Department of Justice Archives

South Dakota AG Joins Second Multistate Lawsuit Against Google

18Jan

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South Dakota AG Joins Second Multistate Lawsuit Against Google

PIERRE, South Dakota (STL.News) Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg today joined with 37 other attorneys general in a bipartisan coalition suing Google LLC for anticompetitive conduct in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act. The states allege that Google illegally maintains its monopoly power over general search engines and related advertising markets through a series of anticompetitive exclusionary contracts and conduct. As a result, Google has deprived consumers of competition that could lead to greater choice, innovation, and better privacy protections. Furthermore, Google has exploited its market position to accumulate and leverage data to the detriment of consumers. “After more than a year of investigation, and distinct from yesterday’s announcement, this suit takes direct a...

Vermont Governor Phil Scott Announces Funding to Complete the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail

12Aug

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Politics

Vermont Governor Phil Scott Announces Funding to Complete the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail

(STL.News) – Governor Phil Scott and the Vermont Association of Snow Travelers (VAST) today announced that the Legislature has approved funding to accelerate the completion of the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail (LVRT). As proposed in the Governor’s FY21 budget, the allocation totals $2.8 million, which will be matched by $11.3 million in federal funds, to complete construction of the trail by the summer of 2022. “The LVRT will bring together some of our most rural communities while boosting local economies and improving quality of life for Vermonters and visitors,” said Governor Scott. “I appreciate the cooperation of the Legislature, our federal and local partners and VAST in getting us a step closer to making this long-time goal a reality.” “We are pleased to enter into this new phase of...

Mine Owner Daniel Tucke and Foreman Sentenced To Prison For Dust-Sampling Fraud

12Aug

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Mine Owner Daniel Tucke and Foreman Sentenced To Prison For Dust-Sampling Fraud

Mine Owner and Foreman Sentenced To Prison For Dust-Sampling Fraud (STL.News) – A Grundy, Va., coal company, its owner, and one of its foremen, were sentenced yesterday in the United States District Court in Abingdon for conspiring to defraud the United States by committing dust-sampling fraud to avoid the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s health standards designed to protect miners from black lung. United States Attorney Thomas T. Cullen and Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) David G. Zatezalo announced the sentencings. Daniel Tucker, 57, of Russell County, Va., the owner of D&H Mining, was sentenced yesterday to three months in federal prison. As part of his guilty plea, Tucker previously paid an $80,000 fine. Also yesterday, D&...

Fayetteville Man Michael Prescott Bobbitt Sentenced to 57 Months for Gun Charge

12Aug

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Fayetteville Man Michael Prescott Bobbitt Sentenced to 57 Months for Gun Charge

(STL.News) – A Fayetteville man was sentenced yesterday to 57 months in prison for possession of a firearm by a felon in connection with an August 2018 shooting. According to court documents, Michael Prescott Bobbitt, 41, was charged with one count of felon in possession of a firearm. Bobbitt pled guilty on September 18, 2019. On August 11, 2018, Bobbitt, who had a prior federal conviction for possession of a firearm by a felon, arrived at a Fayetteville convenience store. As Bobbitt approached the entrance to the store, he engaged in a verbal altercation with several other individuals parked nearby. Bobbitt escalated the altercation when he returned to his vehicle, retrieved a firearm and began to approach the other individuals. The other individuals fired before Bobbitt was able to...

Plant City Man Wilmer Rosales Indicted For Murder Committed In Park Next To Elementary School

12Aug

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Plant City Man Wilmer Rosales Indicted For Murder Committed In Park Next To Elementary School

(STL.News) – United States Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez announces the unsealing of an indictment charging Wilmer Rosales (22, Plant City), a/k/a “DoubleU,” and Joel Sierra (25, Plant City), a/k/a “Jojo,” with conspiring to traffic in controlled substances, conspiring to commit robbery, and robbery. The indictment charges Rosales with using a firearm and murdering an individual (G.U.) during the drug conspiracy, possessing a firearm and ammunition as a convicted felon, and possessing a firearm and ammunition in a school zone. If convicted on all counts, Rosales faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison, or the death penalty. Sierra faces a maximum penalty of 45 years in federal prison. According to court documents, Rosales and Sierra planned to rob G.U. Under the guise of making a...

Justice Department Acts To Shut Down Fraudulent Websites Exploiting The COVID-19 Pandemic

12Aug

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Justice Department Acts To Shut Down Fraudulent Websites Exploiting The COVID-19 Pandemic

(STL.News) – The United States Department of Justice announced today that it has obtained a Temporary Restraining Order in federal court to combat fraud related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The enforcement action, filed in Tampa, Florida, is part of the Justice Department’s ongoing efforts prioritizing the detection, investigation, and prosecution of illegal conduct related to the pandemic. The action was brought based on an investigation conducted by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), in coordination with the Vietnam Ministry of Public Security. “The Department of Justice is committed to preventing fraudsters from exploiting this pandemic for personal gain,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Ethan P. Davis o...

