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DOJ and Florida company settle allegations

DOJ and Florida company settle allegations it imported roofing materials without required country of origin markings Seattle (STL.News) A Florida-based corporation that manufactures, imports, and distributes products used in residential and commercial construction has agreed to pay the United States $160,933 to resolve allegations that it imported roofing underlayment product manufactured in China without country of origin markings, announced U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran. The United States alleges that between December 2017 and July 2019, Gardner-Gibson, Inc., violated customs laws by importing products that did not bear any mark indicating to the ultimate purchaser in the United States the country of origin of the article. “It is important that all U.S. businesses have a fair playing...

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Delaware: Eranga Cardiology To Pay $500,000 To Resolve

Delaware: Eranga Cardiology To Pay $500,000 To Resolve Health Care Fraud Allegations (STL.News) – U.S. Attorney announced today that Eranga Cardiology, P.A. and Dr. Eranga Haththotuwa have agreed to a $500,000.00 settlement with the government to resolve allegations of health care fraud arising under the False Claims Act. Eranga Cardiology is a cardiology practice with locations in Milford and Dover. From April 2014 to March 2020, the practice submitted claims for reimbursement to Medicare and Medicaid that required both performance of cardiology procedures and the generation of corresponding interpretive reports. The United States alleged that the practice submitted and received payment for these claims without generating the required interpretive reports. The civil claims settled by t...

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Utah: Murat Suljovic Pleads Guilty To Attempting To Provide Material

Utah: Murat Suljovic Pleads Guilty To Attempting To Provide Material Support To ISIS (STL.News) – Murat Suljovic, age 23, of Salt Lake City, pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City Tuesday morning. U.S. Magistrate Judge Dustin B. Pead presided at the plea hearing. According to the plea agreement, Suljovic admitted that in January 2019, while living in Utah, he corresponded with an individual, identified as Person A in the court document, who he believed was a follower of ISIS. He admitted he believed Person A was interested in performing an attack for ISIS. He also believed Person A was assisting another individual, referred to as Person B in the plea agreement, who was ...

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Texas: Brandon Galvez and Jose Serrano-Ramos indicted

Texas: Brandon Galvez and Jose Serrano-Ramos indicted for attempting to transport minor victim from Texas to Louisiana for sex (STL.News) – Two men are set to appear in McAllen federal court on various charges related to the kidnapping and transportation of a minor across state lines, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick. A federal grand jury returned an indictment Nov. 5, against Brandon Galvez, 22, and Jose Serrano-Ramos, 23, both from Chalmette, Louisiana. Today, they are set to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Juan F. Alanis at 9:00 a.m. Both are charged with transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. Galvez was also indicted on charges of kidnapping and coercion and enticement of a minor. According to the charges, the investigation began af...

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South Carolina: Federal Inmate Richard Gilbert Charged

South Carolina: Federal Inmate Richard Gilbert Charged with Plotting to Hire Hitman to Kill Informant and then Kill Prosecutor (STL.News) – United States Attorney Peter M. McCoy, Jr., announced today that a federal grand jury has indicted Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) inmate Richard Gilbert in connection with a murder-for-hire plot. According to the indictment, Gilbert, who was serving time at a federal prison in Edgefield for trafficking methamphetamine in Bowling Green, Kentucky, sought to hire a hitman to kill the federal prosecutor and a key witness from his Kentucky case. The charges stem from an undercover operation during which Gilbert, from a contraband cell phone in prison, communicated with an undercover task force officer with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) who wa...

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N.M: Las Vegas tax preparer Carlos Perea pleads guilty to false returns

(STL.News) – Carlos Perea, 44, of Las Vegas, New Mexico, pleaded guilty in federal court in Albuquerque today to two counts of aiding and abetting the preparation of false income tax returns. Perea owned and operated Perea Fast Tax in Las Vegas where he prepared income tax returns for clients and filed them with the IRS electronically and by mail. In the plea agreement, Perea admitted to reporting false information to decrease tax liabilities and increase refunds. Among the deceptive practices employed by Perea were deducting bogus business expenses, falsely reporting head of household status to increase the standard deduction and improperly claiming dependents to increase exemptions. He faces up to three years in prison on each count. The IRS investigated this case. Assistant U.S. A...

