Criminal Division Press Releases for January 2008
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Department of Justice Announces New Funding Request for Southwest Border Enforcement
WASHINGTON – FToday, Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey announced $100 million in new funding as part of the fiscal year 2009 budget request for the Administration’s Southwest Border Enforcement Initiative. (Read more)
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Three Defendants Plead Guilty in "Advance-Fee" Fraud Scheme
WASHINGTON – Three defendants pleaded guilty to federal charges of running an “advance-fee” scheme that targeted U.S. victims with promises of millions of dollars, including money from an estate and a lottery. (Read more)
Monday, January 28, 2008
Former Department of Defense Employees are Sentenced for Defrauding the United States
WASHINGTON – Two former civilian employees of the Department of Defense (DOD) were sentenced in El Paso, Tex., for defrauding the United States of tens of thousands of dollars, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division announced today. (Read more)
Sigue Corporation and Sigue LLC Enter into Deferred Prosecution Agreement and Forfeit $15 Million to Resolve Bank Secrecy Act Violations
WASHINGTON – Sigue Corporation and Sigue, LLC (“Sigue”), San Fernando, California-based money service businesses, entered into a deferred prosecution agreement on charges of failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program and will forfeit $15 million to the U.S. government.(Read more)
Friday, January 25, 2008
Florida Man Sentenced for Conspiracy to Produce Child Pornography
WASHINGTON – Leonard Addison Parks Jr., 24, of Indiantown, Fla., was sentenced today in the Southern District of Florida to serve 90 months years in prison for his involvement in child pornography in which video clips of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct were produced. (Read more)
Two Houston Developers Indicted for Bribery, Honest Services Wire Fraud
WASHINGTON – A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, has returned an indictment charging two developers with bribing a former official of the city of Houston,Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher of the Criminal Division announced today. (Read more)
Former Congressional Office Manager Pleads Guilty to Submitting Nearly $200,000 in Fraudulent Expense Vouchers
WASHINGTON – A former office manager for three members of the U.S. House of Representatives, Laura I. Flores, 47, of Arlington, Va, pled guilty today in Alexandria in the Eastern District of Virginia to a one-count criminal information charging her with wire fraud. (Read more)
Former KBR Employee Pleads Guilty in Scheme to Defraud the Department of Defense
WASHINGTON – Wallace A. Ward, 26, of Spring Lake, NC, a former employee of Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR) who worked at the Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, pled guilty today in U.S. District Court to conspiracy to receive bribes, make false statements, and file false claims. (Read more)
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Nine Miami Defendants in Strike Force Cases Sentenced for $56.5 Million in Medicare Fraud
WASHINGTON – Owners of nine separate Miami-based health care corporations have been sentenced to prison terms within the past two weeks. Collectively, the nine defendants filed fraudulent claims with Medicare for $56,599,832 worth of unnecessary durable medical equipment (DME) and infusion therapy.(Read more)
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Three Indicted And Arrested In One Of The Largest Counterfeit Goods Prosecutions In U.S. History
WASHINGTON – Federal court in Richmond unsealed an indictment of three defendants involved in one of the largest ever counterfeit luxury goods operations in the United States. (Read more)
Monday, January 14, 2008
John Doe 13 Indicted in Child Pornography Case
WASHINGTON – Alice S. Fisher, Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division, and David Capp, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana, announced today that “John Doe 13,” a white male with balding brown hair, approximately 180-200 pounds, was indicted by a federal grand jury on January 2, 2008 for transporting child pornography via the Internet on or about September 23, 2005. (Read more)
Friday, January 11, 2008
Previously Convicted Indianapolis Sex Offender Sentenced to Prison in Child Pornography Case
WASHINGTON – Sean Osborne, 26, of Martinsville, Indiana was sentenced to serve 15 years in federal prison and a lifetime term of supervised release, after pleading guilty today to one count of distributing child pornography and one count of attempting to receive child pornography. (Read more)
Ms-13 Gang Member Sentenced To Over 23 Years For Racketeering Conspiracy
Greenbelt, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow sentenced James Guillen, also known as Toro, age 21, of Hyattsville, Maryland, today to 262 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release for to conspiracy to conduct and participate in the racketeering enterprise activities of MS-13. (Read more)
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Foreign National Pleads Guilty in Complex Computer Fraud Scheme Victimizing Hundreds of Individuals
WASHINGTON – A Colombian citizen pled guilty today to a 16-count indictment involving a complex computer fraud scheme victimizing over 600 people. (Read more)
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Florida Men Sentenced for Production and Receipt of Child Pornography
WASHINGTON – Randy Charles Harris, 37, and Salvador Pascual Aguirre, 23, both of Indiantown, Fla., were sentenced today in the Southern District of Florida to serve prison sentences for their involvement in a child pornography case in which video clips of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct between January 2005 and June 2007 were produced. (Read more)
Monday, January 7, 2008
North Carolina Man is Sentenced to 192 Months Following Conviction on Numerous Child Exploitation Charges
WASHINGTON – Marques Bynum, 27, of Charlotte, NC was sentenced on Jan. 3, 2008 to 192 months imprisonment after being convicted on April 18, 2007 on multiple counts of transportation and possession of child pornography. (Read more)
Friday, January 4, 2008
Former Public Official Sentenced for Participating in Bribery and Extortion Conspiracy
WASHINGTON – Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division announced that a former public official was sentenced Thursday for his role in a widespread bribery and extortion conspiracy, which operated from January 2002 through March 2004. (Read more)
Ms-13 Member Sentenced To Over Five Years For Shooting A Robbery Victim
Greenbelt, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow sentenced William A. Mendez, age 21, also known as “Pitufo,” of Gaithersburg, Maryland today to 66 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for committing a violent crime in aid of the racketeering activities of MS-13. (Read more)
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Attorney General Mukasey Appoints Four New Members to Attorney General's Advisory Committee
WASHINGTON – Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey today announced the appointment of four new members of his 2008 Attorney General’s Advisory Committee of United States Attorneys. (Read more)
Alan Ralsky, Ten Others, Indicted In International Illegal Spamming and Stock Fraud Scheme
WASHINGTON - A federal grand jury indictment was unsealed today in Detroit charging 11 persons, including Alan M. Ralsky, his son-in-law Scott K. Bradley, and Judy M. Devenow, of Michigan, and eight others, including a dual national of Canada and Hong Kong and individuals from Russia, California, and Arizona, in a wide-ranging international fraud scheme involving the illegal use of bulk commercial e-mailing, or "spamming.". (Read more)