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Source: US FBI

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A federal grand jury returned an indictment today against Kevin Leslie Gipson, 58, of Oroville, charging him with attempted coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, Gipson attempted to persuade, coerce, and entice a minor to engage in oral copulation and to commit lewd and lascivious acts on a child under 14 years old.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Sacramento Sheriff’s Office, the Sacramento Valley Hi-Tech Crimes Task Force/Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Delaney is prosecuting the case.

If convicted, Gipson faces a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison and a $250,000 fine. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

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 the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. Click on the “resources” tab for information about internet-safety education.

Source: US FBI

OC Supervisor Andrew Do Admits Receiving More Than $550,000 in Bribe Payments from Funds Meant to Be Used to Provide Meals to Elderly

Source: US FBI

LOS ANGELES – A federal grand jury indictment unsealed today charges two Sudanese nationals with operating and controlling Anonymous Sudan, an online cybercriminal group responsible for tens of thousands of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks against critical infrastructure, corporate networks, and government agencies in the United States and around the world.

In March 2024, pursuant to court-authorized seizure warrants, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and FBI seized and disabled Anonymous Sudan’s powerful DDoS tool, which the group allegedly used to perform DDoS attacks, and sold as a service to other criminal actors.

Ahmed Salah Yousif Omer, 22, and Alaa Salah Yusuuf Omer, 27, were both charged with one count of conspiracy to damage protected computers. Ahmed Salah was also charged with three counts of damaging protected computers.

“Anonymous Sudan sought to maximize havoc and destruction against governments and businesses around the world by perpetrating tens of thousands of cyberattacks,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada.  “This group’s attacks were callous and brazen—the defendants went so far as to attack hospitals providing emergency and urgent care to patients.  My office is committed to safeguarding our nation’s infrastructure and the people who use it, and we will hold cyber criminals accountable for the grave harm they cause.”

“The FBI’s seizure of this powerful DDoS tool successfully disabled the attack platform that caused widespread damage and disruptions to critical infrastructure and networks around the world,” said Special Agent in Charge Rebecca Day of the FBI Anchorage Field Office. “With the FBI’s mix of unique authorities, capabilities, and partnerships, there is no limit to our reach when it comes to combating all forms of cybercrime and defending global cybersecurity.”

“These charges and the results of this investigation, made possible through law enforcement and private sector partnerships, have an immeasurable impact on the security of networks in the U.S. and of its allies, and demonstrates the resolve of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) to safeguard the Department of Defense from evolving cyber threats,” said Kenneth A. DeChellis, DCIS Cyber Field Office, Special Agent in Charge. “Cybercriminals need to understand that if they target America’s warfighters, they will face consequences.”

According to the indictment and a criminal complaint also unsealed today, since early 2023, the Anonymous Sudan actors and their customers have used the group’s Distributed Cloud Attack Tool (DCAT) to conduct destructive DDoS attacks and publicly claim credit for them. In approximately one year of operation, Anonymous Sudan’s DDoS tool was used to launch over 35,000 DDoS attacks, including at least 70 targeting computers in the greater Los Angeles area.

Victims of the attacks include sensitive government and critical infrastructure targets within the United States and around the world, including the Department of Justice, the Department of Defense, the FBI, the State Department, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and government websites for the state of Alabama.  Victims also included major U.S. technology platforms, including Microsoft Corp. and Riot Games Inc., and network service providers. The attacks resulted in reported network outages affecting thousands of customers.

Anonymous Sudan’s DDoS attacks, which at times lasted several days, caused damage to the victims’ websites and networks, often rendering them inaccessible or inoperable, resulting in significant damages. For example, Anonymous Sudan’s DDoS attacks shuttered the emergency department at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, causing incoming patients to be redirected to other medical facilities for approximately eight hours. Anonymous Sudan’s attacks have caused more than $10 million in damages to U.S. victims.

The March 2024 disruption of Anonymous Sudan’s DCAT tool, called variously “Godzilla,” “Skynet,” and “InfraShutdown,” was accomplished through the court-authorized seizure of its key components. Specifically, the warrants authorized the seizures of computer servers that launched and controlled the DDoS attacks, computer servers that relayed attack commands to a broader network of attack computers, and accounts containing the source code for the DDoS tools used by Anonymous Sudan.

