The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service jointly announced Wednesday that a Danville man who shot at a postal worker in 2009 was sentenced today to 10 years in prison.
U.S. Senior District Court Judge Jennifer B. Coffman also ordered 39-year-old Juan Warner to pay $3,849.52 in restitution.
Evidence at trial proved that in October 2009, Warner fired two shots at the rear door of a postal truck that had just passed his Boyle County residence. The bullets landed 18 inches from the mail carrier.
Immediately after the shots, the mail carrier called authorities. Shortly thereafter, Danville Police surrounded the residence and a brief standoff ensued. Prior to being taken into custody, Warner hid the firearm in the residence and it was later recovered by law enforcement officers.
After deliberating for approximately two and half hours the jury convicted Warner in September 2011 of assaulting a U.S. Postal Service worker with a dangerous weapon and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. The trial lasted two days.
Warner was indicted in November 2009._______________________________________________________________
February 16, 2012
Mexico woman who perpetrated money order scam ordered to repay $34,000 to postal service
from Bangor Daily News
by Judy Harrison
PORTLAND, Maine — A homebound woman from the Oxford County town of Mexico was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court to two years of probation for a scheme that doubled her money by claiming money orders that she made out to herself had been lost.
Joanne Covais, 61, would purchase a money order, then claim it had been lost. Once she received a replacement check, Covais would deposit the money order and the replacement check into her checking account.
In addition to probation, U.S. District Judge D. Brock Hornby ordered her to pay $34,200 in restitution to the U.S. Postal Service.
Between 2005 and 2009, she received 41 replacement checks in the mail totaling more than $34,000, according to court documents. She deposited the money in a bank account she opened with someone else’s Social Security number.
Covais, who also used the name Joelle Cuvais, waived indictment and pleaded guilty in August to two counts of mail fraud and one count of Social Security fraud.
She faced up to 20 years in prison on the mail fraud counts and up to five years in prison for the Social Security fraud. On each count, Covais faced a fine of up to $250,000.
_______________________________________________________________
February 6, 2012
Businessman faces felony charges over postal stamps
February 6, 2012
Businessman faces felony charges over postal stamps
from WFTV
WINTER PARK, Fla. —
A seemingly successful Winter Park businessman whose website touts features on Forbes and entrepreneur.com is facing several felonies over stamps.
The postal inspector's office said they rarely see anyone steal stamps. But 26-year-old Gary "Jason" Bergenske is accused of stealing $3,200 worth.
Bergenske bolted from the room when WFTV walked into his Winter Park business with a camera.
His website touts he's the president and CEO of The Barter Network, a company that gets other businesses together to trade services.
But the U.S. Postal Inspection Service said he's a thief.
The postal inspector's office said they rarely see anyone steal stamps. But 26-year-old Gary "Jason" Bergenske is accused of stealing $3,200 worth.
Bergenske bolted from the room when WFTV walked into his Winter Park business with a camera.
His website touts he's the president and CEO of The Barter Network, a company that gets other businesses together to trade services.
But the U.S. Postal Inspection Service said he's a thief.
CONTINUE>>>
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February 1, 2012
Gardens man arrested in extortion attempt against Palm Beach family
from Palm Beach Daily News
by Margie Kacoha
_______________________________________________________________
February 1, 2012
Gardens man arrested in extortion attempt against Palm Beach family
from Palm Beach Daily News
by Margie Kacoha
A Palm Beach Gardens man is in the county jail facing three federal charges of using the U.S. Postal Service in “mailing threatening communications” to a Palm Beach family, according to a criminal complaint and affidavit filed Thursday by the FBIn.
Alex Petersmarck, 32, is accused of sending a package that was received Jan. 13 at a Palm Beach home. The victim is listed in the federal court record as “the father” and only identified by the initials “M.G.”
In court documents, FBI special agent Scott Wilson wrote that Petersmarck tried to shake down “M.G.” for more than $5 million, and that the victim, his wife and their daughter have been followed and tracked for a year and a half.
“The author threatened to kill the daughter if they do not get the money. The letter referenced a planned abduction of the daughter or a poisoning of the daughter at some future event,” Wilson wrotes.
