Category: Security

Source: US FBI

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – On September 25, 2024, following a-three-day trial in United States District Court at Knoxville, a federal jury convicted Christopher Edward Allen, 34, of Kingston, TN, of nine counts involving child pornography and attempting to entice minors to engage in unlawful sexual activity.  Specifically, Allen was convicted of three counts of attempting to entice a minor to engage in unlawful sexual activity, one count of producing child pornography, two counts of attempting to produce child pornography, two counts of transporting a visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and one count of transferring obscene material.

Sentencing is set for February 6, 2025, at 2:00 pm, in front of the Honorable Judge Thomas A. Varlan, United States District Judge, United States District Court at Knoxville. Allen faces a sentence of up to life in prison.

The evidence presented at trial showed that, among other things, Allen used various social media platforms to identify minors online.  Once Allen identified the minors, he enticed them over social media and texting apps to engage in unlawful sexual activity and to send nude images of themselves engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  In two instances, Allen paid the minors for nude images of themselves, which Allen later emailed to himself using the minor’s name as the subject line of the emails.  Allen also sent sexually explicit images of himself to minors using social media.  In at least one instance, Allen met a minor in person at the restaurant where Allen worked.  Allen added the minor to one of his social media accounts.  Later that night, Allen communicated with the minor over social media.  Law enforcement learned of those messages and, with consent from the minor’s parents, assumed the minor’s identity on social media two days later.  That same day, Allen was arrested at a park in Kingston, TN, after arriving with the intent to meet the minor.

U.S. Attorney Francis M. Hamilton III of the Eastern District of Tennessee and Special Agent in Charge Joseph E. Carrico of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) made the announcement.

FBI and the Tennessee’s Ninth Judicial District Attorney General’s Office investigated the case that led to the indictment and subsequent conviction of Allen.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer Kolman and William A. Roach, Jr., represented the United States at trial.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), 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 Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC 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 PSC, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc/resources.html and click on the tab “resources.”

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Source: US FBI

            WASHINGTON – The United States seized over $6 million worth of cryptocurrency from perpetrators overseas, announced U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew M. Graves, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee Francis M. Hamilton III, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Criminal Division, and FBI Special Agent in Charge Joseph E. Carrico of the Knoxville Division.

            The perpetrators in Southeast Asia targeted one or more individuals in the United States and fraudulently obtained millions of dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency through a cryptocurrency confidence investment scheme.

            The FBI was able to trace victim funds on the blockchain and located multiple cryptocurrency wallet addresses which still held victim funds totaling more than $6 million. 

            Cryptocurrency confidence investment schemes begin by criminals contacting potential victims through seemingly misdirected text messages, dating applications, or professional meetup or investment groups. Next, using various means of manipulation, the criminal gains the victim’s affection and trust. The perpetrator then recommends cryptocurrency investment by touting their own, or an associate’s, success in the field. Means of carrying out the scheme vary, but a common tactic is to direct a victim to a fake investment platform hosted on a website. These websites, and the investment platforms hosted there, are created by criminals to mimic legitimate platforms. The subject assists the victim with opening a cryptocurrency account, often on a U.S.- based exchange, and then walks the victim through transferring money from a bank account to that cryptocurrency account. Next, the victim will receive instructions on how to transfer their cryptocurrency assets to the fake investment platform.

            On its surface, the fraudulent platforms often show lucrative returns, encouraging further investment; however, all deposited funds are actually routed to a cryptocurrency wallet address controlled completely by the perpetrators. The perpetrators frequently allow victims to withdraw some of their “profits” early in the scheme to engender trust and help convince victims of the legitimacy of the platform. As the scheme continues, victims are unable to withdraw their funds and are provided various excuses as to why. Ultimately, victims are locked out of their accounts and lose all their funds.

            “In these scams, fraudsters trick U.S. citizens into believing they are transferring funds to cryptocurrency investment opportunities when, in fact, they are just unwittingly turning their money over to the fraudsters,” said U.S. Attorney Graves. “The fact these fraudsters and their accounts are typically located outside the United States, will not stop us or our partners at the FBI from doing all we can to recover the proceeds of these frauds and to hold the people running them accountable.”