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

If convicted of all charges, Ahmed Salah would face a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison, and Alaa Salah would face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.

The investigation of Anonymous Sudan was conducted by the FBI’s Anchorage Field Office, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service Computer Investigations and Forensics Division.

Assistant United States Attorneys Cameron L. Schroeder and Aaron Frumkin of the Cyber and Intellectual Property Crimes Section are prosecuting this case, with substantial assistance from Trial Attorney Greg Nicosia of the National Security Division’s National Security Cyber Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Schroeder and Frumkin, along with Assistant United States Attorney James Dochterman of the Asset Forfeiture Section, also obtained the seizure warrants for computer servers constituting Anonymous Sudan’s DCAT tool.

The DOJ Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs, the FBI’s International Operations Division and Behavioral Analysis Unit, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska aided in this investigation.

These law enforcement actions were taken as part of Operation PowerOFF, an ongoing, coordinated effort among international law enforcement agencies aimed at dismantling criminal DDoS-for-hire infrastructure worldwide, and holding accountable the administrators and users of these illegal services.  Akamai SIRT, Amazon Web Services, Cloudflare, Crowdstrike, DigitalOcean, Flashpoint, Google, Microsoft, PayPal, SpyCloud and other private sector entities provided assistance in this matter.

Source: US FBI

LOS ANGELES – A Canadian former Olympic snowboarder and 15 other defendants have been charged in a 16-count superseding indictment for allegedly running and participating in a transnational drug trafficking operation that routinely shipped hundreds of kilograms of cocaine, from Colombia, through Mexico and Southern California, to Canada and other locations in the United States, and whose leaders orchestrated multiple murders in furtherance of these drug crimes.

Ryan James Wedding, 43, a Canadian citizen residing in Mexico, and Andrew Clark, 34, a Canadian citizen also residing in Mexico, were previously charged in the original indictment with running a continuing criminal enterprise, murder, and conspiring to possess, distribute, and export cocaine. Clark was arrested October 8 by Mexican law enforcement and is detained. Wedding is a fugitive.

The first superseding indictment, unsealed on October 16, names 14 additional co-defendants. The superseding indictment alleges that Wedding, Clark, and others conspired to ship bulk quantities of cocaine – weighing hundreds of kilograms – from Southern California to Canada through a Canada-based drug transportation network run by Hardeep Ratte, 45, of Ontario, Canada, and Gurpreet Singh, 30, of Ontario, Canada, from approximately January 2024 to August 2024. The cocaine shipments were transported from Mexico to the Los Angeles area, where the cocaine trafficking organization’s operatives would store the cocaine in stash houses, before delivering it to the transportation network couriers for transportation to Canada using long-haul semi-trucks. 

As alleged in the superseding indictment, the organization resorted to violence – including multiple murders – to achieve its aims. Wedding and Clark allegedly directed the November 20, 2023, murders of two members of a family in Ontario, Canada, in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment that passed through Southern California. Another member of that family survived the shooting but was left with serious physical injuries. Wedding and Clark allegedly also ordered the murder of another victim on May 18, 2024, over a drug debt. Clark and Malik Damion Cunningham, 23, a resident of Canada, are charged with the April 1, 2024, murder of another victim in Ontario, Canada.

Wedding, whose aliases include “El Jefe,” “Giant,” and “Public Enemy,” and who competed for Canada in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, is the superseding indictment’s lead defendant. Wedding is charged with eight felonies: two counts of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, one count of conspiracy to export cocaine, one count of leading a continuing criminal enterprise, three counts of murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug crime, and one count of attempt to commit murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug crime. Clark, whose aliases include “The Dictator,” is charged with the same eight felonies, plus an additional count of murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug crime.

“As alleged in the indictment, an Olympic athlete-turned-drug lord is now charged with leading a transnational organized crime group that engaged in cocaine trafficking and murder, including of innocent civilians,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. “My office’s mandate is to protect the public and stopping sophisticated and violent organized crime groups goes to the heart of that mission.  We will continue to collaborate with our federal, local, and international law enforcement partners to bring these groups to justice.”