The investigation led to a Jan. 4 rendezvous at a Palm Beach restaurant where the daughter was to meet someone on business. She showed up, but the other person called to cancel the meeting, Wilson wrote.
When she returned to her car in the restaurant parking lot, she found a white teddy bear on the front windshield, according to Wilson. The father received a photo of what appeared to be the same stuffed toy, he wrote.
Alex Petersmarck, 32, is accused of sending a package that was received Jan. 13 at a Palm Beach home. The victim is listed in the federal court record as “the father” and only identified by the initials “M.G.”
In court documents, FBI special agent Scott Wilson wrote that Petersmarck tried to shake down “M.G.” for more than $5 million, and that the victim, his wife and their daughter have been followed and tracked for a year and a half.
“The author threatened to kill the daughter if they do not get the money. The letter referenced a planned abduction of the daughter or a poisoning of the daughter at some future event,” Wilson wrotes.
The investigation led to a Jan. 4 rendezvous at a Palm Beach restaurant where the daughter was to meet someone on business. She showed up, but the other person called to cancel the meeting, Wilson wrote.
When she returned to her car in the restaurant parking lot, she found a white teddy bear on the front windshield, according to Wilson. The father received a photo of what appeared to be the same stuffed toy, he wrote.
CONTINUE>>>
_______________________________________________________________
January 26, 2012
Police arrest 16 in 25 raids on pot growers
from The Denver Channel
Posted by Alan Gathright and Kim Nguyen, Web Editors
About 10 more arrests are expected over the next week, authorities said.
Peters said the illegal pot trafficking crackdown did not involve medical marijuana. He said the probe targeted illicit growers who were shipping the pot out of state using the U.S. Postal Service.
_______________________________________________________________
January 26, 2012
Police arrest 16 in 25 raids on pot growers
from The Denver Channel
Posted by Alan Gathright and Kim Nguyen, Web Editors
NORTHGLENN, Colo. -- Authorities arrested 16 people Wednesday morning during a sweeping metro area crackdown on marijuana traffickers where 25 homes were raided.
North Metro Drug Task Force Cmdr. Jerry Peters said the raids were part of a year-long investigation that culminated in recent grand jury indictments.
It was dubbed Operation Sweet Leaf.
It was dubbed Operation Sweet Leaf.
Law enforcement officers executed search warrants at 15 houses in Adams County, three in Broomfield, four in Denver, one in Weld County, one in Erie and one in Breckenridge, authorities said.
The arrests, which included men and women, happened without incident, Peters said. Six children were removed from some homes and placed in the care of social services, he added.
CONTINUE>>>
_____________________________________________________________
January 24, 2012
Letter Carrier’s Tip Gets 40-lb. Marijuana Bust
from The Long Island Press
by Timothy Bolger
A Queens man was arrested for possession of more than 40 lbs. of marijuana after a letter carrier reported him acting suspiciously in North Woodmere on Monday afternoon, Nassau County police said.
January 18, 2012
Prosecutor: Anthrax hoaxer ‘an intelligent young woman’ in a ‘downward spiral’
from Seattle PI
by Levi Pulkkinen
A Kent woman who sent fake anthrax to the White House and King County government will likely be sentenced to time served and released.
Convicted of sending white powder resembling the deadly bacteria to “President Obama-Sanchez” as part of a bizarre, meth-fueled series of threats, Kate Michelle Young was described by prosecutors a woman whose once promising life had been completely derailed by drugs.
Young, 26, was arrested in April and remained in federal custody pending a sentencing hearing scheduled for Wednesday morning in U.S. District Court. She previously pleaded guilty to sending false information by mail.
Describing Young’s offense as “potentially traumatic” to those targeted and disruptive to government functions, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Dion told the court Young, who has served eight months in federal detention, deserves a measure of mercy.
“Kate Young is an intelligent young woman whose life has gone terribly wrong,” Dion told the court, requesting the Young be sentenced to time served. “Her life since high school has been a ‘downward spiral highlighted by drug and alcohol abuse.’ …
_____________________________________________________________
January 24, 2012
Letter Carrier’s Tip Gets 40-lb. Marijuana Bust
from The Long Island Press
by Timothy Bolger
A Queens man was arrested for possession of more than 40 lbs. of marijuana after a letter carrier reported him acting suspiciously in North Woodmere on Monday afternoon, Nassau County police said.
