⛽️ Drink Up

#TogetherWeDeliver🚀🛰⚡️

>a deplatformed (you) would still be able to air his crank views on the street corner or in emails to his followers. No doubt when Trumpbook debuts at some point in the future, (you) will also give him a digital megaphone to spread lies and hate all around the world. These talking heads will continue talking no matter what. The challenge is to progressively shrink the size of their global platform.

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U.S. Attorney’s Office

Eastern District of Washington

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, April 15, 2021

Man Sentenced to 25 Years in Federal Prison for Attempted Production of Child Pornography

Spokane – Joseph H. Harrington, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced James Lee Crooker, age 36, was sentenced today, after having pleaded guilty to three counts of attempted production of child pornography, each involving a different victim, on June 17, 2020. Chief United States District Judge Stanley A. Bastian sentenced Crooker to a 25-year term of imprisonment, to be followed by a lifetime term of court supervision after he is released from federal prison.

Crooker had previously entered a guilty plea to one count of production of child pornography pertaining to one minor aged victim, and he was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. However, on his motion, his conviction and sentence were vacated. Today’s 25-year sentence follows a superseding indictment, wherein he was charged with additional acts of child exploitation, several of which committed against additional victims.

According to information disclosed during court proceedings, the investigation began after law enforcement received information about sexually-explicit communications on a cellular telephone between a 15-year-old developmentally delayed child and a then 32-year-old male, James Lee Crooker. Investigators quickly determined Crooker was a registered sex offender. As the investigation progressed, authorities learned that Crooker had asked the child to send him sexually explicit photographs of herself and she sent them through Facebook and Kik Messenger. She had told Crooker she was 15-years old, but he still requested the photos. She had met Crooker in person and they had discussed meeting to engage in sex. Investigators found the explicit photographs the minor victim sent on Crooker’s smartphone.

While Crooker was under investigation for the photographs produced of the 15-year old child, Facebook alerted law enforcement that Crooker was also communicating in a sexually-explicit manner with a 13-year old child in Ohio, who had also taken and sent sexually-explicit photographs to Crooker who was in Eastern Washington via Facebook, at his request.

In November, 2019, the FBI interviewed another child who resided locally and who investigators believed to be a witness to other aspects of the case. However, the child soon revealed to the FBI Agent that she too had been in a sexual relationship with Crooker, when she was 16 years old. Crooker communicated with her primarily via Facebook. Crooker asked her for sexually explicit photographs repeatedly.

At sentencing Chief Judge Bastian noted he felt compelled to protect the public and provide adequate deterrence from future misconduct. Judge Bastian told Crooker he gave him credit for pleading guilty but noted, “you have accepted responsibility reluctantly and late.” Crooker had commented he knew it was time for him to grow up, to which Judge Bastian responded, that was good, but he had victimized children who wanted to grow up too and wanted to grow up not being a victim.

This case was pursued as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the United States Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. The Project Safe Childhood Initiative (“PSC”) has five major components:

· Integrated federal, state, and local efforts to investigate and prosecute child exploitation cases, and to identify and rescue children;

· Participation of PSC partners in coordinated national initiatives;

· Increased federal enforcement in child pornography and enticement cases;

· Training of federal, state, and local law enforcement agents; and

· Community awareness and educational programs.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the Yakima Police Department, Yakima County Sheriff’s Office, and the Southeast Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

U.S. Attorney’s Office

Southern District of Illinois

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, April 15, 2021

St.Louis Man Sentenced to 12 Years In Prison For Enticing Illinois Minor, Traveling to Engage in Illicit Secual Conduct

Belleville, Ill. – Earlier today, Joseph L. Hughes, a/k/a “Joe King,” 29, of St.

Louis, Missouri, was sentenced to 149 months in prison for enticing a 14-year old girl to engage in

sex and traveling across state lines to have sex with her. Hughes committed the offenses in late

2018 and pled guilty to the three-count federal indictment in October 2020.

According to court filings, Hughes and the minor victim used Facebook Messenger to

communicate. Hughes later traveled from St. Louis to the girl’s home in Belleville, Illinois, to

have sex with her on Nov. 24, 2018, and Dec. 8, 2018. As part of his guilty plea, Hughes admitted

that the victim told him her age right away, and that he knew what he did was against the law.

Hughes’s sentence includes a five-year term of supervised release and a $300 fine.

The case was investigated by the FBI, the Belleville Police Department, the St. Clair

County Sheriff’s Department, and the St. Louis County Police Department, with assistance from the

St. Clair County States Attorney’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Angela Scott

prosecuted the case.

