Anonymous ID: fae297 May 19, 2021, 2:05 p.m. No.13704091   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>4096 >>4629

U.S. Attorney’s Office

District of Maryland

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, May 19, 2021

Former Air Force Employee Pleads Guilty to Stealing More Than $1.1 Million in Government Funds

 

Coordinated Congressional Travel in the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, Office of Legislative Liaison

 

Greenbelt, Maryland – Eddie Ray Johnson, Jr., age 60, of Brandywine, Maryland, pleaded guilty on May 14, 2021, to the federal charge of theft of government property, in connection with a scheme to use his government-issued travel credit card to obtain more than $1.1 million in cash advances.

 

The guilty plea was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Jonathan F. Lenzner; Brigadier General Terry Bullard of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI); Special Agent in Charge Christopher Dillard of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), Mid-Atlantic Field Office; and Acting Special Agent in Charge Darrell J. Waldon of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Washington, D.C. Field Office.

 

“Eddie Johnson betrayed his position of trust for his personal gain,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Jonathan F. Lenzner. “Corrupt public employees rip off the taxpayers and undermine everyone’s faith in the government.”

 

According to his plea agreement, from January 2003 to February 2018, Johnson was a civilian Air Force employee, most recently as a travel coordinator in the Secretary of the Air Force, Office of Legislative Liaison, where he planned congressional travel and reviewed and approved accounting packages submitted by trip escorts, among other duties. Johnson admitted that from March 2014 through September 2017, he used his government-issued travel credit card to obtain more than $1.1 million in cash advances, at least $774,000 of which he diverted to his own personal use.

 

As detailed in the plea agreement, Johnson frequently deposited the stolen funds into a non-interest bearing account opened in his name at a bank branch in the Pentagon. Employees in the Office of Legislative Liaison were instructed to open such accounts so that they could more easily deposit and withdraw government funds for official use without accruing interest. After depositing the stolen funds, Johnson wrote checks to himself, which he deposited into his personal bank accounts, and spent the money for his personal benefit, including on living expenses, a baby grand piano, loan payments for a Harley Davidson motorcycle, and family vacations. Johnson also admitted that he provided cash to his family members, including his spouse.

 

During execution of a search warrant at Johnson’s residence in Brandywine, Maryland on November 6, 2019, law enforcement recovered approximately $15,1740 in cash from Johnson’s residence. Johnson agrees that at least $4,000 of the funds seized were the proceeds of his offense.

 

In all, Johnson’s conduct caused a loss to the U.S. government of $1,157,540.69, which includes $26,506.02 in banking and service fees that the Air Force paid monthly in connection with the cash advances Johnson obtained. As part of his plea agreement, Johnson has agreed to the entry of a restitution order in the full amount of the victim’s losses.

 

Johnson faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison for theft of government property. 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. U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm has scheduled sentencing for September 3, 2021 at 10:00 a.m.

 

Acting United States Attorney Jonathan F. Lenzner commended the OSI, the DCIS, and the IRS-CI for their work in the investigation. Mr. Lenzner thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dana J. Brusca and Elizabeth Wright, who are prosecuting the case.

Anonymous ID: fae297 May 19, 2021, 2:08 p.m. No.13704122   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>4618 >>4690

U.S. Attorney’s Office

Western District of Missouri

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, May 19, 2021

Washington Man Sentenced to 20 Years for Sexually Assaulting a Child

 

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Renton, Washington, man was sentenced in federal court today for traveling to Missouri to sexually assault a child victim.

 

Timothy Smith, 56, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 20 years in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Smith to spend the rest of his life on supervised release following incarceration.

 

On Nov. 9, 2020, Smith pleaded guilty to traveling across state lines to engage in illicit sexual conduct.

 

The investigation began in April 2018 when the child victim disclosed to a friend that she had been sexually victimized by Smith. This information -was conveyed to a school counselor, who notified the Missouri Department of Social Services. The child victim reported that Smith had sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions between the ages of five and 12. These assaults took place when he traveled from Washington to Missouri, both on the premises of Fort Leonard Wood and at a Missouri residence.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James Kelleher. It was investigated by the FBI and U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division.

 

Project Safe Childhood

 

This case was 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.usdoj.gov/psc . For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."

https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdmo/pr/washington-man-sentenced-20-years-sexually-assaulting-child

Anonymous ID: fae297 May 19, 2021, 2:09 p.m. No.13704135   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>4629

U.S. Attorney’s Office

Eastern District of Pennsylvania

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, May 19, 2021

Philadelphia Electrical Contractor Sentenced to Two Years on Charges of Tax Fraud and Theft of Employee Benefits

 

PHILADELPHIA – Acting United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams announced that Donald Dougherty, 55, of Philadelphia, PA, was sentenced to two years in prison, one year of supervised release, and was ordered to pay approximately $358,000 in restitution and a $125,000 fine by United States District Judge Michael M. Baylson for filing a false income tax return and theft from an employee benefit plan.

 

In January 2021, the defendant pleaded guilty to the charges, which arose from his ownership of Dougherty Electric Incorporated (DEI), an electrical contracting firm located in Philadelphia. The false income tax return charge related to Dougherty’s diversion of DEI resources for his personal benefit. In 2015, he used the resources of DEI to pay for $237,100 in personal expenditures, including a Dougherty family vacation at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Miami; repairs to his home; condominium association fees for his wife’s New Jersey condominium; expenses for beer delivery; and $25,000 transferred from the DEI operating account and deposited into the defendant’s personal account. Dougherty failed to report the receipt of these benefits on his personal income tax return for 2015.

 

The charge of theft from an employee benefit plan resulted from Dougherty’s failure to pay benefits over to a labor benefit plan as required by a collective bargaining agreement between the national Electrical Contractors Associations and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 5 in Pittsburgh. The agreement required DEI to file payroll and remittance reports with Local 5 that identified DEI employees working in Pittsburgh, the hours worked, the wages they earned, and to then make corresponding contributions to the Local 5 benefit plans. Dougherty skirted around the agreement by using non-union labor to work on a contract project in Pittsburgh. He concealed his use of non-union labor by using his brother’s pass-through company to pay non-union electrical workers on DEI’s Pittsburgh projects. The deception enabled him to avoid making total contributions of $266,000 to Local 5’s benefit fund.

 

“Donald Dougherty’s schemes to enrich himself backfired, and now he has received a just punishment as the consequence of his actions,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Williams. “This is an important reminder for those who might consider filing false returns: the government is very good at detecting this type of fraud – and you will be found out and prosecuted.”

 

“Mr. Dougherty not only stole from the Government, he put his own interests ahead of honest and hard-working union members,” said Michael J. Driscoll, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “Such greed and corruption cannot go unchecked. The FBI is committed to working with our law enforcement partners to protect the Government’s resources and dedicated laborers everywhere.”

 

“Today’s sentence sends a clear message that the laws of the land apply to everyone,” said IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Thomas Fattorusso. “No matter who you are, it is unacceptable to purposely underreport your income. If you intentionally file fraudulent tax returns, your status will not protect you from federal prosecution.”

 

“The U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration, will pursue to the fullest extent of the law those who unlawfully profit by failing to make required contributions to employee benefit plans,” said Michael Schloss, Regional Director of EBSA’s Philadelphia Regional Office.

 

The case was investigated by the FBI, IRS Criminal Investigations Unit, and the Employee Benefits Security Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Richard P. Barrett and Frank Costello.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edpa/pr/philadelphia-electrical-contractor-sentenced-two-years-charges-tax-fraud-and-theft

Anonymous ID: fae297 May 19, 2021, 2:11 p.m. No.13704165   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>4629

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