Category: MIL-OSI

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A Pennsylvania man pleaded guilty yesterday to wire fraud and tax evasion.

The following is according to court documents and statements made in court: John (Jack) Griffin of Philadelphia was the principal and founder of Second Story Farming Inc., which did business as Metropolis Farms. Second Story Farming had several lines of business, including growing crops in vertical farms to sell to customers, developing sustainable vertical farming technologies, and selling vertical farming systems to customers. Vertical farming refers to a practice of growing crops vertically and in horizontally stacked layers.

In 2017, Griffin, through Second Story Farming, sold vertical farming systems along with the equipment, supplies, materials, and operational instructions necessary to operate them to two companies. Before entering into the contracts, Griffin provided financial projections to them that grossly overstated the anticipated revenues that could be generated by the vertical farms and grossly understated the anticipated expenses necessary to operate the vertical farms. In reliance on the financial projections, the companies each paid Second Story Farming to set up vertical farms for them. Rather than use those funds to provide them with vertical farms, Griffin used most of the money to pay his own personal expenses and operate Second Story Farming’s research and development line of business.

In 2017, Griffin earned income from his work at Second Story Farming. Despite being legally required to file a tax return for that year, Griffin did not do so. Griffin tried to conceal that he received any income in 2017 by, among other things, withdrawing cash and paying personal expense from his business’s bank accounts and transferring funds from his business to his wife, and withdrawing cash from Second Story Farming’s business bank account.  

Griffin is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 22. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each of the wire fraud charges and a maximum penalty of five years in prison on the tax evasion charge. He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney Karen E. Kelly of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney David Metcalf for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania made the announcement.

IRS Criminal Investigation, the FBI, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service are investigating the case.

Trial Attorney Catriona Coppler of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis Weber for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania are prosecuting the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Defendant Unlawfully Exported American-Made Firearms Through JFK International Airport

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A Texas woman was sentenced today to three years and five months in prison for her participation in a scheme to file fraudulent applications for loans under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) that the Small Business Administration (SBA) guaranteed under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.

According to court documents, between around May 2020, and March 2021, Shantelle Hawkins, 43, of DeSoto, conspired to submit 17 fraudulent PPP loan applications on behalf of companies she or her relatives owned or controlled. The applications contained false statements about payroll and tax information, which the SBA used to calculate the amount of PPP funds to which the applicant-companies would be entitled. Hawkins used some of the money she obtained from the loans for personal expenses, including to pay off her 2015 Maserati Ghibli luxury car and to purchase property in the greater Dallas area.

Hawkins pleaded guilty on Oct. 8, 2024, to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.  At sentencing, Hawkins was ordered to pay more than $1.8 million in restitution and to forfeit the residence purchased with proceeds from the fraud.

Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Acting U.S. Attorney Nancy E. Larson for the Northern District of Texas; and Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock of the FBI’s Dallas Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI is investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Dermot Lynch and Kashan Pathan of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elyse Lyons for the Northern District of Texas is handling asset forfeiture.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Justice Department’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A former senior executive of a Michigan asphalt paving company was sentenced today to six months in prison and a $500,000 fine for his role in multiple conspiracies to rig bids for asphalt paving services contracts in Michigan.

Bruce F. Israel, former vice-president of Pontiac-based Asphalt Specialists LLC (ASI), pleaded guilty in January 2024 to conspiring with Al’s Asphalt Paving Company Inc. (Al’s Asphalt), F. Allied Construction Company Inc. (Allied), and employees from those companies to rig bids in each other’s favor. Israel is one of seven individuals that have been charged as part of an ongoing federal antitrust investigation into bid rigging and other anticompetitive conduct in the asphalt paving services industry. Three companies also have been charged as part of the investigation, which to date has resulted in over $8.7 million in criminal fines.

“Bid rigging is cheating, plain and simple,” said Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “By their own admissions, the defendant and his co-conspirators cheated their customers and betrayed the basic notions of free and fair competition, all to benefit themselves. The Antitrust Division and its law enforcement partners will bring to justice all individuals who deprive the public of the benefits of competition by seeking their incarceration.”

“Anyone choosing corporate greed over open and fair competition should take note of the sentence handed down today,” said Special Agent in Charge Anthony Licari of the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, Midwestern Region. “This result underscores our firm resolve and ongoing collaboration with law enforcement and prosecutorial partners to identify, expose, and dismantle any efforts to undermine the systems that exist to protect consumers.”