Duncan Jordan stopped a mail carrier as he approached a Hillcrest Place home and told the carrier the package he was delivering was for him, but the postal worker called 911 after Jordan walked away from the house instead of going inside, police said.
Officers apprehended the 40-year-old suspect nearby shortly later and found him in possession of drugs, police said.
Jordan was charged with criminal possession of marijuana. He will be arraigned Tuesday at First District Court in Hempstead.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
January 18, 2012
Prosecutor: Anthrax hoaxer ‘an intelligent young woman’ in a ‘downward spiral’
from Seattle PI
by Levi Pulkkinen
Convicted of sending white powder resembling the deadly bacteria to “President Obama-Sanchez” as part of a bizarre, meth-fueled series of threats, Kate Michelle Young was described by prosecutors a woman whose once promising life had been completely derailed by drugs.
Young, 26, was arrested in April and remained in federal custody pending a sentencing hearing scheduled for Wednesday morning in U.S. District Court. She previously pleaded guilty to sending false information by mail.
Describing Young’s offense as “potentially traumatic” to those targeted and disruptive to government functions, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Dion told the court Young, who has served eight months in federal detention, deserves a measure of mercy.
“Kate Young is an intelligent young woman whose life has gone terribly wrong,” Dion told the court, requesting the Young be sentenced to time served. “Her life since high school has been a ‘downward spiral highlighted by drug and alcohol abuse.’ …
________________________________________________________________
January 10, 2012
Killer who stole $2.2 million from elderly man: I love him
from komonews.com
by Levi Pulkkinen
SEATTLE -- A convicted killer who bilked an elderly eye doctor out of $2.2 million now says she was lost in love with the man.
Shea Saenger, a 61-year-old Whidbey Island woman, made the statement in court on Friday before she was sentenced to four years in prison. She previously pleaded guilty to a mail fraud charge and admitted to scamming the 82-year-old man out of his life savings. She is expected to be sentenced Friday in federal court in Seattle.
Having admitted to bilking the Alzheimer's Disease-stricken man - Ellensburg resident Norman D. Butler, Sr. - out of $2.2 million, Saenger in a plea for leniency now claims they loved each other.
"I would like for you to know that I love Norman Butler very much and I am sorry for what I have done to him," Saenger said in a letter to the court.
"If I could take care of him, I would happily do so," she continued. "I wish I could undo what I have done and go back in time."
Federal prosecutors offer a different picture of Saenger, who they describe as a longtime fraud who should be locked up for four years.
CONTINUE>>>
_______________________________________________________________
December 30, 2011
Lake Worth man arrested for violating probation while taking rooster delivery
from SunSentinel.com
by Wayne K. Roustan
A 36-year-old Lake Worth man was arrested on Thursday for picking up a rooster at a post office, Boynton Beach police said.
Danny Pham violated his probation on charges dating back to February 2009, when he was arrested with at least four others attending a cockfight behind his home on the 9200 block of Palomino Drive, police said.
December 23, 2011
Ho, Ho, Hoax! Over $4 Million In Counterfeit Goods Seized During Operation Holiday Hoax
December 22, 2011
Postal employee accused of setting up illegal Ecstasy shipment
from naplesnews.com
by Aisling Swift
It was a package that arrived just before Christmas, but it wasn't the usual holiday gift.
It was 10.2 ounces of Ecstasy addressed to an Estero home. Postal inspectors had already attached a GPS device to track the parcel's whereabouts after detecting the drugs at a San Francisco airmail center.
December 12, 2011
Men Found With Meth-Making Materials At Post Office
from KRDO
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- One Colorado Springs post office is closed after police found two men with meth-making materials in the lobby Saturday night.
Police said Michael Tessler, 28 and Garin Shaw, 21 were found at about 10:30 p.m. Saturday sitting in the foyer at the post office on East Uintah near North Circle Drive.