            “Investment scams and schemes are not new, but committing fraud with digital currency presents new challenges for law enforcement attempting to recover lost funds,” said Special Agent in Charge Carrico. “The FBI along with our law enforcement partners will continue to investigate allegations of crypto scams, but the best defense is to educate yourself before making any investment. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

           Based on data submitted to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (https://www.ic3.gov/) in 2022 alone, perpetrators of these schemes targeted tens of thousands of victims in the United States and resulted in over two billion dollars in private assets being siphoned overseas. The loss amount reported in IC3 complaints involving cryptocurrency increased 45% since 2022, from more than $3.8 billion to over $5.6 billion in 2023. 

           The FBI Knoxville Division is investigating the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and FBI’s Virtual Asset Unit are providing invaluable assistance. 

           The Department of Justice would like to acknowledge Tether for its assistance in effectuating the transfer of these assets. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kevin Rosenberg and Rick Blaylock Jr. of the District of Columbia, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph DeGaetano of the Eastern District of Tennessee, and Trial Attorney Stefanie Schwartz from the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team with the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the Department of Justice.

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Source: US FBI

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A federal jury in Columbia has convicted Daniel Paul Shealy, 36, of Rock Hill, on 18 counts of possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material.* The jury returned a guilty verdict following three days of testimony and an hour and a half of deliberation.

According to evidence presented during trial, in 2023 investigators with the York County Sheriff’s Office (YCSO) received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that three videos depicting the sexual abuse of children were flagged on the social messaging app Kik, under the username “orgasmd0nor.” Investigators with the YCSO and FBI traced the account and IP address to Shealy, a detective and former school resource officer with the Rock Hill Police Department.

Further investigation revealed that Shealy was a member of more than 40 private groups on Kik designed for users to trade child sexual abuse materials, including groups with references to minors, teens, and incest in the titles. According to testimony from a Kik representative, users in such groups often exchange images and videos of rape, sexual assault, bestiality, and other abuse of children. Investigators testified during trial that after receiving the tip, they executed a search warrant on Shealy’s phone and his Kik account. Shealy’s phone was in his patrol car and accessible through his thumbprint and a passcode, which was his badge number. 

Agents recovered 126 explicit videos of children from Shealy’s phone and Kik account, which Shealy had received or distributed to others on the internet. The files included recordings of prepubescent minors in bondage and constraints and child sex abuse materials represented the majority of explicit recovered from his Kik account.

When Shealy testified at trial, he admitted that he operated the orgasmd0nor account and that he accessed child sex abuse material on the platform. He also admitted that he never reported the any of the videos to Kik or to law enforcement because he either did not know how to report or was concerned about his privacy related to his intimate life. Shealy taken into custody at the conclusion of the trial. 

“The facts alone in this case were disturbing but became even more appalling because the defendant was a police officer, an individual given immense public trust,” said U.S. Attorney Bryan Stirling for the District of South Carolina. “We remain committed to holding those who betray public trust accountable and protecting our most vulnerable citizens, our children. We’re grateful to the FBI, York County Sheriff’s Office for their work on this case and our trial attorneys that worked diligently to bring this man to justice.”

“The FBI is unwavering in its commitment to safeguarding children from individuals who perpetrate physical and sexual abuse or engage in the exploitation of minors through the distribution of child sexual abuse material, as proved in this case,” said Reid Davis, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Columbia Field Office. “We hope this verdict represents a meaningful step toward justice for the victims and ensures that the defendant is held fully accountable under the law.”

He faces a mandatory minimum of five years in federal prison and a maximum of 20 years. He also faces a fine of up to $250,000, restitution, lifetime supervision to follow the term of imprisonment, and sex offender registry requirements.  United States District Judge Joseph F. Anderson Jr. presided over the trial and will sentence Shealy after receiving and reviewing a sentencing report prepared by the U.S. Probation Office.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the U.S. Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc.

The case was investigated by the FBI Columbia field office, the York County Sheriff’s Office, and the South Carolina ICAC (Internet Crimes Against Children) Task Force at the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elliott B. Daniels and Elle E. Klein are prosecuting the case.

