Category: Security

Source: US FBI

In an effort to prevent hate crimes that target religious institutions, and to prepare faith-based leaders and congregation members with strategies for responding when faced with such security issues, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio, the U.S. Department of Justice Community Relation Services (“CRS”) Midwest Regional Office, and the Cleveland Field Office of the FBI is facilitating a free event, “Protecting Places of Worship,” held on Wednesday, May 29, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church, 3290 E. 126th St., Cleveland, OH 44120. Registration is open to the public by calling the Public Affairs Officer of the United States Attorney’s Office at 216-622-3807.

“Protecting Places of Worship” is a half-day forum that will provide information about religion-focused hate crimes; how to best report such incidents; federal and state hate crimes laws; law enforcement threat assessments; ways to protect places of worship from potential hate crimes and other threats of violence; and other strategies for combatting hate and extremism. This program brings together federal and local law enforcement, federal and local prosecuting attorneys, civil rights organizations, and community organizations to discuss these issues. The forum’s goal is to share strategies and other information to help communities of faith effectively address and respond to bias incidents and hate crimes that affect their places of worship.

Discussion topics include:

• Existing federal and state hate crime statutes, and increasing public awareness of hate crimes reporting procedures and prosecutions.
• Analysis of hate crime data and trends, including recent examples of hate crimes targeting places of worship.
• Strategies for responding to active-shooter incidents.
• Best practices for assessing the physical security of places of worship and identifying potential security concerns, along with competitive grant opportunities and other strategies to address those concerns. 
• Interfaith panel discussion to foster dialogue and collaboration among diverse religious communities, and to share strategies these organizations have used to address bias incidents.

All sessions will be followed by Q & A.

Featured speakers include those from the following organizations: U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio; FBI, Cleveland Field Office; Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office; Anti-Defamation League Cleveland; U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency; and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Panelists include leaders from Cleveland’s Islamic, Sikh, and Hindu communities, the Jewish Federation of Cleveland, and the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland. The Mount Pleasant Ministerial Alliance is hosting this event.

This event is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s United Against Hate initiative. For questions or more details about the event, contact Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Feran at 216-622-3709 or Edward.Feran@usdoj.gov.

About CRS
Established by Title X of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, CRS’ expanded its services under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009. As a component of the United States Department of Justice, CRS serves as “America’s Peacemaker,” offering support to communities experiencing tension or conflict due to differences of race, color, natural origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, and disability. Through its services, CRS enhances the ability of community members to independently and collaboratively prevent and resolve future conflicts by fostering knowledge, understanding and communication.

CRS Programs
The primary objectives of all CRS programs are to assist parties in conflict by fostering understanding of various perspectives, facilitating the exchange of information regarding resources and best practices, and aiding communities as they identify and implement solutions. CRS conciliation specialists maintain impartiality and refrain from taking sides among disputing parties. Instead, they facilitate the process, empowering those involved to develop their own mutually agreeable solutions.

Source: US FBI

CLEVELAND – A federal grand jury in Cleveland returned a 13-count indictment charging two individuals for their alleged roles in a scheme to fraudulently obtain approximately $4.2 million in COVID-19 relief funds guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Joseph Oloyede, 61, of Medina, Ohio and Edward Oluwasanmi, 61, of Willoughby, Ohio are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering offenses.

According to the indictment, from in or around April 2020, and continuing through on or about February 28, 2022, Oloyede and Oluwasanmi devised a scheme to defraud the SBA and financial institutions by obtaining COVID-19 relief funds from the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) under false pretenses. The indictment states that Oloyede and Oluwasanmi submitted PPP and EIDL loan applications containing false information for entities under their control and submitted falsified tax and wage documents to support these applications. The indictment alleges that they obtained approximately $1.2 million in SBA funds for Oluwasanmi’s entities and $1.7 million for Oloyede’s entities. Oloyede is also alleged to have submitted falsified PPP and EIDL loan applications in the names of other co-conspirators and confederate borrowers and their businesses, obtaining approximately $1.3 through those applications, for a total of at least $4.2 million obtained through the fraud.

