly one other tooth, as well as a possible root canal.  DSC told the patient it was likely there would not be a sign language interpreter available.  The complainant understood that she would be contacted if no interpreter was available.  However, the clinic did not contact her, and when she arrived for treatment, there was no interpreter.  She was unaware that she agreed to the removal of seven teeth which caused her significant physical pain and emotional distress.

In addition to the $45,000 in compensation to the patient, DSC agrees to institute new procedures such as using an effective communication intake form with each patient and keeping that information in each patient file.  The clinic will contract with a qualified interpreter services provider to ensure that there are sign language interpretation services either in person or by video during its hours of operation.  The clinic agrees not to use a family member for such interpretation services unless it is an emergency of imminent threat to safety, or if the patient requests that the family member provide interpretation.  The clinic will post notices about its interpretation services in the clinic and on its website.

The clinic has agreed to provide training for all its employees about the new procedures, record keeping, and ways to access the interpretation services.  For three years the clinic will provide reports and records, and copies of any complaints, to the U.S. Attorney’s Office to ensure the clinic is complying with this agreement.

For more information about our office’s civil rights program, or to file a complaint, go to: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdwa/civil-rights

The clinic cooperated fully with the investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.  The settlement was negotiated by Assistant United States Attorney Matt Waldrop.

Seattle – A 29-year-old Brooklyn, New York man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to ten years in prison for attempted enticement of a minor, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Rajesh Singh pleaded guilty on April 25, 2022. He has been in custody since his arrest on April 22, 2021. At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones said, “I’m grateful that we have law enforcement officers that go online and find these people who want to hurt children.”

“The conduct in this case paints a disturbing picture of those who sexualize children and seek to abuse them for their gratification,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  “In this instance, fortunately, the child was a fiction – but Mr. Singh’s fantasies about sexual abuse were all too real.  This sentence should serve as a warning to those tempted to act on such dark desires.”

According to court documents, Singh began communicating with an undercover officer in August 2020 about his desire to travel to Washington State to sexually abuse a child.  The undercover agent created a fictitious daughter and Singh communicated extensively about his desire to rape the child and film the sexual assault.  At various times in the chats, Singh indicated he had previously molested children.  Singh was observed in New York getting on a flight to Seattle, arrived at Sea-Tac, and took a shuttle to an area hotel and was arrested there by agents with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

In asking the court to impose a 14-year sentence, Assistant United States Attorney Matt Hampton wrote, “Rajesh Singh travelled thousands of miles with a singular purpose: to commit unspeakable violence against a small child. This trip was not a lark or a whim but the culmination of extensive planning and chats with someone Singh thought was going to help him realize his dreams of abusing a child.”

“The fact that Singh was willing to fly across the country to complete his enticement of a 12yr old minor speaks to the danger he poses to all of our children,” said Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Robert Hammer, who oversees HSI operations in the Pacific Northwest. “HSI’s undercover operations in the cyber-realm are important to identify these predators and hopefully stop them before they are able to sexually abuse a child.”

Judge Jones sentenced Singh to 15 years of supervised release to follow the prison term.

Agents with Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Hampton prosecuted 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 United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Seattle – U.S. Attorney Nick Brown announced today that the Department of Justice has awarded $268,192 to support the Project Safe Neighborhoods Program in the Western District of Washington. Funding will support community efforts to address the epidemic of gun crime and serious violence in the district. The grant is one of a number of awards being made to state and local agencies across the country. Funds are administered by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, part of the Department’s Office of Justice Programs.

Launched two decades ago as an evidence-based and community-oriented response to serious gun crime, Project Safe Neighborhoods, known as PSN, is a key component of the Department’s Comprehensive Strategy for Reducing Violent Crime, outlined by Deputy Attorney General Monaco in May 2021. The PSN approach is guided by four key principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities; supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place; setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities; and measuring the results of our efforts. The fundamental goal is to reduce violent crime, not simply to increase the number of arrests or prosecutions.

“This year we are expanding the reach of our district’s PSN program by adding partnerships in Clark, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown for the Western District of Washington. “We will also partner with the state Office of Firearm Safety and Violence Prevention and our state Attorney General’s Office to identify and fund community strategies that work to prevent gun violence in high-risk populations.” 

“Reducing violence and sustaining those reductions will require strong partnerships between criminal justice agencies and community stakeholders and a shared commitment to the safety and well-being of every community member,” said OJP Deputy Assistant Attorney General Maureen Henneberg. “The investments we are making through Project Safe Neighborhoods will enable every stakeholder to play a part in building safer and healthier communities.”

PSN programs are led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices in collaboration with local public safety agencies and community organizations. The programs’ emphasis on community engagement, prevention and intervention measures, focused and strategic enforcement, and measurement and accountability has helped achieve overall reductions in violent crime, including gun homicides, in neighborhoods where PSN strategies have been implemented.

“Over its two-decade history, Project Safe Neighborhoods has evolved to meet the complex challenges of community violence by enlisting the insights and expertise of local partners and by relying on the latest evidence,” said BJA Director Karhlton F. Moore. “We are proud to support our U.S. Attorneys and their allies in their critical work to curb violent crime and build the mutual trust necessary to ensure lasting success.”

The awards announced above are being made as part of the regular end-of-fiscal year cycle. More information about awards under PSN and other OJP grants can be found on the OJP Grant Awards Page.

The Office of Justice Programs provides federal leadership, grants, training, technical assistance and other resources to improve the nation’s capacity to prevent and reduce crime, advance racial equity in the administration of justice, assist victims and enhance the rule of law.  More information about OJP and its components can be found at  www.ojp.gov.

Seattle – A 51-year-old resident of Alberta, Canada, was sentenced today to ten years in prison for his attempt to smuggle nearly 1,432 pounds of methamphetamine from the U.S. into Canada, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  Ted Karl Faupel was arrested on May 25, 2022, in a small boat on Puget Sound near the San Juan Islands. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) encountered the boat riding low in the water near Stuart Island. Law enforcement seized 28 locked duffle bags loaded with 539 packages of highly pure methamphetamine.  Faupel also had a loaded firearm within reach.

“This huge load of methamphetamine represents hundreds of thousands of doses on the streets of Canada,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  “We know violent criminal gangs get rich off the pain of addiction.  I am glad this shipment is off the streets and not furthering addiction and the gang violence that is part and parcel of the drug trade.” 

