DOJ: Michigan Attorney Indicted for Tax Fraud

I remember him from Pentas.

Allegedly Used His Attorney Trust Account to Conceal Income

A grand jury in Detroit, Michigan, returned an indictment yesterday charging Carl L. Collins III, a Michigan attorney, with tax evasion, filing two false tax returns and seven counts of willfully failing to file individual and corporate tax returns, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Matthew J. Schneider for the Eastern District of Michigan.

According to the indictment, Collins was a personal injury attorney with offices in Southfield, Michigan.  Collins also allegedly owned two medical companies, MedCity Rehabilitation Services LLC and Alpha Living LLC, as well as a real estate company called First Third LLC.  The indictment charges that Collins filed a tax return for 2012 with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which failed to report approximately $550,000 in income.  Collins allegedly deposited most of this unreported income into an attorney trust account, which he failed to disclose to the Michigan State Bar Foundation and his tax return preparer. The indictment further alleges that Collins evaded personal income taxes for 2015 by depositing approximately $580,000 of income into his undisclosed attorney trust account and using much of the money to purchase real estate.  The indictment also charges that, in 2017, Collins filed a false delinquent tax return for 2015. 

The indictment further alleges that Collins willfully failed to timely file tax returns for several years for both himself and his corporations.  Specifically, Collins failed to timely file his individual tax returns for 2013 through 2015, corporate income tax returns for Alpha Living LLC for 2013 through 2015, and corporate income tax returns for MedCity Rehabilitation Services LLC for 2013. 

If convicted, Collins faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison for the tax evasion count, three years for each of the false return counts, and one year for each of the failure to file counts.  He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties.

An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman and U.S. Attorney Schneider commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Trial Attorneys Kenneth Vert and Jeffrey McLellan of the Tax Division, who are prosecuting the case.

Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.

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Wayne County Medicaid Fraud In Child Welfare

It's my time to shine.

Look here =====> Juvenile Assessment Center (JAC).



Ficano faces state probe of Medicaid spending by county

Schuette checking claims of illegal use of funds for disabled

Detroit —Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette is investigating Wayne County for Medicaid fraud, adding another layer to the probe of Executive Robert Ficano's administration.

Schuette sent an "investigative demand for documents" to the county on Feb. 3, seeking a raft of materials since 2003 about the Detroit-Wayne County Community Mental Health Agency. Schuette is investigating claims, raised in lawsuits by two former directors, that Ficano used money intended for those with developmental disabilities to pay salaries of spokespeople.

The News reported in January that one of the directors, Richard Visingardi, was subpoenaed as a witness by a federal grand jury investigating the county. Visingardi has yet to appear but said Thursday that he's preparing materials to forward to the state.

"This is about who knew what when, and what they did or didn't do about it," said Visingardi, who served as director of the agency from 2005 to 2006 and received $200,000 to settle a lawsuit claiming Ficano misused money intended for the disabled.

News of the request was reported by The News just as Ficano's chief deputy, Jeffrey Collins, was briefing county commissioners on new ethics policies for Ficano's 168 appointees. The new reforms were expected to help diffuse a scandal that started over a $200,000 severance in September and grew into a full-bore FBI investigation of four years of county deals and payouts.

Instead, Ficano faces another criminal investigation on a separate front. The letter from Schuette's office indicates his investigators intend to share their findings with federal authorities.

Pat Dostine, a Ficano spokesman, said his office received Schuette's request but declined to comment because the "investigation is ongoing." Schuette's spokesman didn't return a call for comment Thursday.

Some longtime members of the mental health authority that provides services to 75,000 people said the probe is overdue.

Constance Rowley, who has served on the board since 1998, said Ficano's administration kept putting appointees on the mental health payroll even if they had no experience or provided no services to the agency. When directors complained, they were fired, she said, citing Visingardi and his predecessor, Patricia Kukula Chylinski.

"They see that pot of money (and) they identified ways to utilize it," she said.

Mohamed Okdie, the agency's former chairman, called the investigation "long overdue" and said he had been railing about the use of mental health money to pay for county operations. He said the county wrongly used $17 million in Medicaid money to plug a budget hole.