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, the Defendant’s sentence will be determined by the Court after review of factors unique to this case, including the Defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the Defendant’s role in the offense, and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum, and in most cases, it will be less than the maximum.

This investigation was conducted by the U.S. Department of Transportation – OIG, as part of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee Fraud Task Force, Cleveland FBI, and IRS – Criminal Investigation. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Brydle.

Source: US FBI

On April 2, 2024, at approximately 12:00 p.m., the PNC Bank located at 735 South Main St. Bowling Green, Ohio, 43402, was robbed by an unknown subject. The unknown subject left the bank with an undisclosed amount of money.

Subject Description:

• Orange gloves
• Yellow reflective vest
• Yellow hooded sweatshirt
• Dark colored ski mask
• Dark black glasses

FBI Toledo Resident Agency and the Bowling Green Police Department are working the crime collaboratively. Information can be submitted to either the FBI at 419-243-6122 or the Bowling Green Police Department at (419) 352-1131. Your identity can remain anonymous. PNC Bank is offering a $5,000.00 reward for any information leading to the identification and arrest of the unknown suspect.

Source: US FBI

Source: US FBI

CLEVELAND, OH—The FBI Cleveland Field Office is seeking to identify potential victims of Mark Dente doing business as AEM Services LLC. AEM Services LLC, purported to manage a portfolio of real estate investments. Dente, doing business as AEM Services LLC, sold investors securities in this portfolio in the form of promissory notes and LLC interests. The investments were issued from various entities owned or controlled by Mark Dente, originating in the Summit County and/or Akron, Ohio area including:

• The AEM Services LLC
• AEM Funding
• AEM Wholesale LLC
• AEM Investments LLC
• AEM Capital Fund

The division mailed letters via U.S. Mail over the past week from its Victim Services Division to presumed victims and seeks to find additional victims across Ohio and the United States. The FBI wishes to identify those not only victimized by Mark Dente but also other employees of AEM Services LLC (including but not limited to Jason Ramus, Brian Buckham, or Mark Gathagan).

The FBI encourages the public to share any information relevant to this investigation by completing the case questionnaire https://forms.fbi.gov/aemfraudvictims/view and also asks the public if they know of any others possibly victimized by AEM Services LLC, to encourage them to also complete the form as everyone will have an individual victim and pin identification number.

The FBI is legally mandated to identify victims of federal crimes it investigates. Victims may be eligible for certain services, restitution, and rights under federal and/or state law. Responses are voluntary but may be useful in the federal investigation and to identify you as a potential victim. Based on the responses provided, respondents may be contacted by the FBI and asked to provide additional information. All identities of victims will be kept confidential. It is important to note that the FBI does not provide updates on investigations and once the respondent has submitted information, they may not hear back from the FBI.

If people have questions or comments about the case, they are encouraged to email: AEMVictims@fbi.gov. Inquiries about the status of the case will not be addressed; if there are questions about a letter they received, they can call FBI Youngstown Victim Services at (330) 965-2920 and reference file number 318B-CV-3606224.

Source: US FBI

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A leader in a case with 23 defendants involved in narcotics and human trafficking conspiracies pleaded guilty in federal court here today to drug, gun, human trafficking, and money laundering crimes.

From 2008 until June 2022, Cordell Washington, 37, of Pickerington, ran a large-scale drug trafficking organization in Columbus with co-defendant Patrick Saultz. Their operations also included sex trafficking, labor trafficking, fraud and money laundering.

A multi-agency law enforcement task force initially announced the case in July 2022 after a federal grand jury indicted 11 defendants for distributing bulk amounts of fentanyl, cocaine and crack cocaine within 1,000 feet of a Columbus elementary school. In October 2022, the government added 12 defendants and 28 new charges. 

Court documents detail that the drug trafficking organization brought large quantities of fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine, methamphetamine, oxycodone, alprazolam and marijuana into Columbus. These drugs were sold or used to coerce individuals into sexual activity for some members of the drug ring and their profit.