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Source: US FBI

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A former local high school teacher was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 240 months in prison for crimes related to secretly recording explicit videos of his students at school and possessing child sexual abuse material.

Justin Foley, 48, of Delaware, Ohio, pleaded guilty in May 2023 to sexually exploiting a minor and possessing child pornography.

Foley was employed as a chemistry teacher at Columbus Alternative High School at the time of his offenses. He used his cell phone and other digital media devices in a hidden manner to capture the genitalia of his female students under their skirts and shorts during the school day.

According to court documents, in August 2022, the Delaware Police Department received CyberTip reports from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) regarding numerous images of apparent child sexual abuse material that were uploaded via Google email accounts. Investigators tracked the IP addresses for the reported email accounts to Foley. During the investigation into Foley, officers discovered a second CyberTip report. Five of the IP addresses in the second report belonged to Columbus Public Schools.

Delaware County law enforcement officials executed a search warrant at Foley’s residence on Sept. 20, 2022. Court documents detail that Foley admitted to creating videos in the classroom and hallways of the school at which he taught and that he had created some of these videos as recently as the previous week.

A review of Foley’s devices by the FBI revealed they contained numerous videos that were voyeuristic in nature and appear to have been self-produced. The videos were recorded at the high school Foley worked at, local department stores in central Ohio, public areas of downtown Delaware, Ohio, and various dressing rooms at different unidentified locations. It is apparent from the videos that the victims depicted in them did not know they were being recorded.

Foley created numerous videos of female students in the hallways of Columbus Alternative High School or of females that were students in his classroom.  In the videos he secretly recorded, Foley would hide his phone camera or place it beside or behind the victims in attempt to record up their skirts or shorts. Foley then took screenshots from the content he filmed of his victims and created still images of the victim’s nude genitalia, zooming in and “lightening” some of the screenshots to enhance the images.

In addition to the videos he created himself, more than 1,000 images of child sexual abuse material were recovered from Foley’s devices that depicted a series of images of prepubescent females in various stages of nudity or fully nude exposing their genitals or anus to the camera.

Foley was arrested and charged locally in Delaware County in September 2022. He was charged federally in November 2022. 

Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; J. William Rivers, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division; Westerville Police Chief Charles Chandler; Delaware Police Chief Adam Moore; Delaware County Prosecutor Melissa A. Schiffel; and other members of the FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force announced the sentence imposed today by U.S. District Judge Michael H. Watson. Assistant United States Attorneys Jennifer M. Rausch and Emily Czerniejewski are representing the United States in this case.

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Source: US FBI

DAYTON, Ohio – Five Dayton individuals have been charged federally in a narcotics conspiracy that allegedly resulted in at least one overdose death and one serious bodily injury.

Those charged include:

Name	Also known as	Age
Ricardo Busbee	Cardo	33
Torrence Busbee	Woody	30
Demarion Galloway	Duke	28
Dalaquan McGuire	Rico	26
Doretha Hughes		27

In summer 2023, local and federal law enforcement began investigating a significant increase in drug overdoses that had occurred within a six-block radius in Dayton.

According to the 10-count indictment, the defendants conspired to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine. They allegedly possessed and distributed methamphetamine at a premises where a minor resided.

It is also alleged that on July 27, 2023, Ricardo Busbee and Hughes distributed a mixture of fentanyl and cocaine that caused an overdose death. The drug combination also allegedly caused serious bodily injury to another individual.

Ricardo and Torrence Busbee are also charged with illegally possessing firearms as previously convicted felons.

All the defendants are charged with possessing firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes. They allegedly possessed at least 14 guns that they kept in a storage unit and at residences on Laura and Basswood avenues.

Due to the allegation that death and serious bodily injury resulted from the drug conspiracy, if convicted, the defendants face a punishment of at least 20 years and up to life in prison.

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, and gangs that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Orville O. Greene, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); and Dayton Police Chief Kamran Aftal announced the charges that were unsealed on Jan. 12 and commended the cooperative investigation with the assistance of partner agencies including Huber Heights, Trotwood, Springfield and Bellefontaine police departments, Miami County and Montgomery County sheriff’s offices, the FBI, United States Marshals and Ohio Adult Parole Authority. Assistant United States Attorneys Amy M. Smith and Kelly K. Rossi are representing the United States in this case.