According to records filed in the case, officers with CBP’s Office of Field Operations, Air and Marine, encountered the 18’ Bayliner Capri 

speedboat as it was headed towards Canada.  The boat had Canadian registration numbers.  The Customs and Border Protection vessel used lights and siren to get the watercraft to stop.  The officers noted that the speedboat was riding very low in the water.  Faupel was taken into custody and the boat was taken to the Bellingham Coast Guard Station where a drug dog alerted to the presence of narcotics. 

At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge James L. Robart noted that gang paraphernalia was found in the boat.  “You don’t start transporting drugs for (a violent street gang) if you fear for your family…. This is a very dangerous group and (Faupel) chose to gamble with his family’s safety.”

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations in coordination with U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations, Office of Field Operations, and Border Patrol.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lauren Watts Staniar.

Tacoma – A 42-year-old Port Angeles, Washington, man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to three years of probation for interfering with a federal communications system during an armed stand-off in Olympic National Park, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  Caleb Jesse Chapman’s actions from August 29, to 31, 2021, resulted in the evacuation and closure of a popular section of Olympic National Park at one the busiest times of the year.  At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Robert J. Bryan noted that Chapman had spent 80 days in federal detention, and could face additional prison time if he does not comply with all the conditions of his probation.

“Mr. Chapman’s conduct put many people at risk and spread fear in the community. When he disabled the communications system for the eastern section of the park, he disrupted the ability of park staff to call for help while running chain saws to clear trails, hiking off trail to monitor endangered animals, or checking on hikers in rugged terrain,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. “He has spent time since his arrest working to be drug free.  We wish him success in that effort.”

According to records filed in the case, just after midnight on August 29, 2021, Chapman appeared at a stranger’s home armed with a handgun and AR-15 style rifle.  Chapman was high on methamphetamine when he handed the stranger a letter outlining his concerns over political events, his difficulty getting ammunition, and his belief that there would be a revolution starting on the Olympic Peninsula, Texas, and elsewhere.

Chapman drove his girlfriend to Olympic National Park where he started a fire and then felled a tree to block a road to the Deer Park campground.  Chapman told his girlfriend she was going to die in the “revolution.” The girlfriend called 9-1-1 and Chapman threw a can of soup at her, cutting her leg.  Chapman stormed off into the woods with nine firearms including a stolen handgun, an AR-15 and two shotguns.  He had more than 3500 rounds of ammunition.

Law enforcement evacuated the Deer Park campgrounds, trailheads, and road areas, and attempted to locate Chapman.  Around 3 PM on August 29, 2021, Chapman disabled the Olympic National Park radio communications site (radio repeater) located at the summit of Blue Mountain.  The repeater is used by the park for emergency response, public safety, and administrative radio communications.  By disabling the repeater, Chapman left the northeast corner of the park without emergency communications.  In fact, the Blue Mountain repeater was also the repeater that the NPS Search and Rescue helicopter based at Mt. Rainier would need to use, for a rescue at Olympic National Park.

On August 31, 2021, a drone located Chapman in the park.  Chapman fired a short barrel shotgun at the drone.  Ultimately, law enforcement was able to negotiate Chapman’s surrender with no injuries to anyone.

In her sentencing memo, Assistant United States Attorney Kristine Foerster noted a variety of impacts and costs caused by Chapman’s actions.  “Over 480 overtime hours were required from NPS staff in Washington over those three days, and that does not include the response from out of State NPS employees who flew in, the FBI, or other local law enforcement agencies. This massive law enforcement response took officers and agents from already understaffed agencies away from their regular duties including emergency response, search and rescue, criminal investigations, and generally protecting the public…. Hikers with overnight permits – some who fly in just to hike in ONP – all had to evacuate and were otherwise unable to begin or complete their trips. The Park lost out on significant revenue through the closures, and everyone within that area of the Park had to be evacuated.”

Chapman has agreed to make restitution to those harmed by his actions, including losses to the National Park Service, and to specific individuals, incurred because of the closure of portions of Olympic National Park, including the popular Hurricane Ridge Visitor’s Center.  The exact amount of restitution will be determined at a later hearing.  Members of the public who were impacted by the park closure should contact the National Park Service at Olympic National Park to supply restitution information.

The case was investigated by the Investigative Services Branch of the National Park Service, the FBI, and the Olympic Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Team (OPNET) which includes officers from Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Clallam County Sheriff’s Office, the Sequim, Port Angeles, and Port Townsend Police Departments and the U.S. Border Patrol.  

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kristine Foerster.

Tacoma – A 53-year-old resident of Graham, Washington, pleaded guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to tax fraud and aiding and assisting with false tax returns, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  Philippe Mbowamba faces up to three years in prison and a $250,000 fine when sentenced by U.S. District Judge Benjamin H. Settle on January 9, 2023.  Prosecutors have agreed to recommend no more than six months in prison with a restitution obligation for Mbowamba of $141,392.

According to the plea agreement, between 2012 and 2019, Mbowamba operated a tax preparation business.  An analysis of the returns Mbowamba filed revealed that he had falsely claimed deductions and tax credits on behalf of many of his clients.  Most of the clients were immigrants from Africa who were referred to Mbowamba by other members of the immigrant community. Mbowamba, a naturalized U.S. citizen, had originally immigrated from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  The immigrants trusted Mbowamba and were unaware of the false information on their tax returns. 

 In all, the Internal Revenue Service: Criminal Investigation analysis found 22 tax returns where Mbowamba had falsified the credits and deductions. 

In addition to false returns for other people, Mbowamba falsified his own return, failing to report more than $56,000 in income for tax year 2014.  The tax loss on that one return was $26,531.  In total from his own and others’ tax returns the tax loss was $141,392.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, the IRS may still level additional civil tax, penalties, and/or interest.  Mbowamba has agreed to accept a permanent injunction, barring him from preparing tax returns for anyone other than himself.

“’If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying,’ definitely does not apply when it comes to taxes,” said Special Agent in Charge Bret Kressin, IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Seattle Field Office. “Unfortunately, Mr. Mbowamba decided to learn this lesson the hard way by deliberately cheating on his own tax return as well as by falsifying the returns of his clients. While everyone enjoys the satisfaction of maximizing their tax refund, no one is entitled to cheat, lie, and defraud in order to get more than they are entitled to.” 