Police said Tessler and Shaw were both decontaminated and arrested.
According to Ron Perry, spokesperson for the United States Postal Service, a Hazmat team was called out test the air to make sure the foyer was safe.
"The air was deemed to be clean," said Perry. "But they did some swabs that are being tested right now."
CONTINUE>>>
_______________________________________________________________
November 28, 2011
Former Ashville postal worker sentenced to probation on fraud charges
from citizen-times.com
by Clarke Morrison
ASHEVILLE — A judge Thursday spared a former postal worker from time in prison following a jury’s finding that he sat on a stool gambling at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino for hours after claiming he couldn’t work because sitting was painful.
A federal jury found Charles Phillip Smith guilty in January of defrauding the government by lying about his medical condition and submitting false documents to get disability benefits.
His wife, Robin Knight Smith, was convicted of the same charges.
Video evidence showed she used a walker or stroller before or during an appointment with a doctor, but that she usually walked without aid while shopping, authorities said.
U.S. District Court Judge Martin Reidinger sentenced Charles Smith to three years of supervised probation. The court didn’t address the issue of restitution and Smith was given no fine.
Robin Smith has yet to be sentenced.
“I want you to understand that trying to cheat the government is never a good idea,” Reidinger told the defendant.
CONTINUE>>>
_______________________________________________________________
November 18, 2011
Channelview man pleads guilty to possessing 300,000 child porn images
from yourpasadenanews.com
A Channelview resident on Wednesday pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography, U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced.
The investigation into Eliseo Gonzalez, Jr., 30 began when U.S. Postal Inspection Service inspectors were looking into a private, members-only child pornography Internet bulletin board in which members were identified by their level of membership and involvement in the board (administrator, moderator, trusted member, etc).
Members posted preview images and links to offsite file sharing websites where members could download the described files and open them using a password. The files were categorized by file type, age and content and approximately 90 percent of the board activity centered on nude postings of children under the age of 18.
In March 2008 and September 2008, federal agents seized the server associated with the bulletin board and were able to identify the members, including someone named “panchovilla.” This screen name was traced to Gonzalez in Channelview.
CONTINUE>>>
_______________________________________________________________
November 8, 2011
Mail delivery leads to pot bust
from Times Herald-Record
by Jeremiah Horrigan
NEW PALTZ — The president of the New Paltz Board of Education was arrested Friday and charged with possession of 8 pounds of marijuana that police said he received through the mail.
Don Kerr, 52, submitted his written resignation from the school board Monday afternoon, proclaiming his innocence while acknowledging he didn't want his arrest to become "another distraction" for the board. Kerr also called all six of his fellow board members just before news of his arrest was made public Monday morning.
Kerr was charged on Friday with a single count of second-degree criminal possession of marijuana, a felony. He was released without bail.
New Paltz cops and federal postal inspectors have been conducting an investigation into marijuana trafficking through the mail that resulted in the arrest of another New Paltz resident last week. Town police did not say if the two arrests were connected. Police Chief Joe Snyder could not be reached for further comment Monday.
Kerr's attorney, Andrew Kossover, said on Monday the package in question had not been addressed to Kerr personally but had been delivered to the Main Street building where Kerr's business, along with several other businesses and apartments, is located. Kossover said Kerr had simply signed for the package and within seconds had been arrested.
"It's not a rare occurrence for anyone to sign for a package as a courtesy for a resident at that address," Koss-over said.
Kossover could not say who the package had been addressed to.
Friday's arrest was the second time Kerr had been charged with a drug-related crime. In 2008, he was charged by New York State Police with misdemeanor marijuana possession and driving while impaired by drugs, charges that were later plea-bargained to reckless driving.
More than two years later, in August 2010, a scandal erupted around the circumstances surrounding those charges. Kerr and some members of the board were accused by angry residents of allowing a double standard to exist, since the district has a zero-tolerance drug policy for its students and teachers.
Ed Burke was one of the parents who called on Kerr to resign in 2010. He said Monday's news was unfortunate. But, he said, the arrest might bring attention to a problem that he feels hasn't been given enough consideration.