An indictment merely contains allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

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Source: US FBI

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A career bank robber was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 162 months in prison for armed robberies he committed in Athens and Marietta in 2020.

William E. Johnson, 58, of Lancaster, committed armed robberies in August 2020 in Athens and October 2020 in Marietta. As part of his sentence, he will pay more than $50,000 in restitution.

According to court documents, on Aug. 17, 2020, Johnson brandished a firearm at Hocking Valley Bank on East State Street in Athens. Johnson wore a prosthetic forehead and nose, skin-toned arm sleeves/gloves, makeup and a COVID mask, all designed to disguise his appearance.

Johnson ordered employees to get on the floor and then emptied several drawers of cash. In total, he took more than $25,000. After stealing the cash, he tied the employees’ hands with zip ties. Johnson ordered the bank manager to give him the keys to the bank manager’s car and the manager complied. Johnson fled the bank in the stolen vehicle.

On Oct. 22, 2020, Johnson robbed the Citizens Bank on North Second Street in Marietta. Johnson was wearing a full-length Halloween-style mask that made him appear to be an old man and wore a red hood pulled up around his face.

Johnson possessed a gun and forced his way behind the tellers’ counter. He emptied several drawers, stealing $11,390.

At the time, Johnson had a warrant out for his arrest for a pending indictment for a bank robbery in Williamstown, West Virginia.

Law enforcement officers spotted Johnson driving in West Virginia on the evening of the Marietta bank robbery and pulled him over. Johnson attempted to flee on foot, telling officers they would have to kill him to take him into custody again. Officers tased Johnson and placed him under arrest.

Officers searched Johnson’s vehicle and located more than $9,000 in cash, a loaded handgun, zip ties and his disguises.

Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; J. William Rivers, Special Agent in Charge for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Cincinnati Division; the Athens, Marietta, Williamstown, W.Va. and Parkersburg, W.Va. police departments; the Washington County and Wood County, W.Va. sheriff’s offices; and the West Virginia State Police announced the sentence imposed today by U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus, Jr. Assistant United States Attorneys Noah R. Litton and S. Courter Shimeall are representing the United States in this case.

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Source: US FBI

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A New Jersey man who is alleged to have fled to Turkey has returned to the United States and pleaded guilty to his role in a nationwide, off-the-road tire sale fraud scheme that resulted in tens of millions of dollars of losses.

Ahmet Neidik, 64, of Fort Lee, New Jersey, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to commit wire fraud.

Neidik was the co-owner of, and ran the daily operations for, transportation, logistics and importing/exporting businesses. Some of the proceeds of the scheme were sent to businesses controlled by Neidik. Neidik would then wire money to the bank accounts of co-conspirators.

It is alleged that John K. Eckerd, Jr., 58, of Dallas, is the leader of the multi-state conspiracy.

Conspiring with previously convicted and sentenced defendant Jason E. Adkins, 46, of Jackson, Ohio, Eckerd and others orchestrated a $50 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded more than 50 investors.

According to Eckerd’s indictment, from 2012 until at least in or around late 2018, Eckerd represented himself to potential investors as an entrepreneur and businessman with expertise in the market for off-the-road tires. Off-the-road tires are over-sized tires that are used on earth moving equipment and/or mining equipment. Eckerd had control of or access to many corporations allegedly used as part of the scheme.

Co-conspirators allegedly solicited millions of dollars from investor-victims under false pretenses. Investors were told their money would be used to buy off-the-road tires at a steep discount, and that the tires would then be re-sold to a buyer at a much higher rate. Investors were promised a high percent rate of return on investment, generally within 180 days.

It is alleged defendants rarely bought or sold tires, and when they did, they used the same tires as the basis for multiple deals, promising multiple investors that they each owned the same tires.

