ROCKFORD —(ENEWSPF)--June 3, 2015.  A former Sycamore, Ill. resident was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Frederick J. Kapala for possessing child pornography.  MICHAEL PODOLSKY, 27, now of Elkader, Iowa, who pled guilty to the charge on January 27, 2015, was sentenced to 97 months imprisonment, to be followed by 5 years of supervised release.  In his written plea agreement, Podolsky admitted that on and prior to July 12, 2013, he owned and was in possession of a computer at his home in Sycamore that contained more than 600 images of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and that among the images he possessed were images that depicted prepubescent minors engaged in sadistic conduct and violence. 

The sentencing was announced today by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Robert J. Holley, Special Agent‑in‑Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Glenn Theriault, Chief of the Sycamore Police Department.

The government was represented by Assistant United States Attorney Michael D. Love.

Source: justice.gov

Chicago –(ENEWSPF)--June 8, 2015.  A Wilmette man was arrested this morning by agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and detectives from the Norridge and Arlington Heights Police Departments and is facing federal wire fraud charges for defrauding his clients of at least $1 million of investment funds. Alan Gold, age 60, was arrested at his residence and charged by criminal complaint that was unsealed following his arrest. FBI agents also conducted a search pursuant to a search warrant of Gold’s residence this morning. Gold appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Gilbert earlier today and was released on a $10,000 recognizance bond and is due back in court for a status on June 15 at 9:00 a.m.

According to the complaint, Gold engaged in a scheme to defraud his clients for at least five years through false statements. Gold, who managed several million dollars of client funds through his company, Alan Gold & Associates, based in his residence, allegedly sent account statements to clients falsely representing that their assets were invested in certain stocks, real estate funds, futures contracts, and other investment products, when Gold had actually spent those client funds on his own personal expenses.

According to the complaint, Gold, as early as 2008, told his clients that he would make “alternative investments” on their behalf using funds that he would wire from their brokerage account to his bank account. Among the investments Gold listed on client account statements were real estate ventures and holdings in real estate ventures, gold and natural gas futures contracts, and the stocks of publicly traded companies. Gold did not purchase securities and futures contracts for his clients, but allegedly spent the funds on gambling expenses at area casinos and personal living expenses. Gold allegedly continued to wire transfer funds from client accounts for at least five years using the same false statements and representations to clients. The scheme was exposed when Gold stopped returning client phone calls and a client reported the matter to law enforcement.

If convicted of wire fraud, Gold could be sentenced to a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years and a $250,000 maximum fine. If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

The arrest and charges were announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois and Robert J. Holley, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Chicago Office. The Chicago office of the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, the Arlington Heights Police Department, and the Norridge Police Department assisted with the investigation.

The government is being represented by Assistant United States Attorney Sunil R. Harjani.

The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Related Material:

Complaint

Source: justice.gov

CHICAGO ―(ENEWSPF)--May 27, 2015.  Two men were indicted on April 29, 2015, by a federal grand jury in an indictment unsealed today for allegedly intending to defraud ATMs in and around Chicago by altering the settings of the ATMs so that the actual amounts disbursed far exceeded the withdrawal requests as well as the balance of the accounts from which the withdrawal requests were made.  The funds that were fraudulently obtained totaled approximately $185,000. The defendants, Trent Ratliff and Fredrick Lee, were charged in a 10-count indictment.  Both defendants were charged with one count of conspiracy to commit computer access fraud as well as separate counts of computer access fraud, corresponding to specific ATM withdrawals.

The charges were announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Robert J. Holley, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Ratfliff, 52, of Chicago, and Lee, 60, of Chicago, were arraigned today before the Honorable Gary Feinerman and were released on a $4,500 bond.  Both defendants have a status date on August 24, 2015. The indictment seeks forfeiture of approximately $185,000.            According to the indictment, Ratliff and Lee, using debit cards that were registered in their own names from various banks or using debit cards that were registered in the names of several other individuals, deposited, or caused to be deposited, nominal sums of money on these debit cards.  Between September 2010 and January 2011, using these debit cards, Ratliff and Lee accessed the management function of various ATMs in and around Chicago, without authorization from the owners of the ATMs, and altered the settings so that the ATMs falsely recorded, incorrectly reported, and transmitted debit amounts that exceeded the balance of the debit card accounts. In many cases, Ratliff and Lee altered the ATM settings so that account debits were recorded and reported by the ATM as one-twentieth of the actual funds that the ATM disbursed.  In other words, a request for $100 from an altered ATM resulted in the disbursement of $2,000.  Following the withdrawal of money from these ATMs, Ratliff and Lee again accessed the management function of the ATMs and changed the settings back so that subsequent account debits from that ATM were recorded and reported as being equal to the actual funds disbursed.

