U.S. Attorney’s Office

Eastern District of Texas

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, April 7, 2021

Sexual Predators Sentenced for Attempted Coercion and Enticement, Distribution of Child Pornography

PLANO, Texas – Two men have been sentenced for crimes against children, including attempted coercion and enticement of a minor and distribution of child pornography, in the Eastern District of Texas, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei today.

“The Eastern District of Texas, along with its law enforcement partners, is committed to locating and stopping the most dangerous predators,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei. “Many of the events of these cases occurred during the height of the pandemic; however, these agents never stopped working to ensure the safety of the children in our community.”

“Crimes against children are some of the most reprehensible acts that law enforcement is determined to prevent and punish once they occur,” said FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge Matthew DeSarno. “We are thankful for the collaboration of our partners in the Dallas Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. It is because of this partnership that these two individuals are now facing lengthy sentences for their crimes.”

Christopher A. Sheffer, 58, of Media, Pennsylvania pleaded guilty to attempted coercion and enticement of a minor on Oct. 30, 2020 and was sentenced to 240 months in federal prison today by U.S. District Judge Sean D. Jordan. Judge Jordan also ordered Sheffer to pay a fine of $40,000 and a $5,000 assessment pursuant to the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015.

According to information presented in court, in September 2019, Sheffer was the administrator of a group on a popular social media and communications application. As an administrator, he had the authority to determine who could join the group, which was devoted to incest and individuals who sexually abuse children. Participants in the group shared child pornography as well as their interest in molesting children. Sheffer privately communicated with an individual who he believed had access to a prepubescent child. Over the next few months, Sheffer expressed his interest in meeting the child for sex, mailed the child gifts, and sent the child private messages. On July 10, 2020, Sheffer flew from his home in Pennsylvania to Texas, where he then rented a car and drove to a specific location to meet the child and engage in sexual acts.

Judge Jordan also sentenced Thomas Earl Cardwell, Jr., 43, of Kemp, Texas, to 210 months in federal prison. Cardwell had previously pleaded guilty to distributing child pornography on Oct. 19, 2020.

According to information presented in court, Cardwell had been arrested for and convicted of online solicitation of a minor, sexual conduct in July 2019 in the 371st District Court of Tarrant County, Texas. He was released from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in December 2019. Two months later, in February 2020, Cardwell began communicating with individuals on a social media application about his desire to perform oral sex on female children. As part of those communications, on March 6, 2020, Cardwell distributed four videos of child pornography, depicting prepubescent minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

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

These cases were investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation – Dallas Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force and members of the Plano Police Department. These cases were prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marisa Miller.

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U.S. Attorney’s Office

Middle District of Pennsylvania

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, April 7, 2021

Luzerne County Man Indicted For Drug Trafficking And Firearms Offenses

SCRANTON - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that William Heck, age 40, of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, was indicted on April 6, 2021, by a federal grand jury for drug trafficking and firearms offenses.

According to Acting United States Attorney Bruce D. Brandler, the indictment alleges that on October 2, 2020, Heck possessed a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, was a convicted felon in possession of firearms and ammunition, and possessed more than 40 grams of methamphetamine and an additional amount of fentanyl for distribution in Luzerne County.

The case was investigated by the FBI Safe Streets Task Force and the Pennsylvania State Police. Assistant United States Attorney Robert J. O’Hara is prosecuting the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that has been historically successful in bringing together all levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local and tribal enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce crime.

Indictments and Criminal Informations are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.

A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

Under federal law, Heck faces a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years in prison for the drug trafficking charge, up to a maximum sentence of life in prison, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. For the firearms charges, Heck faces an additional mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison, which must run consecutive to any other sentence, a maximum sentence of life, a term of supervised release and a fine. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant's educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.

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U.S. Attorney’s Office

District of Maryland

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, April 7, 2021

Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office Seizes Three Domain Names Purporting to be Websites of Biotechnology Companies with Treatments for Covid-19

At Least One Fraudulent Website Purported to Sell Counterfeit Vaccinations

Baltimore, Maryland – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland has seized “healthbridgescience.com,” “global-pandemic-vaccines.com,” and “genobioscience.com” all of which purported to be the websites of actual biotechnology companies developing treatments for the COVID-19 virus but instead were allegedly used to collect the personal information of individuals visiting the sites, in order to use the information for nefarious purposes, including fraud, phishing attacks, and/or deployment of malware. Individuals visiting those sites now will see a message that the site has been seized by the federal government and be redirected to another site for additional information.

The seizure of the domain names was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Jonathan F. Lenzner and Special Agent in Charge James R. Mancuso of Homeland Security Investigations - Baltimore.

According to the affidavits filed in support of these seizures, these investigations began in March 2021. Homeland Security Investigations and the National Intellectual Property Rights Center received notification of two fraudulent websites, “genobioscience.com” and “healthbridgescience.com.” The third site, “global-pandemic-vaccines.com,” was discovered by Homeland Security Investigations’ Cyber Crimes Center (C3) during ongoing investigations for malicious websites. The cases were referred to HSI Baltimore for investigation.

Specifically, HSI was notified of two fraudulent websites “healthbridgescience.com” and “genobioscience.com,” by a victim biotechnology company. The company, which was granted an FDA emergency use authorization for their COVID-19 antibody drug cocktail treatment, confirmed neither of the suspect domains were approved company websites. The fraudulent sites displayed a nearly identical theme and design as the legitimate biotechnology company except for the subsection tab information. According to the affidavit, “healthbridgescience.com” was registered on February 21, 2021 and “genobioscience.com” was registered on March 24, 2021, but no registrant or contact information is listed for either website. As stated in the affidavit, criminals who operate websites and use targeted domain names often conceal their identity when registering their domain names by redacting personal identifiers to avoid being tracked by victims or law enforcement. An HSI Cyber Operations Officer (COO) also noted the “genobioscience.com” website did not use secure communication technology, making any sensitive information shared on this website potentially compromised.

The third domain name, “global-pandemic-vaccines.com,” offered COVID-19 vaccines for sale that it claimed were manufactured by pharmaceutical companies that had been granted FDA emergency use authorization for their COVID-19 vaccines. A COO indicated that the domain was created on February 26, 2021 and its registrar organization was listed as “WhoisProtection.cc,” located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which is a privacy service used to shield a domain registrant’s actual information from being see publicly. Additionally, under the bogus website’s “Contact Us” page, the telephone number appears to be associated with a messaging application and the street address listed is the address of a restaurant and a postal shipping center located in Torrance, California. Under the spoof website’s “shop” tab, there were two counterfeit vaccinations offered for sale to the public. The fraudulent website claimed that their vaccines did not require sub-zero storage. On March 15, 2021, HSI Special Agents, acting in an undercover capacity, called the phone number listed on the fraudulent website. An unknown individual agreed to sell fifty vials of the counterfeit vaccines

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