Rochester Man Pleads Guilty to Software Mail Fraud Scheme

ROCHESTER, NY—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Raymond Locklin, 29, of Rochester, New York, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge David G. Larimer to conspiracy to commit mail fraud. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, a fine of 250,000, or both.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Marisa J. Miller, who is handling the case, stated that the defendant, a former employee of Sutherland Global Services, conspired with co-defendant Christi Meehan, to obtain copies of Intuit Inc. software. The two then sold the software online. Locklin and Meehan placed false orders for free copies of replacement Intuit software, including TurboTax and Quicken, while employed by Sutherland Global Services. After receiving the software at addresses in Rochester, the defendants sold the software online, including on eBay.com, to customers throughout the United States. The defendants then kept the proceeds for themselves, which resulted in a loss to Intuit of approximately $260,000. Christi Meehan previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit mail fraud.
The plea is the culmination of a joint investigation on the part of Inspectors of the United States Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Inspector in Charge Kevin Niland, Boston Division, and special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Richard M. Frankel.
Locklin will be sentenced on scheduled for August 13, 2013, at 10 a.m. before Judge Larimer. Co-defendant Christi Meehan will be sentenced by Judge Larimer on July 16, 2013, at 10 a.m.

Former Niagara Falls Building Commissioner Sentenced for Corruption

BUFFALO, NY—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Guy A. Bax, 66, of Niagara Falls, New York, who was convicted of corruptly accepting gratuities in connection with his role as the Building Commissioner for the City of Niagara Falls, was sentenced to two years’ probation by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr., who handled the case, stated that between 2007 and early 2009, the defendant, in his capacity as Acting Building Commissioner for the city of Niagara Falls, routinely recommended and promoted John Gross and his company, David Gross Contracting, to individuals and entities seeking permits and approvals from the city. Bax also created a perception that it would be in the best interest of those seeking permits from the city to use Gross and his company and if they did so, they would have an easier time obtaining the approvals they sought. In exchange for, and as a reward for Bax’s practice of steering business to John Gross and David Gross Contracting, the defendant received, at no cost, various items of value from John Gross and David Gross Contracting. The items included home repairs and maintenance services at Bax’s personal residence, such as the remodeling of his bathroom and plowing of his driveway, an expenses-paid trip, free golf outings, and other benefits.
John Gross was sentenced to 33 months in prison in January 2012 for mail fraud and filing a false tax return.
The plea is the culmination of an investigation on the part of special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Richard M. Frankel, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Buffalo Division, and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, under the direction of Toni Weinrauch, Special Agent in Charge.

Florida Man Pleads Guilty to Fraud Scheme Against M&T Bank

BUFFALO, NY—The United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York announced today that Frank Garcia, 51, of Florida, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Arcara to fraud affecting a financial institution. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, a fine of $1,000,000, or both.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross, who is handling the case, stated that the defendant is the former owner of Federal Guaranty Mortgage Company in the state of Florida. Garcia recruited “straw buyers” to obtain mortgages from M&T Bank and other financial institutions then misrepresented their assets and liabilities, failed to record the liens on the properties in the county clerk’s office, and failed to pay off pre-existing liens on the properties when they were transferred from one owner to another.
Furthermore, the defendant directed employees of Federal Guaranty Mortgage Company to prepare loan packages for borrowers. The employees were then directed to sign the documents acting as the loan officer. The loan documents were then sent to the investor financial institutions, including M&T Bank. The loan proceeds for the fraudulent loans were subsequently wired into the account of a company associated with Federal Guaranty Mortgage Company. As a result of the defendant’s actions, M&T Bank suffered a loss of $4,407,515.48 and the total loss to all financial institutions affected by the fraudulent scheme was approximately $24,000,000.
This law enforcement action is part of President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. President Obama established the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch and, with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes.
The plea is the culmination of an investigation on the part of special agents of the Agency Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Richard M. Frankel.
Sentencing is scheduled for August 15, 2013, at 1:00 p.m. before Judge Arcara.

