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Anonymous ID: 4651f1 May 18, 2021, 5:51 a.m. No.13691880   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>1881

U.S. Attorney’s Office

Southern District of Iowa

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, May 18, 2021

Grand Jury indictment charging six individuals with various drug and firearms charges

 

DAVENPORT, IOWA – A federal grand jury in Davenport returned a 19-count Indictment last week charging six individuals with various drug and firearms charges announced Acting United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal.

 

According to court documents, Taylor Christopher Graeber, age 23; Joshua John Paarmann, age 30; Karley Ann Smith, age 27; Joshua Steven Ennis, age 38; Donnie Wayne Robinson, Jr., age 34; and Robert Stanley Nelson III, age 40; are each charged in a Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine that started by at least July 1, 2020, and continued until March 29, 2021. The conspiracy involved the possession of numerous firearms, multiple pounds of methamphetamine, and continued distribution of methamphetamine throughout the Quad Cities area during the conspiracy’s duration.

 

Graeber is charged with Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine, Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of Drug Trafficking, and Felon in Possession of a Firearm. If convicted, Graeber faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison and a maximum of life imprisonment.

 

Paarmann is charged with Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine, two counts of Possession with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance, Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of Drug Trafficking, and Felon in Possession of a Firearm and Ammunition. If convicted, Paarmann faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison and a maximum of life imprisonment.

 

Smith is charged with Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine and Possession with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance. If convicted, she faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life imprisonment.

 

Ennis is charged with Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine, Possession with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance, Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of Drug Trafficking, and Felon in Possession of a Firearm and Ammunition. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison and a maximum of life imprisonment.

 

Robinson is charged with Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine, Possession with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance, Felon in Possession of Ammunition, Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of Drug Trafficking, and Felon in Possession of a Firearm. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison and a maximum of life imprisonment.

 

Nelson is charged with Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine and Possession with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life imprisonment.

Anonymous ID: 4651f1 May 18, 2021, 6:02 a.m. No.13691944   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>1945

U.S. Attorney’s Office

Middle District of Florida

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, May 17, 2021

Former Seminole County Tax Collector Joel Micah Greenberg Pleads Guilty To Multiple Federal Offenses

 

Orlando, Florida – Former Seminole County Tax Collector Joel Micah Greenberg (36, Lake Mary) today pleaded guilty to six federal offenses: sex trafficking of a child, illegally producing a false identification document, aggravated identity theft, wire fraud, stalking, and conspiracy. Each offense carries a separate penalty. Greenberg faces maximum terms of imprisonment of 20 years for wire fraud, 15 years for illegally producing a false identification document, 15 years for conspiracy, and 5 years for stalking. He also faces mandatory minimum sentences of imprisonment: of 10 years, and up to, life in prison for sex trafficking of a child, and of 2 years for aggravated identity theft. Greenberg will be ordered to pay restitution to his victims in amounts to be determined at his sentencing.

 

According to the plea agreement, Greenberg paid for commercial sex acts, including with an individual who was a minor for part of the time when Greenberg paid her to engage in those acts. Greenberg had met the minor on an internet website and he engaged in commercial sex acts with her on at least seven occasions when she was under the age of 18. Greenberg also introduced the minor to other adult men, who engaged in commercial sex acts with the minor in the Middle District of Florida.

 

On the day of his arrest and execution of a federal search warrant at his residence on June 23, 2020, Greenberg was found in possession of two fake drivers licenses in his wallet – each license contained the personal information of the victim but with Greenberg’s photograph. Greenberg used his position as Tax Collector to facilitate the production of those fake drivers licenses.

 

In addition, Greenberg used his position as Seminole County Tax Collector to embezzle and divert over $400,000 to benefit himself, including to purchase cryptocurrency, to operate a business that sold cryptocurrency mining machines, to mine cryptocurrency, and to purchase personal items, such as autographed sports memorabilia.