"Maybe now people will stop pretending (drug use) is not an issue," he said.
The previous outcry against Kerr, Burke said, centered on the lack of consequences displayed by the board. At the time, the board took no action against Kerr on the advice of the school district's attorney.
The school board will discuss Kerr's departure during a closed-door session Wednesday. The board is expected to formally accept his resignation during its Nov. 16 meeting.
_______________________________________________________________
October 26, 2011
Identity thief nabbed with over 300,000 victim profiles
from CNET
by Decian McCullagh
A California man was sentenced to eight years in prison for identity theft after federal police GPS-tracked his phone and discovered a hard drive with over 300,000 victim profiles during a raid of his home.
Robert Delgado, 40, who lived in a Los Angeles suburb called Monterey Park, pleaded guilty earlier this year to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and was sentenced on Monday. At the time of his arrest in March 2011, Delgado had already been on parole for identity theft.
Court documents show Delgado was accused of obtaining credit card numbers, forging credit cards and government-issued ID sporting his (or a co-conspirator's) photograph, and using the identity documents to buy flat screen TVs, power tools, electronics, and jewelry. Those in turn would be sold for cash.
Eve Williams, a U.S. Postal Inspector, said she began the investigation after a victim of identity fraud contacted the Post Office and said that his mail delivery had been suspended and accounts had been fraudulently opened in his name.
CONTINUE>>>
______________________________________________________________
October 4, 2011
Carl Junction man admits massive eBay fraud
from The Joplin Globe
by Jeff Lehr
A Carl Junction man pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to defrauding more than 1,200 people across the U.S. and in other countries by selling forged celebrity memorabilia on eBay.
David B. Shryock, 49, waived indictment in U.S. District Court in Springfield, and pleaded guilty to wire fraud and being a felon in possession of a firearm. The U.S. attorney’s office for the Western District of Missouri puts the extent of the fraud committed by Shryock on eBay over the course of almost six years at more than $177,000.
CONTINUE>>>
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September 29, 2011
Man admits to role in scheme to dodge $1.3 million in postal fees
from TampaBay.com
by William R. Levesque
TAMPA — The check was never in the mail.
A Tampa truck driver on Wednesday pleaded guilty for his part in a two-year scheme to fool the U.S. Postal Service into delivering 5.6 million pieces of bulk mail without paying a penny of postage.
Postage due: $1.3 million.
Richard Nieves, 39, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and faces up to five years in prison. Prosecutors said Nieves acted at the behest of Galal Ramadan, 61, owner of G.R. Marketing & Graphic Design in Tampa.
Nieves is cooperating with federal prosecutors, according to his plea agreement, and no sentencing date has been set.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Wilson asked Nieves, "It's not just you. Mr. Ramadan is the guy behind it?"
"Yes," Nieves said.
CONTINUE>>>
_______________________________________________________________
September 26, 2011
ID thief investigation 'strangest' of postal inspector's 30-year career
from Seacoastonline.com
by Elizabeth Dinan
Ramie Marston was employed by a Portsmouth bank when she entered her nanny's name and Social Security number into the bank's computer system and began racking up an estimated $100,000 in debt without the nanny's knowledge.
The bank's IP address was the smoking gun, later found attached to Marston's fraudulent online transactions, said retired postal inspector Brian Begley, the one person who believed the nanny's initial reports of being financially crushed by Marston. Begley launched an investigation he now describes as having "lots of twists and turns" and being "the strangest and most intensive" of his 30-year career.
"It was basically like someone throwing a thousand pieces of a jigsaw puzzle at you and saying, 'Here you go,'" he said. "If I didn't retire, I could still be working on this case."
In 2007, Marston drove to the Seacoast from Las Vegas in a Volkswagen she swindled from a friend, according to court records. With her two young sons in tow, Marston began stealing identities of new friends and lovers in order to spend their money on herself.
She used stolen credit to buy lingerie, Botox treatments, a puppy, jewelry, heating oil, phone service, house rentals, restaurant meals, groceries, furniture and for cash advances, say federal authorities. In just four years on the Seacoast, Marston married at least twice, served a year in prison, and lived in rental homes in North Hampton, Hampton, Portsmouth, Kensington and Kittery, Maine. Sometimes she rented under an alias, usually she paid with bad checks.