Each count of the indictment carries a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.  If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

The government is being represented by Assistant United States Attorney Naana Frimpong.

The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Related Material:

Indictment

Source: justice.gov

CHICAGO ―(ENEWSPF)--May 28, 2015.  A Chicago lawyer was indicted on federal charges alleging that he evaded the payment of income tax on income he received over the course of two decades, including income he received in connection with the State of Illinois’s lawsuit against various tobacco companies. 

Daniel P. Soso, 63, of Alsip, was charged with one count of income tax evasion.  The indictment alleges that in 1996, the Illinois Attorney General entered into a written contract with several law firms who represented the State of Illinois in its lawsuit against certain tobacco companies to recover, among other things, money damages incurred by the State of Illinois as a result of the sale of tobacco products to residents of the State of Illinois.  In addition, the contract provided that the law firms representing the State of Illinois, including Law Firm B, would share a “contingent fee” equal to ten percent of the total monetary recovery realized by the State of Illinois in its planned lawsuit.  The indictment further alleges that Soso, Individual A (an individual formerly licensed to practice in Illinois) and Individual B (a partner of Law Firm B) entered into agreements to pay Soso and Individual A a portion of the attorney fees awarded in the tobacco lawsuit and concealed these agreements from the State of Illinois, the Illinois Attorney General and others. 

The indictment further alleges that between 1993 and 2013, Soso failed to pay approximately $779,615.86 in taxes, which amount included taxes due from the income Soso received from the tobacco lawsuit.  Further, the indictment alleges that Soso took a variety of acts to evade the payment of these taxes, to include the use of nominee bank accounts; making false statements to the IRS concerning his sources of income; and causing the circumvention of levies issued by the IRS to third parties to recoup taxes due from Soso.

The defendant will be arraigned at a later date in U.S. District Court.  The charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $100,000 fine.  If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, announced the indictment with Stephen Boyd, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigative Division Chicago and Robert J. Holley, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Chicago. The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amarjeet S. Bhachu, Michael T. Donovan and Andrew K. Polovin.

The public is reminded that an indictment contains merely charges and is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Related Material:

Indictment

Source: justice.gov

CHICAGO —(ENEWSPF)--May 28, 2015.  A Naperville man pled guilty today to federal charges he set fire to the Chicago Air Route Traffic Control Center in Aurora on September 26, 2014, federal law enforcement officials announced today. Brian Howard, 37, of Naperville, was charged by information earlier this month with one count of willfully setting fire to, damaging, destroying or disabling an air navigation facility; and one count of using fire to commit a federal felony. Howard will be sentenced on September 11, 2015 by U.S. District Court Judge Gary Feinerman and remains in federal custody since his arrest in September 2014. 

According to court documents, Howard was employed by an FAA contractor at the Chicago Air Route Traffic Control Center (the “Control Center”) in Aurora, Illinois. Howard worked on telecommunications matters at the Control Center and at other FAA facilities for approximately eight years. 

Howard pled guilty to intentionally damaging and disabling the telecommunication infrastructure at the Control Center, and setting fire to the area which housed these key components.

The charges were announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Robert J. Holley, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Carl Vasilko, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew K. Polovin.

Individuals impacted by the September 26, 2014 fire who wish to receive notice about future court hearings, including sentencing, are encouraged to contact the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Victim Hotline number at 866-364-2621 (press #3), or by email at usailn.victim.aa@usdoj.gov.

The charge of willfully setting fire to, damaging, destroying or disabling an air navigation facility, or willfully interfering by force or violence with the operation of that facility, likely endangering the safety of aircraft in flight, carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gross loss caused by defendant’s actions.

The charge of using fire to commit a federal felony carries a mandatory penalty of 10 years in prison, which must be in addition to any sentence imposed for the underlying felony.

If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal sentencing statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

Related Material:

Plea Agreement
Victim Resources

Source: justice.gov

Chicago --(ENEWSPF)--May 29, 2015.  A drug trafficker who used the illicit website “Silk Road” for worldwide drug sales was sentenced yesterday to 10 years’ imprisonment for selling millions of dollars’ worth of illegal drugs for bitcoins.  The defendant, Cornelis Jan Slomp, 23, of Woerden, the Netherlands, pled guilty in April 2014 to conspiracy to import and distribute various controlled substances worldwide.  Slomp was also ordered to forfeit $3,030,000 in illegal drug proceeds from his criminal enterprise.  Slomp has been in federal custody since his arrest in August 2013.