“The FBI remains steadfast in its mission to identify, target, and dismantle violent transnational organized crime syndicates in our communities. Today, in collaboration with several local, federal, and international partners, we reaffirm our commitment to the American people by dismantling a violent organized crime network trafficking large quantities of drugs into the United States and orchestrating multiple homicides to eliminate the competition,” said Akil Davis, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “The organization, led by former Olympian Ryan Wedding, cultivated a violent transnational drug trafficking empire that extended from Canada to the United States, Mexico, and Colombia. While key members of Wedding’s criminal enterprise were successfully apprehended this week, he remains at large. The FBI is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for any information leading to his arrest.”

“Organized Crime groups create immense harm in all our communities, not just with the poisons they ship, but through the tragic violence that inevitably comes with it,” said Liam Price, Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s Director General of International Special Services. “This network presented a threat to communities in Canada, the United States and overseas. That is why we, as Canada’s national police force, worked closely with the FBI and others to disrupt it. This operation demonstrates the value and the impact of close collaboration with amongst international partners to combat transnational organized crime, helping keep our communities safe. We will always look beyond our borders to where these threats originate and try to stop them at source.”

“The Wedding Drug Trafficking Organization and its unremitting, callous and greed-driven crimes has been operating for far too long, spanning several countries, from Colombia through Mexico, the U.S. and to Canada,” said Matthew Allen, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Los Angeles Field Division. “They have triggered an avalanche of violent crimes, including brutal murders. Wedding, the Olympian snowboarder, went from navigating slopes to contouring a life of incessant crimes. DEA and our partners stand firmly in our resolve to dismantle his operation. I want to thank our DEA investigators and all our partners, including the FBI, LAPD, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police International for their collaboration, experience and tremendous value that help embolden our mission.”

“This complex investigation spans multiple jurisdictions and agencies, with an alleged retaliation over stolen drugs tragically impacting an innocent family in Ontario, Canada,” said Marty Kearns, the Deputy Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police.  “Today’s announcement reflects the tireless months of work undertaken by agencies in both Canada and the United States, as well as support from law enforcement in Mexico and Colombia. This is a testament to how collaboration and investigative diligence cross borders to identify perpetrators and bring crucial answers to victims and their families.”

“Today’s investigative outcomes stand as a powerful testament to the tireless dedication and collaboration of law enforcement agencies across Canada, the U.S., Mexico, and Colombia,” said Peel Regional Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah. “These investigative outcomes are important for the families who have endured tragic loss, casualties of criminal greed and a drug trafficking war. Peel Regional Police remains unwavering in its commitment to working alongside our global partners to bring those responsible for violent acts and homicides – both within Peel and beyond – to justice.”

During the investigation, law enforcement has seized more than one ton of cocaine, three firearms, dozens of rounds of ammunition, $255,400 in United States currency, and more than $3.2 million in cryptocurrency. According to the superseding indictment, in March 2024, the organization delivered a total of approximately 293 kilograms (646 pounds) of cocaine to representatives of Ratte and Singh for eventual shipment to and distribution in Canada. The following month, the organization attempted to deliver approximately 375.1 kilograms (827 pounds) of cocaine to representatives of Ratte and Singh for eventual transportation to Canada, but investigators interrupted the delivery and seized the cocaine. In total, several defendants possessed a total of approximately 1,800 kilograms (1.8 metric tons) of cocaine, according to the superseding indictment. One-thousand eight hundred kilograms of cocaine carries a street value between $23.4 and $25.2 million dollars in Los Angeles.

Several of the defendants arrested are expected to make their court appearances within the coming week in Los Angeles, Michigan, and Miami.

An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

If convicted, Wedding, Clark, and Ratte would face a mandatory minimum penalty of life in federal prison on the continuing criminal enterprise charge. The murder and attempted murder charges carry an additional 20-year mandatory minimum penalty. The drug trafficking charges also carry mandatory minimum penalties between 10 and 15 years in prison. 