Defendants corresponded with the potential investors face-to-face, as well as through a combination of phone calls, text messages, and, on occasion, emails. It is alleged they used private planes to showcase their inventory and appear wealthy and successful. Defendants also allegedly provided investors with elaborate, fraudulent paperwork regarding the purported deals. The co-conspirators requested large investments and loans, most to be funded through wire transfers.

With his guilty plea, Neidik admitted to participating in the scheme. To give potential investors confidence in the tire deals, Eckerd and Adkins offered the services of a purportedly neutral third party to arrange shipment of the tires and/or hold investment funds in escrow until certain conditions were met in completing the deal. Neidik allowed Eckerd and Adkins to represent to investors that he was the neutral third party, and on some occasions, entered into escrow agreements with the investors.

As part of his plea, Neidik has agreed to pay $370,000 in restitution for his part of the scheme.

Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Bryant Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Investigation; and J. William Rivers, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division, announced the guilty plea entered today before Chief U.S. District Judge Algenon L. Marbley. Assistant United States Attorneys S. Courter Shimeall, Peter K. Glenn-Applegate and David J. Twombly are representing the United States in this case.

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Source: US FBI

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Two Columbus men involved in the murder of a husband and wife in a local Internet café were sentenced in U.S. District Court this week to decades in prison.

Chris A. King, 28, was sentenced yesterday to 480 months in prison. King shot and murdered both the husband and wife while they were working.

Justice B. Stringer, 29, was sentenced today to 360 months in prison. Stringer drove co-defendants to and from the robbery resulting in murder.

Five total defendants were indicted by a federal grand jury in July 2019 for crimes related to a string of robberies of Internet gaming businesses, including the robbery at Players Paradise on East Broad Street that resulted in murder on Jan. 20, 2019.

According to court documents, King and a co-defendant robbed Players Paradise at gunpoint and allegedly murdered security guard Joseph Arrington and then his wife, employee Karen Arrington. Stringer then drove the men away from the Internet café.

Defendants were also responsible for a prior café robbery at Players Paradise on Dec. 10, 2018, stealing $30,000 in cash. Stringer also admitted to his involvement in a Jan. 7, 2019, robbery of Planet Jackpot café on Alum Creek Drive.

Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; J. William Rivers, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division; Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant and Daryl S. McCormick, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), announced the sentences imposed by U.S. District Judge Michael H. Watson. Assistant United States Attorneys Kevin W. Kelley and Elizabeth A. Geraghty are representing the United States in this case.

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Source: US FBI

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Paul Gordon Day, 37, of Brentwood, Tennessee, was sentenced today to 147 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for the armed robbery of a bank in Asheville, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

Robert M. DeWitt, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in North Carolina and Chief Michael Lamb of the Asheville Police Department, join U.S. Attorney King in making today’s announcement.

According to filed court documents and evidence presented at Day’s trial, on November 9, 2022, at approximately 4:20 p.m., Day rode a bicycle to the PNC Bank branch

located at 8 O’Henry Avenue, in Asheville, which is across the street from the federal courthouse. Day parked the bicycle and entered the bank wearing a blue cap, sunglasses, a blue surgical mask, a grey sweatshirt, and gloves. Upon entering the bank, Day drew from his waistband a firearm wrapped in a black plastic bag secured to the barrel with rubber bands and approached the bank tellers. Day held up a firearm, ordered a customer who was in the bank to the ground, and demanded money from tellers. The tellers complied and gave Day the cash, including a GPS tracking device concealed within the money. Day then fled the scene on the bicycle.

Court documents show that law enforcement tracked the GPS device and determined it was located inside a vehicle traveling on Interstate 26 toward Weaverville, North Carolina. Law enforcement conducted a traffic stop of the vehicle and arrested Day, who was alone in the vehicle. Law enforcement searched the vehicle and recovered the firearm Day used during the robbery, the stolen cash and the GPS tracking device, the bicycle, and numerous articles of clothing worn by Day during the commission of the robbery.

