Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta and Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton B. Carter have no public or media events on their schedules. |
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Today in the Department of Defense, Sunday, January 29, 2012
Today in the Department of Defense, Sunday, January 29, 2012
Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta and Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton B. Carter have no public or media events on their schedules. |
Illinois Resident Pleads Guilty to Mailing Threats to Metro-Atlanta Area Schools
| U.S. Attorney’s OfficeJanuary 27, 2012 |
ATLANTA—VALTREZ STEWART, 29, of Oak Lawn, Illinois, pleaded guilty today in federal district court to mailing threats to Atlanta area schools.
Unites States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said, “School should be a place where students are safe. All threats to harm schools, students, teachers, and school personnel will be taken seriously by law enforcement, regardless of whether the threat later is revealed to be a hoax perpetrated by a person with selfish, ulterior motives.”
According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges, and other information presented in court: STEWART mailed threats to at least four different schools between January 28, 2011, and February 2, 2011. The threats contained collages of newspaper and magazine clippings of words and numbers. The messages claimed, in part, that a bomb would detonate at the school killing at least 20 people, and promised brutal murders if money was not paid to certain individuals by a certain date. STEWART pleaded guilty to mailing the threats to Northview High School, Marietta High School, Stephenson Middle School, and Meadowcreek High School, all in the Atlanta metro area. Further investigation revealed that STEWART made the threats in hopes of getting law enforcement agencies to begin contacting and investigating people who STEWART personally disliked and sought to have targeted for making the deadly threats.
STEWART was indicted in July 2011. Today he pleaded guilty to four counts of mailing threatening communications. He could receive a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. In determining the actual sentence, the court will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders.
Sentencing is scheduled for March 28, 2012, at 10:00 a.m., before United States District Judge Willis B. Hunt.
This case is being investigated by task force officers of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Assistant United States Attorney Tracia M. King is prosecuting the case.
For further information, please contact Sally Q. Yates, United States Attorney, or Charysse L. Alexander, Executive Assistant United States Attorney, through Patrick Crosby, Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Attorney’s Office, at (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the HomePage for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.justice.gov/usao/gan.
Illinois Resident Pleads Guilty to Mailing Threats to Metro-Atlanta Area Schools
| U.S. Attorney’s OfficeJanuary 27, 2012 |
ATLANTA—VALTREZ STEWART, 29, of Oak Lawn, Illinois, pleaded guilty today in federal district court to mailing threats to Atlanta area schools.
Unites States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said, “School should be a place where students are safe. All threats to harm schools, students, teachers, and school personnel will be taken seriously by law enforcement, regardless of whether the threat later is revealed to be a hoax perpetrated by a person with selfish, ulterior motives.”
According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges, and other information presented in court: STEWART mailed threats to at least four different schools between January 28, 2011, and February 2, 2011. The threats contained collages of newspaper and magazine clippings of words and numbers. The messages claimed, in part, that a bomb would detonate at the school killing at least 20 people, and promised brutal murders if money was not paid to certain individuals by a certain date. STEWART pleaded guilty to mailing the threats to Northview High School, Marietta High School, Stephenson Middle School, and Meadowcreek High School, all in the Atlanta metro area. Further investigation revealed that STEWART made the threats in hopes of getting law enforcement agencies to begin contacting and investigating people who STEWART personally disliked and sought to have targeted for making the deadly threats.
STEWART was indicted in July 2011. Today he pleaded guilty to four counts of mailing threatening communications. He could receive a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. In determining the actual sentence, the court will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not binding but provide appropriate sentencing ranges for most offenders.
Sentencing is scheduled for March 28, 2012, at 10:00 a.m., before United States District Judge Willis B. Hunt.
This case is being investigated by task force officers of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Assistant United States Attorney Tracia M. King is prosecuting the case.
For further information, please contact Sally Q. Yates, United States Attorney, or Charysse L. Alexander, Executive Assistant United States Attorney, through Patrick Crosby, Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Attorney’s Office, at (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the HomePage for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.justice.gov/usao/gan.
Lyme, Connecticut Man Admits Defrauding Investors of $1.9 Million
| U.S. Attorney’s OfficeJanuary 27, 2012 |
NEW HAVEN, CT—Christopher Plummer, 50, of Lyme, Conn., pleaded guilty yesterday before Senior U.S. District Judge Warren W. Eginton in Bridgeport, Conn., to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud stemming from investment fraud schemes that defrauded individuals out of approximately $1.9 million, announced David B. Fein, U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Plummer, holding himself out as an “Authorized Member” of New England Resorts LLC, falsely represented to investors and potential investors that he—or a company he and a co-conspirator owned and/or controlled—owned hundreds of acres of land in Lakeshore, Miss., a portion of which purportedly was zoned for casinos, numerous residential properties, and a medical facility. He also falsely represented that the partners of the company had invested several hundred million dollars of their own funds in buying land and options on land in and around the town of Lakeshore. In soliciting funds for the “Lakeshore Development Project,” Plummer and a co-conspirator sent e-mails and attachments to victim investors that falsely represented that major Wall Street investment firms had confirmed that they would partner in the project. For instance, in June 2007, Plummer sent an e-mail to an individual stating, in part, that a “take out” situation with a major Wall Street firm would result in a buyout of the property for $1.5 billion. In fact, there was no such “take out” plan.