"The crime is an extraordinarily serious one given the amounts involved, there's no question about that," said U.S. District Court Judge Matthew F. Kennelly said in imposing the sentence.  

Slomp, who operated under the username “SuperTrips,” conducted more than 10,000 illegal online drug transactions and received approximately 385,000 in bitcoins as payment for his illegal drug sales.  By his own admissions and as confirmed by law enforcement’s examination of the data retrieved from the Silk Road server, Slomp was the world’s largest drug trafficker on Silk Road.

Shortly before law enforcement agents shut down the Silk Road web site in August 2013, Chicago Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents arrested Slomp when he traveled from the Netherlands to Miami, Florida.  At the time, Slomp had arranged to spin off his United States illegal drug trafficking business to his largest U.S.-based wholesale re-distributor of illegal drugs, Angel William Quinones, of Largo, Florida.  Quinones, who was later arrested, has since pleaded guilty in federal court in Tampa and has been sentenced to 70 months’ imprisonment for his role in Silk Road drug trafficking activity.

According to court documents, for an eighteen-month period from March 2012 through about August 2013, Slomp distributed worldwide approximately: 104 kilograms of powder 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine (MDMA); 566,000 ecstasy pills containing MDMA; four kilograms of cocaine; three kilograms of Benzodiazepine; and substantial quantities of amphetamine, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), and marijuana, in addition to allowing for substantial quantities of methamphetamine, ketamine, and Xanax to be distributed on his SuperTrips Silk Road vendor account. 

“The public is harmed when illegal drugs are sold in the United States as well as in this district.  This harm to the public is magnified when drug traffickers such as the defendant use sophisticated modern technology to reach larger segments of the population as well as to further conceal their identities and criminal activity.  Here, the defendant used one of the most sophisticated dark websites of its time to sell enormous quantities of illegal drugs to wholesale redistributors, retailers, and users of drugs across the country – indeed, throughout the world – in more than 10,000 transactions,” argued Assistant United States Attorney Andrew S. Boutros in the government’s sentencing memorandum. 

The sentence was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Gary Hartwig, Special Agent-in-Charge of HSI Chicago.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew S. Boutros.

Source: justice.gov

CHICAGO ―(ENEWSPF)--May 29, 2015.  The leader of a drug trafficking organization who created and managed a heroin distribution operation run via a hotline telephone between 2008 and 2012 on the city’s west side was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison yesterday, federal law enforcement officials announced.  The defendant, PIERRE HENDERSON, was responsible for supervising the distribution of over 30 kilograms of heroin, a federal judge determined before imposing the sentence.

Henderson, 37, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute heroin in December 2014. U.S. District Judge Ronald A. Guzman imposed the 20-year sentence on Wednesday. Henderson’s brother, Eric Henderson, 35, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute heroin in January 2014. In March 2015, U.S. District Judge Ronald A. Guzman sentenced Eric Henderson to 200 months in federal prison.

The defendant’s organization sold tens of thousands of user quantities to individuals from all over the Chicagoland area, “argued Assistant U.S. Attorney Shoba Pillay in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “His conduct directly contributed to the drug trafficking and attendant violence plaguing the streets of the city of Chicago and the heroin addiction crisis now afflicting this city.”

According to court documents, the Henderson brothers were involved in prolific daily sales of heroin to customers who called into the hotline to order heroin. After placing their phone orders the Henderson brothers’ customers traveled from all over the Chicagoland area to the city’s west-side to purchase heroin from street-level distributors, who worked for the Henderson brothers.

The Henderson brothers were among 8 federal defendants who were arrested in May 2013 following an FBI investigation, code-named Operation Heroin Hotline, of a phone-order heroin trafficking operation. 

The sentence was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois and Robert J. Holley, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The investigation was led by the FBI and was conducted under the umbrella of the U.S. Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) in coordination with the Chicago Police Department.  

The government is being represented by Assistant United States Attorneys Shoba Pillay and Lindsay Jenkins. 

Source: justice.gov

ROCKFORD —(ENEWSPF)--May 29, 2015.  A Rockford, Ill. man was charged yesterday in federal court with possessing with the intent to distribute narcotic drugs.  ANTHONY ROSS, 34, of Rockford, Ill., was charged with possessing with the intent to distribute cocaine, cocaine base (crack cocaine), and heroin on May 28, 2015.  According to the complaint, Ross was taken into custody outside an apartment on 23rd Street in Rockford.  When law enforcement officers went into the apartment to execute a search warrant, they found $1,205 in cash, two loaded semi-automatic pistols, and numerous packages of cocaine, cocaine base and heroin.  When law enforcement officers went to a second location that day, a residence on Orchard Avenue in Rockford, they found over a kilogram of cocaine and 214 grams of heroin.