The case was investigated by Internal Revenue Service: Criminal Investigation (IRS:CI).

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Zachery Dillon.

Seattle – A 37-year-old former Seattle tech worker was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to time served and 5 years of probation including location and computer monitoring for seven federal crimes connected to her scheme to hack into cloud computer data storage accounts and steal data and computer power for her own benefit, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  Paige A. Thompson a/k/a ‘erratic,’ was arrested in July 2019, after Capital One alerted the FBI to Thompson’s hacking activity.  A federal jury found her guilty in June 2022, following a seven-day trial.  At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Robert S. Lasnik said, time in prison would be particularly difficult for Ms. Thompson because of her mental health and transgender status.

“While we understand the mitigating factors, we are very disappointed with the court’s sentencing decision.  This is not what justice looks like,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  “Ms. Thompson’s hacking and theft of information of 100 million people did more than $250 million in damage to companies and individuals. Her cybercrimes created anxiety for millions of people who are justifiably concerned about their private information.  This conduct deserves a more significant sanction.”

Thompson was found guilty of wire fraud, five counts of unauthorized access to a protected computer and damaging a protected computer. 

Using Thompson’s own words in texts and online chats, prosecutors showed how Thompson used a tool she built to scan Amazon Web Services accounts to look for misconfigured accounts.  She then used those misconfigured accounts to hack in and download the data of more than 30 entities, including Capital One bank.  With some of her illegal access, she planted cryptocurrency mining software on new servers with the income from the mining going to her online wallet.  Thompson spent hundreds of hours advancing her scheme, and bragged about her illegal conduct to others via text or online forums. 

Asking the court to impose a seven-year sentence, prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memo, “…Thompson’s crimes … were fully intentional and grounded in spite, revenge, and willful disregard for the law. She exhibited a smug sense of superiority and outright glee while committing these crimes…. Thompson was motivated to make money at other people’s expense, to prove she was smarter than the people she hacked, and to earn bragging rights in the hacking community.”

“I am proud of how quickly our cyber task force worked together to recover the victims’ personal information and prevent further harm,” said Richard A. Collodi, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle Field Office. “This case is a good example of why companies and individuals who believe their data has been stolen online should immediately contact the FBI.”

Judge Lasnik scheduled a December 1, 2022, hearing to determine the amount of restitution Thompson must pay to her victims.

The case was investigated by the FBI Seattle Cyber Task Force.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Andrew Friedman, Jessica Manca and Tania Culbertson.

Seattle – A Seattle-area woman, who recently finished serving a 16-year sentence for second degree murder, is charged federally for drug distribution and illegal firearms possession, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  Raven Marlyne Hudson was initially arrested on state charges July 12, 2022, in Seattle’s University District, after she rammed a law enforcement vehicle while trying to avoid arrest.  A court authorized search of her vehicle revealed a variety of illegal drugs and two firearms – one of them stolen.

Hudson made her initial appearance on the federal charges today. She remains detained pending another hearing on October 5, 2022.  Hudson was released from state custody on the murder conviction in January 2022.

According to the criminal complaint, in early 2022, Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) agents and Seattle Police Narcotics Detectives began investigating Hudson as a significant drug dealer in the Seattle area.  In June, a person working with law enforcement ordered fentanyl pills from Hudson.  Following that drug sale, law enforcement surveilled Hudson’s activities, seeing her move around to high-frequency drug trafficking areas.  On July 12, 2022, agents and officers blocked Hudson’s car as she parked in Seattle’s University District.  Hudson rammed one of the HSI vehicles before ultimately being removed from her car and arrested.

When investigators executed a court-authorized search warrant on Hudson’s car, they recovered more than 600 grams of methamphetamine, more than 118 grams of fentanyl powder, about 6,700 fentanyl pills, plus heroin and cocaine.  Two Glock firearms were in the car.  One of the Glocks was reported stolen, the other had a 25-round extended capacity magazine.  Both guns were loaded with a round chambered.

Hudson cannot legally possess firearms due to prior convictions.  In 2006 she was convicted in Kitsap County of Second-Degree Murder and Unlawful Possession of a Firearm.  In 2004 in Grays Harbor Superior Court, she was convicted of Theft of a Firearm.

The charges contained in the complaint are only allegations.  A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

In this case, because of the drug quantities involved, possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute is punishable by a mandatory minimum ten years in prison and up to life in prison.  Possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime is punishable by a mandatory minimum five-year prison term to run consecutive to any other sentence.  Unlawful possession of a firearm is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Seattle Police Department.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Todd Greenberg.

Tacoma - A 37-year-old former military spouse was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 12 years in prison for attempted enticement of a minor, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  Jonathan David Carpenter was arrested in September 2018.  In April of 2022, Carpenter pleaded guilty, admitting not only the attempted enticement, but also that prosecutors would be able to prove that he sexually assaulted two children under the age of 12 who had been left in his care.  At Sentencing U.S. District Judge Robert J. Bryan said, “There is no doubt what happened here requires a serious sentence.”

“Mr. Carpenter impersonated a child in text messages, to try to get 12-year-olds to send him nude photos for his sexual gratification,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  “This sentence also recognizes the significant evidence that he sexually assaulted children, as young as 7, who were left in his care.  The prison term, the supervised release, and the fact that he will be a registered sex offender is designed to protect the community for as long as possible.”

According to records filed in the case in 2018, two children disclosed that they had been sexually assaulted by Carpenter when they were left in his care.  The investigation revealed that Carpenter had taken the cell phone of one of the children, and posing as that child, texted three of the child’s friends asking for nude photos.  None of the children sent photos. One child reported Carpenter’s conduct to a counselor at school.  That report triggered the investigation.

Speaking to the court at sentencing, Assistant United States Attorney Kristine Foerster said, “Here we have a pattern of victimizing children… Children that are particularly vulnerable…. He used extreme cruelty in these rapes… He irrevocably changed these children’s lives.”

In addition to the prison time, Carpenter will be on supervised release for 20 years following prison and will be required to register as a sex offender.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Army (CID).

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kristine Foerster, Laura Harmon, and Grady Leupold.

Seattle – A 42-year-old Las Vegas man, who previously lived in Bellevue, Washington, is facing a 25-count indictment charging him with wire fraud and securities fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  Justin Costello allegedly victimized marijuana business owners, private investors and investors who purchased stock over-the-counter.  The Securities and Exchange Commission also filed a civil suit against Costello today.