The FBI investigated this matter with the Los Angeles Police Department, the DEA Los Angeles, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police – Federal Policing. In addition, significant assistance was provided by U.S. law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations – Detroit and United States Customs and Border Protection – Buffalo; Canadian law enforcement partners, including Niagara Regional Police Service, Ontario Provincial Police, Toronto Police Service, and Peel Regional Police; Mexican law enforcement partners, including the Attorney General’s Office (Fiscalía General de la República) and the Criminal Investigation Agency (Agencia de Investigación Criminal); and Colombian law enforcement partners, including Colombian National Police – Directorate of Criminal Investigation and Interpol, Special Interagency Investigation Group (Policía Nacional de Colombia – Dirección de Investigación Criminal e Interpol, Grupo Especial de Investigación Interagenciales). This investigation was conducted with the support of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF).

Assistant United States Attorneys Lyndsi Allsop and Maria Jhai of the Violent and Organized Crime Section and Ryan Waters of the Asset Forfeiture and Recovery Section are prosecuting this case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided substantial assistance.

This case 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. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF. 

Source: US FBI

LOS ANGELES – The former longtime head of the accounting department at the now-shuttered Los Angeles plaintiffs’ personal injury law firm Girardi Keese pleaded guilty today to enabling the embezzlement of tens millions of dollars from the firm’s injured clients and to embezzling money from Girardi Keese itself.

Christopher Kazuo Kamon, 51, formerly of Encino and Palos Verdes and who was residing in The Bahamas at the time of his November 2022 arrest, pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud. 

According to his plea agreement, from 2004 until December 2020, Kamon was the head of the accounting department at Girardi Keese, a plaintiffs’ personal injury law firm based in downtown Los Angeles. In this position, Kamon worked closely with Thomas Vincent Girardi, 85, formerly a resident of Pasadena but who now resides in Seal Beach, as well as other senior lawyers at the law firm. 

In December 2020, Girardi Keese’s creditors forced the once-prominent law firm into bankruptcy proceedings. The law firm dissolved in January 2021 and the State Bar of California disbarred Girardi in July 2022. On August 27, a federal jury in Los Angeles found Girardi guilty of four counts of wire fraud. Girardi’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for December 6.

In addition to supervising the law firm’s accounting department, Kamon oversaw facilitating payment of the law firm’s expenses. Kamon had a duty to keep accurate books and records of Girardi Keese, including accounting of money held in its attorney-client trust accounts. Typically, Girardi determined and directed which clients would be paid, how much they would be paid, when they would be paid, and signed all outgoing checks to clients. Kamon had signatory authority on additional Girardi Keese bank accounts.

From at least 2010 until December 2020, Girardi and Kamon schemed to defraud Girardi Keese clients out of their settlement money, using the misappropriated funds to pay the law firm’s payroll, the law firm’s credit card bills, and to pay Girardi and Kamon’s personal expenses.

Specifically, one victim – a Girardi Keese client who suffered severe burns all over his body when a natural gas pipeline exploded in San Bruno, California, in September 2010 – had a $53 million settlement negotiated. This deal was negotiated and agreed to without the client’s prior approval. Per the terms of the settlement, $25 million was invested into an annuity. The remaining $28 million was wired into a Girardi Keese client trust account in January 2013. Girardi, assisted by Kamon, misappropriated, and embezzled that client’s settlement money and used the funds to pay other Girardi Keese expenses and liabilities unrelated to this client, including payments to other law firm clients whose own settlement funds previously had been misappropriated by Girardi and others.

To prevent the victim from discovering Girardi’s embezzlement, Girardi lied to the client by saying the funds had been transferred into a separate interest-bearing account. In fact, no such transfers had been made and no such interest-bearing account containing these funds existed.

Girardi and Kamon sent lulling payments to the victim as purported “interest payments” deriving from the purported interest-bearing account. In July 2019, they sent the victim a $2.5 million check, purportedly as disbursement of the victim’s settlement funds. In fact, Girardi and Kamon knew these settlement proceeds belonged to other Girardi Keese clients. Girardi already had spent the victim’s settlement funds through disbursements unrelated to the victim’s case.