ROSS was brought before U.S. Magistrate Judge Iain D. Johnston yesterday for an initial appearance.  He was ordered to be held pending a detention hearing and a preliminary hearing on June 2, 2015, at 2:30 p.m.

Possession with the intent to distribute of the charged narcotic drug Controlled Substances carries a maximum potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison, at least 3 years of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine of up to $1,000,000.  If convicted, the court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal sentencing statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines. 

The public is reminded that a complaint is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

The charge was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; CARL VASILKO, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; JOSEPH P. BRUSCATO, Winnebago County State’s Attorney; and GARY CARUANA, Winnebago County Sheriff.  Officers of the Rockford Police Department assisted in the investigation.

The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney John G. McKenzie.

Related Material:

Complaint

Source:justice.gov

CHICAGO ―(ENEWSPF)--June 1, 2015.  A former owner and operator of Selectcare Health, Inc., a provider of outpatient physical and respiratory therapy located in Park Ridge and Skokie, was sentenced to federal prison for engaging in a $2.5 million health care fraud scheme. Ankur Roy, 38, of Miami Beach, Florida, was sentenced last Friday to 75 months in prison followed by 3 years of supervision after his release by U.S. District Court Judge Gary Feinerman.  Roy was also ordered to forfeit more than $2.5 million in proceeds he and his codefendants gained by defrauding Medicare and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois.  Roy was ordered to surrender to the Federal Bureau of Prisons on July 15, 2015.  Roy was charged in 2013 with two co-defendants who both pled guilty; Dipen Desai, who was sentenced to 27 months’ imprisonment in December 2014, and Akash Patel, who is scheduled to be sentenced in July.  Roy was convicted of five counts of the indictment by a jury in July 2014.   

Between March and May 2011, Roy and his co-defendants submitted false and fraudulent health insurance claim forms to Medicare and Blue Cross Blue Shield for respiratory therapy services that they knew were never provided to patients. Roy, who proposed the scheme to his co-defendants as a means to extricate themselves from debt, designed the scheme to avoid raising red flags with Medicare and Blue Cross Blue Shield’s fraud detection systems. As a result of these false claims, Medicare and Blue Cross Blue Shield paid defendants over $2.5 million. Defendant took over $600,000 of that sum and used it for his own personal purposes, including for personal expenses, paying off credit card bills and repaying his student loan.

“Defendant Roy’s fraud deprived Medicare and Blue Cross Blue Shield of over $2.5 million, a substantial sum of money that should have gone to pay for medical services for senior citizens, and not to line his and his partners’ pockets,”  Assistant U.S. Attorney Maureen Merin argued at sentencing.

The sentence today was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Robert J. Holley, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Chicago; Lamont Pugh III, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Regional Office of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General; and James Vanderberg, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General in Chicago.

The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Maureen Merin. 

Source: justice.gov

CHICAGO ―(ENEWSPF)--June 1, 2015.  A Skokie man was indicted last week for international parental kidnapping of his three children and traveling with them to Turkey without their mother’s consent, permission or knowledge.  MURTAZA ALI, 44, of Skokie, was charged with one count of international parental kidnapping by a federal grand jury.  Ali was arrested on May 6 upon his return to O’Hare International Airport with the children, and remains in federal custody.  Ali is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday, June 2 at 10:00, in front of U.S. District Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan.

According to the court documents, Ali is a Pakistani-national, and with individual A, has three minor children.  According to Individual A, on the evening of May 2, 2015, she was at a social gathering.  Ali, along with the three children, was scheduled to pick her up after the event.  He did not pick her up, and when she arrived home, Ali and the three children were not home, the house was a mess, and the passports and luggage were missing.  An investigation by Skokie Police Department determined Ali’s last known location was believed to be near O’Hare Airport. 

Ali, along with the three children, boarded a Turkish Airlines flight at O’Hare Airport and arrived in Istanbul, Turkey on May 2.  According to Individual A, Ali called her from Turkey and stated that he had the three children and that he was traveling to Pakistan.  According to information obtained from Turkish Airlines and other law enforcement agents, there was reason to believe that Ali was planning to board a flight from Turkey bound for Karachi, Pakistan, with the children. He was arrested on a federal complaint when he and his three children returned to the United States on May 6.

The arrest and indictment were announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Robert J. Holley, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and William A. Ferrara, Chicago Director of Field Operations, Customs and Border Protection. Skokie Police Department assisted in the investigation.

The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather McShain.