“Mr. Costello allegedly told many tall tales to convince victims to invest millions of dollars -- money he then used for his own benefit,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  “In a complex scheme involving shell companies, penny stocks, and financial services for marijuana businesses, Mr. Costello used Twitter, press releases, securities filings, and claims of great wealth to paint a picture of fabulous financial success.  In truth that picture was a mirage.”

According to the indictment, in 2017 Costello owned and operated a company called Pacific Banking Corp that provided banking services to marijuana businesses in Washington, Colorado, California, Illinois, and Alaska.  Between 2019 and 2021, Costello allegedly diverted money from three marijuana business to benefit himself and his companies.  The diversions were contrary to the promises he had made to the marijuana businesses.  The three marijuana businesses lost about $3.7 million.

As part of his scheme, Costello purchased two companies that were trading for pennies on the over-the-counter market and renamed them GRN Holding Corporation and Hempstract Inc.  Costello also recruited investors in these companies, allegedly making numerous false statements about the size and success of his marijuana banking business.  Costello told potential private investors several falsehoods – that he had an MBA from Harvard, that he had served in the military and had done two tours in Iraq and had been wounded twice, that he was a billionaire, that he had 14 years of experience on Wall Street and that GRN Funds LLC, a private equity and hedge fund he owned, had over $1 billion in assets under management.  None of that is true.

With these falsehoods, Costello convinced various investors across the country to invest in his companies.  One deceived couple provided Costello with more than $2 million for shares in companies that he controlled.  Additionally, they opened a $4 million TD Ameritrade account at Costello’s direction and provided him with the passwords that allowed him to trade in their account.  Costello allegedly used the account to purchase the penny stock of companies he controlled driving up the share price to enrich himself.

Costello used the same lies with other investors and allegedly used investor funds for his own expenses. For example, Costello used at least $42,000 of investor money for personal expenses include costs associated with his wedding.  In all, some 29 investors invested directly with Costello and lost $6 million because they relied on Costello’s false representations.

In 2019, Costello’s entity GRN Funds, LLC purchased the outstanding shares of Discovery Gold Corp., changing the name to GRN Holding Corp.  In SEC filings about the purchase Costello lied repeatedly about his background, education, and the financial success of the LLC.  In various filings with the SEC, and in press releases, Costello lied about GRN Holding Corp’s possible acquisition of other companies and revenue – causing the share price to increase.  From December 2019 and into January and February 2020, Costello directed others to issue ten press releases about acquiring other companies.  None of the acquisitions occurred even though Costello controlled these other companies.  Between July 2019 and May 2021, 7,500 investors lost about $25 million after purchasing and selling GRN Holding Corp stock.

Finally, between October 2019, and January 2021, Costello hired an unindicted coconspirator to use Twitter in a pump and dump stock scheme.  Costello would acquire the penny stock of a company and then instruct his prolific Twitter user to tweet falsehoods about the company that would drive up the stock price.  The coconspirator would tweet about the stock as often as 90 times a day.  In one instance Costello didn’t just use Twitter, he also instructed some of his “investors” to purchase stock in the company, driving the share price from a nickel to $2 per share.  After driving the share price up, Costello sold the shares for a profit of more than $355,000.  The prolific Twitter user was given a share of Costello’s profits from the pump and dump scheme.  In all Costello made $576,466 in the pump and dump scheme.

The charges contained in the indictment are only allegations.  A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and fine of $250,000 or twice the gain the Costello or the loss to the victims of his offenses. Securities Fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $5,000,000 fine.

The case was investigated by the FBI.  If you have information, or believe you were a victim in this fraud, please email: CostelloFraud@fbi.gov.

The SEC conducted their own separate investigation.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Justin Arnold and Michael Dion.

Seattle – A 31-year-old Federal Way, Washington resident was arrested this morning in Fife, Washington, following his indictment for possessing a controlled substance with intent to distribute, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  Donald “DJ” Watters came to the attention of Federal Way Police after they were called to the scene of a fatal shooting at an apartment complex on November 19, 2021.  Watters appeared today and entered pleas of “Not Guilty.”  He remains detained pending trial scheduled for December 5, 2022.

According to police reports at the time of the shooting, the shooting victim and others had gone to the apartment Watters shared with his girlfriend to purchase drugs.  The shooting occurred in the parking lot of the apartment complex. After the shooting, investigators located drugs and guns in Watters’ apartment.  The indictment charges Watters with possessing distribution amounts of methamphetamine and possession of a black Sig Sauer 9mm handgun, in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

Due to the drug quantities involved Watters faces a mandatory minimum five years in prison and up to 40 years in prison for possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.  Possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime is punishable by a mandatory minimum five years in prison to run consecutive to any other sentence imposed.

The charges contained in the indictment are only allegations.  A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The case is being investigated by the Federal Way Police Department and the FBI.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys William Dreher.

Seattle – U.S. Attorney Nick Brown has named two veteran Assistant United States Attorneys to lead the Western District of Washington Environmental Justice Initiative.  Criminal AUSA Seth Wilkinson and Civil AUSA Kayla Stahman will lead the district efforts on environmental prosecutions and civil enforcement.

“Both these attorneys have deep experience not only with investigating and prosecuting environmental crimes, but with the Affirmative Civil Enforcement the Justice Department uses to hold companies accountable for their conduct,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  “As we look at issues surrounding Environmental Justice in disadvantaged communities, it will take all our tools, civil and criminal, to make positive change and protect our fragile Northwest environment.”

For example, AUSA Wilkinson previously prosecuted the CEOs of Total Reclaim, the Northwest’s largest electronics recycler, for secretly exporting mercury-laden electronics to Hong Kong, potentially exposing local workers and residents to toxic material.  AUSA Wilkinson is currently prosecuting the owners of a Washington company for removing federally-required emissions control devices from diesel vehicles in violation of the Clean Air Act.

AUSA Stahman has handled a variety of affirmative civil litigation from protecting the elderly from financial scams to  holding medical labs accountable for overbilling government programs and accepting kickbacks.