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Virginia: Inmate Samuel Silva at USP Lee Indicted

Virginia: Inmate Samuel Silva at USP Lee Indicted for 2018 Murder of Cellmate (STL.News) – A federal grand jury sitting in U.S. District Court in Abingdon has indicted Samuel Silva, an inmate a United States Penitentiary, Lee County and charged him with the premediated murder of his cellmate in September 2018, Acting United States Attorney Daniel P. Bubar and David W. Archey, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Division announced today. Silva, 45, is charged with one count of willfully, deliberately, maliciously, and with premeditation killing Abraham Aldana, Silva’s cellmate at the time, in September 2018, by stabbing him. The investigation of the case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Acting United States Attorney Daniel P. Bubar and Assistant United State...

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Oklahoma: Tulsa Doctor Christopher V. Moses Sentenced

Oklahoma: Tulsa Doctor Christopher V. Moses Sentenced for Role in an Opioid Drug Conspiracy (STL.News) – A Tulsa doctor was sentenced today for conspiring with others to unlawfully issue prescriptions for controlled substances, as well as maintaining a drug involved premises at his medical clinic, announced U.S. Attorney Trent Shores. Christopher V. Moses, 67, of Tulsa, has been sentenced to one year of home confinement and five total years of probation. Moses will forfeit his medical license and not seek reinstatement while serving his sentence. U.S. District Judge Gregory K. Frizzell further ordered Moses to pay $28,581 in restitution to two victims, a $200,000 fine, and a forfeiture amount of $1.8 million representing the proceeds he obtained as a result of his crime. Moses will als...

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Virginia: John Malcolm Bareswill Sentenced for Threatening

Virginia: John Malcolm Bareswill Sentenced for Threatening to Burn Down African American Church (STL.News) – A North Carolina man was sentenced today to two years in prison for making a threat to burn down an African American church in Virginia Beach. According to court documents, John Malcolm Bareswill, 63, called a Virginia Beach church with a predominantly African American congregation, made racially derogatory remarks, and threatened to set the church on fire. The threatening call was placed on June 7, several days after one of the church’s leaders took part in a public prayer vigil and peaceful demonstration for George Floyd. “John Malcolm Bareswill reacted to a prayer vigil and rally held in memory of George Floyd by threatening to burn down an African American church,” said G. Za...

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New York: Christopher J. Cohn Sentenced to 241 Months

New York: Christopher J. Cohn Sentenced to 241 Months for Armed Bank Robberies (STL.News) – Christopher J. Cohn, a/k/a “Wolf,” age 27, of Albany, was sentenced today to serve 241 months in prison for two armed bank robberies he committed in February 2019. The announcement was made by Acting United States Attorney Antoinette T. Bacon; Thomas F. Relford, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Keith M. Corlett, Superintendent of the New York State Police; Chief Eric Hawkins of the Albany Police Department; and Chief David M. Keevern of the Town of North Greenbush Police Department. Senior United States District Judge Lawrence E. Kahn also ordered Cohn to serve a 5-year term of supervised release following his term of incarceration, a...

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Pennsylvania: Stroudsburg Woman Jennifer Annette Bush Sentenced

Pennsylvania: Stroudsburg Woman Jennifer Annette Bush Sentenced To 13 Months’ Imprisonment For Drug Trafficking (STL.News) – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that on November 10, 2020, Jennifer Annette Bush, age 45, of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 13 months’ imprisonment and a three-year term of supervised release by United States District Judge Malachy E. Mannion, for drug trafficking offenses. According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, during March 2018 and again during February 2019, Bush possessed with the intent to distribute several different illicit substances, including cocaine, heroin and synthetic opioid and fentanyl. After her initial March 2018 arrest by state authorities, Bush returned to drug traff...

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Tennessee: Barry Zarculia Charged With Cyberstalking

(STL.News) – A Nashville man was arrested today and charged with four counts of cyberstalking, announced U.S. Attorney Don Cochran for the Middle District of Tennessee. Barry Zarculia, 53, was arrested this morning by FBI agents, pursuant to a criminal complaint issued Tuesday and unsealed today. According to the complaint, the FBI has been investigating Zarculia since June and determined that he used a cellular phone and an Instagram account to send death threats, threaten serious bodily harm, and/or harass, intimidate and stalk multiple victims. The complaint alleges that Zarculia was the user of the Instagram account @songs_in_the_key_of_z and posted hateful, racist, anti-black messages on their public message board, such as messages including the phrasing “black lives don’t matter.”...