On January 10, 2024, a federal jury found Day guilty of bank robbery using a dangerous weapon, and possessing and brandishing of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. Day remains in federal custody and will be transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.
In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney King thanked the FBI, the Asheville Police Department, and the Weaverville Police Department for their investigation of the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex M. Scott of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
 

Source: US FBI

WILMINGTON, N.C. – Quavion Maurice Pickett, a/k/a “Q,” a 30-year-old resident of Rock Hill, South Carolina has been sentenced to 324 months in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release, and a forfeiture of over $72,000, for trafficking fentanyl pills in the Fayetteville area which he manufactured in a makeshift lab in a laundry room.  Pickett pled guilty on April 24, 2024.

“Counterfeit pills made with deadly fentanyl in filthy makeshift labs are turning up everywhere.  This trafficker was caught with three kilos of fentanyl, a high-capacity pill press, cash, and tens of thousands of counterfeit oxycodone pills,” said U.S. Attorney Michael Easley.  “These pills are made with zero quality-control, with narcotics being mixed in plastic bins and store-bought blenders by reckless, money-hungry narcotics dealers who care only about money and care nothing for human life.  Never, ever, take a pill bought on the street or online that isn’t prescribed by a real doctor.  You are gambling with your life.”

“The Fayetteville Police Department continues to work collaboratively with our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners, we continue to aggressively combat narcotic trafficking affecting our community,” said Kemberle Braden, Fayetteville Chief of Police.

According to the court documents and other information presented in court, in April 2022, officers with the Fayetteville Police Department became aware of the drug distribution activities of Pickett through information provided by a confidential informant.  Ultimately, law enforcement conducted surveillance on Pickett’s residence in Fayetteville and observed what appeared to be drug transactions conducted by Pickett on multiple occasions. Law enforcement searched a residence where Pickett was living.  While executing the search warrant, law enforcement discovered a counterfeit pill making operation in the laundry room of the residence complete with a pill press, large plastic tote containers covered in light blue powder residue, multiple digital scales, multiple knotted plastic baggies containing pressed tablets, plastic baggies, a blender covered in powder residue, various full and empty bags containing different colored cutting agents, a money counter covered in powder residue, various metal hand tools, a funnel, pill press die molds, loose blue tablets, and a baggie containing yellow, white, and blue tablets.

In Pickett’s bedroom law enforcement located and seized baggies containing 157 pressed pills, over $70,000 in cash in a shoe box, a loaded .45 caliber handgun, and a jar and baggie containing an unspecified amount of marijuana.  Additionally, officers recovered an additional $1,760 in cash on Pickett.  The amount of fentanyl seized from the residence totaled 3.1 kilos of fentanyl. The fentanyl pills seized had pressed markings of “A215,” designed to appear to be oxycodone hydrochloride 30 milligram pills.

Following his arrest by state officials, investigators received reliable information that he had purchased the pill press used in this operation about eight months prior to his arrest and was responsible for purchasing multiple kilograms of fentanyl used for making these pills.

Pickett was subsequently indicted by the Eastern District of North Carolina after which federal arrest warrants were issued for Pickett’s arrest.  Law enforcement arrested Pickett on October 26, 2022, in South Carolina where he was residing at the time.  During the arrest law enforcement located and seized a duffle bag with 11 baggies containing a total of 19,016 pressed fentanyl pills inside, as well as two baggies of fentanyl powder weighing approximately 294.85 grams, a sifter, a grinding bowl, three plastic containers with powder residue, and drug packaging materials.  A digital scale, marijuana, two cellphones, and $5,525 in cash were also seized.

Between September 30, 2021, until October 26, 2022, Pickett was found to be responsible for possession with intent to distribute 8,706.98 grams of fentanyl and 10.50 grams of marijuana.  Pickett also maintained a premises for the purpose of manufacturing and distributing a controlled substance, as well as possessing a firearm in furtherance of his drug trafficking activities.  Furthermore, based upon Pickett’s imprinting the pills with specific numbers associated with prescription pills for distribution, as well as text messages seized from Pickett’s cellphone the Court found that Pickett knowingly misrepresented a substance containing fentanyl as something other than fentanyl. 

Michael Easley, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, made the announcement after sentencing by Chief District Judge Richard E. Myers II.  The Fayetteville Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer C. Nucci prosecuted the case.

Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for case number 5:22-CR-00259-M-RJ.