Value Wise CEO Michael Mann Pleads Guilty to $100 Million Fraud

12Aug

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Value Wise CEO Michael Mann Pleads Guilty to $100 Million Fraud

(STL.News) – Michael T. Mann, age 50, of Saratoga County, New York, pled guilty today to orchestrating a years-long fraud that caused more than $100 million in losses to banks, financing companies, and other businesses. The announcement was made by United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and Thomas F. Relford, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Mann operated ValueWise Corporation, based in Clifton Park, New York, as well as subsidiary companies including MyPayrollHR.com LLC. In pleading guilty, he admitted that from 2013 to September 2019, he engaged in a fraudulent scheme to deceive banks and financing companies into loaning his companies tens of millions of dollars. Because Mann could not repay the loans with legitimate bus...

North Carolina Man Douglas Matthew Gurkins Pleads Guilty to Violating Fair Housing Act

6Aug

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North Carolina Man Douglas Matthew Gurkins Pleads Guilty to Violating Fair Housing Act

North Carolina Man Douglas Matthew Gurkins Pleads Guilty to Violating Fair Housing Act and Threatening a Family Because of Their Race (STL.News) – The Justice Department announced that Douglas Matthew Gurkins, 34, pleaded guilty today in federal court in the Eastern District of North Carolina to one count of criminal interference with the Fair Housing Act, for using threats of force against an African American family because of the family members’ race and because they were renting a dwelling. According to the defendant’s plea agreement, and admissions in court, the defendant, in December 2014, drove to the home of an African American family and yelled racial slurs at the family. The defendant told the family that they did not belong in their home. The defendant then threatened to shoot ...

Deryck Devon Bennett and two other Northampton County Men Indicted on Federal Gun Charges

6Aug

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Deryck Devon Bennett and two other Northampton County Men Indicted on Federal Gun Charges

(STL.News) – A federal grand jury returned indictments charging three Northampton County men with various gun and ammunition offenses. According to the respective indictments, Deryck Devon Bennett, 26, of Garysburg, was charged with one count of felon in possession of a firearm. Rasean Bolden, 38, and Tyshawn Williams, 29, both of Rich Square, were charged with felon in possession of firearm and ammunition. If convicted, each man faces a maximum of 10 years in prison. Robert J. Higdon, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement. The Northampton County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert J. Dodson is prosecuting the case. An indictment is merely an accusation. The defendants are presumed innocent until...

Former Member of Boston Chapter of Latin Kings Oscar Pena Pleads Guilty

6Aug

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Former Member of Boston Chapter of Latin Kings Oscar Pena Pleads Guilty

Former Member of Boston Chapter of Latin Kings Oscar Pena Pleads Guilty to Racketeering Conspiracy Charges (STL.News) – A former member of the Boston-based Morton Street Bricks Chapter of the Massachusetts Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation (“Latin Kings”) pleaded guilty yesterday to racketeering charges. Oscar Pena, a/k/a “King DO-Block,” 29, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to conduct enterprise affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity, more commonly referred to as RICO conspiracy. U.S. Senior District Court Judge Rya W. Zobel scheduled sentencing for Nov. 17, 2020. Pena was arrested and charged in December 2019, at which time he was a member of the Morton Street Bricks (also known as “MSB”), a Boston-based Chapter of the Latin Kings. The Latin Kings are a violent criminal ent...

Leader of International Cocaine Trafficking Organization Bernave Millan-Rascon Pleads Guilty

6Aug

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Leader of International Cocaine Trafficking Organization Bernave Millan-Rascon Pleads Guilty

(STL.News) – A man from Mexico pleaded guilty today to two offenses: conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine (Count One); and possession with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, and aiding and abetting (Count Two). According to court documents and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Bernave Millan-Rascon, also known as “Berna,” 40 years old, was one of two leaders of an international cocaine trafficking organization based in Mexico. Millan-Rascon directed the shipment of multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine from Mexico into Texas, and then into other parts of the United States, including the Eastern District of North Carolina. Agents conducted a wiretap investigation and seized 16 kilograms of cocaine, $...

Chicago Man Jesus Lopez Sentenced to 20 Years In Prison

6Aug

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Chicago Man Jesus Lopez Sentenced to 20 Years In Prison

(STL.News) – Jesus Lopez, 42 years old, of Chicago, Illinois, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge James T. Moody after pleading guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, announced United States Attorney Thomas L. Kirsch II. Lopez received a sentence of 240 months in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release. “Mr. Lopez will serve 20 years in prison for his guilty plea to possessing with the intent to distribute methamphetamine,” said U.S. Attorney Kirsch. “Smuggling drugs into our Country is an intolerable offense. We will continue to arrest and prosecute those caught in the Northern District of Indiana. I commend the interdiction efforts of the Hobart Police Department for the apprehension of Mr. Lopez.” According to documents in this cas...

