MIL Security Engine-1

Source: US FBI

ANCHORAGE – A Minto woman entered a guilty plea for embezzling, stealing, and obtaining by fraud money that was owned and under the care, custody, and control of an Indian tribal government.

According to court documents, Melanie Gail Titus, 52, of Minto, was employed as the bookkeeper for the Minto Village Council, which is the federally recognized native governing body for the Native Village of Minto. The Minto Village Council receives federal funding from various federal agencies. The defendant embezzled a total of $55,753.99 between January 2015 and June 2019 from the Minto Village Council.  As its bookkeeper, she developed several schemes during her employ including issuing herself multiple payroll checks for the same pay periods, tendering duplicative deposits, and issuing duplicative reimbursements for work expenses. 

The defendant is scheduled to be sentenced on June 1, 2023, for the federal charge of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds, and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. Attorney Lane S. Tucker of the District of Alaska made the announcement.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Alaska State Troopers, investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney George Tran is prosecuting the case.

Source: US FBI

ANCHORAGE – A Haines man was sentenced today to 20 years in prison for sexually exploiting minors.

According to court documents, Christopher Panagiotou-Scigliano, 41, pled guilty to one count of Production of Child Pornography, involving coercing a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing child pornography.

In 2015 Panagiotou-Scigliano moved to a farm in Haines. After his arrival, Panagiotou-Scigliano arranged for several children he had been grooming and abusing in another state to visit his farm in Haines multiple times. When the children arrived Panagiotou-Scigliano continued grooming and sexually exploiting them by taking numerous sexually explicit images and videos of the victims.

Panagiotou-Scigliano is also charged with the sexual abuse of multiple child victims in another state. That case is still pending.

“This office will continue to vigorously prosecute heinous predatory crimes such as this,” said S. Lane Tucker, United States Attorney for the District of Alaska. “Although no term of imprisonment can repair the harm caused to the victims, anyone engaging or thinking about engaging in grooming and sexual conduct with minors should take warning from this significant sentence.”

“In this unconscionable case, the defendant engaged in a years-long manipulation and grooming process to isolate and sexually abuse minors, all under the guise of being a trusted family friend,” said Special Agent in Charge Antony Jung of the FBI Anchorage Field Office. “The FBI and our law enforcement partners will continue to identify, aggressively pursue, and hold accountable those who commit these vile crimes against children.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force investigated the case. The Haines Police Department, the Bonner County, Idaho, Sheriff’s Office, the Bonner County Prosecutor’s Office and the Alaska State Troopers supported the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer Ivers and James Klugman prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, 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 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, Project Safe Childhood combines 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.

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usao/ak/23-07

Source: US FBI

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Today, a federal judge sentenced a Birmingham man for robbery and gun charges, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Carlton L. Peeples.

U.S. District Court Judge Anna Manasco sentenced Henry Sirnard Russell, 43, to 155 months in prison for interference with commerce by robbery, being a felon in possession of a firearm and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.  Russell pleaded guilty in July 2022.

According to the Plea Agreement, on October 12, 2021, Hoover Police responded to the Chevron convenience store in Hoover.  The clerk of the store reported an armed male stole an undisclosed amount of money.  The clerk saw the suspect leave in a grey SUV, and the police issued a BOLO to surrounding agencies.  Vestavia Hills officers saw a vehicle matching the BOLO and conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle.  Henry Sirnard Russell was the sole occupant of the vehicle and appeared very nervous and was shaking.  Russell was asked to exit his vehicle, but he refused and drove away.  A short pursuit ensued, and Russell stopped his vehicle and fled on foot.  Various law enforcement agencies arrived on scene, set up a perimeter, used a drone, a K-9, and a helicopter to assist in locating Russell.  The search continued throughout the night until a Hoover Police Officer notified dispatch that he observed Russell on the northbound side of I-65 toward Hoover from Homewood.  Officers immediately converged on the area and Russell fled into the wood line where he was arrested.

