News Releases and Statements

Shawn Phillips, 44, received a federal sentence to run consecutively to his pending state charges. The Court further sentenced Phillips to three years of supervised release following his term of imprisonment and ordered him to pay restitution in the amount of $50,718.

According to court documents, Edafe Onoetiyi, 34, of Nigeria, but living in Dallas, Texas; and Susan Johns, 54, of Bothwell, Washington, pled guilty in U.S. District Court in Natchez, Mississippi.

The report – Detecting and Reporting the Illicit Financial Flows Tied to Organized Theft Groups and Organized Retail Crime – highlights red flags associated with organized theft groups, including structured deposits and withdrawals, large purchases of stored-value cards, high-dollar wire transfers tied to wholesale companies involved with health and beauty supplies, and large purchases of lighter fluid or heat guns, among others.

Jesus Acosta-Gandarilla was accused on April 25, of committing Second Degree Money Laundering, Conspiracy, and Illegally Conducting an Enterprise between Sept. 26, 2017 to Nov. 1, 2017, by allowing others to deposit approximately $55,000 into his Wells Fargo Bank account and by personally wiring approximately $55,000, in order to conceal the identity of the actual persons receiving the money.

The lead defendant is 37-year-old Natalie Le Demola. She is currently serving a life prison sentence after she was convicted in 2005 of first-degree murder. 32-year-old Carleisha Neosha Plummer of Los Angeles is also charged. She was a close associate of Demola in prison until she was paroled in July 2020.

A California man, residing in Atlanta, Georgia, was indicted Tuesday for smuggling cash into Mexico from the United States, following an investigation conducted by ICE's HSI with the assistance of the U.S. Border Patrol, RGV Sector.

Individuals arrested were Akber Jesani, 39, and Hardin Ameena, 28, both residents of Sugarland, Texas, and Shamshuddin Dosani, 52-year-old resident of Richmond, Texas. All three are charged with engaging in organized criminal activity, aggregate theft, and money laundering in violation of Texas law. The Harris County (Texas) District Attorney’s Office is prosecuting all three individuals.

Jaliya Chitran Wickramasuriya, 61, of Arlington, Virginia attempted to misappropriate $332,027 during the Sri Lankan government’s 2013 purchase of a new embassy building in Washington, D.C.

Marco Antonio Martinez Sanchez, a citizen of Mexico, was charged March 21, in the Santa Cruz County Superior Court.

On March 17, David John Nava, 63, of La Jolla was sentenced in federal court for his role in multiple felonies related to the operation of his financial firm, Surf Financial Group, LLC, including conspiring to defraud shareholders of publicly traded companies, transmitting millions of dollars through an unlicensed money transmitting business, and falsifying multiple years of federal tax returns. He was also ordered to pay $3,716,888.27 in restitution.

Following a six-day trial in federal court, a jury convicted Charles Elsea, Jr, 44, a longtime inmate of the Tennessee Department of Corrections (TDOC), of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, marijuana, and money laundering.

ICE HSI special agents participated in an investigation of Darris Cotton of Vista, California, who, on March 4, pleaded guilty in federal court to a fraud charge, admitting that he submitted false applications for unemployment benefits to California’s EDD.

Joe Sery, the former owner and chief executive officer of THPP, and his brother, Dror Sery, are charged with violations of federal export laws pursuant to the ITAR.

Mexican national Rafael Olvera-Amezcua, 64, was taken to the international boundary of the Lincoln/Juarez Bridge in Laredo, Texas where he was handed over to Mexican authorities without incident.

On Feb. 16, Mexican national Karen Fabiola Cardenas Lerma, 32, was removed from the United States to Mexico at the international boundary on top of the Stanton Street Bridge, where she was turned over to Mexican authorities.

The multi-agency awareness campaign runs Feb. 7 to Mar. 11, to help individuals protect their heart and their wallet and illustrates to the public how to recognize the scams before they give any money or assets and provides steps to take if they are victimized.

Jordan Daniel Kraft, 22, of Fargo, was sentenced before U.S. District Court Chief Judge Peter D. Welte to 134 months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit robbery and robbery.

Ilya Lichtenstein, 34, and his wife, Heather Morgan, 31, both of New York, New York, were scheduled to make their initial appearances in federal court today at 3:00 p.m. in Manhattan.

41-year-old Geoffrey Eldridge Hull, of Los Angeles, California pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud Thursday after a probe by ICE HSI.

According to the federal indictment and the state of Tulsa’s probable cause affidavit, defendant Linda Been led a criminal enterprise of “Boosters” netting more than $4.5 million from the sale of stolen merchandise and over-the-counter products to fencing organizations outside of Oklahoma. The “Fences” then sold the stolen products through e-commerce sites, like eBay and Amazon.

Christopher Bernard Brown, 39, was sentenced Jan. 5 in the Southern District of Texas on two counts of interference with commerce by threats or violence and ordered to serve 90 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release. He must also pay restitution.

Jason Coleman, 40, and Kimberly Coleman, 38, of Mesa, Arizona, made their initial appearance in federal court recently on a 62-count indictment charging them with Conspiracy, Bank Fraud, Wire Fraud, and Transactional Money Laundering. A federal grand jury previously indicted the Colemans and seven other individuals in connection with a fraudulent scheme to obtain approximately $23 million in PPP loans.

According to court documents, Patrice Wilowski-Mevorah, 53, laundered at least $2.3 million for the Newstar Enterprise, an Internet-based business aimed at for-profit sexual exploitation of vulnerable children under the guise of child modeling.

Zachary Ronzell Mitchell, 30, of Fargo, was sentenced before U.S. District Court Chief Judge Peter D. Welte, to 72 months in federal prison on a federal charge of interfering with commerce by threats and violence, more commonly known as a Hobbs Act robbery. Chief Judge Welte also sentenced Mitchell to three years supervised release and a $100 Special Assessment.

The owner of a garment wholesaling company in the Fashion District of downtown Los Angeles was sentenced today to 12 months and one day in federal prison for scheming to undervalue imported garments and avoid paying millions of dollars in duties to the United States, failing to report millions of dollars in income on tax returns, and failing to report large cash transactions to the federal government.