Federal Judge Sentences Cherokee Man George Allan Lambert For Stabbing Victim With a Knife

6Aug

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Federal Judge Sentences Cherokee Man George Allan Lambert For Stabbing Victim With a Knife

(STL.News) – George Allan Lambert, 48, of Cherokee, N.C., and an Enrolled Member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, was sentenced to today to 45 months in prison and three years of supervised release for stabbing a victim with a knife, announced Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. On November 5, 2019, a jury convicted Lambert of assault resulting in serious bodily injury, and assault with a dangerous weapon with intent to do bodily harm. Chief Doug Pheasant of the Cherokee Indian Police Department (CIPD) joins U.S. Attorney Murray in making today’s announcement. According to filed documents, evidence presented at trial and witness testimony, on May 2, 2019, Lambert and the victim were visiting a residence in Swain County, within Indian Country....

Former Pharmacy Owner Robert Fazzini Admits Role in Large-Scale Illegal Kickback Scheme

6Aug

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Former Pharmacy Owner Robert Fazzini Admits Role in Large-Scale Illegal Kickback Scheme

(STL.News) – A Morris County, New Jersey, pharmacist today admitted participating in a conspiracy to pay bribes and kickbacks for compounded pain creams, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced. Robert Fazzini, 53, of Succasunna, New Jersey, pleaded guilty by videoconference before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton to an information charging him with one count of conspiring to violate the anti-kickback statute. According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court: Fazzini was a licenced pharmacist and owner of the now-closed White’s Pharmacy in Morristown, New Jersey. In the summer and fall of 2015, Fazzini participated in a bribe and kickback conspiracy stemming from a scheme to obtain millions of dollars in health benefits from the federal workers’ compensation ...

Raleigh Gang Member Demetrius Deshaun Toney Sentenced to 20 Years

6Aug

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Raleigh Gang Member Demetrius Deshaun Toney Sentenced to 20 Years

Raleigh Gang Member Demetrius Deshaun Toney Sentenced to 20 Years for Racketeering Conspiracy (STL.News) – A Charlotte man was sentenced today to 240 months in prison for Conspiracy to Participate in a Pattern of Racketeering (RICO conspiracy). On July 22, 2019, Demetrius Deshaun Toney, 28, pled guilty to RICO conspiracy. According to court documents and evidence presented during the trial of the co-defendants, Toney, was a member of the Black Mob Gangstas (BMG) organization led by Demetrice R. Devine, which later became the Donald Gee Family (DGF). Devine also led the Gangsta Killer Bloods (GKB). The BMG/DGF are sets of the “Bloods” gang whose members committed various crimes in the city of Raleigh and especially in the area of Haywood Street. BMG/DGF members committed acts of vio...

Dominican National Luis Miguel Rosario-peralta Pleads Guilty to Fentanyl Trafficking Charge

6Aug

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Dominican National Luis Miguel Rosario-peralta Pleads Guilty to Fentanyl Trafficking Charge

(STL.News) – John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that Luis Miguel Rosario-peralta, 29, a citizen of the Dominican Republic last residing in Stamford, pleaded guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl. According to court documents and statements made in court, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Stamford Police Department’s Narcotics and Organized Crime Unit identified Rosario-Peralta as a large-scale fentanyl trafficker. In July 2019, investigators intercepted Rosario-Peralta on a wiretap negotiating the sale of kilogram quantities of narcotics. Rosario-Peralta was arrested on July 5, 201...

Raleigh Man Khalil Jordan Receives 22 Years for Drug Distribution

6Aug

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Raleigh Man Khalil Jordan Receives 22 Years for Drug Distribution

Raleigh Man Khalil Jordan Receives 22 Years for Drug Distribution and Threatening a Federal Officer (STL.News) – A Raleigh man was sentenced today to 264 months in prison for possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine and threatening a federal officer. According to court documents, Khalil Jordan, 24, was observed engaging in hand-to-hand drug sales within 1,000 feet of Carver Park in Raleigh, North Carolina. Officers attempted to search Jordan’s person but he was uncooperative. Jordan told officers that he would kick them and make a scene so that the neighbors could attack the officers. While being led to the patrol vehicle, Jordan tried to break free. As a result, three Raleigh Police Department (RPD) officers were needed to place Jordan in the patrol vehicle and two officers...

Seattle man Gary Stensland charged with transporting minor for prostitution

6Aug

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Seattle man Gary Stensland charged with transporting minor for prostitution

Seattle man Gary Stensland charged with transporting minor for prostitution or illegal sexual activity (STL.News) – A 32-year-old Seattle man was charged August 5, 2020, by criminal complaint, with Transportation of a Minor with Intent to Engage in Prostitution or Criminal Sexual Activity, announced U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran. Gary Stensland, was arrested yesterday and made his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Seattle. According to the criminal complaint, in September 2018, STENSLAND traveled to Portland to meet a 13-year-old whom he had contacted via an internet app. STENSLAND returned to Seattle with the minor and paid the minor for sex. STENSLAND then drove the youth back to Portland. The youth just recently disclosed the abuse. On August 5, 2020, the FBI, as part of...