After receiving the funds, Plummer and a co-conspirator did not invest the money as represented and instead diverted a significant portion of investors’ funds for their own personal use and benefit, including writing checks to cash, paying the expenses of McGrath Hotels (doing business as the Lighthouse Inn) and making mortgage payments on a property in Stonington.
As a result of this scheme, victim investors suffered losses of approximately $1.7 million.
In pleading guilty, Plummer also admitted that he represented himself to be a “managing member” of Madison and Wall Investments LLC. Plummer met with a victim-investor and represented that he could invest the victim’s money with a firm that utilized a computer-based trading system, and which would realize a 100 percent return within two years. The victim investor then provided Plummer with two $100,000 checks. Plummer deposited the funds into a bank account he controlled in the name of Madison and Wall Investments LLC, and then wrote checks to himself, to a co-conspirator and a mortgage company.
In a letter dated Aug. 28, 2008, Plummer falsely represented that the balance in the victim-investor’s account was $247,700 when, in fact, the money had been spent. In total, the victim lost approximately $179,000 of his $200,000 investment.
Judge Eginton has scheduled sentencing for April 13, 2012, at which time Plummer faces a maximum term of 20 years in prison.
Plummer also has agreed to forfeit his interest in a 4.35 acre parcel of property in Stonington, Conn., an automobile and funds that have been seized during the investigation.
Plummer has been detained since his arrest on Nov. 29, 2010.
This case is being investigated by the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael S. McGarry and Special Litigation Counsel Richard J. Schechter.
U.S. Attorney Fein noted that this prosecution falls under the umbrella of the President’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, which includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes. For more information on the task force, visit: www.StopFraud.gov.
Lyme, Connecticut Man Admits Defrauding Investors of $1.9 Million
| U.S. Attorney’s OfficeJanuary 27, 2012 |
NEW HAVEN, CT—Christopher Plummer, 50, of Lyme, Conn., pleaded guilty yesterday before Senior U.S. District Judge Warren W. Eginton in Bridgeport, Conn., to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud stemming from investment fraud schemes that defrauded individuals out of approximately $1.9 million, announced David B. Fein, U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Plummer, holding himself out as an “Authorized Member” of New England Resorts LLC, falsely represented to investors and potential investors that he—or a company he and a co-conspirator owned and/or controlled—owned hundreds of acres of land in Lakeshore, Miss., a portion of which purportedly was zoned for casinos, numerous residential properties, and a medical facility. He also falsely represented that the partners of the company had invested several hundred million dollars of their own funds in buying land and options on land in and around the town of Lakeshore. In soliciting funds for the “Lakeshore Development Project,” Plummer and a co-conspirator sent e-mails and attachments to victim investors that falsely represented that major Wall Street investment firms had confirmed that they would partner in the project. For instance, in June 2007, Plummer sent an e-mail to an individual stating, in part, that a “take out” situation with a major Wall Street firm would result in a buyout of the property for $1.5 billion. In fact, there was no such “take out” plan.
After receiving the funds, Plummer and a co-conspirator did not invest the money as represented and instead diverted a significant portion of investors’ funds for their own personal use and benefit, including writing checks to cash, paying the expenses of McGrath Hotels (doing business as the Lighthouse Inn) and making mortgage payments on a property in Stonington.
As a result of this scheme, victim investors suffered losses of approximately $1.7 million.
In pleading guilty, Plummer also admitted that he represented himself to be a “managing member” of Madison and Wall Investments LLC. Plummer met with a victim-investor and represented that he could invest the victim’s money with a firm that utilized a computer-based trading system, and which would realize a 100 percent return within two years. The victim investor then provided Plummer with two $100,000 checks. Plummer deposited the funds into a bank account he controlled in the name of Madison and Wall Investments LLC, and then wrote checks to himself, to a co-conspirator and a mortgage company.
In a letter dated Aug. 28, 2008, Plummer falsely represented that the balance in the victim-investor’s account was $247,700 when, in fact, the money had been spent. In total, the victim lost approximately $179,000 of his $200,000 investment.