"No mental health monies, Medicaid or otherwise, should be used to subsidize county functions outside the parameters of the mental health programs that the agency provides," he said.

Ficano spokeswoman Brooke Blackwell has said that numerous audits have shown no evidence of wrongdoing.

Schuette's letter demands details of a 2004 settlement with Kukula Chylinski, audits, numerous contracts, all settlements, bank information, emails, grievances and payroll information.

The settlement to Kukula Chylinski, who was fired in 2003, was sealed but opened after a lawsuit this year by union activist Robert Davis.

The settlement included pension enhancements that could be worth as much as $850,000 over her retirement.

Kukula Chylinski said she has not been contacted regarding the probe, but called the allegations "serious." She said she left the county eight years ago and is "not in a position" to comment.

Schuette also wants any correspondence between Kukula Chylinski and former county chief financial officer Bella Marshall "indicating that mental health funds were used to pay for the county executive's press secretary or other county employees that were not performing mental health functions."

Marshall on Thursday said: "I have no idea what they are talking about."

The investigation is the latest involving mental health. The News reported in December the FBI has subpoenaed the county for information about a $70,000 contract for suicide-prevention programs in 2008. The contract, to an ex-husband of a Ficano fundraiser, called for 12 forums at area schools. Only two occurred.

Cocktails & Popcorn: Let It Rip Rolls Out The Mueller Report In Detroit - Rashida Sat Next To Andy

FUN FACT! PREET BHARARA WAS THE FIRST TO USE THE OPEN SOURCE METHOD FOR ORIGINAL SOURCE DOCUMENTATION

Sometimes, you can be a whistleblower on yourself.

#sayhisname

Mueller report finally released - does it change anything?

(FOX 2) - The Mueller report is the big topic tonight.

After nearly two years and $25 million dollars, hundreds of pages and hundreds of redactions, we're finally seeing the Mueller report.

President Trump is declaring victory but the report does not exonerate him of everything.

We'll break down what it says and doesn't say with our panel of insiders including the congresswoman who once said she wanted to impeach Trump -- although she used another word.

On the panel:

• Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit), who made history as one of 2 Muslim women sworn into Congress.
• Andy Arena, former head of Detroit's FBI office, head of Detroit Crime Commission.
• Attorney Jeffrey Collins, former judge, the former U.S. attorney for this region.
• Jamie Roe, consulting firm co-founder, Grand River Strategies.

Part 2: What next?

We look ahead to what comes next.  Is this end of the investigation - or will the investigators end up being investigated themselves?

Three consultants with an inside knowledge of media and politics join the discussion.

On the panel: 

• Tori Sachs, Republican strategist 
• Karen Dumas, Detroit political insider and public relations expert
• Greg Bowens, public relations expert, Grosse Pointe/Harper Woods NAACP president.

Part 3: On The Road

Charlie Langton asks metro Detroit about the Mueller report.

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JUDICIARY: CHAIRMAN NADLER STATEMENT AT OVERSIGHT HEARING ON THE BUREAU OF PRISONS AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FIRST STEP ACT - October 17, 2019

Washington, D.C. – Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) delivered the following opening remarks during a Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security hearing on oversight of the Bureau of Prisons and implementation of the First Step Act:

“I thank our Crime Subcommittee Chair, the Gentlelady from California, Ms. Bass, for holding this hearing today to carry out our oversight responsibilities over the Bureau of Prisons and implementation of the First Step Act.

“Passage of the First Step Act, thanks to the leadership of Ranking Member Collins, along with the Gentleman from New York, Mr. Jeffries, and many others, was an important bipartisan achievement.  It has been almost one year since the First Step Act was enacted and, while there have been some positive developments, many questions remain about its implementation.

“We must ensure that any changes we put in place in the Bureau of Prisons, as a result of the First Step Act, are carried through in a transparent fashion and in a way that alleviates—not exacerbates—the disparities that already exist in the criminal justice system.  I am concerned that the risk assessment tool established by the Department of Justice pursuant to the First Step Act fails this test.  I, therefore, look forward to today’s hearing and a full discussion of these issues.

