Investigative Press Releases
Thursday, November 17, 2022
MEDFORD, Ore.—A Southern Oregon woman is facing federal charges alleging she used her deceased spouse’s identity to fraudulently obtain more than $36,000 in federal student aid.
On October 6, 2022, a federal grand jury in Medford returned a nine-count indictment charging Cynthia Pickering, 55, of Central Point, Oregon with wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and student loan fraud.
Thursday, November 17, 2022
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, announced today that Bobby Peña was sentenced on Nov. 14 to three years and seven months in prison. Peña, of Albuquerque, pleaded guilty on Feb. 10 to possession of child pornography and false claims against the government.
Thursday, November 17, 2022
NEWARK, N.J. – Two Essex County, New Jersey, men were sentenced yesterday and today for their roles in a scheme to steal credit cards, debit cards, and checks from the mail and use the stolen cards and checks to attempt over a million dollars of retail and online purchases and cash withdrawals, Attorney for the United States Vikas Khanna announced today.
Thursday, November 17, 2022
HOUSTON – A 23-year-old man has been ordered to prison for enticement of a minor online, announced U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery.
Malcolm Lenard Thomas, Houston, pleaded guilty June 21.
Today, U.S. District Judge Charles Eskridge ordered Thomas to serve 121 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by 15 years of supervised release.
At the time of his plea, he admitted he communicated via Instagram with whom he thought was a 15-year-old female.
Thursday, November 17, 2022
BOSTON – A Michigan man was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for his involvement in a fraudulent scheme to obtain COVID-19-related unemployment assistance and small business loans in 12 different states.
Thursday, November 17, 2022
BOSTON – A Scottish man who was previously employed by Global Premier Soccer LLC (GPS), a youth soccer organization, was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for obstructing justice.
Gavin MacPhee, 37 was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock to one year of probation, with the first four months served in home detention. In May 2020, MacPhee pleaded guilty to one count of destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in a federal investigation.
Wednesday, November 16, 2022
NEWARK, N.J. – The former administrative manager of a carpenters’ union pension fund was sentenced today to six months of home confinement and three years of probation for embezzling approximately $140,000 and making false statements on a required report to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.
Tuesday, November 15, 2022
CLEVELAND – A Northeast Ohio Correctional Center (NEOCC) correctional officer was charged on Nov. 14, 2022, in a four-count Information for his role in a scheme to smuggle contraband into the NEOCC in return for bribery payments.
Terry Terrigno, 30, of Canfield, Ohio, was charged with one count each of providing narcotics, marijuana and tobacco to inmates and one count of accepting bribes.
Tuesday, November 15, 2022
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – John Nassy, 29, a Nigerian national living in Dumfries, Virginia, was sentenced to five years of federal probation, including six months on home detention, and ordered to pay $148,000 in restitution for receipt of stolen money in connection with a scheme that defrauded at least 200 victims, many of whom are elderly, of at least $2.5 million. Nassy has already paid $40,000 of the restitution he owes.
Tuesday, November 15, 2022
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Jason Keith Arnold, 46, of Chandler, Arizona, was sentenced today to seven years and three months in prison for conspiring to distribute heroin and methamphetamine on the dark web, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.