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Iowa: Robert Joe Hennings Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison

Iowa: Robert Joe Hennings Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Child Pornography Offense (STL.News) – On Tuesday, November 10, 2020, Robert Joe Hennings, age 33, of Des Moines, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger to 240 months in federal prison, to be followed by 20 years of federal court supervision, for receipt of child pornography, announced United States Attorney Marc Krickbaum. Hennings was ordered to forfeit the electronic media used in the offense, pay $15,000 in restitution to victims, and pay $100 to the Crime Victims’ Fund. Hennings was also ordered to register as a sex offender after his release. According to the record made at sentencing, Hennings collected in excess of 550,000 images of child pornography over a three-year period, incl...

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West Virginia: Kaleah Scott admits to role in drug conspiracy

(STL.News) – Kaleah Scott, of Winchester, Virginia, has admitted to her role in a drug conspiracy that spanned several states, U.S. Attorney Bill Powell announced. Scott, 40, pled guilty today to one count of “Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute and to Distribute Heroin and Fentanyl.” Scott admitted to working with others to distribute heroin, fentanyl from June to November 2019 in Berkeley and Jefferson Counties and elsewhere. Scott faces up to 20 years of incarceration and a fine of up to $1,000,000. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant. This case is the result of investigations supported by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task F...

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Wisconsin: Missouri Woman Heather Bishop, Fourth Person Sentenced

Wisconsin: Missouri Woman Heather Bishop, Fourth Person Sentenced for Nationwide Fraud Scheme (STL.News) – Scott C. Blader, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Heather Bishop, 31, Lee’s Summit, Missouri was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 30 months in federal prison for conspiring with Crystal Austin, Shelly Scott, Jason Edge, and others to commit wire fraud throughout the country. Bishop was ordered to pay restitution to Walmart, Inc., in an amount to be determined after a hearing on January 11, 2021. Between February 2017 and March 2018, Bishop, Austin, Scott, Edge and others conspired to defraud Walmart, Inc. through use of stolen personal checks, identity fraud, and methods to bypass electronic check authorization m...

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NY: Managers Of Queens Business Po Shan Wong and Zhen Wu Charged

NY: Managers Of Queens Business Po Shan Wong and Zhen Wu Charged with Selling Ineffective Covid-19 Air Sanitizer (STL.News) – This afternoon, in federal court in Brooklyn, Po Shan Wong and Zhen Wu of JCD Distribution Inc. (JCD) will make their initial appearances before United States Magistrate Judge Sanket J. Bulsara on a criminal complaint charging the defendants with selling “Virus Shut Out Cards,” which they marketed as air sanitizers designed to kill the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), but which have not been demonstrated to be effective in treating or preventing the virus. Specifically, the defendants are charged with conspiring to distribute and sell one or more pesticides that are not registered with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and that are adulterated or...

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West Virginia: Jay Dean Hall indicted on drug and firearms charges

(STL.News) – Jay Dean Hall, of Petersburg, West Virginia, is facing drug and firearms charges, U.S. Attorney Bill Powell announced. Hall, 55, is was indicted by a grand jury sitting in Wheeling in October on one count of “Maintaining Drug-Involved Premises,” one count of “Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine,” one count of “Unlawful Possession of a Firearm,” and one count of “Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Crime.” Hall is accused of using his home on Spencer Drive in Petersburg as a drug distribution location and distributing methamphetamine in August 2019 in Grant County. Hall, a person prohibited from having a firearm because of a prior conviction, is also accused of having a 9mm rifle in his home. Hall faces up to 20 years of incarceration and a fin...

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N.M: Wayne Velasquez arraigned for unregistered firearm

(STL.News) – Wayne Velasquez, 30, of Albuquerque, was arraigned in federal court on Oct. 28 for possession of an unregistered firearm. Velasquez will remain in custody pending trial. According to a criminal complaint, on Sept. 7, Albuquerque Police officers responding to a shooting incident encountered Velasquez sitting outside his residence with a gunshot wound to his foot. The officers allegedly observed a firearm lying on the floor of the residence. The firearm allegedly discharged when it fell to the floor, striking Velasquez in the foot. The National Firearms Act mandates the registration of a firearm with the dimensions and characteristics of the firearm allegedly possessed by Velasquez in the National Firearm Registration and Transfer Record. A search of the Record yielded no r...