 

Greenberg also engaged in a course of conduct that caused and attempted to cause substantial emotional distress to a political opponent who worked in the Middle District of Florida, including by knowingly mailing false letters to the school where the employee worked. The letters claimed to be from an anonymous “very concerned student” of the school who claimed to know the school employee had engaged in sexual misconduct with a particular student.

 

After his federal arrest in June 2020, and while released on special conditions, Greenberg conspired with an employee of the Small Business Administration (SBA) and another individual to submit false claims to SBA for Economic Injury Disaster Loans, available under the CARES Act to businesses negatively affected by the COVID 19 pandemic. Greenberg and the SBA employee conspired to submit loan applications for two of Greenberg’s businesses falsely claiming the businesses were operating prior to February 2020, when in fact the State previously had administratively dissolved both business and Greenberg only reinstated them to apply for the loans. Greenberg and the SBA employee also conspired to apply for a third loan in Greenberg’s name. The loan applications provided false information about the revenues and numbers of employees for the businesses. As a result of the conspiracy, Greenberg received over $430,000, and he paid $16,000 of that to the individual who recruited him into the scheme, and $3,000 of it as a bribe to the SBA employee.

Anonymous ID: 4651f1 May 18, 2021, 6:02 a.m. No.13691950   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>1951

U.S. Attorney’s Office

Middle District of Florida

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, May 17, 2021

Putnam County Convicted Sex Offender Pleads Guilty To Possessing Images Depicting Child Sexual Abuse On His Cell Phone

 

Jacksonville, Florida – Jasen Michael Anderson (29, Crescent City) has pleaded guilty to possessing images depicting the sexual abuse of children on his cell phone. He faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 10 years, and up to 20 years, in federal prison, a $250,000 fine, and a potential life term of supervised release.

 

According to court documents, on May 3, 2012, Anderson was convicted on federal charges for distributing and possessing child exploitation materials. After serving a seven-year prison sentence, Anderson was released and began serving a 10-year term of supervised release under the supervision of the United States Probation Office. During this period, Anderson was prohibited from using any computer device to access the internet without written approval of his probation officer, and was subject to any search by the Probation Office based on reasonable suspicion of evidence of a violation of any supervised release condition.

 

During an interview on March 16, 2020, Anderson admitted to his probation officer that he had accessed the internet using a cell phone and had searched for images of children on a particular Russian website. The probation officer then confiscated Anderson’s cell phone. During an initial manual examination of this device, no evidence of contraband images was discovered.

 

In May 2020, Anderson met with his probation officer and admitted that he had accessed child sex abuse images over the internet using a second cell phone. This second phone was also seized by the probation officer. Anderson was subsequently arrested at his home by the United States Marshals Service based on violations of the terms of his supervised release. Forensic examination of his cell phones revealed that one of the devices contained 110 images depicting young children, including some as young as six years old, being sexually abused.

 

This case was investigated by the United States Probation Office in Ocala and Tampa, the United States Marshals Service, and Homeland Security Investigations. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

 

It is another case brought as 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 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. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Anonymous ID: 4651f1 May 18, 2021, 6:04 a.m. No.13691968   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>1969

U.S. Attorney’s Office

Southern District of Florida

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, May 18, 2021

Dominican Congressman Charged with International Cocaine Trafficking Arrested at Miami International Airport

 

Miami, FL – Last night, federal law enforcement officers arrested a foreign elected official charged in the United States with drug trafficking, following the official’s international flight from the Dominican Republic to Miami.

 

Fifty-eight-year-old Miguel Andres Gutierrez Diaz, of Santiago, is an elected member of the Chamber of Deputies of the Dominican Republic. According to the indictment returned by a Miami federal grand jury on March 11, 2021, from about 2014 to 2017, Congressman Gutierrez Diaz was part of a transnational drug ring that operated in the Dominican Republic, Colombia, and the United States. The federal indictment charges Gutierrez Diaz and others with three counts: conspiring to distribute cocaine, knowing that it would be imported into the United States; conspiring to import cocaine into the United States; and conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine. If convicted, Gutierrez Diaz faces up to life imprisonment.

 

Gutierrez Diaz will make his initial federal court appearance today at 2:00 p.m. before United States Magistrate Judge Alicia Otazo-Reyes, who sits in Miami.