In a separate criminal case, Kamon admitted to running a years-long scheme in which he embezzled Girardi Keese funds for his personal enrichment. From at least 2013 to December 2020, Kamon utilized co-schemers to pose as “vendors” who were providing goods and services to the law firm. Kamon caused the supposed vendors to issue fraudulent invoices to Girardi Keese for goods and services that they purportedly provided to the law firm. 

Kamon caused Girardi Keese to pay the amounts due on the fraudulent invoices. In fact, the law firm was paying the “vendors” for Kamon’s personal benefit, including for construction projects at his homes in Palos Verdes and Encino.

According to evidence presented at the recent trial of Tom Girardi, part of Kamon’s scheme involved payments to a female companion amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars, including a monthly stipend of $20,000, out of the Girardi Keese operating accounts despite the woman having no employment relationship with Girardi Keese.

United States District Judge Josephine L. Staton scheduled a January 31, 2025, sentencing hearing, at which time Kamon will face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison on each count. Kamon has been in federal custody since December 2022.

Kamon – along with Girardi and David R. Lira, Girardi’s son-in-law, and a former Girardi Keese lawyer – also faces federal fraud charges in Chicago. Trial in that case is scheduled for March 3, 2025.

IRS Criminal Investigation and the FBI investigated this matter.

Assistant United States Attorneys Ali Moghaddas of the Corporate and Securities Fraud Strike Force and Scott Paetty of the Major Frauds Section are prosecuting this case.

Source: US FBI

LOS ANGELES – A Los Angeles man who ran a Beverly Hills luxury watch consignment business and was known as “The Timepiece Gentleman” pleaded guilty today to swindling dozens of his customers of out a total of at least $5.6 million.

Anthony Farrer, 36, formerly of downtown Los Angeles, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud. He has been in federal custody since November 2023.

According to his plea agreement, from November 2022 to November 2023, Farrer used his business – also called “The Timepiece Gentlemen” – to connect purchasers and sellers of high-end watches. In a typical consignment sale, a client would ship a watch to The Timepiece Gentleman and Farrer would take possession of the watch, agreeing to display it at his Beverly Hills store and through online and social media marketing. The items involved in this case included luxury watches by Rolex, Richard Mille, and Patek Phillipe, among others.

Once the watch was sold, Farrer was supposed to remit the sales proceeds back to the client, minus a consignment fee, which typically was approximately 5% of the sales price. If the watch did not sell within a specific time or for a specified price, Farrer was to return the watch to the client.

However, instead of remitting watch sales proceeds – or the unsold watches themselves – back to the clients, Farrer sold the client watches and kept the proceeds for himself. He also used client watches – without the client’s knowledge or permission – as collateral for loans that he took out from lenders. 

When a client asked about the status of a watch on consignment sale, Farrer lied and said that the watch had not yet been sold. In fact, Farrer already had sold the watch or otherwise disposed of it, keeping the funds for his own personal benefit.

In addition to his consignment sale business, Farrer also purported to purchase watches on behalf of his clients. Typically, a client sent funds to Farrer, often by wire transfers to his bank accounts or through payment processors such as Zelle, for the purpose of Farrer locating and buying a specified watch on the client’s behalf. 

But in fact, Farrer took the clients’ money and used it for other purposes, including to fund his lavish lifestyle such as buying or leasing luxury automobiles, apartments, and other luxury goods. 

When a client who had sent him money asked Farrer about the status of a watch purchase, Farrer often sent another watch to the client to tide the client over or lull them into a false sense of security regarding the status of the purchase. Similar to a Ponzi scheme, the other watch Farrer sent to the client often belonged to other clients who had themselves sent him that watch for a consignment sale. These clients were unaware Farrer was using their watches for that purpose, rather than attempting to sell the watches on behalf of the clients.

In total, Farrer fraudulently obtained money and property belonging to more than 40 victims and caused total losses of at least $5,691,005.

United States District Judge Josephine L. Staton scheduled a January 31, 2025, sentencing hearing, at which time Farrer will face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each count.

The FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation, and the Beverly Hills Police Department investigated this matter.

Assistant United States Attorney Joshua O. Mausner of the Violent and Organized Crime Section is prosecuting this case.

Source: US FBI

LOS ANGELES—A Ventura County man was sentenced today to 98 months in federal prison for possession of methamphetamine he intended to sell.

Roy Alonzo, 46, was sentenced by United States District Judge John A. Kronstadt.

Alonzo pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute at least 5 grams of methamphetamine.

The Ventura County Violent Crime Task Force, which includes the FBI, the Oxnard Police Department, The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, and the Ventura Police Department investigated this matter.

Assistant United States Attorney Matt Coe-Odess prosecuted this case.

Source: US FBI

          WASHINGTON – A California man pleaded guilty on Oct. 9, 2024, to assaulting law enforcement with a weapon and other charges related to his conduct during the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.

          Jerry Daniel Braun, 70, of South El Monte, California, pleaded guilty to six felonies, including one count of civil disorder; two counts of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers, including one count involving the use of a deadly or dangerous weapon; one count of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; one count of disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; and one count of engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon.

          In addition to the felonies, Braun also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct in a Capitol Building or Grounds and one count of committing an act of physical violence in a Capitol Building or Grounds. U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly will sentence Braun on Jan. 27, 2025.

          According to the government’s evidence, Braun traveled from California to Washington, D.C., and attended the “Stop the Steal” near the Ellipse. Braun then made his way toward the Capitol building and arrived in the area near the Garfield Circle around 12:53 p.m. He then entered the restricted area and advanced with a crowd of rioters toward a police line on the West Plaza. Braun then made his way to the front of the crowd of rioters, lowered his head, and pushed with the crowd against the police line.

          At approximately 1:11 p.m., several rioters began to attack the line of police officers and dragged one officer into the mob. There, with the officer and rioters at his feet, Braun twice raised and swung a cane down at the individuals on the ground. Shortly after this incident, Braun approached a line of officers, pointed at them, and shouted, “F— you, traitor!” and “F— traitor. Traitor!” He then yelled, “We pay your f— pay!”

          At about 1:13 p.m., law enforcement reinforcements arrived to expel rioters from the restricted area of the Capitol. In an attempt to control the crowd, authorities established a line of bike rack barricades to push the crowd back. Some in the crowd, including Braun, attempted to wrestle a section of the barricades away from police. Braun then used his cane to strike the bike rack barrier multiple times.

          Later, at about 1:27 p.m., Braun picked up an eight-foot-long wooden 2×4 beam from the West Plaza and began to use the beam to point and thrust at police. On one occasion, Braun turned the beam vertically and used it to thrust into the line of police officers. Braun then used the beam to jab a person holding a camera wearing a helmet labeled “PRESS”. Braun then approached this person and struck them on the head with his left hand before again jabbing them with the beam.  Braun remained inside the restricted perimeter until at least 4:00 p.m.

          The FBI arrested Braun on April 12, 2022, in California.

          The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section prosecuted this case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California provided valuable assistance.

          This case was investigated by the FBI’s Los Angeles and Washington Field Offices. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.

          In the 45 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,532 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 571 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The investigation remains ongoing.

          Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.

Source: US FBI

FAYETTEVILLE – A Tontitown man was sentenced today to 600 months in prison without the possibility of parole on two counts of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor via Production of Child Pornography. The Honorable Judge Timothy L. Brooks presided over the sentencing hearing in the U.S. District Court in Fayetteville.

According to court documents, in July 2021 Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigations received a lead regarding the exchange of child sexual abuse material between an individual in Florida with a user located in Tontitown, Arkansas. The investigation led the FBI to Joshua Paul Brown, 32.

A residential search warrant was obtained and executed at Brown’s residence. Subsequent forensic examination of the electronics taken from Brown’s residence revealed Brown had produced multiple videos of child sexual abuse material with a minor. 

Brown was indicted by a Grand Jury in the Western District of Arkansas in November 2021 and entered a plea of guilty in February 2022.