"Anyone she ever wrote a check to could play basketball with it," Begley said.
The nanny, Susan Blake, was Marston's first Seacoast victim.
CONTINUE>>>
January 10, 2012
Killer who stole $2.2 million from elderly man: I love him
from komonews.com
by Levi Pulkkinen
SEATTLE -- A convicted killer who bilked an elderly eye doctor out of $2.2 million now says she was lost in love with the man.
Shea Saenger, a 61-year-old Whidbey Island woman, made the statement in court on Friday before she was sentenced to four years in prison. She previously pleaded guilty to a mail fraud charge and admitted to scamming the 82-year-old man out of his life savings. She is expected to be sentenced Friday in federal court in Seattle.
Having admitted to bilking the Alzheimer's Disease-stricken man - Ellensburg resident Norman D. Butler, Sr. - out of $2.2 million, Saenger in a plea for leniency now claims they loved each other.
"I would like for you to know that I love Norman Butler very much and I am sorry for what I have done to him," Saenger said in a letter to the court.
"If I could take care of him, I would happily do so," she continued. "I wish I could undo what I have done and go back in time."
Federal prosecutors offer a different picture of Saenger, who they describe as a longtime fraud who should be locked up for four years.
CONTINUE>>>
_______________________________________________________________
December 30, 2011
Lake Worth man arrested for violating probation while taking rooster delivery
from SunSentinel.com
by Wayne K. Roustan
A 36-year-old Lake Worth man was arrested on Thursday for picking up a rooster at a post office, Boynton Beach police said.
Danny Pham violated his probation on charges dating back to February 2009, when he was arrested with at least four others attending a cockfight behind his home on the 9200 block of Palomino Drive, police said.
More than 100 birds, including several dead roosters, were confiscated at the time, according to a Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office report.
On Thursday, Boynton Beach Animal Control Officer Liz Roehrich told police that Pham was at the rear loading dock of the Boynton Beach Post Office, picking up a rooster for cockfighting and gambling purposes in violation of his probation, she said.
When police arrived in an unmarked car, they saw a postal employee walk out on the dock and hand Pham a white rectangular box with air holes, labeled "live animal."
_________________________________________________________________
December 23, 2011
Ho, Ho, Hoax! Over $4 Million In Counterfeit Goods Seized During Operation Holiday Hoax
from laist.com
Angelenos might want to check the authenticity of gifted apparel this holiday season. Santa might squeeze down the chimney with imitation brands in his sac. A six-week worldwide counterfeit good operation has yielded the seizure of over $4 million in bogus merchandise in Los Angeles alone.
______________________________________________________________
Several agencies, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), conducted Operation Holiday Hoax, a crackdown on the import and sale of counterfeit goods.
Fake designer jeans, apparel and athletic shoes top the list of phony merchandise, reports CBS LA. The most commonly ripped off brands are True Religion, Nike and The North Face.
The National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center and its partners, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the government of Mexico plus state and local law enforcement targeted the importation, distribution and selling of counterfeit and pirated products in 66 U.S. cities, Seoul, South Korea and 55 Mexican cities, according to DVIDS. Various U.S. ports of entry were inspected in the operation, as were numerous stores, flea markets and swap meets.
In total, more than 327,000 counterfeit items were seized with a manufacturer's suggested retail price tag of about $76.8 million.
December 22, 2011
Postal employee accused of setting up illegal Ecstasy shipment
from naplesnews.com
by Aisling Swift
It was a package that arrived just before Christmas, but it wasn't the usual holiday gift.
The tale of the package and who ordered it from Vancouver, Canada, is detailed in an affidavit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Fort Myers, where U.S. Magistrate Judge Douglas Frazier found probable cause to charge Michael Joseph Padova, 31, of Estero, a janitor at the post office in Fort Myers, with illegal importation of MDMA (Ecstasy) and set bond at $100,000.
December 12, 2011
Men Found With Meth-Making Materials At Post Office
from KRDO
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- One Colorado Springs post office is closed after police found two men with meth-making materials in the lobby Saturday night.
