MIL Security Engine-1

Source: US FBI

Two former Crawford County, Arkansas, sheriff’s deputies were sentenced for using unlawful force on a man they arrested. Levi White, 34, was sentenced yesterday to 63 months in prison, and Zackary King, 28, was sentenced today to 12 months in prison.

Each defendant pleaded guilty to one count of deprivation of rights under color of law for a retaliatory assault on R.W., a 26-year-old man. On Aug. 21, 2022, White, King and a third officer approached R.W. in a gas station parking lot during their investigation into a person threatening a store attendant. R.W. lunged at White and tackled him, then all three officers quickly subdued R.W. and pinned him to the ground. After R.W. was pinned to the ground and no longer fighting the officers, White punched R.W. at least nine times in the head, then lifted R.W.’s head and slammed it into the pavement. King kicked R.W. in the back and struck R.W. once in the midsection with his fist. Following the announcement of a federal investigation into the assault, White obstructed the investigation by wiping all data from his county-issued cell phone and selectively deleting text messages about the incident from his personal phone. White asked King if King was also going to wipe his cell phone, but King declined to do so.

“Punching a man in the head, slamming their head repeatedly on the concrete pavement, kicking them in the back and striking them in the midsection — this kind of gratuitous and unjustified violence at the hands of law enforcement runs contrary to the oath that officers take in our country to protect and serve,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The defendants swore an oath to uphold the law, then violated that oath and abused their power as law enforcement officers by assaulting a person in their custody. At the time of the assaults, three officers had already subdued the victim, and further force was unnecessary and unlawful. White added fuel to the fire by taking steps to obstruct the investigation into the violent assault. The Justice Department will continue to vigorously prosecute officers who abuse their authority and violate the rights of people in their custody.”

“Levi White and Zackary King’s sentencings prove that no law enforcement officer is above the law,” said Special Agent in Charge Alicia D. Corder of the FBI Little Rock Field Office. “FBI Little Rock, alongside our trusted partners at Arkansas State Police, will continue to investigate potential abuses of power and civil rights violations throughout our state. We encourage anyone who has information about abusive or corrupt law enforcement to contact the FBI’s ArkTrust Task Force immediately.”

The FBI Little Rock Field Office and Arkansas State Police investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dustin Roberts and Devon Still for the Western District of Arkansas and Special Litigation Counsel Michael J. Songer and Trial Attorneys Lia Rettammel and Anna Gotfryd of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division prosecuted this case.

Source: US FBI

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Daniel Hooker, 36, of Los Angeles, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Dena Coggins to 27 months in prison, for his role in a money laundering conspiracy, Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith announced.

According to court documents, from August 2023 through March 2024, Hooker and three co‑conspirators conducted multiple financial transactions involving funds they believed to be proceeds of cocaine trafficking. Their belief as to the nature of the funds was based on representations of an individual working at the direction of law enforcement. On two different occasions in 2023 and 2024, Hooker met the individual in a parking lot in Rancho Cordova and accepted a total of $100,000 in cash to be laundered. After those meetings in Rancho Cordova, Hooker wired funds from a bank account he controlled into a bank account designated by the individual in an effort to complete the laundering. In total, the conspirators received approximately $940,000 in purported drug trafficking proceeds. Of that amount, the conspirators laundered approximately $811,000.

This case was the product of an investigation by the IRS Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Thuesen and Whitnee Goins prosecuted the case.

Source: US FBI

FAYETTEVILLE – A Springdale woman was sentenced on August 15, 2024, to 13 years in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release. Yesterday, she was ordered to pay over $3.4 million in restitution on one count of money laundering and one count of Filing a False Income Tax Return. The Honorable Judge Timothy L. Brooks presided over the sentencing hearing in the United States District Court in Fayetteville.

According to court documents, Shelly Jo Ketcher, age 58, waived indictment by a grand jury and pleaded guilty to a criminal information charging her with money laundering and filing a false income tax return. Ketcher, worked as a bookkeeper and accountant at a Northwest Arkansas company for approximately 5 years. During that time Ketcher embezzled over $2.5 million from the company. Ketcher carried out her scheme in multiple ways including unauthorized and unearned payments to herself, unauthorized payments to credit card companies as well as unauthorized and unearned payments to others who were not employees of the company. In reference to the Filing a false income tax return charge, Ketcher reported false wages and salaries on her personal federal tax returns.

Ketcher’s criminal history showed a prior conviction out of the Northern District of Oklahoma in 2006 for Wire Fraud as well as two Oklahoma state convictions for Embezzlement.

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

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, and the Fayetteville Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Carly Marshall prosecuted the case for the United States.

Related court documents may be found on the Public Access to Electronic Records website at www.pacer.gov.

Source: US FBI

      LITTLE ROCK—On July 30, 2024, in Houston, Texas, the Drug Enforcement Administration initiated the arrests of twenty-four co-conspirators following a superseding indictment in the Eastern District of Arkansas. The arrests follow the initial indictment and arrest of eighteen people from the Houston, Texas, area in November 2023. Defendants arrested in July appeared on the superseding indictment in the Eastern District of Arkansas today before United States Magistrate Joseph J. Volpe. The superseding indictment charges conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute Schedule II through V controlled substances, as well as pharmacy burglary, conspiracy to commit pharmacy burglary, possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Keith Brown, 34, of Houston, Texas, and 41 others were named in this superseding indictment.

