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U.S. Navy Officials Sentenced in Enormous Corruption Scheme

U.S. Navy Officials Sentenced in Enormous Corruption Scheme

 

On October 9, 2012, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California announced that four U.S. Navy officials and three defense contractors were sentenced for their roles in a large fraud and corruption scheme at the Naval Air Station on North Island in Coronado, California.  
 
The defense contractors provided the U.S. Navy officials with more than $1 million in benefits that included cash, checks, flat screen televisions, home appliances, model airplanes, expensive bicycles, retail gift cards, and remodeling services to their homes.  The U.S. Navy officials then placed millions in fraudulent orders for services from the defense contractors.  
 
The U.S. Navy officials are Donald Vangundy, Kiet Luc, David Lindsay, and Brian Delaney—who all worked for the Navy’s “E2/C2” aircraft program.  Vangundy received 41 months in custody; Luc received 30 months in custody; Delaney received 30 consecutive weekends in custody and five years probation; and Lindsay received 30 consecutive weekends in custody and five years probation.  
 
The three other defendants were owners or employees for defense contractors that provided goods or services to the NAS-North Island.  John Newman was an employee for L&N Industrial Tool & Supply in Poway, California.  Michael Graven was the owner of X&D Supply Inc. in Carlsbad, California.  Paul Grubiss was an employee for Centerline Industrial Inc. in Poway, California.  All of the defense contractors were sentenced to 18 months in custody.  
 
Susan Simon, the Special Agent in Charge of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service’s Southwest Field Office, stated: “Case like this send a clear message to anyone—government officials or contractors—who try to defraud the Department of the Navy: you will get caught.  The sentences received by these seven individuals are the result of the effective and collaborative teamwork between NCIS, its law enforcement partners and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.” 
 
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation

Police Ask for Help: Wyoming Child Abduction Case

Police Ask for Help: Wyoming Child Abduction Case

 

On October 11, the FBI announced that they are asking the public for help in a child abduction case that occurred in Cody, Wyoming.  The Cody Police Department, the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation, and the FBI are currently working together on the case.  
 
Investigators for the agencies are asking the public for help in identifying an unknown person who abducted the juvenile female victim from the Park County Complex in Cody, Wyoming.  The juvenile female has already been found and returned safely to her family, but the FBI and other authorities are still looking for the person who abducted the female in the first place.  
 
The female was persuaded to enter the vehicle when the male suspect asked her for help in finding his pet that had run away.  The victim said the man was armed with a gun, and authorities are warning that the man is armed and dangerous.  
 
The victim described the suspect as a white male, about 6’0” tall, and around 185 to 200 pounds.  He is believed to be about 55 to 60 years old.  During the time of the abduction, he had short strawberry blonde and white hair, and he had neatly trimmed facial hair.  
 
The man was last seen wearing a brown shirt, blue jeans, and a tan baseball cap.  He was driving a white vehicle with grey leather seats.  His back seat was and storage area was filled with bedding materials as if he were sleeping in the car.  There was a red backpack and case of bottled water attached to the top of his vehicle.  
 
If you have any information about the suspect, you need to contact the Cody Police Department at (307) 527-8700 or the FBI national tip line at 1-800-225-5324 right away.  
 
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation

Georgia Men Transported 1,600 Pounds of Marijuana

Georgia Men Transported 1,600 Pounds of Marijuana

 

On October 11, 2012, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia announced that three men were sentenced for trafficking 1,572 pounds of Marijuana to a warehouse in Gainesville, Georgia.  The three men are Marco Ortiz-Barajas, Angel Zamudio-Martinez, and Jose Luis Chavez-Morfin. All of the defendants are from Mexico, but they resided in the Atlanta area.  
 
Chavez-Morfin received 5 years and 10 months in prison along with five years of supervised release.  Zamudio-Martinez received 4 years and 2 months in prison along with five years of supervised release.  Ortiz-Barajas received 3 years in prison and five years of supervised release.  After they serve their sentence, they will be deported to Mexico.  
 
Before the three men were arrested, Homeland Security Investigations were aware that the three men were conspiring to unload a huge shipment of marijuana at the warehouse in Gainesville.  They concealed the packages of marijuana under crates of vegetables containing cilantro, peppers, and other vegetables.  
 