Rochester Man Pleads Guilty to Fraud and Money Laundering Conspiracies

ROCHESTER, NY—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Kenneth M. Griffin, 45, of Rochester, New York, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci to conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud and conspiring to engage in money laundering activities. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, a fine of $500,000, or both.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John J. Field, who is handling the case, stated that the defendant owned and controlled an employment staffing business that he operated under various names, including LHT USA Inc. and Cambridge Personnel Inc. From August 2007 to June 2008, Griffin conspired with others to commit mail and wire fraud and also to launder their ill-gotten gains, which totaled more than $500,000. Among other things, the fraud involved creating false invoices and other supporting documents that the defendant then sold to a series of financing companies on a weekly basis for immediate cash. When a financing company realized that it had been sold uncollectible invoices and stopped dealing with Griffin’s business, the defendant would change business names and continue the scheme with another financing company.
For example, on April 15, 2008, $19,000 worth of false invoices were issued for Griffin’s business, Cambridge Personnel. The invoices claimed that the defendant had provided services to various customers which he had not. Griffin then sold these false invoices to New Century Financial, the third and final victim of his scheme.
To conceal his involvement in the conspiracy, Griffin created corporations such as LHT USA and Cambridge Personnel and put those corporations in the names of nominee owners. The defendant further concealed his involvement by laundering the proceeds of the fraud by using the services of a debit card company known as Comdata Corporation. Griffin and his co-conspirators created and used an account at Comdata to receive the proceeds of their fraud and to conceal their ownership and control over these proceeds. They concealed their control and ownership over the fraudulently obtained money by transferring the funds on to Comdata debit cards, which are anonymous on their face. Griffin then provided these anonymous Comdata cards to lower-level employees with directions to go to ATMs around the Rochester area to withdraw cash and then return the cash to defendant.
“This case is another example of why it is so important for all to know who they are doing business with,” said U.S. Attorney Hochul. “Fraud costs American businesses and individuals literally billions of dollars each and every year. While this office will continue to vigorously investigate and prosecute fraud wherever it occurs, still the best defense is for our citizens to guard against letting it happen in the first place. For more information on how to protect yourself, visit the www.stopfraud.gov website or contact our office day or night.”
The plea is the culmination of an investigation on the part of special agents of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Toni M. Weirauch, and special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Richard M. Frankel.
Sentencing is scheduled for August 28 at 9:30 a.m. before Judge Geraci.

New York Pimp Convicted in Maryland for Sex Trafficking and Gun Crimes

BALTIMORE—A federal jury today convicted Jeremy Naughton, a/k/a “Jerms Black,” age 32, of Brooklyn, New York, on charges related to sex trafficking, including transporting individuals to engage in prostitution, and using a gun during the conspiracy to commit sex trafficking.
The jury verdict was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Vogt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Chief J. Thomas Manger of the Montgomery County Police Department.
“Jeremy Naughton held young women against their will and used violence, sexual abuse, and threats to compel them to work for him as prostitutes,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein.
According to evidence presented at the 14-day trial, from January 2009 to the fall of 2010, Naughton and his long-time friend, Charles Anderson, targeted female prostitutes between the ages of 19 and 28 who were working without a pimp to force and coerce the women to work for them. They contacted women who posted ads on websites for prostitution services and arranged to meet them in hotel rooms, masquerading as a prospective client. Naughton and Anderson then assaulted and threatened the victims with a handgun and/or physical violence to force them to work for them. They stole the women’s cell phones, identification, room keys, and personal computers to prevent them from communicating with others and controlled the victims through physical assault, humiliation, confinement, and threats. Naughton transported the women between Maryland, New York, and other states to engage in prostitution.
For example, in the summer of 2009, Naughton enticed a woman to come to an apartment in Brooklyn, where he imprisoned her and invited others to sexually abuse her. In September of 2009, Naughton forced open the door of a woman’s hotel room, stole her cell phone and identification, and detained her while demanding that she work for him as a prostitute. In October 2009 in his apartment, Naughton displayed a handgun, struck a woman, choked her, and forced her to perform sex. Between October 25 and November 11, 2009, Naughton drove two women from his apartment to Oxon Hill, where he demanded that they rent hotel rooms for commercial sex. In December of 2009, Naughton violently assaulted a woman in a hotel in Montgomery County, Maryland. On February 8, 2010, Naughton forced a woman from her hotel room in Silver Spring, Maryland, forced her to stay with him at the Brooklyn apartment, and sexually abused her before attempting to prostitute her from a hotel in Long Island, New York. In June 2010, Naughton intimidated another woman by snapping the neck of her dog with his hands. In September of 2010, Naughton entered another victim’s hotel room, demanded that she work for him, stole her cell phone and money, and transported her to his apartment, where he forced her to perform oral sex.
Naughton shared his apartment in Brooklyn with Anderson. According to Anderson’s plea agreement, the victims stayed in the Naughton’s room, where Anderson sometimes overheard Naughton physically assaulting them and forcing them to perform sex acts. In the spring of 2010, Anderson agreed to monitor the victims while Naughton traveled for approximately six hours in search of an additional prostitute in Maryland. Anderson helped Naughton locate victims who had escaped. He also knew that Naughton had a .9mm pistol and a larger sub-machine gun in the apartment, along with corresponding ammunition.
Naughton faces a maximum sentence of life in prison for conspiring to commit sex trafficking; a minimum of 15 years and a maximum of life in prison for each of four counts of sex trafficking; a maximum of 10 years in prison on each of six counts of transporting an individual to engage in prostitution; and seven years in prison, consecutive to any other sentence, for possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz has scheduled sentencing for August 15, 2013 at 9:30 a.m.
Charles Anderson, a/k/a “Chuck Corners,” a/k/a “Yowzer,” age 26, of Brooklyn, New York, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 14, 2013 at 2:15 p.m.
The case was investigated by the Maryland Child Exploitation Task Force, with assistance from the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force, which was formed in 2007 to discover and rescue victims of human trafficking while identifying and prosecuting offenders. Members of both task forces include federal, state, and local law enforcement. The Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force also includes victim service providers and local community members. For more information about the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force, please visit www.justice.gov/usao/md/Human-Trafficking/index.html.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI’s Baltimore, New York, and Las Vegas Field Offices and the Montgomery County Police Department for their work in the investigation and thanked the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office, the Kings County (Brooklyn, New York) District Attorney’s Office, the Department of Homeland Security, and the New York City Police Department for their assistance. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark W. Crooks and Paul E. Budlow, who are prosecuting the case.

