Baka
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Western District of North Carolina
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, May 4, 2021
Former Tennis Coach Is Sentenced To 25 Years For The Sexual Exploitation Of A Minor
The Defendant Secretly Recorded Three Minors Undressing and Showering
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Acting U.S. Attorney William T. Stetzer announced that U.S. District Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr. sentenced Benjamin Swain, 47, of Charlotte, late yesterday, to 25 years in prison, on charges of sexual exploitation of a minor.
Robert R. Wells, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Charlotte Division, and Chief Jonny Jennings for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department join Acting U.S. Attorney Stetzer in making today’s announcement.
According to court filings, plea documents and statements made in court, Swain was a tennis coach in the greater Charlotte area. As Swain previously admitted in court, beginning in at least 2016, and on at least two different occasions, Swain secretly recorded three minors while they were undressing and showering. On December 9, 2019, Swain pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a minor. Swain was previously sentenced to 12 years in prison, after pleading guilty to Child Molestation and Enticing a Child for Indecent Purposes in an unrelated case prosecuted by the state of Georgia.
In announcing Swain’s sentence, Judge Cogburn said that the sentence should deter other coaches and people who serve in similar positions from committing similar crimes.
Swain is currently in federal custody. He will be ordered to report to the federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility. Swain, who is a British citizen, will also be subject to deportation proceedings upon completion of his federal sentence. If Swain is not deported, or later returns to the United States, he was ordered by Judge Cogburn to serve a lifetime of supervised release and to register as a sex offender.
In making today’s announcement, Acting U.S. Attorney Stetzer thanked the FBI, CMPD, and the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia for their investigation of the case.
Assistant United States Attorney Cortney Randall of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s 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.projectsafechildhood.gov.
>Swain, who is a British citizen, will also be subject to deportation proceedings upon completion of his federal sentence.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdnc/pr/former-tennis-coach-sentenced-25-years-sexual-exploitation-minor
U.S. Attorney’s Office
District of Maryland
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, May 4, 2021
Glen Burnie Man Facing Federal Indictment for Impersonating a U.S. Marshal and Possession of a Fraudulently Made Government Seal
Baltimore, Maryland – A federal grand jury has indicted Renul Barnet Forbes, a/k/a “Michael Renul,” “Breion Jones,” and “Bree Jones,” age 32, of Glen Burnie, Maryland, on the federal charges of false personation of a federal officer and possession of a fraudulently made government seal. The indictment was returned on March 25, 2021 and was unsealed at his initial appearance on May 3, 2021.
The indictment was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Jonathan F. Lenzner; Special Agent in Charge Timothy Jones of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division; U.S. Marshal for the District of Maryland Johnny Hughes; and Anne Arundel County Police Chief Amal Awad.
According to the indictment, on September 26, 2020, Forbes pretended to be an agent of the United States Marshals Service and presented a fraudulent United States Marshals Service badge in relation to an investigation begin conducted by an Anne Arundel County Police officer, in an effort to avoid identification and prosecution.
If convicted, Forbes faces a maximum sentence of three years in federal prison for impersonating an officer and a maximum of five years in federal prison for presenting a fraudulent government seal. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. At today’s initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, U.S. Magistrate Judge Beth P. Gesner ordered that Forbes be released on electronic home monitoring pending trial.
An indictment is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.
Acting United States Attorney Jonathan F. Lenzner commended the ATF, the USMS, and the Anne Arundel County Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Lenzner thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary W. Setzer who is prosecuting the case.
>on September 26, 2020, Forbes pretended to be an agent of the United States Marshals Service and presented a fraudulent United States Marshals Service badge in relation to an investigation begin conducted by an Anne Arundel County Police officer, in an effort to avoid identification and prosecution.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/pr/glen-burnie-man-facing-federal-indictment-impersonating-us-marshal-and-possession
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article251133904.html
> The incident allegedly took place in the early morning hours of April 25.
The website for the Palm Beach County PBA shows that the “Black-tie optional” 13th Annual PBA Officer’s Ball was sold out at Trump National Jupiter Golf Club on April 24. Tickets for the event ran the gamut from $200 to $10,000, with lieutenants shelling out $2,500 a piece for a four-seat table.
Sleepers