AUSAs Wilkinson and Stahman recently coordinated the civil and criminal prosecution related to steel that did not meet military requirements being sold to the Navy.  Coordinating the civil settlement as well as the criminal case required the close coordination that will now be brought to the environmental justice work of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The district’s Environmental Justice Coordinators will lead efforts to enforce environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and hazardous waste laws. An intentional decision to violate these laws may be a federal crime. For example, intentionally discharging pollutants into a river without a permit, or bypassing a required pollution control device, is a criminal act that carries the possibility of incarceration and monetary fines.

The district’s Environmental Justice Coordinators also will lead efforts to remedy environmental violations and contaminations by pursuing actions under the civil rights laws, worker safety and consumer protection statutes, and the False Claims Act. For example, a federal contractor who violates a contractual provision mandating the proper disposal of hazardous waste may be subject to liability under the False Claims Act; a landlord who leases a home without disclosing known information about lead-based paint may violate federal lead disclosure rules.

Other examples of civil or criminal environmental misconduct include:

• Air emissions of toxic pollutants resulting from inadequate or nonexistent pollution control
• Illegal asbestos removals that expose and create health risks for workers and the public
• Illegal discharges into waters or sewer systems that threaten public safety and cause damage to our water infrastructure
• Illegal handling, transportation, and disposal of hazardous wastes and pesticides
• Oil spills or other incidents that compromise the fishing rights or practices of indigenous or disadvantaged communities
• False statements to the EPA or other regulatory agencies that threaten the integrity of environmental protection programs

If you suspect an environmental violation report it to the  Environmental Protection Agency.

Seattle – A 58-year-old Seattle man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to ten years in prison for possessing images of child rape and abuse, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  David C. Martin was on Washington State Department of Corrections supervision when he was arrested and charged federally in April of 2020.  In sentencing Martin to lifetime supervised release following prison, U.S. District Judge James L. Robart said the sentence was due to “the need to protect society from Mr. Martin.”

“Mr. Martin has a shocking and extensive criminal history -- with 15 convictions for sex crimes, including 11 for indecent exposure,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  “During this lengthy prison term, and the supervision that follows, I hope he gets the mental health treatment he needs to end the cycle of recidivism.”

According to records filed in the case, Google Inc. first alerted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that a specific account was uploading images of child rape and abuse.  The account was shut down and the matter was referred to the Seattle Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.   Seattle Police determined Martin owned the account and served a court authorized search warrant on Martin and seized his electronic devices.  Forensic analysis revealed the devices contained hundreds of files depicting child rape and sexual abuse.

Martin has previously been convicted of Child Molestation 3rd Degree in Pierce County Superior Court (2001); Indecent Exposure in King County Superior Court (2009); Indecent Exposure in King County Superior Court (2015); and Voyeurism in Clark County Superior Court (2016). Due to those prior convictions Martin faced a mandatory minimum 10 years in prison.

Speaking to the court, Martin said he now understood how viewing child pornography revictimizes those who suffer child sexual abuse. Noting all the prison time he has served Martin said, “I’ve wasted my whole life.”

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations in coordination with the Seattle Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) and the Washington State Department of Corrections.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Cecelia Gregson and Hillary Stuart.

Tacoma – A 45-year-old resident of Lekki, Nigeria, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 5 years in prison for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft for his attempt to steal nearly $2.4 million from the United States government, including approximately $500,000 in pandemic-related unemployment benefits, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  At the time of his arrest, Abidermi Rufai was the Special Assistant to the Governor of Nigeria’s Ogun State.  He admitted a long history of using stolen identities to defraud U.S. disaster programs, including aid for Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, and file fraudulent U.S. tax returns.  At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Benjamin H. Settle said, “The motivation was greed, unrestrained greed, and a callousness towards those who have suffered.”

“Mr. Rufai was relentless in his scheme to use the stolen identities of Americans for fraud,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  “He orchestrated ‘mystery shopper’ scams, business email compromise attempts, and filed fake tax returns to financially harm individuals and businesses. But when disaster struck, so did Mr. Rufai. Whether it was hurricane disaster relief, small business loans, or COVID unemployment benefits, he stole aid that should have gone to disaster victims in the United States.”

”Abdemi Rufai chose to exploit the pandemic for personal gain, using stolen identities of Americans to support his lavish lifestyle overseas,” said Associate Deputy Attorney General Kevin Chambers, the Justice Department‘s Director of COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office and their law enforcement partners did exceptional work bringing this defendant to justice. The Department will continue to pursue fraudsters who abused these programs and seek to recover their ill-gotten gains, whether they are in the United States or overseas.”

According to records filed in the case, since 2017, Rufai stole the personal identifying information of more than 20,000 Americans to submit more than $2 million in claims for federally funded disaster relief benefits and fraudulent tax returns.  The various agencies involved paid out more than $600,000.

The largest amount of fraud was committed against the Washington State Employment Security Department, which paid out $350,763 in fraudulent pandemic unemployment claims to accounts controlled by Rufai.  Rufai also submitted fraudulent pandemic unemployment claims in at least 17 other states. 

“The Employment Security Department deeply appreciates the tireless efforts of the Department of Justice, federal agencies and law enforcement in this matter,” said Cami Feek, Commissioner for the Employment Security Department. “We always stand ready to hold those accountable who steal public funds and we appreciate the partnership in catching and prosecuting this individual.”

Rufai also defrauded the Small Business Administration (SBA) by attempting to obtain Economic Injury Disaster loans (EIDL) tied to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Between April 8, 2020, and June 26, 2020, he submitted 19 fraudulent EIDL applications.  SBA paid out $10,000 based on the applications.

Between 2017 and 2020, Rufai attempted to obtain more than $1.7 million in IRS tax refunds by submitting 675 false claims.  The IRS paid out $90,877 on these claims.

Rufai’s efforts to exploit disaster in the United States did not start with COVID-19.  In September and October 2017, he submitted 49 disaster relief claims connected to Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma.  He filed $24,500 in false claims and was paid on 13 claims totaling $6,500.

In asking for a nearly six-year prison sentence Assistant United States Attorney Cindy Chang noted that Rufai’s scheme damaged real people who needed help. “In this case, Rufai successfully used the stolen identities of at least 238 real individuals who qualified for disaster aid and may have needed it urgently. This number does not account for the number of stolen identities Rufai attempted to use but failed.”

Rufai has agreed to pay full restitution of $604,260 to the defrauded agencies, however he has not fully cooperated with efforts to identify and forfeit assets that could be used for restitution.