 

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and La Verne J. Hibbert, Acting Special Agent in Charge, United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Miami Field Division, announced the charges and arrest.

 

DEA Miami investigated the case, with assistance from the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs, DEA Santo Domingo Country Office, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI), Miami Field Office, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), Miami Field Office, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Miami Office of Field Operations. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Richard Getchell and Ellen D’Angelo of the International Narcotics and Money Laundering Section in the Southern District of Florida are prosecuting the case.

 

The U.S. Attorney’s Office and its federal partners commend the Office of the Presidency of the Dominican Republic and the Dirección Nacional de Control de Drogas (DNCD) for their cooperation in this investigation.

 

This prosecution is the result of the ongoing efforts by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a partnership between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, and other priority transnational criminal organizations that threaten the citizens of the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence driven, multi-agency approach to combat transnational organized crime. The OCDETF program facilitates complex, joint operations by focusing its partner agencies on priority targets, by managing and coordinating multi-agency efforts, and by leveraging intelligence across multiple investigative platforms.

 

An indictment merely contains allegations and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

 

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Anonymous ID: 4651f1 May 18, 2021, 6:07 a.m. No.13691992   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>1996

U.S. Attorney’s Office

District of Columbia

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, May 17, 2021

Nevada Man Pleads Guilty to Election Fundraising Scam and Cheating Taxpayers Out of Paycheck Protection Loan Funds

 

Defendant used a web of fake PACs and sham companies to cheat donors and taxpayers

 

WASHINGTON – James Kyle Bell, 44, of Las Vegas, Nevada, entered a guilty plea today to one count of wire fraud in federal court in the District of Columbia.

 

As he admitted in entering his guilty plea, Bell created two political action committees (PACs) which operated during the 2020 election cycle: the Keep America Great Committee (“KAGC”) , which purportedly supported the re-election of Donald Trump, and the Best Days Lie Ahead Committee (“BDLAC”), which purportedly supported the candidacy of Joe Biden. Both PACs registered with the Federal Election Commission (“FEC”) as Section 527 independent expenditure-only committees. Such committees are often referred to as “527 Groups” or “Super PACs.”

 

Between January 2020 and October 2020, Bell’s PACs sent solicitations nationwide to more than 40,000 recipients. The solicitations promised that individual donations would be “5x matched” by Bell’s PACs. The solicitations also replicated the look and feel of marketing materials used by the presidential campaigns including official logos and slogans. Bell also set up websites to solicit donations with names like “keepamericagreatcommittee.com,” “trump2020maga.com,” and “bestdayslieaheadcommittee.com.” KAGC and BDLAC received no less than $346,000 in contributions from individuals and other groups during the months before the 2020 election. However, none of the individual donations was ever “5x matched” by Bell or anyone else. And Bell made a series of false filings with the FEC in which Bell claimed that his PACs had made expenditures in support of both presidential campaigns.

 

Court documents also reflect that during the same time period, Bell applied for more than $1.6 million in loans from the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) on behalf of five shell companies that Bell owned and controlled. For example, one of Bell’s companies named “Echo Three LLC,” a company registered in Nevada with no employees and no payroll, received a PPP loan of $485,000 based on Bell’s false statements to the government that the company had 83 employees working at Bell’s private residence. In another instance, Bell obtained a PPP loan in the amount of $492,000 for a company he owned and controlled named “Myson Rules LLC” which had no employees, no payroll, no business operations, and no active business license in the State of Nevada. Bell submitted fabricated tax documents and other company records in support of all five PPP loan applications.

 

Bell diverted almost all of the funds from PAC donors and the taxpayer-supported PPP loans to bank accounts where they could be used for Bell’s personal benefit, commingling the proceeds of the fraud and further violating federal campaign finance laws with exacting record keeping for PACs. According to court papers, the government has located and seized $519,000 of Bell’s criminal proceeds. Bell’s plea agreement requires that Bell make full restitution to his victims and agree to the entry of a money judgement of $862,000 against him.