It is alleged that Saultz began distributing heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine from his residences on Vida Place and South Hague Street in Columbus as early as 2008. The drug trafficking organization sold drugs out of more than 20 Columbus residences to customers and distributed larger amounts to regional drug traffickers who then trafficked those narcotics to places such as West Virginia and the Northern District of Ohio.

Most of the alleged drug dealing took place within 1000 feet of Burroughs Elementary School in Columbus at a residence on South Burgess. For example, one of Washington and Saultz’s numerous subordinates sold approximately $18,000 worth of narcotics per day from the location on South Burgess.

The case also involves the overdose death of at least one individual and the violent death of a second victim.

As part of his plea, Washington admitted to labor trafficking male drug addicts. The defendant provided the men with their drug of choice after the men completed construction or cleaning projects at residences owned by the drug trafficking organization. The men were recruited by Washington and some completed the work for him under serious threat of harm.

Washington would provide the addicts with advances on small amounts of drugs so they were well enough to perform physical labor. If Washington was not pleased with their work product, he would not complete the final drug payment and would threaten violence against them.

Washington used numerous methods to launder the group’s drug trafficking proceeds, including establishing front businesses that purported to be rental, repair and construction companies.

Washington pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute and possessing with intent to distribute controlled substances within 1,000 feet of an elementary school, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, labor trafficking and concealment money laundering. He faces a mandatory minimum of at least 15 years and up to life in prison.

As part of this case, local, state, and federal law enforcement officers have executed more than 20 search warrants at various locations throughout Central Ohio and seized more than $1.7 million in alleged drug proceeds. For example, while executing a search warrant at Car-Go storage units, law enforcement officials discovered approximately one million in bulk United States currency. Searches of additional residences yielded 47 firearms, diamonds, Rolex watches and additional bulk amounts of cash.

As of today, 21 of the 23 defendants have pleaded guilty. One defendant, Carmella Brooks, has been sentenced and received a term of imprisonment of five years.

U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker commended the investigation coordinated by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission Central Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force, which includes Columbus Division of Police Chief Elaine Bryant; Shawn Gibson, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations; and Orville O. Greene, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Other agencies that have assisted the task force with the investigation include the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, HIDTA Task Force, IRS-Criminal Investigation, FBI, Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations (BCI), Ohio National Guard Counter Drug Task Force, Pickerington Police Department, New Albany Police Department, and the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office SWAT Team.

Assistant United States Attorneys Timothy Prichard and Emily Czerniejewski are representing the United States in this case.

This investigation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. More information about OCDETF can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

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Source: US FBI

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A former Pike County deputy was sentenced in federal court here today to 100 months in prison for committing civil rights violations while employed as a law enforcement officer.

In August 2023, Jeremy C. Mooney, 49, was convicted by a federal jury of two counts of violating a victim’s constitutional rights by pepper spraying and punching the victim in the head, while the victim was in the custody of the Pike County Sheriff’s Office and posed no threat to himself or others. The jury found that Mooney’s offenses involved the use of a dangerous weapon and resulted in bodily injury.

“This defendant is being sentenced for the violent assault of an inmate who was confined to a restraint chair and unable to protect himself or escape from the abuse,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “All people in our country have a right to be free from excessive force by law enforcement officers. The Justice Department will continue to aggressively prosecute any law enforcement officer who willfully violates the civil rights of the people they are sworn to protect and serve.”

“Communities trust in law enforcement officers to uphold the rule of law and, as public servants, they must honor that responsibility, not deprive individuals of their civil rights,” said U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker. “Law enforcement officials who abuse their powers like Mooney did will be held accountable.”

According to court documents and trial testimony, on Nov. 18, 2019, Mooney transported the victim from the jail to the Pike County Sheriff’s Office headquarters, where he placed the victim in a restraint chair. The restraint chair secured the victim’s hands behind his back and prevented him from being able to move most of his body. For more than an hour, Mooney unlawfully used force against the victim on several occasions.