As soon as the three men arrived at the warehouse, the authorities presented a search warrant and searched the trailer.  They found 1,572 pounds of marijuana with an estimated street value of $3,144,000.  
 
Brock D. Nicholson, the Special Agent in Charge of ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations in Atlanta, stated: “This case demonstrates that Atlanta and its surrounding environs continue to serve as a hub for the distribution of marijuana and other drugs smuggled into the United States from Mexico.  HSI will continue to work with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to target the organizations responsible for drug trafficking in Georgia and to send a strong message that their criminal activity will not be tolerated here.” 
 
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta encourages parents and children to learn about the dangers of drugs at www.justthinktwice.com and www.drugfree.org.  The number of teens using marijuana has increased over the last three years, and there has been a heavy rise in past-month, heavy users.  
 
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation

Second “Nuns on the Run” Defendant Arrested

Second “Nuns on the Run” Defendant Arrested


On October 10, 2012, the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois announced that a second defendant was arrested for the armed robbery that occurred in May 2011 at the TCF Bank branch in south Palos Heights.  The defendant’s name is Lyndon Germel Wesley, and he is from Markham.   He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Mason today at 2:30 p.m.   


The first defendant, Navahcia Edwards, was arrested in June of 2011.  


The crime occurred on May 29, 2011 at the TCF Bank on 6410 West 127th Street in Palo Heights.  The two defendants were carrying handguns and wearing what is called “Nuns on the Run” costumes.  They also wore masks that looked like elderly women.  


During the bank robbery, the two defendants forced the employees at the bank to open the vault.  They then placed about $120,200 of cash in a gym bag and the tied the bank employees up with zip ties.  They exited the bank and fled in a vehicle.  


According to court documents, Edwards worked as a teller at the same bank between July and November in 2010.  Wesley also opened a safe deposit box at the same bank about a month before the robbery on April 25, 2011.  


The defendants face a maximum of 25 years in prison.  Conspiracy to commit bank robbery carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine up to $250,000.  Bank robbery carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and fine up to $250,000.


The indictment is also asking for a forfeiture of $120,200.


The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kate Zell.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Palos Heights Police Department, and the Cook County Sheriff’s Police all assisted with the investigation.  


Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation
 

25 Members of Texas Mexican Mafia Gang Indicted

25 Members of Texas Mexican Mafia Gang Indicted


On October 11, 2012, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas announced that 25 members of the feared Texas Mexican Mafia prison gang were indicted for trafficking heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine.  They are also charged with firearms violations and the distribution of explosive materials.  


One of the charged defendants is Michael Mares who is also an Onalaska Police officer.  He was found to have provided firearms to convicted felons on numerous occasions.  


The following defendants were taken into custody around the Houston area: Robert Arechiga, Alexander Garcia, Adam Guzman, George Maldonado, Jorge Montemayor, Juan Sarmientos, Tony Valdez, and Michael Villarreal.  Ruben Esparza was arrested in the Corpus Chrisi area.  Jose Cerda and Michael A. Villarreal were arrested around the San Antonio area, and Francisco Galvan was arrested on the Texas-Mexico border.  


Carlos Romero, Gilbert Gonzalez, and Enrique Bravo are fugitives in the case and are considered dangerous.  If you have information about the fugitives, you need to contact the FBI at 713-693-5000.  


The remaining defendants have been taken into custody.  They are Juan Deluna, Johnny Reyes, Ricardo Sanchez, Valentin Ayala-Guiterrez, Ernesto Villarreal, Eric Gomez, Armando Villarreal, III, Rene Gonzalez, and Alvin Valadaz.  


According to the indictment, the defendants conspired from 2008 to October of 2012 in order to obtain and distribute the illegal drugs around Texas.  Some of the members are believed to have illegally sold assault rifles, numerous other types of guns, and a detonation cord.  The arrests were made after an investigation that lasted four years.  


All of the defendants face a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years in prison and a $10 million fine.  All of the other counts carry equal or lesser possible sentences.  


The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Tim S. Braley and Mark Donnelly.  


Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation
 

Man Tried to Trade Weapons for Ton of Cocaine

Man Tried to Trade Weapons for Ton of Cocaine


On October 11, 2012, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced that Jamal Yousef, “Talal Hassan Ghantou,” was sentenced to 12 years in prison for providing high-powered weapons to the foreign terrorist organization called Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC).  The US Attorney’s Office announced he attempted to trade the military-grade weapons for more than a ton of cocaine.  