International parental kidnapping carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine.  If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal sentencing statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Related Material:

Indictment

Source: justice.gov

ROCKFORD —(ENEWSPF)--June 3, 2015.  A former Sycamore, Ill. resident was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Frederick J. Kapala for possessing child pornography.  MICHAEL PODOLSKY, 27, now of Elkader, Iowa, who pled guilty to the charge on January 27, 2015, was sentenced to 97 months imprisonment, to be followed by 5 years of supervised release.  In his written plea agreement, Podolsky admitted that on and prior to July 12, 2013, he owned and was in possession of a computer at his home in Sycamore that contained more than 600 images of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and that among the images he possessed were images that depicted prepubescent minors engaged in sadistic conduct and violence. 

The sentencing was announced today by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Robert J. Holley, Special Agent‑in‑Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Glenn Theriault, Chief of the Sycamore Police Department.

The government was represented by Assistant United States Attorney Michael D. Love.

Source: justice.gov

Chicago –(ENEWSPF)--June 8, 2015.  A Wilmette man was arrested this morning by agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and detectives from the Norridge and Arlington Heights Police Departments and is facing federal wire fraud charges for defrauding his clients of at least $1 million of investment funds. Alan Gold, age 60, was arrested at his residence and charged by criminal complaint that was unsealed following his arrest. FBI agents also conducted a search pursuant to a search warrant of Gold’s residence this morning. Gold appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Gilbert earlier today and was released on a $10,000 recognizance bond and is due back in court for a status on June 15 at 9:00 a.m.

According to the complaint, Gold engaged in a scheme to defraud his clients for at least five years through false statements. Gold, who managed several million dollars of client funds through his company, Alan Gold & Associates, based in his residence, allegedly sent account statements to clients falsely representing that their assets were invested in certain stocks, real estate funds, futures contracts, and other investment products, when Gold had actually spent those client funds on his own personal expenses.

According to the complaint, Gold, as early as 2008, told his clients that he would make “alternative investments” on their behalf using funds that he would wire from their brokerage account to his bank account. Among the investments Gold listed on client account statements were real estate ventures and holdings in real estate ventures, gold and natural gas futures contracts, and the stocks of publicly traded companies. Gold did not purchase securities and futures contracts for his clients, but allegedly spent the funds on gambling expenses at area casinos and personal living expenses. Gold allegedly continued to wire transfer funds from client accounts for at least five years using the same false statements and representations to clients. The scheme was exposed when Gold stopped returning client phone calls and a client reported the matter to law enforcement.

If convicted of wire fraud, Gold could be sentenced to a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years and a $250,000 maximum fine. If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

The arrest and charges were announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois and Robert J. Holley, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Chicago Office. The Chicago office of the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, the Arlington Heights Police Department, and the Norridge Police Department assisted with the investigation.

The government is being represented by Assistant United States Attorney Sunil R. Harjani.

The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Related Material:

Complaint

Source: justice.gov

CHICAGO ―(ENEWSPF)--May 27, 2015.  Two men were indicted on April 29, 2015, by a federal grand jury in an indictment unsealed today for allegedly intending to defraud ATMs in and around Chicago by altering the settings of the ATMs so that the actual amounts disbursed far exceeded the withdrawal requests as well as the balance of the accounts from which the withdrawal requests were made.  The funds that were fraudulently obtained totaled approximately $185,000. The defendants, Trent Ratliff and Fredrick Lee, were charged in a 10-count indictment.  Both defendants were charged with one count of conspiracy to commit computer access fraud as well as separate counts of computer access fraud, corresponding to specific ATM withdrawals.

The charges were announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Robert J. Holley, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Ratfliff, 52, of Chicago, and Lee, 60, of Chicago, were arraigned today before the Honorable Gary Feinerman and were released on a $4,500 bond.  Both defendants have a status date on August 24, 2015. The indictment seeks forfeiture of approximately $185,000.            According to the indictment, Ratliff and Lee, using debit cards that were registered in their own names from various banks or using debit cards that were registered in the names of several other individuals, deposited, or caused to be deposited, nominal sums of money on these debit cards.  Between September 2010 and January 2011, using these debit cards, Ratliff and Lee accessed the management function of various ATMs in and around Chicago, without authorization from the owners of the ATMs, and altered the settings so that the ATMs falsely recorded, incorrectly reported, and transmitted debit amounts that exceeded the balance of the debit card accounts. In many cases, Ratliff and Lee altered the ATM settings so that account debits were recorded and reported by the ATM as one-twentieth of the actual funds that the ATM disbursed.  In other words, a request for $100 from an altered ATM resulted in the disbursement of $2,000.  Following the withdrawal of money from these ATMs, Ratliff and Lee again accessed the management function of the ATMs and changed the settings back so that subsequent account debits from that ATM were recorded and reported as being equal to the actual funds disbursed.

