United States Attorney
Northern District of Texas

1100 Commerce St., 3rd Fl.
Dallas, Texas 75242-1699

Telephone (214) 659-8600
Fax (214) 767-0978

U.S. ATTORNEY HIGHLIGHTS SIGNIFICANT
FORFEITURES IN NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS

U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper, of the Northern District of Texas, announced today that the district has been successful in securing over one million of dollars in restitution for the victims of crime through the seizure and forfeiture of criminally-derived property to the U.S. government.

U.S. Attorney Roper said, “The Asset Forfeiture program is an effective law enforcement program that has proven to be a powerful strategy in the fight against crime. It deprives convicted felons of the fruits of their crimes and distributes them back to the rightful owners - the victims.” Roper continued, “I am proud of the hard work done by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the district’s federal law enforcement agencies ensuring we maximize use of the forfeiture laws.”

Several examples of the District’s success include the following cases:

In January 2005, Dallas resident Robert Walter Archibald was convicted of embezzling more than $3 million from his employer, Coca Cola. He was sentenced to 24 months in prison. He was also ordered to reimburse Coca Cola’s insurer for the stolen funds. Using a combination of administrative and criminal forfeiture, ten pieces of real estate and eight vehicles were forfeited from Archibald. A few days ago, the U.S. Department of Justice authorized the U.S. Marshals Service to remit approximately $500,000.00, the proceeds from the sale of the forfeited properties, to the victim's insurer. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Webster and Department of Justice Attorney Paul Kohler prosecuted the case.

Ronne Lynn Mendelson pled guilty in July 2005 to one count of mail fraud and was sentenced to 21 months in prison and ordered to pay more than $190,000 in restitution. During the investigation of her criminal activity, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) used civil seizure warrants to secure two automobiles and more than $18,000 in criminally-derived funds from Mendelson. The FBI subsequently administratively forfeited the automobiles and the funds. As a result of the forfeitures, in March 2006 the FBI remitted more than $30,000.00 to National Information Consortium (NIC), Mendelson’s victim. Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Wiley prosecuted the case.

In U.S. v. Rogaciano Herrera, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) used civil seizure warrants to secure more than $25,000.00 in criminally-derived funds from Herrera. Herrera was subsequently convicted of mail fraud and sentenced to 33 months in prison and ordered to pay more than $400,000.00 in restitution. Having administratively forfeited the funds, the USPIS returned $26,409.35 to the Texas Workforce Commission, the victim in this case, in March 2006. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tammy Reno prosecuted this case.

As part of the Operation Rollover investigation, the IRS seized more than $650,000.00 in criminally-derived funds from six accounts established by defendant Ignatius Ogba. Ogba was convicted at a jury trial in November 2005 and later sentenced to 151 months in prison and ordered to pay more than $2.9 million in restitution to Medicare. In July 2006 the District’s Financial Litigation Unit obtained a court order authorizing the Internal Revenue Service to pay the seized funds ($654,161.52) to the U.S. District Clerk to be applied toward Ogba’s restitution to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bill McMurrey and Sean McKenna prosecuted the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Richard Vance and Megan Fahey handled the Financial Litigation Unit work.

In U.S. v. Alice Fay Turner, more than $46,000.00 in criminally-derived funds was seized from Turner by the USPIS through civil seizure warrants. Turner pled guilty in December 2005 to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and was later sentenced to 46 months in prison and ordered to pay $28,252.40 in restitution. In October 2006, after administratively forfeiting the funds, the USPIS turned $28,252.40 over to the U.S. District Clerk to completely pay the restitution owed to the more than 100 victims in the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tammy Reno prosecuted the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Megan Fahey obtained the court order to transfer the funds from the USPIS to the U.S. District Clerk.

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