"Mr. Rufai did not care if the disaster was the pandemic or a hurricane, or if the victim was a hard-working American taxpayer, a small business, or the U.S. government," said Richard A. Collodi, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle Field Office. "He could have used his influence to be a role model in his community. Instead, he stole the identities of Washington state residents and money meant for those in need.”

“Mr. Rufai said, ‘The choices we make are ultimately our responsibility,’ and he is correct. This sentence is a result of the culmination of choices he made funding his luxurious lifestyle. His fraud schemes began with filing fraudulent tax returns from stolen identities to pilfering economic aid designed to help disadvantaged workers and families suffering through the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Seattle Field Office Special Agent in Charge Bret Kressin. “IRS-CI continues to provide our financial expertise to investigate large-scale fraud with our law enforcement partners.”

“Rufai used stolen personal identifying information of thousands of Americans in order to defraud more than $600,000 in government benefits, including approximately $350,000 from the Washington Employment Security Department.  We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to aggressively investigate and prosecute those who defrauded unemployment insurance programs during the global health crisis,” said Quentin Heiden, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Los Angeles Region.

Abidemi Rufai has been in custody since his arrest at New York’s JFK airport in May 2021.   The Eastern District of New York U.S. Attorney’s Office assisted with detention hearings following Rufai’s arrest.

This case was investigated by the FBI, with assistance from the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations, Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, and the United States Small Business Administration Office of the Inspector General, and the Washington Employment Security Department (ESD).

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Cindy Chang and Seth Wilkinson of the Western District of Washington.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

Tacoma – A 53-year-old Tacoma man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 26 years in prison for second degree murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  Bobbie Anson Pease pleaded guilty in July 2021 to the 2018 murder of a 34-year-old woman on federal land, part of Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM).  Jeremy Jay Warren, 34, of Forks, Washington, was sentenced today to nearly 22 years in prison for his role in the murder.  At the sentencing hearing for Pease, U.S. District Judge Robert J. Bryan called the crime “a tragic event” saying “What happened here is beyond the realm of normal human activity.”

“These two men violently took the life of a young woman – a single parent – who had trusted them to provide a ride and assistance,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  “Instead, they viciously beat her with a metal baseball bat and shot her in the head.  In order to protect our community from this wanton and senseless depravity, these lengthy sentences are appropriate.”

According to records in the case, Pease was temporarily sharing a house with the victim, her daughter, co-defendant Jeremy Warren and others in August and September 2018.  On September 4, 2018, the victim asked Pease and Warren for a ride to a Spanaway convenience store.  The men had a pistol and an aluminum baseball bat in the car.  After going to the store and allowing the victim to purchase groceries, Pease drove the victim and Warren to a wooded area nearby, claiming he wanted to do some target shooting.  At the wooded area, which was an undeveloped plot of federal land outside the fenced boundaries of JBLM, the men claim they confronted the victim about items they accused her of stealing – a drug pipe and pocket-knife – although the investigation did not confirm the victim had actually taken these items.  The men beat the victim with the bat causing significant head injuries and broken bones.  Then Pease took the pistol and fired three shots into the victim’s head, killing her instantly.  The men left the body in the wooded area and disposed of the bat and the gun at various locations in the Tacoma and Spanaway area.  The gun was ultimately recovered from the Puyallup River. The two made calls to the police attempting to mislead them during the investigation by claiming the victim has left the convenience store with someone else and moved out of state.  On September 13, 2018, the victim’s body was discovered by railroad workers.  Pease and Warren were arrested in late October 2018 after they had relocated to Forks, Washington, to avoid authorities and following an extensive manhunt.

Describing the victim as someone with a “big heart, a loud laugh and was exceptionally trusting,” Assistant United States Attorney Grady Leupold said the men’s “cruelty and violence put a hole in the hearts” of all the victim’s family members.

The victim’s parents and brothers spoke to the court of the pain of loss they feel.  The victim’s father asking defendant Pease “Can you give me an honest answer why? That’s all I want to know. Why? – you took a valuable part of me.”

Pease has a lengthy criminal history dating back to 1991 in Washington State including: Assault and attempting to elude (Pierce County 2013); Escape (Jefferson County 2003); robbery with a deadly weapon enhancement (Pierce County 2003); witness tampering (Thurston County 2003); theft and attempting to elude (Pierce County 1999); car theft (Thurston County 1999); burglary (Pierce County 1992) and possession of stolen property (Pierce County 1991).  The convictions mean Pease could not legally possess a firearm.

Warren was sentenced to 262 months in prison and 5 years of supervised release to follow the prison term.

“This case is truly horrific and demonstrates the subjects’ utter lack of regard for human life,” said Richard A. Collodi, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle Field Office. “So many elements of this case are senseless and tragic: luring the victim into the woods under the pretense of friendship, attacking a defenseless person with multiple types of weapons, and then covering up the murder and fleeing. Addressing violent crime remains a top priority of the FBI.”

The investigation was led by the FBI with assistance from Army CID, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, the Tacoma Police Department, and the Forks Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Grady J. Leupold and Ye-Ting Woo.

Seattle – A 29-year-0ld Issaquah, Washington man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to seven years in prison for drug and gun charges, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Nicholas Partlow sold fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, and other drugs on the darknet more than 400 times. He also sold drugs locally and possessed five firearms in furtherance of his drug-trafficking activities. After contacts with law enforcement in 2020 and 2021, Partlow continued selling drugs. At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones cited a range of aggravating factors in the case, including that Partlow sold fentanyl pills marked to look like prescription painkillers, and that Partlow used the darknet’s “cloak of darkness” to maintain his anonymity.

“Darknet drug dealers such as Mr. Partlow are spreading addiction and risk of overdose death across our country—all with the touch of a button,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. “These defendants who deal in cyberspace don’t see the death their drugs leave behind. We must do all we can to interdict these deadly substances to reverse the record numbers of overdose deaths.”

According to records filed in the case, over the course of 2020, postal investigators seized several parcels that Partlow mailed to his drug customers. Inside, investigators found heroin, fentanyl pills, and other controlled substances. Investigators also covertly ordered drugs from Partlow through his darknet marketplace accounts.

In November 2020, law enforcement obtained a search warrant for Partlow’s Issaquah residence. That search turned up heroin, methamphetamine, fentanyl, ketamine, GHB, and other drugs; electronic equipment that Partlow used as part of his trafficking operation; and drug proceeds in cash and cryptocurrency.