U.S. Attorney David Clay Fowlkes of the Western District of Arkansas made the announcement.

The FBI, Benton County Sheriff’s Office and Tontitown Police Department investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Carly Marshall prosecuted the case.

This case was prosecuted 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.

Source: US FBI

      LITTLE ROCK—An Alexander doctor has been convicted for his involvement in a multi-million-dollar kickback conspiracy at the conclusion of a week-long trial. A federal jury found Joe David “Jay” May, 41, guilty on all 22 counts for which he was indicted.

      The jury returned their verdict Thursday evening after deliberating for about three hours. United States District Judge Kristine Baker presided over the trial, and Judge Baker will sentence May at a later date. 

      “Dr. May used his signature as a rubber stamp to help his friends rake in millions of dollars in kickbacks from fraudulent prescriptions,” said Jonathan D. Ross, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas. “His crimes are a reprehensible abuse of his Hippocratic oath and his medical license. Our office and our federal law enforcement partners at the FBI and Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) are resolved to continue to bring to justice all other health care professionals who defraud our nation’s healthcare systems.”

      A grand jury returned an indictment against May in January 2020. The indictment alleged that May signed off on illegitimate prescriptions for pain cream in order to trigger a payout from TRICARE, the nation’s insurance for veterans.  A pharmacy promoter paid recruiters to find TRICARE beneficiaries, regardless of whether they needed the drugs, and then paid others to get medical professionals, including Jay May, to rubber stamp prescriptions for TRICARE beneficiaries.

      TRICARE paid over $12 million for compounded drugs prescribed through this scheme. Evidence at trial indicated that May wrote 226 prescriptions over the course of ten months, for which TRICARE paid $4.63 million. All but one of those prescriptions were supplied by drug sales representatives, Glenn Hudson and Derek Clifton, both of whom have pleaded guilty in the scheme, and directed to prescribers, May and a nurse practitioner named Donna Crowder, who has also pleaded guilty. May accepted cash bribes totaling nearly $15,000 and signed off on the prescriptions without consulting patients and without determining whether or not the prescription was needed.

      One recruiter hosted a meeting at Fisher Armory in North Little Rock. At that meeting, he signed people up for the drugs and offered to pay them $1,000. Thirteen of those patients were routed to Dr. May, who signed each prescription, and this group alone cost TRICARE $370,000. The conspirators learned that reimbursements from TRICARE might fall in May 2015, so April was the last opportunity to profit from the program. In the last ten days of April 2015, May signed 59 prescriptions, for which TRICARE paid $1.4M. During a single 9-week period at the height of the scheme, May deposited $9,925 cash; an FBI forensic accountant testified this was more cash than he deposited in 2014 and 2016 combined.

      “TRICARE is dedicated to serving our veterans, military members, and their families,” said FBI Little Rock Special Agent in Charge James Dawson. “Dr. May displayed a lack of integrity by defrauding millions from our nation’s military insurer and lying to our Agents in an effort to conceal his crimes. The FBI is committed to working alongside our partners at the U.S. Attorney’s Office to protect our service members and their loved ones from corrupt medical professionals like Dr. May.”

      “Dr. May engaged in a kickback scheme that undermined federal health care programs,” said Special Agent in Charge Miranda L. Bennett of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. “This verdict is a testament to strong law enforcement partnerships committed to holding physicians accountable for providing quality care to beneficiaries of these programs,” said HHS-OIG Special Agent in Charge Miranda Bennett.

      The statutory penalties for May’s convictions are: wire fraud, mail fraud, and falsifying records, not more than 20 years imprisonment; violation of the anti-kickback statute, not more than 10 years imprisonment; and conspiracy and making false statements, not more than five years imprisonment. In addition to any sentence imposed, May will also serve an added four years for convictions on two counts of aggravated identity theft. All offenses of conviction include a potential penalty of not more than a $250,000 fine and not more than three years of supervised release.

      The investigation was conducted by the FBI and HHS-OIG. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Alexander Morgan and Stephanie Mazzanti.           

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This news release, as well as additional information about the office of the

United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, is available online at

https://www.justice.gov/edar

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@EDARNEWS