CONTINUE>>>
_______________________________________________________________
November 28, 2011
Former Ashville postal worker sentenced to probation on fraud charges
from citizen-times.com
by Clarke Morrison
ASHEVILLE — A judge Thursday spared a former postal worker from time in prison following a jury’s finding that he sat on a stool gambling at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino for hours after claiming he couldn’t work because sitting was painful.
A federal jury found Charles Phillip Smith guilty in January of defrauding the government by lying about his medical condition and submitting false documents to get disability benefits.
His wife, Robin Knight Smith, was convicted of the same charges.
Video evidence showed she used a walker or stroller before or during an appointment with a doctor, but that she usually walked without aid while shopping, authorities said.
U.S. District Court Judge Martin Reidinger sentenced Charles Smith to three years of supervised probation. The court didn’t address the issue of restitution and Smith was given no fine.
Robin Smith has yet to be sentenced.
“I want you to understand that trying to cheat the government is never a good idea,” Reidinger told the defendant.
CONTINUE>>>
_______________________________________________________________
November 18, 2011
Channelview man pleads guilty to possessing 300,000 child porn images
from yourpasadenanews.com
A Channelview resident on Wednesday pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography, U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced.
The investigation into Eliseo Gonzalez, Jr., 30 began when U.S. Postal Inspection Service inspectors were looking into a private, members-only child pornography Internet bulletin board in which members were identified by their level of membership and involvement in the board (administrator, moderator, trusted member, etc).
Members posted preview images and links to offsite file sharing websites where members could download the described files and open them using a password. The files were categorized by file type, age and content and approximately 90 percent of the board activity centered on nude postings of children under the age of 18.
In March 2008 and September 2008, federal agents seized the server associated with the bulletin board and were able to identify the members, including someone named “panchovilla.” This screen name was traced to Gonzalez in Channelview.
CONTINUE>>>
_______________________________________________________________
November 8, 2011
Mail delivery leads to pot bust
from Times Herald-Record
by Jeremiah Horrigan
NEW PALTZ — The president of the New Paltz Board of Education was arrested Friday and charged with possession of 8 pounds of marijuana that police said he received through the mail.
Don Kerr, 52, submitted his written resignation from the school board Monday afternoon, proclaiming his innocence while acknowledging he didn't want his arrest to become "another distraction" for the board. Kerr also called all six of his fellow board members just before news of his arrest was made public Monday morning.
Kerr was charged on Friday with a single count of second-degree criminal possession of marijuana, a felony. He was released without bail.
New Paltz cops and federal postal inspectors have been conducting an investigation into marijuana trafficking through the mail that resulted in the arrest of another New Paltz resident last week. Town police did not say if the two arrests were connected. Police Chief Joe Snyder could not be reached for further comment Monday.
Kerr's attorney, Andrew Kossover, said on Monday the package in question had not been addressed to Kerr personally but had been delivered to the Main Street building where Kerr's business, along with several other businesses and apartments, is located. Kossover said Kerr had simply signed for the package and within seconds had been arrested.
"It's not a rare occurrence for anyone to sign for a package as a courtesy for a resident at that address," Koss-over said.
Kossover could not say who the package had been addressed to.
Friday's arrest was the second time Kerr had been charged with a drug-related crime. In 2008, he was charged by New York State Police with misdemeanor marijuana possession and driving while impaired by drugs, charges that were later plea-bargained to reckless driving.
More than two years later, in August 2010, a scandal erupted around the circumstances surrounding those charges. Kerr and some members of the board were accused by angry residents of allowing a double standard to exist, since the district has a zero-tolerance drug policy for its students and teachers.
Ed Burke was one of the parents who called on Kerr to resign in 2010. He said Monday's news was unfortunate. But, he said, the arrest might bring attention to a problem that he feels hasn't been given enough consideration.
"Maybe now people will stop pretending (drug use) is not an issue," he said.
The previous outcry against Kerr, Burke said, centered on the lack of consequences displayed by the board. At the time, the board took no action against Kerr on the advice of the school district's attorney.