Investigators also seized five firearms from Partlow—including a sawed-off shotgun and a pistol equipped with a silencer.

After the November 2020 search, Partlow continued trafficking drugs. He also tried to obtain another gun. In March 2021, police in Bellevue, Washington, arrested Partlow and an associate. Partlow carried narcotics and a notebook containing information about his trafficking activities. A few months later, in September 2021, Partlow crashed a car in Renton, Washington, while carrying narcotics and a taser. At the time, Partlow was wanted on a federal arrest warrant. He has been in federal custody since then.

After completing his seven-year prison sentence, Partlow will spend four years on federal supervised release. He is also forfeiting to the government a range of items, including guns, electronics, cryptocurrency, cash, and seven wristwatches.

In asking for a significant sentence, prosecutors noted the heavy toll of drug-overdose deaths during the very period when Partlow was distributing drugs, and described fentanyl and the darknet as “key drivers” of the overdose crisis.

“Partlow was no mere street-level dealer and should be not sentenced like one,” Assistant United States Attorney Jonas Lerman wrote in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “In hundreds of darknet transactions, he trafficked deadly drugs. By his own account, he started dealing on the darknet because it was ‘more lucrative’ than local dealing.”

“Fentanyl and heroin continue to be a menace on our streets, but Partlow will not” said Inspector in Charge Anthony Galetti. “He believed he could take advantage of those sickened by addiction for his own profit, however today he learns the true price of the dangerous and deadly narcotics he pedaled into our communities.  I commend the work on the investigators on this case who worked tirelessly to bring Partlow to justice.”

In March 2022, Partlow pleaded guilty to two felonies: conspiring to distribute controlled substances and possessing firearms in furtherance of that crime.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, with assistance from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Bellevue Police Department.

 The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jonas Lerman.

Seattle – A 34-year-old Renton, Washington, man pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Seattle in connection with the plot to burn the Seattle Police Officers Guild building in downtown Seattle in September 2020, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  Justin Christopher Moore will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Lauren King on December 21, 2022.

According to the plea agreement, Moore admits he made and carried a box of 12 Molotov cocktails in a protest march to the Seattle Police Officers Guild (SPOG) building on Labor Day, September 7, 2020.  Ultimately the marchers were moved away from the building in downtown Seattle, when police smelled gasoline and grew concerned about the intentions of protestors.  The box containing the 12 gasoline devices was found in the parking lot next to the SPOG building.  Using video from that day and from other protests, as well as information from the electronic devices of other co-conspirators, Moore was confirmed as the person seen carrying the box of destructive devices. 

In June 2021, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Moore’s residence.  They seized clothing that is consistent with the images of what Moore was wearing when he carried the Molotov cocktails.  From the basement storage area they also recovered numerous items that are consistent with manufacturing explosive devices. Law enforcement recovered a notebook in which Moore had made entries related to the manufacturing of destructive devices and the ingredients necessary.

Unlawful possession of a destructive device is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

The case was investigated by the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Fireworks & Explosives (ATF), and the Seattle Police Department.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Todd Greenberg.

Seattle – An Idaho man pleaded guilty today to hate crime and false statement charges in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. Jason Stanley, 46, pleaded guilty to committing a hate crime for his participation in the assault of T.S., a Black man, which occurred because of the man’s actual and perceived race at a bar in Lynnwood, Washington, on Dec. 8, 2018. Three other white supremacists earlier pled guilty for their roles in this assault.

“The defendant, a known white supremacist, singled out and attacked a Black man because of his race - violent, hate-driven conduct that has no place in our society today,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The convictions that we have secured in this case make clear that the Department of Justice will continue to use every resource at its disposal to fight white supremacist violence.” 

“The defendants in this case came to Washington state to commemorate their hateful embrace of white supremacy,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown for the Western District of Washington.  “But they did not find the welcoming environment they expected. The victim in this case, and those who defended him from the assault, demonstrated one of our core values in Western Washington: hate has no place here.  We will continue our work to prosecute those who engage in hate and bias crimes, and to ensure the civil rights of all members of our community.  This work is one of the top priorities for the Justice Department, my office, and our law enforcement partners.” 

“Mr. Stanley and the other subjects in this case attacked and injured the victim based on his race,” said Special Agent in Charge Richard A. Collodi of the FBI Seattle Field Office. “Until all citizens in Washington state feel safe from threats and violence based on their race, ethnicity, gender, or beliefs, the FBI will continue our commitment to investigating federal hate crimes and protecting civil rights.”

In his plea agreement, Stanley admitted that, at the time of the assault, he was a member of a white supremacist group. On Dec. 8, 2018, Stanley entered a bar in Lynnwood, Washington, with others, including members of two related white supremacist groups. Stanley wore clothing and patches indicating his group membership and repeatedly gave “Nazi salutes” inside the bar. While at the bar, Stanley and others assaulted T.S, a Black man who was serving as the disc jockey at the bar. Stanley believed that T.S. was being disrespectful to the members of the white supremacist groups after T.S. objected to group members manipulating his DJ equipment without his permission. Stanley and others punched, kicked, and stomped on T.S., and called T.S. racial slurs. As a result of the assault, T.S. suffered bodily injuries. Two bystanders attempted to intervene to help T.S. and stop the assault. Both bystanders were assaulted by members of the white supremacist groups, and both sustained injuries. 

In addition to the hate crime charge, Stanley pleaded guilty to making false statements to FBI agents about the circumstances surrounding the assault. Specifically, Stanley falsely claimed to the agents that he was not even present in the state of Washington during the weekend of the assault. This statement was false, in that Stanley knew he had traveled to Washington to attend a gathering of white supremacists, and while he was there, he participated in the assault of T.S. at the Lynwood bar. Stanley made this false statement to the FBI because he wanted to cover up his involvement in the assault of T.S. 

Stanley is scheduled for sentencing on January 6, 2023. The hate crime charge carries a maximum penalty of ten years in prison. The false statement charge carries a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison.  

Stanley was charged in an indictment that was unsealed on Dec. 18, 2020. The seven-count indictment also charged three other men, each aiding and abetting one another, with punching and kicking T.S. while making derogatory comments about his actual and perceived race. The indictment further charged Stanley and the three other men with assaulting two men who intervened to protect T.S. during the attack, as well as with making false statements to the FBI during the course of their investigation. The three other men charged in this case, Jason DeSimas, Randy Smith, and Daniel Dorson, have each pleaded guilty in this matter.