Russell has prior felony convictions for Domestic Violence, Assault (Second Degree), and Robbery (First and Second Degree).

FBI investigated the case along with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Homewood Police Department, Hoover Police Department, and the Vestavia Hills Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Darius Greene prosecuted the case.

Source: US FBI

A federal grand jury returned a four-count indictment charging a former Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) lieutenant with use of excessive force and two obstruction offenses.

According to the indictment, Lieutenant Mohammad Shahid Jenkins used excessive force on two inmates – V.R. and D.H. – at ADOC’s Donaldson Correctional Facility. The indictment further charges Jenkins with two obstruction offenses related to his alleged excessive force on one of the inmates.

Specifically, count one of the indictment alleges that on Feb. 16, 2022, Jenkins willfully deprived inmate V.R. of his right to be free from excessive force by kicking him, hitting him, spraying him with chemical spray, striking him with a can of chemical spray and striking him with a shoe. Count two of the indictment alleges that, on Nov. 29, 2021, Jenkins willfully deprived inmate D.H. of his right to be free from excessive force by spraying him with chemical spray multiple times, striking him with a can of chemical spray and hitting him. Counts one and two further allege that inmates V.R. and D.H. each suffered bodily injury as a result of Jenkins’s actions, and that Jenkins used dangerous weapons — chemical spray and the chemical spray can — in both assaults.

Count three alleges that, following the Feb. 16, 2022, assault, Jenkins knowingly falsified an ADOC incident report about the event. Finally, count four alleges that, when ADOC and FBI agents later interviewed Jenkins about his use of force on V.R., Jenkins engaged in misleading conduct toward the agents. 

If convicted, Jenkins faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison on each excessive force charge and 20 years in prison on each obstruction charge. He also faces up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona for the Northern District of Alabama and Special Agent in Charge Carlton L. Peeples of the FBI Birmingham Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI Birmingham Field Office investigated the case with the assistance of ADOC’s Law Enforcement Services Division. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney George Martin for the Northern District of Alabama and Trial Attorneys Anna Gotfryd and David Reese of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section are prosecuting the case.

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

Source: US FBI

Director Christopher Wray has named Carlton L. Peeples as the special agent in charge of the Birmingham Field Office in Alabama. Mr. Peeples most recently served as an inspector in the Inspection Division at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Peeples joined the FBI as a special agent in 1998 and was assigned to the Washington Field Office. He worked counterintelligence, public corruption, civil rights, violent crime, and gang investigations and served on the SWAT team.

In 2005, Mr. Peeples was promoted to supervisory special agent and transferred to the Civil Rights Unit of the Criminal Investigative Division at FBI Headquarters. He served as the civil rights Southeast program manager and hate crimes coordinator. Mr. Peeples was promoted to chief of the Civil Rights Unit in 2007, leading the FBI’s entire civil rights program.

In 2008, Mr. Peeples was promoted to senior supervisory special agent in the Atlanta Field Office, supervising the FBI’s resident agencies in Macon and Athens, Georgia. The two offices are responsible for all investigative violations in 40 counties. Mr. Peeples was named an assistant inspector in the Inspection Division at FBI Headquarters in 2014, assisting in the review of field office operational programs and the performance of legats.

Mr. Peeples was promoted to assistant special agent in charge of the Jacksonville Field Office in Florida in 2016, overseeing the Criminal, Administrative, Cyber, Financial, and Security Branches and the SWAT team. In 2019, he was named an inspector in the Inspection Division at FBI Headquarters. He led evaluative reviews focused on mitigating risk to the FBI’s investigative, intelligence, and administrative programs; assessed field office leadership; and led agent-involved shooting investigations.

Prior to joining the FBI, Mr. Peeples served in the U.S. Army and as an operations supervisor for a logistics and shipping company. He earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and law enforcement administration from the University of Louisville in Kentucky.

Source: US FBI

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A grand jury this week indicted a resident of Florida for kidnapping, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona and Federal Bureau of Investigation Acting Special Agent in Felix A. Rivera-Esparra.