      From February 2022 to November 2023, the Drug Enforcement Administration Little Rock District Office (DEA LRDO) identified more than twenty pharmacy burglaries and thefts of pharmaceutical narcotics in Arkansas. In each of the burglaries, the suspects used similar methods of entry and tools, as well as matching clothing and unique footwear. The stolen pharmaceuticals including, oxycodone, hydrocodone, alprazolam, and promethazine with codeine cough syrup, were transported to Houston, Texas, where they were sold illicitly. Intelligence developed by the DEA LRDO and the Houston Police Department Northeast Division Crime Suppression Team identified the drug trafficking organization as being comprised of documented local gang members from the 5th Ward area in Houston, Texas. Following the initial indictment, DEA identified 24 additional co-conspirators who participated in numerous burglaries in 31 states. The scope of the burglary ring encompasses the theft of hundreds of thousands of pharmaceutical drugs with a street value of more than $12 million dollars. Investigators also seized eleven firearms, approximately $79,000 in U.S. currency, and custom jewelry retailing at approximately $510,000.

      The current case is similar in kind and scope to a 2016 case indicted in the Eastern District of Arkansas in which twenty-four members of a local Houston 5th Ward gang, ‘The Trill Fam,’ were prosecuted for multi-state pharmacy burglaries and conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. One current defendant, Thristian Duplechin, was prosecuted in the 2016 indictment, served a federal sentence, and returned to the same criminal activity.

      “These defendants were part of a criminal organization whose objective was to break into pharmacies nationwide to steal narcotics that they peddled on the streets,” said Jonathan D. Ross, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas. “This case exemplifies the hard work put in by federal, state, and local agencies working together to infiltrate and dismantle violent gangs whose main mission is for profit and the destruction of communities. Our office is committed to prosecuting multi-state criminal organizations that effect not only the Eastern District of Arkansas, but citizens across the United States.”

      “This criminal organization prioritized money and greed over the safety and well-being of the American people. Their goal was to sell stolen pharmaceuticals in our neighborhoods for easy money,” said Special Agent in Charge Steven Hofer, DEA New Orleans Division. “Through the DEA’s investigative efforts across the country, that spanned nearly three years, we were able to link this drug trafficking organization to more than 200 pharmacy burglaries across 31 states and ultimately make our communities safer.”

      The defendants, all from the greater Houston, Texas area, were arrested in July.

      All defendants charged in Count 1 only.

      Count and Penalties

      Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance: 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C) & 846

      Not more than 20 years imprisonment.

      Not less than 3 years supervised release.

      Not more than $1,000,000 fine.

      $100 Special Assessment

Defendant	Age		Defendant	Age
Paul Roosevelt Banks, III	30		Joseph Takeem Jones	34
Carl Anthony Brooks, Jr.	33		Torrey Jones	46
Christopher John Closure	39		Cameron Isiah Joshua	22
Chazz Eugene Davis	39		Dontae Eugene Lewis	43
Louis Dickerson, Jr.	42		Shaun Kardover Lewis, Jr.	25
Isaiah Dale Duncan	22		Kimia Tranese Ratcliff	26
Thristian Davonte Duplechin	31		Ario Decleo Stephens	25
Jaevion Armond Hackett	21		Keyia Rochelle Thomas	34
Markeesha Kenya Hampton	28		James Glen Turk	32
James Dionte Hood	32		Kerry Lewis Walker	37
Jasmine Shanee Howard	23		Alvin Bernard Whidby, II	43
Redrick Dewayne Jackson	33		Jonathan Marijahlee Williams	37

      Investigators with the DEA LRDO worked in conjunction with the following law enforcement partners:

      DEA New Orleans Division (Little Rock District Office, Fayetteville Resident Office, Shreveport Resident Office, Mobile Resident Office),

      DEA Special Operations Division,

      DEA Houston Division (Houston TDS Group, Galveston Resident Office),

      DEA Omaha Division,

      DEA Rocky Mountain Division (Salt Lake City District Office, Cheyenne Resident Office),

      DEA Atlanta Division (Columbia District Office),

      DEA Miami Division (Pensacola District Office),

      FBI Little Rock Field Office,

      FBI Cast Team,

      U.S. Marshals Service,

      Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics,

      Harris County Sheriff’s Office,

      Houston Police Department Northeast Division Crime Suppression Team,

      Houston Police Department CID,

      Arkansas State Police, and other Arkansas local law enforcement partners.

      This effort 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.

      The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Anne Gardner and Amanda Fields.

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

# # #

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

X (formerly known as Twitter):

@USAO_EDAR 

Source: US FBI

FRESNO, Calif. — Isaac Abraham Sandoval Lopez, 36, of Sinaloa, Mexico, was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge Kirk E. Sherriff to four years and nine months in prison for possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine, fentanyl, and heroin, Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith announced.