“I am especially glad that Dr. Kathleen Hawk Sawyer, Director of the Bureau of Prisons, is here because I remain concerned about an incident that took place earlier this year at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn—in my district.  In late January and early February 2019, a severe cold wave caused by a weakened jet stream around the Arctic polar vortex hit Canada and the northeastern United States.  The temperature in New York, on January 31st, reached 2 degrees Fahrenheit, with a windchill of negative 17 degrees.

“On the coldest week of the year, there was a fire at MDC and something went very wrong.  Inmates—many of whom only had short-sleeved shirts to wear—had no heat, they had no electricity, and they had no way to contact their loved ones.  Inmates who needed medication, had none.  Inmates who needed CPAP machines to sleep safely could not use them because there was no power.  Everyone was freezing—and many were terrified.

“Along with Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, I went to MDC in the middle of all this.  I could not believe what I saw.  Not only was there no plan in place to assure inmate safety in case of a power outage, there appeared to be no sense of urgency to address this life threatening problem.

“Congresswoman Velazquez and I insisted that the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Justice investigate.  Last month, OIG issued a report, which contains alarming findings that are consistent with what we had heard and seen.

“According to the report, there have been long-standing temperature regulation issues at MDC, which have gone unaddressed.  This is unacceptable.  Moreover, BOP leadership and staff failed to manage effectively critical aspects of the jail operation during the emergency.  This, too, is unacceptable.  BOP must do better.

“I am also concerned that BOP has been plagued by staffing shortages for years.  To make up for these shortages, staff are often called upon to work overtime, and often many times in the same week.  BOP also relies on a practice called ‘augmentation’ through which staff who are not correctional officers—including secretaries, teachers, nurses, and cooks—perform the duties of corrections officers, including supervising inmates in housing units and elsewhere.

“These staff are ill-equipped to replace experienced correctional officers who know the inmates and the responsibilities of their assigned posts.  Augmentation also reduces access to programming, recreation, and education initiatives, which are key to maintaining safe facilities and reducing recidivism—one of the major goals of the First Step Act.

“From press accounts and from what we have been told by corrections union representatives, it appears that these staffing issues may have contributed to the failure of BOP to adequately supervise Jeffrey Epstein, who should have been under greater and more skilled supervision before he killed himself this summer.

“These are just some of the important issues that we must examine today.  I look forward to hearing from our two panels of distinguished witnesses, and I yield back the balance of my time.”

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U.S. Dept of Ed Announces Educational Opportunities

Education is a beautiful thing. Learning is the seed of peace.

U.S. Secretary of Education Duncan Announces $10.9 Million in Awards Under New Programs That Help Students with Intellectual Disabilities Transition to Postsecondary Education
OCTOBER 5, 2010

Contact: Jane Glickman, (202) 401-1307, press@ed.gov


U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced the award of $10.9 million for 28 grants under two new federal programs that create opportunities for students with intellectual disabilities to attend and be successful in higher education.

"President Obama has set a goal for America to have the highest percentage of college graduates in the world by 2020," Duncan said. "These new programs make an important contribution toward that goal by giving students with intellectual disabilities the opportunity to receive a quality postsecondary education with the supports they need to attend, complete and succeed in higher education."

Of the $10.9 million, $10.564 million is being awarded to 27 two- and four-year institutions of higher education or consortia of institutions under the model comprehensive Transition Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities (TPSID).

The Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts-Boston will receive a separate grant of $330,000 to fund a coordinating center to support these TPSID grantees as well as other programs around the country that are working to transition students with cognitive disabilities into higher education. The center will develop evaluation systems, standards and best practices around program components in academic, social, employment and independent living areas.

The 27 TPSID grantees, located in 23 states, will create or expand programs that focus on academics and instruction, social activities, employment experiences through work-based learning and internships, and independent living. Grantees will provide individualized supports for students and opportunities to be involved in college experiences with their peers without disabilities. Evaluating what works and does not work is a key component of each grant.