Each count of the indictment carries a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.  If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

The government is being represented by Assistant United States Attorney Naana Frimpong.

The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Related Material:

Indictment

Source: justice.gov

CHICAGO ―(ENEWSPF)--May 28, 2015.  A Chicago lawyer was indicted on federal charges alleging that he evaded the payment of income tax on income he received over the course of two decades, including income he received in connection with the State of Illinois’s lawsuit against various tobacco companies. 

Daniel P. Soso, 63, of Alsip, was charged with one count of income tax evasion.  The indictment alleges that in 1996, the Illinois Attorney General entered into a written contract with several law firms who represented the State of Illinois in its lawsuit against certain tobacco companies to recover, among other things, money damages incurred by the State of Illinois as a result of the sale of tobacco products to residents of the State of Illinois.  In addition, the contract provided that the law firms representing the State of Illinois, including Law Firm B, would share a “contingent fee” equal to ten percent of the total monetary recovery realized by the State of Illinois in its planned lawsuit.  The indictment further alleges that Soso, Individual A (an individual formerly licensed to practice in Illinois) and Individual B (a partner of Law Firm B) entered into agreements to pay Soso and Individual A a portion of the attorney fees awarded in the tobacco lawsuit and concealed these agreements from the State of Illinois, the Illinois Attorney General and others. 

The indictment further alleges that between 1993 and 2013, Soso failed to pay approximately $779,615.86 in taxes, which amount included taxes due from the income Soso received from the tobacco lawsuit.  Further, the indictment alleges that Soso took a variety of acts to evade the payment of these taxes, to include the use of nominee bank accounts; making false statements to the IRS concerning his sources of income; and causing the circumvention of levies issued by the IRS to third parties to recoup taxes due from Soso.

The defendant will be arraigned at a later date in U.S. District Court.  The charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $100,000 fine.  If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, announced the indictment with Stephen Boyd, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigative Division Chicago and Robert J. Holley, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Chicago. The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amarjeet S. Bhachu, Michael T. Donovan and Andrew K. Polovin.

The public is reminded that an indictment contains merely charges and is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Related Material:

Indictment

Source: justice.gov

CHICAGO —(ENEWSPF)--May 28, 2015.  A Naperville man pled guilty today to federal charges he set fire to the Chicago Air Route Traffic Control Center in Aurora on September 26, 2014, federal law enforcement officials announced today. Brian Howard, 37, of Naperville, was charged by information earlier this month with one count of willfully setting fire to, damaging, destroying or disabling an air navigation facility; and one count of using fire to commit a federal felony. Howard will be sentenced on September 11, 2015 by U.S. District Court Judge Gary Feinerman and remains in federal custody since his arrest in September 2014. 

According to court documents, Howard was employed by an FAA contractor at the Chicago Air Route Traffic Control Center (the “Control Center”) in Aurora, Illinois. Howard worked on telecommunications matters at the Control Center and at other FAA facilities for approximately eight years. 

Howard pled guilty to intentionally damaging and disabling the telecommunication infrastructure at the Control Center, and setting fire to the area which housed these key components.

The charges were announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Robert J. Holley, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Carl Vasilko, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew K. Polovin.

Individuals impacted by the September 26, 2014 fire who wish to receive notice about future court hearings, including sentencing, are encouraged to contact the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Victim Hotline number at 866-364-2621 (press #3), or by email at usailn.victim.aa@usdoj.gov.

The charge of willfully setting fire to, damaging, destroying or disabling an air navigation facility, or willfully interfering by force or violence with the operation of that facility, likely endangering the safety of aircraft in flight, carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gross loss caused by defendant’s actions.

The charge of using fire to commit a federal felony carries a mandatory penalty of 10 years in prison, which must be in addition to any sentence imposed for the underlying felony.

If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal sentencing statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

Related Material:

Plea Agreement
Victim Resources

Source: justice.gov

Chicago --(ENEWSPF)--May 29, 2015.  A drug trafficker who used the illicit website “Silk Road” for worldwide drug sales was sentenced yesterday to 10 years’ imprisonment for selling millions of dollars’ worth of illegal drugs for bitcoins.  The defendant, Cornelis Jan Slomp, 23, of Woerden, the Netherlands, pled guilty in April 2014 to conspiracy to import and distribute various controlled substances worldwide.  Slomp was also ordered to forfeit $3,030,000 in illegal drug proceeds from his criminal enterprise.  Slomp has been in federal custody since his arrest in August 2013.