“Today’s sentence reflects the seriousness of bid rigging that degrades the competitive process,” said Inspector General Tammy Hull of the United States Postal Service. “We will continue to pursue and bring to justice those companies that commit fraud by conspiring to engage in anticompetitive practices for personal gain and corporate greed.”

According to court documents, the co-conspirators coordinated each other’s bid prices so that the agreed-upon losing company would submit intentionally non-competitive bids. These bids gave customers the false impression of competition when, in fact, the co-conspirators already had decided among themselves who would win the contracts. Israel participated in the conspiracy with Al’s Asphalt from March 2013 through November 2018 and the Allied conspiracy from July 2017 through May 2021.

Israel’s former employer, ASI, also pleaded guilty for its participation in the Al’s Asphalt and Allied conspiracies in January 2024. Another former ASI executive, Daniel Israel, pleaded guilty for his participation in the conspiracy with Al’s Asphalt in October 2023, and a third former ASI executive, Timothy Baugher, pleaded guilty for his participation in the Allied conspiracy in January 2025. ASI was sentenced in August 2024 to pay a fine of $6,500,000.

The Antitrust Division’s Chicago Office and the Offices of Inspectors General for the Department of Transportation and U.S. Postal Service investigated the case.

The Antitrust Division’s Chicago Office is prosecuting the case.

Anyone with information in connection with this investigation should contact the Antitrust Division’s Complaint Center at 888-647-3258 or visit www.justice.gov/atr/report-violations.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

An indictment was unsealed today in Denver charging Mohamed Sabry Soliman with 12 hate crime counts, including nine counts of violating 18 U.S.C. § 249 and three counts of violating 18 U.S.C. § 844(h), for using Molotov cocktails to attack members of the group “Run for Their Lives” and others who had gathered in the park in front of the Boulder County Courthouse on June 1. Soliman had previously been charged by complaint with a federal hate crime offense on June 2.

According to the indictment, on June 1, Soliman entered the park carrying both a backpack weed sprayer that contained a flammable liquid and a black plastic container that held at least 18 glass bottles and jars, all of which contained a flammable liquid and several of which had red rags stuffed through the top to act as wicks (commonly referred to as Molotov cocktails).

At approximately 1:30 p.m., Soliman approached the Run for Their Lives group and threw two Molotov cocktails that he had ignited. When throwing one of the Molotov cocktails, he shouted, “Free Palestine!”

A handwritten document was later recovered from the vehicle driven by Soliman. The document included the following statements: “Zionism is our enemies untill [sic] Jerusalem is liberated and they are expelled from our land,” and further described Israel as a “cancer entity.”

The indictment further alleges that during an interview with law enforcement, Soliman stated, among other things, that he viewed “anyone supporting the exist [sic] of Israel on our land” to be “Zionist.” The defendant stated that he “decide[d] to take [his] revenge from these people” and “search[ed] the internet looking for any Zionist event.” Soliman stated that he learned of the Run for Their Lives group through internet searches for “Zionist” events and that he identified the “Zionist” group when he saw the flags and signs they carried at the courthouse.

The case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Boulder Police Department.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado and the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Today the United States is challenging laws in Minnesota that provide reduced in-state tuition — and in some cases, free tuition — for illegal aliens. These laws unconstitutionally discriminate against U.S. citizens, who are not afforded the same privileges, in direct conflict with federal law. The Department of Justice has filed the complaint in the District of Minnesota. This challenge builds upon a recently successful lawsuit against the state of Texas on a similar law.

“No state can be allowed to treat Americans like second-class citizens in their own country by offering financial benefits to illegal aliens,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “The Department of Justice just won on this exact issue in Texas, and we look forward to taking this fight to Minnesota in order to protect the rights of American citizens first.”

In the complaint, the United States seeks to enjoin enforcement of Minnesota laws that require public colleges and universities to provide in-state tuition rates (and free tuition under certain circumstances, including if they meet a certain income threshold) for illegal aliens who maintain state residency, regardless of whether those aliens are lawfully present in the United States. Federal law prohibits institutions of higher education from providing postsecondary education benefits to aliens that are not offered to U.S. citizens. These laws blatantly conflict with federal law and thus are unconstitutional under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

This lawsuit follows two executive orders recently signed by President Trump that seek to ensure illegal aliens are not obtaining taxpayer benefits or preferential treatment.

Read the complaint here.