MIL Security Engine-1

Source: US FBI

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Five individuals have been charged in an elder fraud scheme, announced U.S. Attorney Prim Escalona and FBI Special Agent in Charge Carlton L. Peeples. 

In March, a twelve-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charged Mykia Henderson, 32, of Moody, Cynthia H. Mixon, 50, of Fairfield, and Corey Webb, 44, of Moody, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft. 

According to the indictment, between December 2020 and February 2022, Mixon and Henderson, who are mother and daughter, were the caretakers for the elderly victim. Corey Webb was Henderson’s husband. During this time, the three defendants devised a scheme to defraud the victim by charging the victim’s credit cards through accounts set up by Square, Inc. and Stripe, Inc., issuing checks to themselves drawn on the victim’s bank accounts, and transferring the funds they received to their own personal bank accounts. 

Two additional defendants have also been charged related to this scheme. 

In March, Whitney Wallace, 33, of Birmingham,  was charged in an information with wire fraud. According to the information, Wallace was employed as the victim’s house cleaner.  Between December 2021 and March 2022, Wallace stole the victim’s credit card information and continued using the card to make purchases for personal items after she stopped working for the victim.  Wallace used the fraudulently obtained credit card information to purchase items from Amazon.com, Target.com, and DoorDash in the amount of approximately $43,227.12.

In January, Shakira English, 23, of Birmingham, was charged in an eleven-count indictment with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft.  English was a hairdresser.  She maintained a payment-processing account with Square, Inc. that she would use to charge customers’ credit or debit cards for payment.  Between May 2020 and October 2021, English used her Square, Inc. account to fraudulently charge the victim’s credit cards over $130,000 and then transferred the funds into her personal bank account.  

The maximum penalty for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and for wire fraud is 20 years in prison.  The mandatory minimum sentence for aggravated identity theft is two years.

The Mountain Brook Police Department and FBI investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan S. Rummage is prosecuting the case. 

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

Source: US FBI

BIRMINGHAM, Ala – The last defendant involved in a prison-based phone scam that targeted retailers throughout the country has been sentenced, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona and U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Patrick Davis.

U.S. District Court Judge Anna M. Manasco sentenced Otis Bowers aka “Big O,” 44, of Bessemer, to 235 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. Bowers smuggled controlled substances and other contraband into Donaldson Correctional Facility, which helped further the prison-based phone scam at the center of the investigation. 

U.S. District Court Judge Karon O. Bowdre previously sentenced seven other defendants involved in the scheme, including the following:

On August 15, 2023, one of the organizers and leaders of the conspiracy, Ricardo Poole, Sr., aka “Raoul,” 48, of Bessemer, was sentenced to 234 months in prison.  He pleaded guilty in April 2023 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, and aggravated identity theft.

On November 20, 2023, a manager and supervisor of the conspiracy, Kortney Jovan Simon, 43, of Birmingham, was sentenced to 144 months in prison. Simon pleaded guilty in January 2023 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and aggravated identity theft.

On October 3, 2023, a “skit” caller involved with the conspiracy, Terry Ray Bradshaw, aka “Skitzo,” 39, of Remlap, was sentenced to 61 months in prison. Bradshaw pleaded guilty in February 2023 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and aggravated identity theft.

On June 27, 2023, Ricardo Poole, Jr., 25, of Birmingham was sentenced to 15 months in prison.  Poole, Jr.  pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

According to court documents, between September 2020 and May 2022, Poole Sr. led a group of inmates housed at Donaldson Correctional Facility (Donaldson), who used telephone scams called “skits” to trick employees at The Home Depot, Inc. (Home Depot) into activating pre-paid gift cards. “Skit runners” used contraband cell phones, social engineering techniques, and spoofing technology to trick retailers into transferring funds to inmates under fraudulent pretenses.  The defendants would use the fraudulently activated gift cards to make purchases.

Bradshaw was a “skit runner” who was housed at Donaldson for most of the period charged in the indictment. In private Facebook messages Bradshaw referred to himself as a “hacker” and a “professional phone scam artist.” On November 21, 2020, for example, Bradshaw told a Facebook contact that he was “the best scam artist this side of [the] Mississippi.” 

During the relevant period, Bradshaw worked for members of the Gangster Disciples—a violent national criminal gang, founded in Chicago, and active across the U.S., including Alabama. At all relevant times, Poole Sr., Simon, and Bowers were members of the Gangster Disciples. Poole, Jr. assisted Poole, Sr. in the carrying out the scheme.

Bradshaw targeted Home Depot and other retailers with “skit” calls. He would then provide the gift card information he obtained to other members of the conspiracy who would purchase products or take steps to liquidate the cards. In exchange for his work as a “skit runner,” Bradshaw received protection from the Gangster Disciples, luxury items like Cartier glasses, and controlled substances like methamphetamine. As Poole Sr. explained in a series of messages he sent to a co-conspirator: “I got to pay the dude that be ordering shit,” “[h]e on ice so I got to keep him hi[gh],” and “I got to pay this dude to keep this shit coming.”

