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Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

The Justice Department today announced the winners of the Access to Justice Prize Competition. The Department is proud to uplift the incredible work being done across the country through innovative solutions to improve access to justice for all Americans. The Access to Justice Prize focuses on closing the rural justice gap, recognizing that rural communities face unique and significant barriers to resources and support in the legal system. This competition highlights the creativity and dedication of organizations working to expand justice for all. The winning projects represent actionable approaches that will help provide legal support for communities across America.

The Access to Justice Prize was launched on Challenge.gov, and after reviewing an inspiring and thoughtful round of submissions, the Department of Justice is pleased to recognize the five winners whose innovative ideas stood out from a competitive field of applicants. Each of these organizations brought a unique perspective and a shared commitment to expanding resources for communities in rural America.

1. The 12th Judicial District of Colorado Access to Justice Committee: creating “Lawmobile,” a vehicle designed to bring legal and administrative assistance directly to remote residents, as well as residents with disabilities, who lack childcare or technological access.
2. Florida Department of Corrections: bridging the justice gap in rural areas by deploying Mobile Probation Units and Mobile Reentry Units to bring probation and reentry services directly to underserved rural communities.
3. People Living in Recovery Inc.: expanding access to justice through an innovative forensic peer mentoring program in rural county jails in Georgia to reduce recidivism and support reentry.
4. South Dakota Bar Foundation: creating the Project Rural Practice Hub, an online resource center that provides on-demand training, technical assistance, and mentorship to rural attorneys.
5. Veterans Advocacy Law Clinic at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law: expanding the clinic’s Rural and Tribal Veterans Outreach Project to effectively connect veterans living in rural communities with legal services.

“The Department of Justice applauds the Prize winners’ dedication, bold ideas and steadfast belief in a better future,” said Acting Director Christina Smith of the Justice Department’s Office for Access to Justice. “The winners are addressing access to justice barriers with innovative solutions that are informed by the needs and strengths of rural communities.”

Each winning organization will receive prize funding of $15,000 to advance their project. The Department of Justice congratulates all prize participants for their passion to remain committed to introducing fresh perspectives and novel approaches to advance access to justice for all.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A Florida woman, and dual U.S. and Colombian citizen, was sentenced on Friday to 30 months in prison for conspiring to defraud the United States by, among other things, concealing tens of millions of dollars in undeclared foreign financial accounts, filing false tax returns, and evading taxes.

The following is according to court documents: between 2010 and 2022, Gilda Rosenberg, of Golden Beach, conspired with two family members to conceal from the IRS more than $90 million in assets and income held in undeclared bank accounts in Andorra, Israel, Panama, and Switzerland.

Rosenberg’s family had maintained offshore accounts since the 1970s. By the late 1990s, Rosenberg — who was identified as an owner and an authorized signer on some of the accounts — knew that she and her family members had not disclosed their ownership of these foreign financial accounts to the U.S. government and that they had not paid any taxes on the income earned from the assets in those accounts as was required by law.

Starting in the early 2000s, the family consolidated their assets at accounts with Credit Suisse in Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Family members told Credit Suisse employees that they were U.S. persons and seeking to hide their assets from U.S. authorities. The assets remained at Credit Suisse until 2013, when Credit Suisse closed the accounts because the family members were U.S. persons.

When Credit Suisse closed their accounts, the family moved their assets, which were typically titled in the names of nominee entities, to new accounts located at Bank Leumi in Israel, Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) and PKB Privat Bank SA in Switzerland, and an Andorran bank. Rosenberg was documented as the beneficial owner of accounts at UBP and the Andorran bank. She also signed false account opening documents that claimed she was a Colombian citizen and not a U.S. citizen.

Rosenberg, as well as her relatives, did not file Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBARS) disclosing their foreign financial accounts, as they were required to do. In addition, Rosenberg and her relatives continued to file false tax returns that omitted income generated by their offshore assets.

In or about 2017, as part of a scheme to continue to evade their U.S. tax and reporting obligations, Rosenberg and the family members divided the family’s assets and signed documents to make it appear that Rosenberg and a relative gifted the offshore assets to another relative after he had renounced his U.S. citizenship. Rosenberg and her relatives then tried to covertly transfer assets to Rosenberg in the United States and to conceal their ongoing and historical tax evasion. To do so, Rosenberg and her relatives, among other things, created fake loan and investment documents to make it appear that transfers to and from Rosenberg were loans and business investments.

From 2010 through 2017, Rosenberg filed false tax returns that did not report income she earned from assets in the account she concealed at UBP. For the 2009 through 2017 tax years, unreported income belonging to Rosenberg and two of her co-conspirators totaled more than $5.5 million, causing a tax loss of $1,927,342. Prior to her sentencing, Rosenberg had agreed to pay $1,927,342 in restitution to the IRS. She had also agreed to pay interest on the restitution. Separately, Rosenberg’s plea agreement required her to agree to pay a penalty of $5,857,045.50 to the IRS to resolve her civil liability for failing to file an FBAR.

Rosenberg previously pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of Texas to an information charging her with conspiracy to commit wire fraud related to a scheme to defraud the Army and Air Force Exchange Service by making and presenting false reports in order to avoid fully paying contractually required commissions. See United States v. Rosenberg, 4:24-cr-00062-ALM-AGD (E.D. Tex.).