The FBI investigated this case with the support of the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office. Trial Attorney Christine M. Siscaretti of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca S. Cohen for the Western District of Washington are prosecuting the case.

Seattle – The drug supplier to multiple members of a drug trafficking group distributing fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine throughout the Puget Sound region was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to ten years in prison, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  Rodrigo Alvarez-Quinonez, 31, of Selma, California, was convicted following a jury trial in June 2022.  Alvarez-Quinonez, was one of twelve people arrested in August 2020 following a year-long wiretap investigation. At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez said: “The defendant was at the top of a large-scale conspiracy to distribute illegal, dangerous, and deadly drugs in the Western District of Washington. One would have to be living under a rock to not know the impact that fentanyl is having on our society, given that deaths from fentanyl have skyrocketed.”

“Mr. Alvarez-Quinonez was ordering up large drug shipments for distribution in our community,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  “His control of large amounts of fentanyl and methamphetamine make his activities dangerous for those sickened with addiction and for their loved ones.  This case should serve as an example that under federal law, those working with drug cartels will face significant prison sentences.”

The members of the conspiracies engaged in trafficking activities from Mexico, through California, Arizona, Nevada, and Oregon, and into the North Puget Sound region.   Alvarez-Quinonez was heard on wiretaps directing others to pick-up and deliver drugs.  In January 2020 Alverez-Quinonez was arrested when he was stopped in Lewis County a car with nearly 2 kilos of fentanyl hidden in a secret compartment.

In recommending a lengthy prison sentence, prosecutors wrote to the court, “Alvarez-Quinonez was working as a narcotics source-of-supply, he directed others to pick up and deliver shipments of narcotics, he purchased narcotics in bulk and transported narcotics to this State. Alvarez-Quinonez then fulfilled orders for others who wanted narcotics and at times directed others to deliver narcotics on his behalf.” 

In addition to the fentanyl pills, during the investigation law enforcement seized more than six pounds of heroin and nearly nine pounds of methamphetamine.

On the day of the takedown in August 2020, law enforcement seized: nearly 6 pounds of methamphetamine, 8 pounds of heroin, 7,500 pills likely tainted with fentanyl, over $100,000 in cash, 4 firearms, and vehicles outfitted with “traps”—hiding places for smuggling drugs and money.

“This investigation emphasizes the mission of the DEA: to ensure the safety and health of American communities by combatting criminal drug networks like the one Mr. Alvarez-Quinonez controlled,“ said Jacob D. Galvan, Acting Special Agent in Charge, DEA Seattle Field Division. “We will relentlessly pursue individuals and organizations like this with our local, state, and federal partners.”

This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in partnership with Homeland Security Investigations, Shoreline Police Department, King County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO), Seattle Police Department and the Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force (SRDTF).  The investigation was supported by the Northwest High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA). 

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stephen Hobbs.

Tacoma – A former employee of Washington State’s Employment Security Department (ESD) was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to five years in prison for three federal felonies for his scheme to exploit his employment for personal enrichment and to fraudulently distribute at least $360,000 in pandemic-related unemployment benefits, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.  Reyes De La Cruz, III, 48, of Moses Lake, Washington, personally enriched himself by at least $130,000 with his scheme.   At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Robert J. Bryan said, “This was a serious offense…damaging to our system of government and to individuals.”

“Mr. De La Cruz’s betrayal of public trust is particularly egregious, since he was hired to help people survive during a time of national crisis,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. “Instead, through multiple acts of demanding bribes, falsifying records, stealing identities – he stole from the public to line his own pockets. The Department of Justice is working relentlessly to combat pandemic fraud, and to hold people who defrauded the government accountable.”

"Public servants must be held to higher standard.” said Richard A. Collodi, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Seattle field office. “Mr. De La Cruz took advantage of a program meant to assist struggling families during the pandemic.  He exploited his position to benefit himself, which makes his actions that much more appalling.  This case demonstrates the commitment by the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office to reinforce trust and hold accountable those who manipulate for personal gain.”

According to records filed in the case, De La Cruz was hired as an intake agent in April 2020 to help the Employment Security Department (ESD) deal with the crush of filings for pandemic unemployment benefits.  De La Cruz had previously worked for ESD, from 1996 to 2003.

Between July 3, 2020, and March 15, 2021, De La Cruz used his access to the ESD claims database to defraud the benefits system in multiple ways. In at least ten instances, De La Cruz accepted bribes in exchange for engineering benefit payments for his friends, family, or acquaintances by making false entries in the claims database.   In many cases, the person did not qualify for benefits, but De La Cruz manipulated the claims database so that the claimants received lumpsum retroactive payments that sometimes amounted to tens of thousands of dollars.  The claimants would then pay De La Cruz a portion of the lumpsum.  The bribes ranged from $500-$6,500. In total, De La Cruz enriched himself nearly $21,000 through kickback payments. 

In some instances, when claimants refused or resisted paying De La Cruz, he threatened to terminate the claim if they did not pay him. 

De La Cruz filed at least four claims using other people’s personal information without authorization and then had the benefits paid to debit cards that were mailed to Moses Lake, Washington, addresses where De La Cruz could retrieve them.  Even after his employment with ESD terminated on October 1, 2020, De La Cruz attempted to restart claims payments to these debit cards to take advantage of additional federal pandemic benefits.  De La Cruz went so far as to impersonate a claimant in recorded phone calls with ESD and a bank.  He impersonated another claimant in handwritten correspondence that he then faxed to ESD.  In this way he defrauded ESD of more than $113,000. 

The Employment Security Department uncovered evidence of fraud, terminated De La Cruz, and referred the case to the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General.  The FBI joined the investigation.

“Reyes De La Cruz was a state employee who was trusted to handle sensitive employment information. He abused that trust for personal gain. This sentencing sends a strong message to those who defrauded our nation’s unemployment system during a time when unemployment benefits were needed most. Protecting the integrity of the unemployment insurance program remains one of our highest priorities. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to safeguard unemployment benefits for those who need them and to bring to justice those who commit unemployment insurance fraud”, said Quentin Heiden, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Los Angeles Region.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Cindy Chang and Seth Wilkinson.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud.  The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts.  For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.