In connection with this aspect of the scheme, Poole, Sr. conspired with Bowers and others to smuggle controlled substances into Donaldson, including methamphetamine and heroin. One of the ways in which members of the conspiracy smuggled contraband into Donaldson and other ADOC facilities was by paying bribes to correctional staff. At other times, members of the conspiracy smuggled contraband into Donaldson and other ADOC facilities by throwing it over the perimeter fence, i.e., the “fence play.” As Poole Sr. explained to a co-conspirator, “I can get it thrown over or I can have it placed somewhere out there and have it brought in.”

In March 2022, Bowers and Poole Sr. worked together to smuggle controlled substances and other contraband into Donaldson in a “fence play.” The scheme was interrupted by law enforcement who confronted a group of co-conspirators trespassing on state property at Donaldson. After being confronted by ADOC officers, the subjects dropped multiple bags containing contraband and fled into a wooded area near the facility. Among other things, the bags contained heroin, cocaine, fentanyl, Delta-Nine-Tetrahydrocannabinol, and over a kilogram methamphetamine. ADOC officers also recovered a Ruger, Model LC9, 9mm pistol; 15 rounds of 9mm ammunition; an extended gun magazine; five pocket knives, one canister of pepper spray; 15 packages of Suboxone, a prescription medication used to treat opioid use disorder; 7 packages of Buprenorphine, another prescription medication used to treat opioid use disorder; 18 small packages containing more than 3.2 kilograms of suspected marijuana; 27 packages of THC gummies; cell phones; cell phone chargers; cell phone cables; a mobile hotspot; memory cards; SIM cards; scales; lighters; individually wrapped cigarillos and cigar wrappers; and shoes, jewelry, and watches.

The U.S. Secret Service Cyber Fraud Task Force investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Edward J. Canter and John M. Hundscheid prosecuted the case. Home Depot’s Asset Protection Investigations – Organized Retail Crime Group, the Alabama Department of Corrections Law Enforcement Services Division, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation all provided significant assistance during the investigation.

Source: US FBI

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A federal grand jury indicted an Alabama man on charges of illegally possessing dogs for fighting purposes and illegally possessing three firearms subsequent to a felony conviction.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama unsealed the indictment in conjunction with the arrest today of Carlton Lenard Adams, 51, of Bessemer and Adger. According to court documents filed in this case, Adams maintained a stock of 78 fighting dogs at three properties – two in Bessemer and one in Adger – and all were rescued by federal authorities.

Agents also recovered tools and supplies used in the training and keeping of dogs used for fighting. This included modified treadmills to hold dogs in place for dog fight conditioning, injectable veterinary steroids, suture materials and syringes, skin staplers, a homemade breeding stand used to immobilize female dogs who are too aggressive to mate naturally and a break stick device used to break the bite hold of a dog during specified intervals in a dog fight.

The defendant was further found to possess two pistols and a semi-automatic shotgun known colloquially as a “Street Sweeper.” The latter is considered as not just a firearm but a “destructive device” under federal law.

The dogs were rescued and cared for by a program administered by the U.S. Marshals Service. Following a separate, successful civil forfeiture action brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama, the dogs did not have to be returned to the defendant, but could instead be rehabilitated and evaluated for possible adoption.

If convicted, Adams faces penalties up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each firearms charge and up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine per count of animal fighting charges. Under federal law, it is illegal to fight animals and to possess, train, transport, deliver, receive, buy or sell animals intended for use in an animal fighting venture.

Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) and U.S. Attorney Prim Escalona of the Northern District of Alabama made the announcement.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Inspector General, FBI and Alabama Law Enforcement Agency are investigating the case.

Senior Trial Attorney Ethan Eddy of ENRD’s Environmental Crimes Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Rummage for the Northern District of Alabama are prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Austin Shutt for the Northern District of Alabama handled the civil forfeiture case, which ensured that the dogs did not have to be returned to the defendant.

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

Source: US FBI

Tuscaloosa, Ala. – A federal judge sentenced a Tuscaloosa County man on charges of transportation and possession of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Carlton Peeples.

U.S. District Court Judge L. Scott Coogler sentenced Nathaniel David Struening, 43, of Buhl, Alabama, to 188 months in prison followed by supervised release for life.  Struening was also ordered to pay $20,000 in restitution to the child victims.  Struening pled guilty in November 2023 to one count of transportation of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.

In 2020, FBI Milwaukee, in collaboration with the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office, was investigating numerous groups of individuals engaged in the receipt, possession, distribution and possible production of child sexual abuse material through a proactive operation. As part of the FBI’s operation, online covert employees documented these illegal activities and forwarded the documentation for further investigation to the appropriate FBI field office. According to court documents, Struening transported child pornography in a group on the social media application, Kik.  Federal search warrants were obtained for Struening’s Kik account and his residence where several electronic devices were seized.  Additional child pornography was found in his possession.

The FBI Birmingham’s Child Exploitation Human Trafficking Task Force (CEHTTF) investigated the case, along with the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Division of the FBI, Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA), Homewood Police Department, and Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Office.  Assistant U.S. Attorney R. Leann White prosecuted the case.

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