For example, Bergen Community College in New Jersey will use its $394,918 grant to serve 100 students with intellectual disabilities. Bergen Community College will work with Camden County College to provide job coaches who will shadow students at work sites, helping to reinforce job skills and assist with placement into employment. They will also provide peer mentors to support students in academic classes and ease integration of students into social events involving peers without disabilities.

All grants are expected to be funded for five years. Today's announcement is for 2010-2011 award amounts only.

Attached is a list of the 27 TPSID grantees, alphabetical by state, followed by the TPSID Coordinating Center grantee information.

TPSID grantees

AK Anchorage University of Alaska-Anchorage Karen Ward 907-264-6229 afkmw@uaa.alaska.edu $420,870
AZ Tucson University of Arizona Stephanie Z. C. MacFarland 520-621-5165 szm@email.arizona.edu $500,000
CA Fresno California State University-Fresno Charles Arokiasamy 559.278.0325 charlesa@csufresno.edu $500,000
CA Oakland University of California Carlos O. Cortez 310-794-1235 pathway@uclaextension.edu $122,397
CA Taft West Kern Community College District Jeffrey G. Ross 661-763-7776 jross@taft.org $497,243
CO Fort Collins Colorado State University Catherine L Schelly 970-491-0225 catherine.schelly@colostate.edu $307,391
DE Newark University of Delaware Laura T. Eisenman 302-831-0532 eisenman@udel.edu $426,650
FL St. Petersburg University of South Florida-St. Petersburg Jordan T. Knab 727-873-4662 jknab@mail.usf.edu $421,269
HI Honolulu University of Hawaii Robert A. Stodden 808- 956-9199 stodden@hawaii.edu $425,000
IN Bloomington Indiana University David M. Mank 812-855-6508 dmank@indiana.edu $493,120
IA Iowa City University of Iowa Jo Hendrickson 319-384-2097 jo-hendrickson@uiowa.edu $499,770
KY Lexington University of Kentucky Beth Harrison 859-257-3586 x225 b.harrison@uky.edu $424,923
LA Baton Rouge Louisiana State University K. Alisa Lowrey 504-556-7567 klowre@lsuhsc.edu $290,384
MN Brainerd Central Lakes College Suresh Tiwari 218-855-8058 stiwari@clcmn.edu $365,636
NY Rochester University of Rochester Martha Mock 585-276-3363 mmock@Warner.Rochester.edu $500,000
NJ Paramus Bergen Community College Tracy Rand 201-612-5589 trand@bergen.edu $394,918
NJ Trenton College of New Jersey Jerry G. Petroff 609.771.2308 petroff@tcnj.edu $245,851
NC Cullowhee Western Carolina University David L. Westling 828-227-3287 westling@email.wcu.edu $500,000
ND Minot Minot State University Janet Green 701-858-4473 janet.green@minotstateu.edu $180,085
OH Columbus Ohio State University Margo Vreeburg Izzo 614-292-9218 izzo.1@osu.edu $499,060
OH Kent Kent State University Robert Baer 330-672-0722 rbaer@kent.edu $384,997
SC Charleston College of Charleston Cynthia May 843-953-6735 mayc@cofc.edu $418,140
TN Knoxville University of Tennessee Elizabeth Fussell 865-974-9176 lizfuss@utk.edu $321,683
TX Houston Houston Community College Sue Moraska 713-718-6833 sue.moraska@hccs.edu $499,434
VT Burlington University of Vermont and State Agricultural College Susan Ryan 802- 656-1143 Susan.Ryan@uvm.edu $309,270
VA Richmond Virginia Commonwealth University Elizabeth E. Getzel 804-827-0748 lgetzel@vcu.edu $398,149
WA Des Moines Highline Community College Jennifer Sandler 206-878-3710 x3474 jsandler@highline.edu $217,762
TPSID Coordinating Center grantee
MA Boston University of Massachusetts-Boston Debra Hart 617-287-4341 debra.hart@umb.edu $330,000

DOJ: South Korean National and Hundreds of Others Charged Worldwide in the Takedown of the Largest Darknet Child Pornography Website, Which was Funded by Bitcoin

Typically, the perpetrators were once the victims.

It is generational.

Praise the lord for there is much more to learn what is done to children in the name of the tax exempt god.