Mooney dragged the victim — who was in the restraint chair — outside and pepper sprayed him directly in the face. The victim writhed in pain and tipped the chair back off the curb, landing on his back. Mooney then stood over the victim and deployed the pepper spray directly into the victim’s face a second time. Mooney brought the victim back inside the building and walked away. Over the course of several minutes, Mooney returned to that part of the building, where the victim was still handcuffed and secured in the restraint chair and punched the victim in the head 11 times. Mooney punched the victim with enough force to break his own hand.

A former Pike County Sheriff’s Office supervisor, William Stansberry Jr., 47, of Chillicothe, Ohio, was also charged. Stansberry violated the victim’s constitutional rights by willfully failing to intervene to prevent Mooney’s conduct. He pleaded guilty in July 2023 to deprivation of civil rights under color of law and was sentenced on March 5 to six months in prison. Stansberry was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release, with the first six months to be served under home detention.

Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Kristen Clarke, Assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division; and Elena Iatarola, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division, announced the sentence imposed today by U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus, Jr. Assistant United States Attorney Peter K. Glenn-Applegate and Trial Attorney Cameron A. Bell from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division are representing the United States in this case.

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Source: US FBI

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A Canal Winchester man was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 60 months in prison for making interstate threats to local law enforcement, court officials, businesses and schools.

Yousif Mubarak, 27, was convicted following a jury trial in August 2023 of seven counts of making interstate threats.

“Threats are more than mere words, they have significant consequences, as illustrated by the sentence imposed today,” said U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker.

According to court documents and trial testimony, in September 2021, Mubarak made at least 87 threatening phone calls from the state of Washington, where he resided for a short time, to a Franklin County Municipal Court Judge who previously presided over his court case.

Mubarak told the Judge that he would find her, that he had private investigators following her and that she should watch for cars following her. Mubarak said, “I will find you even if that means I die,” and threatened to kill the Judge himself. In many of the messages, Mubarak identified himself by name and left his callback number.

Beginning on Sept. 12, 2021, and continuing until the early morning hours of Sept. 13, 2021, Mubarak also placed numerous threatening calls to businesses and schools in the Canal Winchester and Pickerington areas.

He called to make threats to employees at the Brew Dog, Home Depot and Best Western businesses in Canal Winchester.

On Sept. 12, 2021, at about 10pm, officers and agents with the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office, Columbus Division of Police and FBI visited the last known address of Mubarak in Canal Winchester. Mubarak observed the officers in his Ring doorbell camera and taunted the officers throughout the interaction.

Twenty minutes later, Mubarak called a dispatcher in Fairfield County and told her, in part, “you can die” and “she would get two bullets in the head.” The defendant called the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office more than 100 times in a 12-hour span.

Around 7am on the morning of Sept. 13, 2021, Mubarak called in a bomb threat to Canal Winchester Middle School. He told a school employee: “I have placed several bombs in your building” and “I would get your women and children out now.”

Approximately 20 minutes later, Mubarak called Pickerington North High School and said there were two suicide bombers inside the school.

Mubarak was charged federally and arrested on Sept. 22, 2021. A federal grand jury indicted him in November 2021 and that indictment was superseded in June 2022.

Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Elena Iatarola, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division; Fairfield County Sheriff Alex Lape; and Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant announced the sentence imposed today by U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus, Jr. Assistant United States Attorneys Jessica W. Knight and Jennifer M. Rausch are representing the United States in this case.

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Source: US FBI

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A Columbus man pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court today to a drug crime and admitted to his role in the killing of a local man. The defendant is one of nearly two dozen individuals charged in a case involving a large-scale drug and human trafficking ring.

Dustin A. Speakman, 34, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances within 1,000 of an elementary school. As part of his plea, Speakman admitted to his role in the death of one victim which occurred during the time he was operating a drug distribution house. His plea includes a sentencing recommendation of 20 to 23 years in prison.

Speakman, who is also known as “Dawg,” is one of 23 defendants charged in a narcotics and human trafficking case that involves at least two deaths.

According to court documents, from 2008 until June 2022, lead defendants Patrick Saultz and Cordell Washington ran a large-scale drug trafficking organization in Columbus that included sex trafficking, labor trafficking, and money laundering.