FBI Releases 2012 Preliminary Statistics for Law Enforcement Officers Killed in the Line of Duty

According to preliminary statistics released today by the FBI, 47 law enforcement officers were feloniously killed in the line of duty in 2012. The total number of officers killed is 25 fewer than the 72 officers who died in 2011. By region, 22 officers were killed as a result of criminal acts that occurred in the South, eight officers in the West, six officers in the Northeast, five officers died due to incidents in the Midwest, and six officers were killed in the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
By circumstance, 12 officers died from injuries inflicted while investigating suspicious persons or circumstances, eight who died were conducting traffic pursuits or stops, five were engaged in tactical situations, and five officers were killed as a result of ambushes (four due to entrapment/premeditated situations and one during an unprovoked attack). Four officers’ deaths occurred as a result of answering disturbance calls (two of which were domestic disturbance calls) and three officers were transporting, handling, or maintaining custody of prisoners. Two of the fallen officers sustained fatal injuries during drug-related matters, two were attempting to make other arrests, and two were performing investigative activities. Two officers were responding to robberies in progress, one was responding to a burglary in progress, and one officer was killed as a result of handling a person with a mental illness.
Offenders used firearms in 43 of the 47 felonious deaths. These included 30 incidents with handguns, seven incidents with rifles, and three incidents with shotguns. The type of firearm was not reported in three of the incidents. Two victim officers were killed with vehicles used as weapons; one was killed with a knife; and one officer died from injuries inflicted with personal weapons, such as hands, fists, or feet.
Twenty of the slain officers were wearing body armor at the times of the incidents. Six of the officers fired their own weapons and two officers attempted to fire their service weapons. Three victim officers had their weapons stolen; however, none of the officers were killed with their own weapons.
The 47 victim officers died from injuries sustained in 44 separate incidents. Forty-two of those incidents have been cleared by arrest or exceptional means.
An additional 45 officers were accidentally killed in the line of duty in 2012. This total represents eight fewer officers who died in accidents when compared with the 53 officers who were accidentally killed during the same time period in 2011. By region, 27 officers died due to accidents in the South, eight in the Northeast, seven in the West, and three in the Midwest.
Of the officers who died as a result of accidents, 22 died due to automobile accidents, 10 were struck by vehicles, and six officers were in motorcycle accidents. Three of the officers were killed due to aircraft accidents, two in accidental shootings, one from a fall, and one officer died as a result of an ATV accident.
Final statistics and complete details will be available in the Uniform Crime Reporting Program’s publication, Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted, 2012, which will be published on the FBI’s Internet site in the fall.

Fugitive from the State of Nevada Convicted of Being a Felon in Possession of a Firearm

SACRAMENTO—United States Attorney Benjamin Wagner announced today that Christopher Lee Lang, 48, of Grass Valley, California, was convicted today with being a felon in possession of a firearm. Lang entered a guilty plea this morning before U.S. District Court Judge Morrison C. England.
This case is the product of extensive investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and state and local law enforcement in and around Nevada County, California. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Rodriguez.
On October 24, 2012, law enforcement attempted to make contact with Lang after observing him commit traffic violations. Lang was apprehended after leading law enforcement on a high-speed chase through Nevada County streets and crashing his vehicle near the front yard of a residence. According to court documents, law enforcement fired at Lang after they observed him reaching towards his rear waistband. Law enforcement later patted down, located, and removed Lang’s fully loaded firearm from his rear waistband. Lang initially lied to law enforcement, providing a false name and date of birth. Subsequent to his arrest, Lang stated he traded a line of methamphetamine in exchange for the firearm. At the time of his arrest, Lang was a fugitive from the state of Nevada. Lang had escaped earlier in 2012 from the Nevada Correctional Facility in Carson City, Nevada.
Lang was remanded after entry of his guilty plea. His sentencing is scheduled for July 25, 2013. Lang faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Lang also faces a possible $250,000 fine and a three-year term of supervised release. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.