Dozens of Minor Victims Who Were Being Actively Abused by the Users of the Site Rescued

Jong Woo Son, 23, a South Korean national, was indicted by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia for his operation of Welcome To Video, the largest child sexual exploitation market by volume of content.  The nine-count indictment was unsealed today along with a parallel civil forfeiture action.  Son has also been charged and convicted in South Korea and is currently in custody serving his sentence in South Korea.  An additional 337 site users residing in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington State and Washington, D.C. as well as the United Kingdom, South Korea, Germany, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the Czech Republic, Canada, Ireland, Spain, Brazil and Australia have been arrested and charged.   

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu for the District of Columbia, Chief Don Fort of IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) and Acting Executive Associate Director Alysa Erichs of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), made the announcement.

“Darknet sites that profit from the sexual exploitation of children are among the most vile and reprehensible forms of criminal behavior,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.  “This Administration will not allow child predators to use lawless online spaces as a shield.  Today’s announcement demonstrates that the Department of Justice remains firmly committed to working closely with our partners in South Korea and around the world to rescue child victims and bring to justice the perpetrators of these abhorrent crimes.”

“Children around the world are safer because of the actions taken by U.S. and foreign law enforcement to prosecute this case and recover funds for victims,” said U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu.  “We will continue to pursue such criminals on and off the darknet in the United States and abroad, to ensure they receive the punishment their terrible crimes deserve.”

“Through the sophisticated tracing of bitcoin transactions, IRS-CI special agents were able to determine the location of the Darknet server, identify the administrator of the website and ultimately track down the website server’s physical location in South Korea,” said IRS-CI Chief Don Fort.  “This largescale criminal enterprise that endangered the safety of children around the world is no more.  Regardless of the illicit scheme, and whether the proceeds are virtual or tangible, we will continue to work with our federal and international partners to track down these disgusting organizations and bring them to justice.”

“Children are our most vulnerable population, and crimes such as these are unthinkable,” said HSI Acting Executive Associate Director Alysa Erichs.  “Sadly, advances in technology have enabled child predators to hide behind the dark web and cryptocurrency to further their criminal activity.  However, today’s indictment sends a strong message to criminals that no matter how sophisticated the technology or how widespread the network, child exploitation will not be tolerated in the United States. Our entire justice system will stop at nothing to prevent these heinous crimes, safeguard our children, and bring justice to all.”

According to the indictment, on March 5, 2018, agents from the IRS-CI, HSI, National Crime Agency in the United Kingdom, and Korean National Police in South Korea arrested Son and seized the server that he used to operate a Darknet market that exclusively advertised child sexual exploitation videos available for download by members of the site.  The operation resulted in the seizure of approximately eight terabytes of child sexual exploitation videos, which is one of the largest seizures of its kind.  The images, which are currently being analyzed by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), contained over 250,000 unique videos, and 45 percent of the videos currently analyzed contain new images that have not been previously known to exist.

Welcome To Video offered these videos for sale using the cryptocurrency bitcoin.  Typically, sites of this kind give users a forum to trade in these depictions.  This Darknet website is among the first of its kind to monetize child exploitation videos using bitcoin.  In fact, the site itself boasted over one million downloads of child exploitation videos by users.  Each user received a unique bitcoin address when the user created an account on the website.  An analysis of the server revealed that the website had more than one million bitcoin addresses, signifying that the website had capacity for at least one million users. 

The agencies have shared data from the seized server with law enforcement around the world to assist in identifying and prosecuting customers of the site.  This has resulted in leads sent to 38 countries and yielded arrests of 337 subjects around the world.  The operation has resulted in searches of residences and businesses of approximately 92 individuals in the United States.  Notably, the operation is responsible for the rescue of at least 23 minor victims residing in the United States, Spain and the United Kingdom, who were being actively abused by the users of the site.

In the Washington, D.C.-metropolitan area, the operation has led to the execution of five search warrants and eight arrests of individuals who both conspired with the administrator of the site and were themselves, users of the website.  Two users of the Darknet market committed suicide subsequent to the execution of search warrants.