Jamal Yousef pled guilty in May of 2012 to “one count of providing material support to the FARC.”


According to the original indictment, FARC is designated by the U.S. Department of State as a terrorist organization.  The group is determined to overthrow the democratic government in Colombia.  The group is the largest supplier of cocaine in the world, and they use the cocaine to finance weapons and other materials.  


Within the last five years, the terrorist organization has committed violent crimes against U.S. citizens and U.S. interests in foreign jurisdictions.  The retaliation is used to stop the United States from disrupting the group’s cocaine manufacturing and trafficking.  


Yousef attempted to provide military-grade weapons to FARC from July of 2008 to July of 2009 in exchange for over a ton of cocaine.  Yousef and other co-defendants believed they were working with representatives of FARC, but they corresponded with informants for the DEA the whole time.  During the investigation, Yousef provided the representatives with AR-15 and M-16 assault rifles, M-60 machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, C-4 explosives, and more.


Yousef, a native of Lebanon, claimed the weapons were stolen from U.S. troops in Iraq.  He was arrested in Honduras in 2009.  


Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara stated, “Jamal Yousef was ready, willing, and able to provide an arsenal of weapons and explosives to people he believed to be part of a terrorist organization, dedicated, in part, to killing Americans.  Thanks once again to our partnerships with law enforcement both here and abroad, he will now go to prison.”


Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation
 

Former Philadelphia Detective Guilty of Drug Charges

Former Philadelphia Detective Guilty of Drug Charges

 

On October 9, 2012, the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania announced that Keith Gidelson of Philadelphia pleaded guilty to charges for conspiring to distribute anabolic steroids.  Gidelson was a former detective for the Philadelphia Police Department.  According to the FBI, Gidelson ran a distribution ring for anabolic steroids and human growth hormone (HGH) around the Philadelphia area.  In order to hide his involvement, he acquired the steroids from foreign suppliers and sold the drugs to co-conspirators who later sold the drugs to customers.  
 
The FBI reports that Gidelson received shipments containing the anabolic steroids from suppliers in China and Europe.  The one supplier mailed the steroids to California where Robert Walters, a co-defendant, repackaged the steroids and shipped the drugs to Gidelson in Philadelphia.  
 
The second supplier shipped the orders to a mailbox Gidelson rented from the UPS store.  After receiving the drug, he would store the packages at his home in Philadelphia.  He then met with customers at their homes and numerous fitness clubs around the Philadelphia area in order to distribute the steroids.  
 
The customers include the following defendants: Michael Barclay, Keith Ebner, Jeffrey Filoon, Christian Kowalko, Joel Levin, Luke Lors, Joseph McIntyre, George Sambuca, William Schiavo, and Vaidotas Verikas.  
 
The FBI also reports that Gidelson met other customers in different parts of the United States by accessing weightlifting chat rooms and websites.  He used websites like steroids.com, inject.com, isteroids.com, and bodybuilding.com.  He then used encrypted emails to place orders for the steroids from the foreign suppliers.  
 
Gidelson faces a maximum sentence for each charge of 10 years in prison, two years to a lifetime of supervised release, and a $500,000 fine. 
 
The case was investigated by the DEA, FBI, the Philadelphia Police Department, and the United States Postal Inspection Service.  
 
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation

Man Used Stolen Police Uniform to Kidnap Family

Man Used Stolen Police Uniform to Kidnap Family

 

On October 9, 2012, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announced that Tracy Morgan of Denver received a sentence of 50 years in federal prison after he kidnapped a family at gunpoint and demanded a ransom.  Two other defendants, Killiu Ford of Aurora and Augustus Sanford of Denver, are still awaiting sentencing.  
 
The indictment and evidence during the trial found that the defendants unlawfully seized, confined, and kidnapped an adult male, an adult female, and two children.  They then held the victims for a ransom.  The defendants planned to plant a GPS tracking system on the victim’s car after calling the victim for a delivery of cocaine.  After the delivery was made, the defendants were able to find out where the victim and his family lived.  
 
Around 11 p.m. on September 22, 2009, the defendants approached as the male and female were placing their daughters into their car.  The defendants exited numerous vehicles, drew their guns, and stated they were police officers.  Sanford ordered the female to get into the passenger seat, and Sanford proceed to get into the driver’s seat.  He then drove the female and her two children to their home in Thornton.  
 