The school board will discuss Kerr's departure during a closed-door session Wednesday. The board is expected to formally accept his resignation during its Nov. 16 meeting.
_______________________________________________________________
October 26, 2011
Identity thief nabbed with over 300,000 victim profiles
from CNET
by Decian McCullagh
A California man was sentenced to eight years in prison for identity theft after federal police GPS-tracked his phone and discovered a hard drive with over 300,000 victim profiles during a raid of his home.
Robert Delgado, 40, who lived in a Los Angeles suburb called Monterey Park, pleaded guilty earlier this year to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and was sentenced on Monday. At the time of his arrest in March 2011, Delgado had already been on parole for identity theft.
Court documents show Delgado was accused of obtaining credit card numbers, forging credit cards and government-issued ID sporting his (or a co-conspirator's) photograph, and using the identity documents to buy flat screen TVs, power tools, electronics, and jewelry. Those in turn would be sold for cash.
Eve Williams, a U.S. Postal Inspector, said she began the investigation after a victim of identity fraud contacted the Post Office and said that his mail delivery had been suspended and accounts had been fraudulently opened in his name.
CONTINUE>>>
______________________________________________________________
October 4, 2011
Carl Junction man admits massive eBay fraud
from The Joplin Globe
by Jeff Lehr
A Carl Junction man pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to defrauding more than 1,200 people across the U.S. and in other countries by selling forged celebrity memorabilia on eBay.
David B. Shryock, 49, waived indictment in U.S. District Court in Springfield, and pleaded guilty to wire fraud and being a felon in possession of a firearm. The U.S. attorney’s office for the Western District of Missouri puts the extent of the fraud committed by Shryock on eBay over the course of almost six years at more than $177,000.
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September 29, 2011
Man admits to role in scheme to dodge $1.3 million in postal fees
from TampaBay.com
by William R. Levesque
TAMPA — The check was never in the mail.
A Tampa truck driver on Wednesday pleaded guilty for his part in a two-year scheme to fool the U.S. Postal Service into delivering 5.6 million pieces of bulk mail without paying a penny of postage.
Postage due: $1.3 million.
Richard Nieves, 39, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and faces up to five years in prison. Prosecutors said Nieves acted at the behest of Galal Ramadan, 61, owner of G.R. Marketing & Graphic Design in Tampa.
Nieves is cooperating with federal prosecutors, according to his plea agreement, and no sentencing date has been set.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Wilson asked Nieves, "It's not just you. Mr. Ramadan is the guy behind it?"
"Yes," Nieves said.
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September 26, 2011
ID thief investigation 'strangest' of postal inspector's 30-year career
from Seacoastonline.com
by Elizabeth Dinan
Ramie Marston was employed by a Portsmouth bank when she entered her nanny's name and Social Security number into the bank's computer system and began racking up an estimated $100,000 in debt without the nanny's knowledge.
The bank's IP address was the smoking gun, later found attached to Marston's fraudulent online transactions, said retired postal inspector Brian Begley, the one person who believed the nanny's initial reports of being financially crushed by Marston. Begley launched an investigation he now describes as having "lots of twists and turns" and being "the strangest and most intensive" of his 30-year career.
"It was basically like someone throwing a thousand pieces of a jigsaw puzzle at you and saying, 'Here you go,'" he said. "If I didn't retire, I could still be working on this case."
In 2007, Marston drove to the Seacoast from Las Vegas in a Volkswagen she swindled from a friend, according to court records. With her two young sons in tow, Marston began stealing identities of new friends and lovers in order to spend their money on herself.
She used stolen credit to buy lingerie, Botox treatments, a puppy, jewelry, heating oil, phone service, house rentals, restaurant meals, groceries, furniture and for cash advances, say federal authorities. In just four years on the Seacoast, Marston married at least twice, served a year in prison, and lived in rental homes in North Hampton, Hampton, Portsmouth, Kensington and Kittery, Maine. Sometimes she rented under an alias, usually she paid with bad checks.
"Anyone she ever wrote a check to could play basketball with it," Begley said.
The nanny, Susan Blake, was Marston's first Seacoast victim.
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