Amongst the sites users charged are:

• Charles Wunderlich, 34, of Hot Springs, California, was charged in the District of Columbia with conspiracy to distribute child pornography;
   
• Brian James LaPrath, 34, of San Diego, California, was arrested in the District of Columbia, for international money laundering; and was sentenced to serve 18 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release;
   
• Ernest Wagner, 70, of Federal Way, Washington, was arrested and charged in the District of Columbia with conspiracy to distribute child pornography;
   
• Vincent Galarzo, 28, of Glendale, New York, was arrested and charged in the District of Columbia with conspiracy to distribute child pornography;
   
• Michael Ezeagbor, 22, of Pflugerville, Texas, was arrested and charged in the District of Columbia with conspiracy to distribute child pornography;
   
• Nicholas Stengel, 45, of Washington, D.C., pleaded guilty to receipt of child pornography and money laundering and was sentenced to serve 15 years in prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release;
   
• Eryk Mark Chamberlin, 25, of Worcester, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty to possession  of child pornography and is pending sentencing;
   
• Jairo Flores, 30, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty in the District of Massachusetts to receipt and possession of child pornography and was sentenced to serve five years in prison followed by five years of supervised release;
   
• Billy Penaloza, 29, of Dorchester, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty in the District of Massachusetts to possession and receipt of child pornography. His sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 22, 2019;
   
• Michael Armstrong, 35, of Randolph, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty in the District of Massachusetts, to receipt and possession of child pornography. He was sentenced to serve five years in prison followed by five years of supervised release.  Restitution will be determined at a future date;
   
• Al Ramadhanu Soedomo, 28, of Lynn, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography and was sentenced in the District of Massachusetts (Boston), to serve 12 months and one day followed by five years of supervised release;
   
• Phillip Sungmin Hong, 24, of Sharon, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty in the District of Massachusetts (Boston), to receipt and possession of child pornography and is pending sentencing;
   
• Eliseo Arteaga Jr., 28, of Mesquite, Texas, pleaded guilty in the Northern District of Texas to possession of prepubescent child pornography. He is pending sentencing;
   
• Richard Nikolai Gratkowski, 40, of San Antonio, Texas, a former HSI special agent, was arrested in the Western District of Texas.  Gratkowski pleaded guilty to the indictment charging one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of access with intent to view child pornography.  Gratkowski was sentenced to serve 70 months in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $35,000 in restitution to seven victims and a $10,000 assessment;
   
• Paul Casey Whipple, 35, of Hondo, Texas, a U.S. Border Patrol Agent, was arrested in the Western District of Texas, on charges of sexual exploitation of children/minors, production, distribution, and possession of child pornography.  Whipple remains in custody awaiting trial in San Antonio;
   
• Michael Lawson, 36, of Midland, Georgia, was arrested in the Middle District of Georgia on charges of attempted sexual exploitation of children and possession of child pornography.  He was sentenced to serve 121 months in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release following his plea to a superseding information charging him with one count of receipt of child pornography;
   
• Kevin Christopher Eagan, 39, of Brookhaven, Georgia, pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography in the Northern District of Georgia;
   
• Casey Santioius Head, 37, of Griffin, Georgia, was indicted in the Northern District of Georgia for distribution, receipt, and possession of child pornography;
   
• Andrew C. Chu, 28, of Garwood, New Jersey, was arrested and charged with receipt of child pornography. Those charges remain pending;
   
• Nader Hamdi Ahmed, 29 of Jersey City, New Jersey, was arrested in the District of New Jersey, for sexual exploitation or other abuse of children.  Ahmed pleaded guilty to an information charging him with one count of distribution of child pornography.  He is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 1, 2019;
   
• Jeffrey Lee Harris, 32, of Pickens, South Carolina, pleaded guilty in the District of South Carolina for producing, distributing, and possessing child pornography;
   
• Laine Ormand Clark Jr., 27, of Conway, South Carolina, was arrested and charged in U.S. District Court in South Carolina Division for sexual possession of child pornography;
   
• Jack R. Dove III, 38, of Lakeland, Florida, was arrested in the Middle District of Florida for knowingly receiving and possessing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct;
   