A one-count indictment filed in the U.S. District Court charges Marcus Spanevelo, 35, of Panama City, Florida, with a kidnapping that resulted in a death arising out of events that occurred in the Northern District of Alabama in March 2022.

The punishment range for kidnapping resulting in death is life in prison or death.

The FBI investigated the case along with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office in Florida.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alan Baty, Bill Simpson and John Camp are prosecuting the case.

An indictment contains only charges.  A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. 

Source: US FBI

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A Nauvoo resident and enlisted Army Reservist pleaded guilty yesterday to stealing more than $53,000 from the Department of Defense, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona and Department of Army Criminal Investigation Division, Redstone Resident Unit, Supervisory Special Agent Chase Wilkerson.

Jared Romine Barton, 39, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Annemarie Carney Axon to one count of theft of government funds.  

According to the plea agreement, between 2016 and 2020, while both an active Army Reservist and Army civilian employee at the Army Reserve’s Deployment Support Command in Birmingham, AL, Sergeant First Class Barton submitted false travel claims and associated timecards to be reimbursed for official travel he did not undertake.

“The defendant defrauded the Department of Defense while wearing the uniform of the country,” said Escalona.  “My office is committed to investigating and prosecuting white-collar crime in all its forms, but it is particularly insidious that a member of the United States Armed Forces would steal from the government he was sworn to defend.” 

“The Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division is committed to ensuring that these types of schemes are investigated aggressively,” said Supervisory Special Agent Chase D. Wilkerson of the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division’s Redstone Resident Unit. “It is imperative that we continue to pursue economic fraud in every form to protect our military.”

Barton faces a maximum term of up to ten years in prison and a fine of $250,000.   

The Department of the Army’s Criminal Investigative Division investigated the case with assistance from the FBI.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan “Jack” Harrington prosecuted the case. 

Source: US FBI

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A federal jury today convicted a Mississippi resident for a carjacking that occurred in Moody, Alabama, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent in Charge Marcus Watson.

The jury returned its guilty verdict against Eric Lamar White, 24, of Jackson, Mississippi, after two days of testimony before U.S. District Court Judge Corey L. Maze.  White was convicted of  carjacking and carrying and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a violent crime.

“The violent acts of these defendants put the lives of an innocent family in danger,” U.S. Attorney Escalona said. “I am grateful for the collaborative efforts of our law enforcement partners in Alabama and Mississippi to apprehend these defendants, and for the work of our prosecutors to ensure that justice was served.”

“These violent offenders repeatedly displayed total disregard for human life and personal property. Carjackings and the prevalence of guns on our streets continue to plaque our communities at alarming and unacceptable rates,” SAC Watson said. “The ATF will continue to work with our state, local, and federal partners to remove violent criminals from the communities that we serve.”

According to evidence presented at trial, on January 7, 2021, White and his codefendant, Kendarian Toran, were traveling from Jackson, Mississippi, to Atlanta, Georgia, in a stolen vehicle with a switched tag. The stolen vehicle began to overheat so White and Toran decided to carjack the victim in this case while carrying a firearm. At the time of the carjacking, the victim was in her 2008 Acura TL, pumping gas with her two small children in the vehicle. White and Toran waited for the perfect opportunity to take her car. White repositioned the overheating stolen car so that Toran could easily jump out and get into the driver’s seat of the Acura with ease. Once Toran got into the driver’s seat of the victim’s vehicle, the victim attempted to stop him from taking her car by jumping into the driver’s seat on top of Toran. She did not want him to take her children and fought for them. Toran put the firearm to the victim’s pregnant belly, told her to get her kids out of the car, and quickly drove off with her 2008 Acura TL, just as the last child got out.  White and Toran met at a nearby business parking lot where White abandoned the original stolen vehicle and got into the 2008 Acura TL with Toran. Hours later, White was driving the Acura back to Jackson, Mississippi, with Toran, when Mississippi law enforcement spotted them. A vehicle pursuit ensued for 29 miles on I-20 at speeds over 130 mph with multiple law enforcement officers. Officers had to spike and force the vehicle into the median on I-20. When White was arrested, he had his Glock .45 caliber pistol and an Alabama driver’s license belonging to a person matching the description of the victim. The evidence showed that the Glock .45 caliber pistol was purchased by White in October 2020.