U.S. Attorney’s Office

Eastern District of Tennessee

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, April 15, 2021

William Ellis Sentenced To 10 Years For Enticement Of A Minor To Engage In Sexual Activity

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – On April 15, 2021, William Charles Ellis, 51, currently of Jonesborough, Tennessee, was sentenced by the Honorable R. Leon Jordan, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Knoxville.

As part of the plea agreement filed with the court, Ellis agreed to plead guilty to enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b). Ellis was sentenced to 120 months in prison, followed by 15 years of supervised release. Ellis will be required to register with state sex offender registries and comply with special sex offender conditions during his supervised release.

In August 2019, Ellis used an online dating application to communicate with a person that he believed to be a 15-year-old minor female. The “minor female” was an FBI agent working an online covert investigation. Ellis sent sexually explicit photos to the minor female and requested that she send sexually explicit photos and videos to him. The FBI identified the defendant, obtained a search warrant for his cellular phone, and questioned him. During questioning, Ellis admitted to communicating with a person that he believed to be an underage female and asking her to send him pornographic videos. The FBI searched Ellis’ phone and found numerous files containing child pornography.

The criminal indictment was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Assistant United States Attorney Emily Swecker represented the United States.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), 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 the United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about PSC, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc/resources.html and click on the tab resources.

Department of Justice

Office of Public Affairs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, April 15, 2021

Former Chief Executive Officer of Publicly Traded Petrochemical Company Pleads Guilty to Foreign Bribery and Securities Law Violations

A Brazilian national who previously served as a chief executive officer (CEO) of Braskem S.A. (Braskem), a publicly traded Brazilian petrochemical company, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to divert hundreds of millions of dollars from Braskem into a secret slush fund and to pay bribes to government officials, political parties, and others in Brazil to obtain and retain business.

According to court documents, between approximately 2002 and 2014, Jose Carlos Grubisich, 64, a citizen of Brazil — who served as the CEO and a member of the board of directors of Braskem as well as in various capacities for Braskem’s parent company, Odebrecht S.A. (Odebrecht) — engaged in a scheme to bribe Brazilian government officials in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). As part of the scheme, Grubisich and his co-conspirators diverted approximately $250 million from Braskem into a secret slush fund, which Grubisich and others had generated through fraudulent contracts and offshore shell companies secretly controlled by Braskem.

Grubisich admitted that while CEO of Braskem, he agreed to pay bribes to Brazilian government officials to ensure Braskem’s retention of a contract for a significant petrochemical project from Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras), Brazil’s state-owned and state-controlled oil company. Grubisich also admitted that, as Braskem’s CEO, he falsified Braskem’s books and records by falsely recording the payments to Braskem’s offshore shell companies as payments for legitimate services. Grubisich also signed false Sarbanes-Oxley certifications submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that, among other things, attested that Braskem’s annual reports fairly and accurately represented Braskem’s financial condition, and that Grubisich, as Braskem’s principal officer, had disclosed all fraudulent conduct by Braskem’s management and other employees with control over Braskem’s financial reporting.

“As CEO of a publicly traded company, Grubisich and other senior executives at Braskem engaged in a large-scale, sophisticated international bribery and fraud scheme and then lied to U.S. shareholders and authorities to conceal their criminal conduct,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas L. McQuaid of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Today’s guilty plea demonstrates the Department’s commitment to holding individuals accountable for corrupt and fraudulent conduct, including those at the highest corporate echelons.”

“Grubisich abused his position of trust as CEO of Braskem to both facilitate and conceal the payment of millions of dollars in bribes so that Braskem could increase its profits and its senior executives — including Grubisich himself — could personally benefit,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Mark J. Lesko of the Eastern District of New York. “This office is committed to the prosecution of corrupt gatekeepers, including officers and directors of public companies, who, like Grubisich, use the United States’ financial system to commit crimes.”

Grubisich pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA and one count of conspiracy to violate the books and records provision of the FCPA and to fail to accurately certify Braskem’s financial reports. Grubisich has also agreed to pay approximately $2.2 million in forfeiture. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 5, and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Any sentence will be determined after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

In December 2016, Braskem and Odebrecht each pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of New York to separate one-count criminal informations charging them with conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA. Braskem settled with the SEC in related proceedings on the same day.

The FBI’s International Corruption squad in New York is investigating the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs also provided substantial assistance. The department also expresses its appreciation for the assistance provided by the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, Ministério Público Federal and the Departamento de Polícia Federal in Brazil, the Office of the Attorney General in Switzerland, the Swiss Federal Office of Justice, and the governments of Portugal, Andorra, United Kingdom, and Panama.

Assistant Chief Lorinda Laryea and Trial Attorney Leila Babaeva of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Julia Nestor and Alixandra Smith of the Eastern District of New York are prosecuting the case, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Mantell of the Eastern District’s Civil Division handling forfeiture matters.