"The crime is an extraordinarily serious one given the amounts involved, there's no question about that," said U.S. District Court Judge Matthew F. Kennelly said in imposing the sentence.  

Slomp, who operated under the username “SuperTrips,” conducted more than 10,000 illegal online drug transactions and received approximately 385,000 in bitcoins as payment for his illegal drug sales.  By his own admissions and as confirmed by law enforcement’s examination of the data retrieved from the Silk Road server, Slomp was the world’s largest drug trafficker on Silk Road.

Shortly before law enforcement agents shut down the Silk Road web site in August 2013, Chicago Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents arrested Slomp when he traveled from the Netherlands to Miami, Florida.  At the time, Slomp had arranged to spin off his United States illegal drug trafficking business to his largest U.S.-based wholesale re-distributor of illegal drugs, Angel William Quinones, of Largo, Florida.  Quinones, who was later arrested, has since pleaded guilty in federal court in Tampa and has been sentenced to 70 months’ imprisonment for his role in Silk Road drug trafficking activity.

According to court documents, for an eighteen-month period from March 2012 through about August 2013, Slomp distributed worldwide approximately: 104 kilograms of powder 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine (MDMA); 566,000 ecstasy pills containing MDMA; four kilograms of cocaine; three kilograms of Benzodiazepine; and substantial quantities of amphetamine, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), and marijuana, in addition to allowing for substantial quantities of methamphetamine, ketamine, and Xanax to be distributed on his SuperTrips Silk Road vendor account. 

“The public is harmed when illegal drugs are sold in the United States as well as in this district.  This harm to the public is magnified when drug traffickers such as the defendant use sophisticated modern technology to reach larger segments of the population as well as to further conceal their identities and criminal activity.  Here, the defendant used one of the most sophisticated dark websites of its time to sell enormous quantities of illegal drugs to wholesale redistributors, retailers, and users of drugs across the country – indeed, throughout the world – in more than 10,000 transactions,” argued Assistant United States Attorney Andrew S. Boutros in the government’s sentencing memorandum. 

The sentence was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Gary Hartwig, Special Agent-in-Charge of HSI Chicago.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew S. Boutros.

Source: justice.gov

CHICAGO ―(ENEWSPF)--May 29, 2015.  The leader of a drug trafficking organization who created and managed a heroin distribution operation run via a hotline telephone between 2008 and 2012 on the city’s west side was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison yesterday, federal law enforcement officials announced.  The defendant, PIERRE HENDERSON, was responsible for supervising the distribution of over 30 kilograms of heroin, a federal judge determined before imposing the sentence.

Henderson, 37, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute heroin in December 2014. U.S. District Judge Ronald A. Guzman imposed the 20-year sentence on Wednesday. Henderson’s brother, Eric Henderson, 35, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute heroin in January 2014. In March 2015, U.S. District Judge Ronald A. Guzman sentenced Eric Henderson to 200 months in federal prison.

The defendant’s organization sold tens of thousands of user quantities to individuals from all over the Chicagoland area, “argued Assistant U.S. Attorney Shoba Pillay in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “His conduct directly contributed to the drug trafficking and attendant violence plaguing the streets of the city of Chicago and the heroin addiction crisis now afflicting this city.”

According to court documents, the Henderson brothers were involved in prolific daily sales of heroin to customers who called into the hotline to order heroin. After placing their phone orders the Henderson brothers’ customers traveled from all over the Chicagoland area to the city’s west-side to purchase heroin from street-level distributors, who worked for the Henderson brothers.

The Henderson brothers were among 8 federal defendants who were arrested in May 2013 following an FBI investigation, code-named Operation Heroin Hotline, of a phone-order heroin trafficking operation. 

The sentence was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois and Robert J. Holley, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The investigation was led by the FBI and was conducted under the umbrella of the U.S. Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) in coordination with the Chicago Police Department.  

The government is being represented by Assistant United States Attorneys Shoba Pillay and Lindsay Jenkins. 

Source: justice.gov

ROCKFORD —(ENEWSPF)--May 29, 2015.  A Rockford, Ill. man was charged yesterday in federal court with possessing with the intent to distribute narcotic drugs.  ANTHONY ROSS, 34, of Rockford, Ill., was charged with possessing with the intent to distribute cocaine, cocaine base (crack cocaine), and heroin on May 28, 2015.  According to the complaint, Ross was taken into custody outside an apartment on 23rd Street in Rockford.  When law enforcement officers went into the apartment to execute a search warrant, they found $1,205 in cash, two loaded semi-automatic pistols, and numerous packages of cocaine, cocaine base and heroin.  When law enforcement officers went to a second location that day, a residence on Orchard Avenue in Rockford, they found over a kilogram of cocaine and 214 grams of heroin.