• Michael Matthew White, 39, of Miami Beach, Florida, was arrested in the Southern District of Florida for coercion and enticement;
   
• Nikolas Bennion Bradshaw, 24, of Bountiful, Utah, was arrested in the State of Utah, and charged with five counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, and was sentenced to time served with 91 days in jail followed by probation;
   
• Michael Don Gibbs, 37, of Holladay, Utah, was charged in the District of Utah with receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography;
   
• Ammar Atef H. Alahdali, 22, of Arlington, Virginia, pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of Virginia to receipt of child pornography and was sentenced to serve five years in prison and ordered to pay $3,000 in restitution;
   
• Mark Lindsay Rohrer, 38, of West Hartford, Connecticut, pleaded guilty in the District of Connecticut to receipt of child pornography and was sentenced to serve 60 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release;
   
• Eugene Edward Jung, 47, of San Francisco, California, was indicted in the Northern District of California on possession of child pornography and receipt of child pornography;
   
• James Daosaeng, 25, of Springdale, Arkansas, pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography and was sentenced in the Western District of Arkansas (Fayetteville) to serve 97 months in prison followed by 20 years of supervised release;
   
• Alex Daniel Paxton, 30, of Columbus, Ohio, was arrested and indicted in Franklin County Ohio Court of Common Pleas for pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor;
   
• Don Edward Pannell, 32, of Harvey, Louisiana, pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of Louisiana for receipt of child pornography. He is pending sentencing;
   
• Ryan Thomas Carver, 29, of Huntsville, Alabama, was arrested and charged under Alabama State Law.  He was charged federally in the Northern District of Alabama with possession of child pornography. His case is pending in Huntsville, Alabama;
   
• Andrew Buckley, 28, of the United Kingdom, pleaded guilty to 10 offences in the UK of possession and distribution of indecent images of children, possession of extreme and prohibited images and possession of a class A drug.  He was sentenced to serve 40 months in prison for the distribution of indecent images and possession of class A drugs. Buckley is also subject to an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order;
   
• Kyle Fox, 26, of the United Kingdom, pleaded guilty to 22 counts including rape, sexual assault, and sharing indecent images, and was sentenced to serve 22 years in prison; and
   
• Mohammed Almaker, 26, of Fort Collins, Colorado, was arrested in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), charged with KSA Law involving the endangerment of children.  He is awaiting judicial proceedings in furtherance of criminal charges.
   

A forfeiture complaint was also unsealed today.  The complaint alleges that law enforcement was able to trace payments of bitcoin to the Darknet site by following the flow of funds on the blockchain.  The virtual currency accounts identified in the complaint were allegedly used by 24 individuals in five countries to fund the website and promote the exploitation of children.  The forfeiture complaint seeks to recover these funds and, ultimately through the restoration process, return the illicit funds to victims of the crime.

The charges in the indictment are merely allegations, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. 

The international investigations were led by the IRS-CI, HSI and the NCA.  The Korean National Police of the Republic of Korea, the National Crime Agency of the United Kingdom and the German Federal Criminal Police (the Bundeskriminalamt), provided assistance and coordinated with their parallel investigations.  The Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs of the Criminal Division provided significant assistance.   

The cases are being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zia M. Faruqui, Lindsay Suttenberg, and Youli Lee, Paralegal Specialists Brian Rickers and Diane Brashears, Legal Assistant Jessica McCormick, and Records Examiner Chad Byron of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and Trial Attorney C. Alden Pelker of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section.  Additional assistance has been provided by Deputy Chief Keith Becker and Trial Attorney James E. Burke IV of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, and former U.S. Attorney’s Office Paralegal Specialists Toni Anne Donato and Ty Eaton. 

Attachment(s): 

Download Son Indictment

Download Graphic of Seizure Page

Download Screen Shot of Webpage

Download Complaint for Forfeiture

pic.twitter.com/NkUQcHjPlP

— U.S. Attorney DC (@USAO_DC) October 16, 2019

South Korean National and Hundreds of Others Charged Worldwide in the Takedown of the Largest Darknet Child... by Beverly Tran on Scribd Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©