According to court documents, on June 26, 2024, officers stopped Sandoval Lopez for a traffic infraction while driving northbound on Interstate 5 in Fresno County. A subsequent search of his car revealed several bags, suitcases, and backpacks throughout the car containing different types of narcotics. In total, officers seized approximately 230 pounds of methamphetamine, 5 pounds of fentanyl, and 2 pounds of heroin.

This case was the product of an investigation by the California Highway Patrol and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cody S. Chapple prosecuted the case.

Source: US FBI

            WASHINGTON – An Arkansas man pleaded guilty today to assaulting law enforcement 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.

            David Camden, 45, of Tontitown, Arkansas, pleaded guilty to a single felony count of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers before U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan. Judge Chutkan will sentence Camden on Jan. 10, 2025.

            According to court documents, Camden traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend the former president’s “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6, 2021, and to protest the results of the 2020 presidential election.  After the rally, Camden made his way toward the U.S. Capitol building and entered the restricted permitter near the West Front of Capitol grounds. There, Camden climbed a media tower assembled for the upcoming Inauguration and waved a flag.

            At approximately 1:20 p.m. – nearly twenty minutes after rioters initially breached the restricted grounds, Camden approached a bike rack barricade separating police officers from rioters on the Capitol’s West Front. Camden then yelled at officers and forcefully pushed a bike rack barricade into a line of U.S. Capitol Police Officers. In response, officers successfully repelled Camden’s advance and deployed a chemical irritant in Camden’s direction to preempt further aggression.

            After this incident, Camden remained on Capitol grounds and joined other rioters on the West Plaza. At approximately 2:11 p.m., Camden deployed a fire extinguisher toward a police line assembled to stop rioters from advancing on the Capitol.

            The FBI arrested Camden on July 1, 2024, in Arkansas.

            This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Arkansas.

            This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Little Rock and Washington Field Offices. Camden was identified as BOLO (Be on the Lookout) #286 on the FBI’s seeking information images. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.

            In the 44 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,504 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 560 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

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Fresno residents Marcus Asay, 69, and Antonio Gastelum, 53, were sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd to five years in prison and two years in prison, respectively, for committing a long-running pension fraud scheme through their company, Agricultural Contracting Services Association dba American Labor Alliance (ALA), Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith announced. 

ALA also received a corporate fine of $2.5 million. Asay and ALA were each ordered to pay $69,250 in restitution.

On June 18, 2024, Asay, Gastelum, and ALA were convicted of the pension fraud scheme following a five-week jury trial. Asay and ALA were also convicted of committing a worker’s compensation fraud scheme, a hardship exemption fraud scheme, and money laundering. The hardship exemption fraud scheme involved a supposed exemption from the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that people obtain health insurance or pay a significant shared responsibility payment when they file their taxes.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Asay was the founder and chairman of ALA, and Gastelum was the company’s Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and Compliance Officer. From 2011 through 2019, the defendants offered three sham products: retirement plan, worker’s compensation coverage, and hardship exemption.

Pension Fraud Scheme

For the pension fraud scheme, Asay, Gastelum, and ALA falsely represented to more than 3,000 people that they would protect and invest their retirement money through a 401(k) Plan when, in fact, they used the money for improper business and personal expenses. The improper expenses included restaurants, travel, credit cards, rare coins, transfers to Asay’s personal retirement account, online companion websites, and rent for Asay’s lakefront mansion in Fresno. Asay, Gastelum, and ALA then covered up the fact that the retirement money was gone by taking money the company received from the worker’s compensation fraud scheme and holding those funds out as pension funds. The loss caused by the pension fraud scheme was more than $620,000.

Asay’s money laundering conviction resulted from this scheme because he moved pension funds through multiple bank accounts to conceal the source of the funds before using them for improper expenses.

Workers’ Compensation Fraud Scheme

For the worker’s compensation fraud scheme, Asay and ALA falsely represented that national insurers backed the worker’s compensation coverage that the company offered in several states, including California. Asay and ALA did so by listing the national insurers on the certificates of insurance and policy declarations that the company issued to customers. The accuracy of the certificates of insurance and policy declarations was important to the customers because they needed to present these items to their own customers and regulators as proof of having worker’s compensation coverage in order to continue doing business. When government authorities began investigating the workers’ compensation fraud scheme, Asay and ALA sent letters to customers telling them not to cooperate. The worker’s compensation fraud scheme generated $2.25 million in premiums.

Hardship Exemption Fraud Scheme

For the hardship exemption fraud scheme, Asay and ALA falsely represented that for a few hundred dollars they could provide people with an exemption that would protect them from the Affordable Care Act’s shared responsibility payment for not having health insurance when, in fact, only government agencies could issue such exemptions. Moreover, the exemptions were free to those who qualified.

Asay and Gastelum received enhanced sentences because they both testified in their own defense at trial and were found to have perjured themselves.

This case was the product of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration and Office of Labor-Management Standards, Federal Bureau of Investigation, the IRS Criminal Investigation, and the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Tierney, Joseph Barton, and Stephanie Stokman prosecuted the case.