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Karen E. Kelly of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Hayden P. O’Byrne for the Southern District of Florida made the announcement.

IRS Criminal Investigation’s International Tax & Financial Crimes Unit investigated the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided critical assistance in obtaining important evidence.

Senior Litigation Counsel Mark Daly and Trial Attorney Marissa Brodney of the Tax Division, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorney Ana Maria Martinez for the Southern District of Florida, prosecuted the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A Pennsylvania man was sentenced today to 30 years in prison and lifetime supervised release for transporting a minor with the intent to sexually abuse the child and for accessing with intent to view child pornography. He was also ordered to pay $12,000 in restitution.

As detailed in court filings and admitted to by the defendant, George Travis Woodfield, 41, of Macungie, drove an 11-year-old child across state lines for an overnight trip to New York City in November 2018 in order to engage in sexual activity with the child. After a day of sightseeing, Woodfield sexually abused the child in his hotel room. Further, between September 2015 and July 2024, Woodfield accessed numerous depictions of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including images of prepubescent children being sexually abused.

“Child sexual abuse is a depraved criminal act that harms the most innocent among us,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “This defendant took a child across state lines with the express intent of abusing that child, and he exploited others by viewing child sexual abuse material. We will swiftly bring to justice any individual who commits these horrific crimes against children in our communities.”

“Woodfield didn’t just view images of child sexual abuse, he sought out sex with a child,” said U.S. Attorney David Metcalf for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. “The sexual exploitation of children causes unthinkable harm. While prosecuting a predator like Woodfield can’t undo that damage, his prison sentence prevents him from causing further harm and provides his victim justice.”

“There’s no greater priority than safeguarding our children from those who seek to exploit or harm them,” said Assistant Director Jose A. Perez of FBI Criminal Investigative Division. “I commend the work done by the FBI’s Child Exploitation Operational Unit and our field office whose expertise was critical in bringing this offender to justice. This sentence is a testament to our shared resolve to hunt down predators that rob children of their innocence. We will not rest until those who commit these heinous crimes are held fully accountable.”

“The exploitation of children remains among the most heinous crimes we investigate,” said Special Agent in Charge Wayne A. Jacobs of the FBI Philadelphia Field Office. “Let today’s sentencing send a message: if you prey upon our most vulnerable, you will be found and you will be brought to justice. This case is a powerful testament to the unwavering dedication of the personnel in our Allentown Resident Agency and our law enforcement partners, who work tirelessly to protect our children and ensure those who harm them are held accountable.”

The case was investigated by the FBI Philadelphia’s Allentown Resident Agency and FBI Richmond, with assistance from the High Technology Investigative Unit of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS).

CEOS Trial Attorney Jessica L. Urban, CEOS Senior Trial Attorney Jennifer Toritto Leonardo and Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca J. Kulik for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania prosecuted the case.

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

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Today, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division announced that it has moved to dismiss a 2015 Court-Ordered Settlement Agreement regarding the Leflore County Juvenile Detention Center (the Center) in Greenwood, Mississippi because the Center has achieved sustained substantial compliance with all areas of the Settlement Agreement.  

The Center implemented reforms to ensure that children are not subjected to undue restraint use; children who feel suicidal or need to talk to mental health are connected to a mental health provider within hours; children are not punished with isolation and instead receive programs and activities that include cooking and robotics classes; sleeping rooms are clean and have appropriate beds. Additionally, the Center implemented an outstanding compliance review system and staff misconduct is taken seriously and handled professionally.

“All children deserve to be protected from harm,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “We thank the Center’s leadership and staff for their commitment over the years to ensuring safety for these children and for the community of Leflore County.”

“The counties and municipalities that this center serves can now move forward, knowing that when they make use of this facility to hold juveniles, that they can do so with the knowledge that these youths are held safely in a constitutionally compliant manner,” said U.S. Attorney Clay Joyner for the Northern District of Mississippi.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A Texas man pleaded guilty today to filing false tax returns with the IRS before U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Hightower for the Western District of Texas. The plea must be accepted by a U.S. district court judge.

The following is according to court documents and statements made in court: Jason Smith, of Kerrville, was an independent distributor for a multi-level marketing (MLM) business that sold, among other things, essential oils and aromatherapy products. Smith created an entity, Live Young Now International Ministries (Live Young Now), and directed the MLM business to pay his compensation to that entity. Smith maintained control over Live Young Now’s bank accounts and used those funds to pay for personal expenses including his mortgage, automobiles, a motorcycle, a tractor, and an airplane. Although he received tax forms from the MLM business reporting his compensation as over $1,400,000 each year for both 2018 and 2019, Smith did not provide those forms to his return preparer and falsely told his return preparer that he did not have any such forms. This caused Smith’s return preparer to prepare false tax returns that omitted more than $2.9 million in income that Smith had earned from the MLM and instead reported that Smith earned only $43 from it. Instead, Smith reported earning only $43 from the MLM. In total, Smith caused a tax loss to the IRS over $1,500,000.

Smith is scheduled to be sentenced at a later date. He faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison for each count of filing a false tax return, as well as a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Deputy Assistant Attorney General Karen E. Kelly of the Justice Department’s Tax Division made the announcement.

IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Parker Tobin and Daniel Lipkowitz of the Tax Division are prosecuting the case.