On August 25, 2022, U.S. District Court Judge Corey L. Maze sentenced Kendarian Lamonte Toran, 18, of Ridgeland, Mississippi, to 114 months in prison for carjacking and carrying and brandishing a firearm during and relation to a violent crime.  Toran pleaded guilty to the charges in March. 

The maximum penalty for carjacking is 15 years in prison.  Brandishing a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence carries a mandatory penalty of not less than 7 years in prison.

The ATF investigated the case along with assistance from the FBI Birmingham Division, Moody Police Department and multiple Mississippi law enforcement agencies, to include Rankin County Sherriff’s Office, Scott County Sheriff’s Office, and Madison Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brittney Plyler and Kristy Peoples are prosecuting the case.

Source: US FBI

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A federal grand jury this week indicted two women in separate but related indictments for murder, kidnapping, robbery, and unlawful use of a firearm, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona and Federal Bureau of Investigation Acting Special Agent in Charge Felix A. Rivera-Esparra.

The four-count indictments filed in U.S. District Court charge Yasmine Marie Adel Hider, 20, of Edmond, Oklahoma, and Krystal Diane Pinkins, 36, of Memphis, Tennessee, with murder, kidnapping, robbery, and unlawful use of a firearm during a crime of violence arising out of events that occurred in the Talladega National Forest on August 14, 2022.  

The maximum penalty for murder, kidnapping, and unlawful use of a firearm during a crime of violence is  life in prison. The maximum penalty for robbery is 15 years in prison.

The FBI and the Forest Service Law Enforcement Investigations- U.S. Department of Agriculture investigated the cases, along with assistance from the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, Alabama State Park Rangers, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, St. Clair Correctional Facility K9 Tracking Team, District Attorney of the 40^th Judicial Circuit of the State of Alabama- Joseph “Joe” D. Ficquette (which includes Clay County), Clay County Sheriff’s Office, Cleburne County Sheriff’s Office, Lineville Police Department, Ashland Police Department, Clay County Rescue Squad, Shinbone Valley Volunteer Fire Department, Tri-County Children’s Advocacy Center, and Jacksonville State University Center for Applied Forensics.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan Cross and John B. Felton are prosecuting the case.

An indictment contains only charges.  A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. 

Source: US FBI

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – An indictment was unsealed today charging Ray Hunt, 69, of Madison County, with federal offenses related to an illegal scheme to export U.S.-origin goods to Iran.

The 15-count indictment charges the defendant with conspiracy to defraud the United States, sanctions violations, smuggling goods from the United States, and submitting false or misleading export information. 

According to the indictment, since at least November 2017, the defendant conspired to export U.S.-origin parts used in the oil and gas industry, including control valves and oil tubing, through his Alabama-based company, Vega Tools LLC, to customers in Iran. The defendant transshipped the goods to Iran through Turkey and the UAE to evade U.S. sanctions.  

Hunt was arrested and made his initial court appearance earlier today. If convicted, Hunt faces a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison and up to a $1 million fine for violating U.S. trade sanctions against Iran. In addition, he faces up to five years for the conspiracy charge, 10 years for the smuggling offense, and up to five years for the false information offense. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona for the Northern District of Alabama and Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Carson of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security, Office of Export Enforcement (OEE) Miami Office made the announcement.

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security investigated the case in coordination with the FBI.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Henry Cornelius and Jonathan “Jack” Harrington of the Northern District of Alabama and Trial Attorneys Emma Dinan Ellenrieder and Adam P. Barry of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.  

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.