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Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

On Aug. 5, a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Georgia returned a two-count indictment charging former Augusta State Medical Prison Correctional Officers Robert Roberson and Marcus Phillips with violating the constitutional rights of an inmate by showing deliberate indifference to a substantial risk of harm to an inmate, resulting in his death.  The indictment further charges Roberson with falsifying a logbook to cover up his misconduct.  

The indictment alleges that on Oct. 28, 2020, Roberson and Phillips became aware of a smoldering fire in an inmate’s cell, and, rather than extinguish the smoldering fire, evacuate the inmate from his cell, remediate the smoke from the cell, or call a fire emergency over the radio, they willfully disregarded the substantial risk of serious harm to the inmate by leaving him in his locked cell for several hours while he slowly died from smoke inhalation.  

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Tara M. Lyons for the Southern District of Georgia, and Special Agent in Charge Paul Brown of the FBI Augusta Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI Augusta Resident Agency is investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Kirkland for the Southern District of Georgia and Special Litigation Counsel Christopher J. Perras and Trial Attorney Briana M. Clark of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an accusation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

The United States is challenging an Oklahoma law providing in-state tuition for illegal aliens. This law unconstitutionally discriminates against U.S. citizens, who are not afforded the same privileges, in direct conflict with federal law. On Tuesday, Aug. 5, the Department of Justice filed a complaint in the Eastern District of Oklahoma against the State of Oklahoma seeking to enjoin the State from enforcing the Oklahoma law and bring them into compliance with federal requirements.

In the complaint, the United States seeks to enjoin enforcement of an Oklahoma law that requires colleges and universities to provide in-state tuition rates for all aliens who maintain Oklahoma residency, regardless of whether those aliens are lawfully present in the United States. Federal law prohibits institutions of higher education from providing benefits to aliens that are not offered to U.S. citizens. The Oklahoma law blatantly conflicts with federal law and is thus in conflict with the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

This lawsuit follows two executive orders signed by President Trump that seek to ensure illegal aliens are not obtaining taxpayer benefits or preferential treatment. The first, “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders” orders all agencies to “ensure, to the maximum extent permitted by law, that no taxpayer-funded benefits go to unqualified aliens.” The second, “Protecting American Communities From Criminal Aliens,” directs relevant officials to “take appropriate action to stop the enforcement of State and local laws, regulations, policies, and practices favoring aliens over any groups of American citizens that are unlawful, preempted by Federal law, or otherwise unenforceable, including State laws that provide in-State higher education tuition to aliens but not to out-of-State American citizens.”

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

On the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon reaffirms the Civil Rights Division’s mission to: 

• Investigate violations of federal voting laws
• Enforce clean & accurate voter rolls
• Challenge voter suppression & race-based gerrymandering
• Protect equal access to the ballot for ALL Americans

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A grand jury in the Southern District of Texas returned an indictment today charging Matthew Liam Johnstone, 36, of Ireland, with numerous offenses stemming from his sadistic online exploitation of a child.

According to court documents, in September 2022, Johnstone sexually exploited a minor in the Southern District of Texas by coercing her into filming and photographing herself engaging in sexually explicit conduct, including acts of sadism. Johnstone is charged with four counts of sexual exploitation of a child and four counts of coercion and enticement of a minor. If convicted, Johnstone faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. All charges also carry a possible $250,000 maximum fine.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei for the Southern District of Texas, and Assistant Director Jose A. Perez of FBI Criminal Investigative Division made the announcement.

The FBI’s Child Exploitation Operational Unit, Criminal Investigative Division, is investigating the case.

Trial Attorney Adam Braskich of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Overman for the Southern District of Texas are prosecuting the case.

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

An indictment is merely an allegation. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A formerly married couple was sentenced yesterday for their roles in a more than decade-long scheme to defraud hundreds of investors out of millions of dollars in connection with Semisub Inc. (Semisub), a Hawaii-based company.    

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Curtiss E. Jackson, 72, of Honolulu, Hawaii, and Jamey Denise Jackson, 62, currently of Cochester, Conneticut, and formerly of Honolulu, who were respectively Semisub’s CEO and President, falsely told investors for years that the prototype vessel, Semisub One, was “weeks” or “months” away from beginning operations. The defendants also solicited funds based on false statements that Semisub had entered into agreements or developed relationships with government agencies and a private investment firm to build and sell a fleet of Semisubs for tens of millions of dollars — among other misrepresentations. As a part of the scheme, the defendants used investor funds to pay for luxury residences in Hawaii and California, a Mercedes-Benz automobile, luxury vacations, psychics, and marijuana.

Curtiss Jackson also sent a death threat to Jamey Denise during the investigation, in the form of a link to an online video entitled “Death of FBI Informants” containing graphic clips from The Sopranos television series depicting the deaths of several characters who had cooperated with the FBI. Curtiss Jackson further obstructed an official proceeding by attempting to flee the United States’ territorial waters aboard the Semisub One, which was subject to criminal forfeiture proceedings, on the day before his bond revocation hearing.

In May 2024, Curtiss Jackson was convicted of securities fraud, conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, witness tampering, and obstructing an official proceeding while on pretrial release. In January 2023 Jamey Denise Jackson pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud.

Curtiss Jackson was sentenced to 13 years in prison. Jamey Denise Jackson was sentenced to two years in prison. 

Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Acting U.S. Attorney Kenneth M. Sorenson for the District of Hawaii; Inspector in Charge Eric Shen of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) Criminal Investigations Group; and Special Agent in Charge Adam Jobes of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Seattle Field Office made the announcement.

The USPIS and IRS-CI investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Matthew Reilly and Jennifer Bilinkas of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Margaret Nammar and Aislinn Affinito for the District of Hawaii are prosecuting the case.