Court documents detail that the drug trafficking organization brought large quantities of fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine, methamphetamine, oxycodone, alprazolam and marijuana into Columbus. These drugs were sold or used to coerce individuals into sexual activity for some members of the drug ring and their profit.

Speakman joined the drug trafficking organization after being released from jail in 2022, where he was housed with Saultz. Speakman was a mid-level drug distributor for the group out of residences on South Ogden and South Warren.

As part of his guilty plea, Speakman admitted to severely beating one of his drug runners in May 2022 and then providing him with free drugs to make up for the attack. Witnesses said the male was beaten by Speakman and then given cocaine and fentanyl as compensation. Shortly after, the victim began to seize and foam at the mouth and did not respond to Narcan. The victim was driven to an alley near Grant Hospital where he was found unconscious by Columbus Fire Department personnel with severe trauma to the face and head. His cause of death was ultimately determined to be blunt force trauma caused by Speakman.

“Any loss of life is significant,” said U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker. “Our office will continue to work to hold perpetrators of illegal drug trafficking accountable and secure justice for victims of violent and drug-related deaths.”

As of today, 18 of the 23 defendants have pleaded guilty. One defendant, Carmela Brooks, has been sentenced and received a term of imprisonment of five years.

U.S. Attorney Parker commended the investigation coordinated by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission Central Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force, which includes Columbus Division of Police Chief Elaine Bryant; Shawn Gibson, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); and Orville O. Greene, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Other agencies that have assisted the task force with the investigation include the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, HIDTA Task Force, IRS-Criminal Investigation, FBI, Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations (BCI), Ohio National Guard Counter Drug Task Force, Pickerington Police Department, New Albany Police Department, and the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office SWAT Team.

Assistant United States Attorneys Timothy Prichard and Emily Czerniejewski are representing the United States in this case.

This investigation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. More information about OCDETF can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

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Source: US FBI

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Thomas Lagene Franklin, 56, of Charlotte, was sentenced today to 15 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release for the armed robbery of two local convenience stores, 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), Charlotte Division, and Chief Johnny Jennings of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department, join U.S. Attorney King in making today’s announcement.

According to court documents and court proceedings, on August 7, 2022, at approximately 3:30 a.m., a black vehicle pulled up alongside a male victim who was walking toward his hotel room in Charlotte. The driver of the vehicle, later identified as Franklin, demanded money from the victim. When the victim replied that he did not have any money, Franklin fired multiple shots at the victim striking him in the leg before driving away.

According to filed court documents, on August 9, 2022, Franklin robbed at gunpoint the Circle K convenience store located at 2833 Freedom Drive, in Charlotte. Court records show that, at approximately 1:45 a.m., Franklin entered the store wearing a bucket-style fishing hat with clear safety glasses and a black surgical mask. Upon entering the store, Franklin posed as a customer, brought items to the counter, and gave the clerk money to pay for those items. When the clerk opened the register, Franklin pulled a small silver semiautomatic handgun from his pocket, pointed it at the clerk, and demanded money in the register. The clerk complied and Franklin fled the scene.

According to court records, later the same day, the 7-Eleven convenience store located at 8315 Steele Creek Road, in Charlotte, was robbed at gunpoint in a similar fashion as the Circle K

robbery. At approximately 6:50 a.m., Franklin entered the store dressed identical to the robber from the Circle K robbery. Once again, Franklin acted as a customer and pretended to buy and pay for his items. When the store clerk opened the register, Franklin pulled out a small silver semi-automatic handgun and demanded money. The store clerk gave Franklin money and Franklin fled the scene. CMPD officers arrested Franklin the following day. A firearm recovered over the course of the arrest was identified as the gun used in the shooting and the two robberies.

On February 7, 2024, Franklin pleaded guilty to two counts of Hobbs Act robbery and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He is currently in federal custody and will be transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.

U.S. Attorney King commended the FBI and CMPD for their investigation of the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Dana Washington of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte prosecuted the case.