ROSS was brought before U.S. Magistrate Judge Iain D. Johnston yesterday for an initial appearance.  He was ordered to be held pending a detention hearing and a preliminary hearing on June 2, 2015, at 2:30 p.m.

Possession with the intent to distribute of the charged narcotic drug Controlled Substances carries a maximum potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison, at least 3 years of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine of up to $1,000,000.  If convicted, the court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal sentencing statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines. 

The public is reminded that a complaint is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

The charge was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; CARL VASILKO, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; JOSEPH P. BRUSCATO, Winnebago County State’s Attorney; and GARY CARUANA, Winnebago County Sheriff.  Officers of the Rockford Police Department assisted in the investigation.

The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney John G. McKenzie.

Related Material:

Complaint

Source:justice.gov

CHICAGO ―(ENEWSPF)--June 1, 2015.  A former owner and operator of Selectcare Health, Inc., a provider of outpatient physical and respiratory therapy located in Park Ridge and Skokie, was sentenced to federal prison for engaging in a $2.5 million health care fraud scheme. Ankur Roy, 38, of Miami Beach, Florida, was sentenced last Friday to 75 months in prison followed by 3 years of supervision after his release by U.S. District Court Judge Gary Feinerman.  Roy was also ordered to forfeit more than $2.5 million in proceeds he and his codefendants gained by defrauding Medicare and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois.  Roy was ordered to surrender to the Federal Bureau of Prisons on July 15, 2015.  Roy was charged in 2013 with two co-defendants who both pled guilty; Dipen Desai, who was sentenced to 27 months’ imprisonment in December 2014, and Akash Patel, who is scheduled to be sentenced in July.  Roy was convicted of five counts of the indictment by a jury in July 2014.   

Between March and May 2011, Roy and his co-defendants submitted false and fraudulent health insurance claim forms to Medicare and Blue Cross Blue Shield for respiratory therapy services that they knew were never provided to patients. Roy, who proposed the scheme to his co-defendants as a means to extricate themselves from debt, designed the scheme to avoid raising red flags with Medicare and Blue Cross Blue Shield’s fraud detection systems. As a result of these false claims, Medicare and Blue Cross Blue Shield paid defendants over $2.5 million. Defendant took over $600,000 of that sum and used it for his own personal purposes, including for personal expenses, paying off credit card bills and repaying his student loan.

“Defendant Roy’s fraud deprived Medicare and Blue Cross Blue Shield of over $2.5 million, a substantial sum of money that should have gone to pay for medical services for senior citizens, and not to line his and his partners’ pockets,”  Assistant U.S. Attorney Maureen Merin argued at sentencing.

The sentence today was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Robert J. Holley, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Chicago; Lamont Pugh III, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Regional Office of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General; and James Vanderberg, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General in Chicago.

The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Maureen Merin. 

Source: justice.gov

CHICAGO ―(ENEWSPF)--June 1, 2015.  A Skokie man was indicted last week for international parental kidnapping of his three children and traveling with them to Turkey without their mother’s consent, permission or knowledge.  MURTAZA ALI, 44, of Skokie, was charged with one count of international parental kidnapping by a federal grand jury.  Ali was arrested on May 6 upon his return to O’Hare International Airport with the children, and remains in federal custody.  Ali is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday, June 2 at 10:00, in front of U.S. District Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan.

According to the court documents, Ali is a Pakistani-national, and with individual A, has three minor children.  According to Individual A, on the evening of May 2, 2015, she was at a social gathering.  Ali, along with the three children, was scheduled to pick her up after the event.  He did not pick her up, and when she arrived home, Ali and the three children were not home, the house was a mess, and the passports and luggage were missing.  An investigation by Skokie Police Department determined Ali’s last known location was believed to be near O’Hare Airport. 

Ali, along with the three children, boarded a Turkish Airlines flight at O’Hare Airport and arrived in Istanbul, Turkey on May 2.  According to Individual A, Ali called her from Turkey and stated that he had the three children and that he was traveling to Pakistan.  According to information obtained from Turkish Airlines and other law enforcement agents, there was reason to believe that Ali was planning to board a flight from Turkey bound for Karachi, Pakistan, with the children. He was arrested on a federal complaint when he and his three children returned to the United States on May 6.

The arrest and indictment were announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Robert J. Holley, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and William A. Ferrara, Chicago Director of Field Operations, Customs and Border Protection. Skokie Police Department assisted in the investigation.

The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather McShain.

International parental kidnapping carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine.  If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal sentencing statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Related Material:

Indictment

Source: justice.gov