All of the defendants eventually reached the house and began searching for drugs and money.  When the female victim announced she knew nothing of the money and drugs, one of the men grabbed a child and pointed a gun at their head.  The female victim then pointed the men to the money and they grabbed about $30,000 in cash.  They fled and pushed the male victim out of the car on 104th Avenue.  
 
The two other defendants face a mandatory minimum of 25 years in jail for kidnapping the children.  They face up to 20 years in prison for kidnapping the adult victims, and they face multiple $250,000 fines.  They also face a minimum of 25 years for kidnapping while using the cell phone, internet, and GPS.  
 
U.S. Attorney John Walsh stated, “Federal authorities are relentless in tracking down and prosecuting those who commit this crime.  This 600 month sentence serves as a warning to all would-be kidnappers and also a reminder that harming a victim would bring even more severe consequences.” 
 
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation

Man Guilty of Guarding 950 Marijuana Plants

Man Guilty of Guarding 950 Marijuana Plants

On October 5, 2012, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana announced that Dan James Nichols of Belgrade pled guilty to maintaining and protecting drug premises.  The Assistant U.S. Attorneys prosecuting the case also proved that Richard Flor, Sherry Flor, and Justin Flor manufactured plants on a residence in Miles City between 2006 and 2010.  

 
The prosecutors also proved that Tomas Daubert and Christopher Lindsey joined manufacturing duties in 2009.  The marijuana was grown at the Flor residence in Miles City and a location in Three Forks.  Additionally, are large amount of the plants were grown at the former State Nursery in Helena.  
 
During the summer of 2010, Nichols moved to the premises where the State Nursery was formerly located.  In his time there, Nichols acted as an armed security guard in order to protect the plants.  
 
The investigation began in 2010.  Bank records showed that over $1,000,000 was placed in several different bank accounts and used to continue the grow operation.  On March 14, 2011, authorities raided the Flor residence and the greenhouses in Helena.  950 plants were found in the greenhouses in Helena, and about 1,000 plants were found overall.  Additionally, 100 kilograms of a brown substance containing marijuana was found.  
 
Authorities encountered Nichols when they were searching the greenhouses on the former State Nursery premises.  He came out of a trailer with an empty holster, and authorities found multiple firearms on the premises in Helena.  
 
Authorities encountered Nichols again on August 12, 2011 at a concert in Jefferson County.  They saw Nichols conducting a drug deal, and after trying to flee, he was apprehended by authorities.  He had marijuana and opium on his possession.  
 
Nichols faces a maximum fine of 20 years in prison, a $500,000 fine, and three years of supervised release.  
 
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation

RI Man Guilty of Bank Robbery, Firearm Charges

RI Man Guilty of Bank Robbery, Firearm Charges

 

On October 9, 2012, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island announced that Craig A. Carey of Fall River, Massachusetts pleaded guilty for multiple federal conspiracy, bank robbery, and firearm charges.  During his plea in a U.S. District Court in Providence, Carey admitted that he bound employees for a bank in West Greenwich, Rhode Island with the help of the co-defendant.  He also admitted to holding the bound victims at gunpoint and stealing about $82,000 in May of 2011.  
 
Carey faces up to life in prison.  He will be sentenced on January 17, 2013 by U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith.  
 
Louis R. Peters, III of West Topsham, Vermont was the co-defendant in the crime.  He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy, bank robbery, and carrying and brandishing a firearm.  Peters also faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. His sentencing has not been scheduled as of now.  
 
During their guilty pleas, Carey and Peters admitted that they entered the Centreville Saving Bank on Victory Highway in West Greenwich on May 28, 2011.  Upon entering the bank, they held the manager at gunpoint and proceeded to detain and bound the other employees of the bank.  They then took roughly $82,000.  
 
The two men quickly fled the bank and West Greenwich Police officers and Rhode Island State Police trooper quickly responded.  The trooper found Peters sitting in a vehicle behind a building, and Carey was found a short distance away from the car.  
 
The guilty plea was announced by U.S. Attorney Peter F. Neronha, West Greenwich Police Chief Richard N. Ramsay, Colonel Steven G. O’Donnell, and Richard Deslauriers, the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Boston Field Office.  
 
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephen G. Dambruch and Sandra R. Hebert as well as First Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth P. Madden.  
 
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation
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