Judge Eginton has scheduled sentencing for April 13, 2012, at which time Plummer faces a maximum term of 20 years in prison.
Plummer also has agreed to forfeit his interest in a 4.35 acre parcel of property in Stonington, Conn., an automobile and funds that have been seized during the investigation.
Plummer has been detained since his arrest on Nov. 29, 2010.
This case is being investigated by the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael S. McGarry and Special Litigation Counsel Richard J. Schechter.
U.S. Attorney Fein noted that this prosecution falls under the umbrella of the President’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, which includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes. For more information on the task force, visit: www.StopFraud.gov.
HARRIS-MOORE Camano Island Man Sentenced to 78 Months in Prison for Multi-State Crime Spree PLEA DEAL
Camano Island Man Sentenced to 78 Months in Prison for Multi-State Crime Spree
Burglary Victime Travels from South Dakota to Speak at Sentencing Hearing
| U.S. Attorney’s OfficeJanuary 27, 2012 |
COLTON HARRIS-MOORE, 20, of Camano Island, Washington, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 78 months in prison and three years of supervised release for seven federal felonies, announced U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan. In June 2011, HARRIS-MOORE pleaded guilty to bank burglary, two counts of interstate transportation of a stolen aircraft, interstate and foreign transportation of a stolen firearm, being a fugitive in possession of a firearm, piloting an aircraft without a valid airman’s certificate, and interstate transportation of a stolen vessel in connection with his lengthy crime spree in the Pacific Northwest and across the United States to Indiana, ending in the Bahamas. At sentencing U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones noted that HARRIS-MOORE had endangered others with his “reckless conduct... and a host and variety of poor choices.” The judge told him it was time for a “new life flight plan.”
Judge Jones ordered that HARRIS-MOORE’s federal sentence be served concurrent with the 87-month sentence imposed in Island County Superior Court December 16, 2011, and also ordered that the federal sentence be served consecutive to the juvenile sentence that HARRIS-MOORE escaped from in 2008.
“Today Colton Harris-Moore heard from his victims, and from Judge Jones, how his criminal conduct damaged other lives. We hope he will take those words to heart and truly make changes in his life,” said U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan. “This prison sentence, and the rigorous federal supervision that follows, will be an opportunity for him to prove that he can move in a positive path.”
The federal plea agreement details a long string of crimes including multiple car thefts and burglaries—including one in Yankton County, South Dakota, where HARRIS-MOORE threatened a homeowner after breaking into his house. That homeowner traveled from South Dakota to attend today’s hearing. He described how he and his family arrived home from vacation at 3:00 a.m. to discover COLTON HARRIS-MOORE in their home. HARRIS-MOORE threatened to shoot the homeowner. The man described how his four children were frightened, and over the next year had trouble sleeping in their own rooms or coming home after dark.
The first charged criminal act in the plea agreement is the September 5, 2009 burglary of Islanders Bank in Eastsound, Washington. HARRIS-MOORE admits he attempted to break into the ATM and night deposit box at the bank, using tools he had stolen from the Ace Hardware store in Eastsound. He did more than $1,000 in damage. Following the bank burglary, HARRIS-MOORE traveled to Creston, British Columbia, Canada. He stole a .32 caliber pistol and carried it with him as he crossed back into the United States. On September 29, 2009, HARRIS-MOORE stole a Cessna aircraft from Bonners Ferry, Idaho, and flew the plane to a location near Granite Falls, Washington, where it crashed. HARRIS-MOORE also admits he stole a second firearm, a .22 caliber pistol, during a burglary near Granite Falls, Washington. HARRIS-MOORE carried that pistol with him to a hiding place in the Eastsound Airport on Orcas Island, Washington.
HARRIS-MOORE admits that on February 10, 2010, he piloted an aircraft without an airman’s certificate during a flight he made in a stolen plane from Anacortes to Eastsound, Washington. He admits that on May 31, 2010, he stole a 34-foot boat, and traveled from Ilwaco, Washington, to Warrenton, Oregon.
The statement of facts in the plea agreement recounts HARRIS-MOORE’s long string of thefts and burglaries across the U.S., multiple car thefts in Idaho and Wyoming; burglaries, thefts and auto thefts in South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa and Indiana, including multiple burglaries at small airports. Finally, on July 4, 2010, HARRIS-MOORE stole his last aircraft from a hangar in Bloomington, Indiana. He crash landed the aircraft when it ran out of fuel on Abaco Island in the Bahamas. He was arrested in the Bahamas a few days later.
The FBI is the lead federal agency investigating the case. The FBI was assisted by the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, as well as numerous state and local law enforcement agencies from across the country. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Darwin Roberts, Mike Dion and Richard E. Cohen. Attorneys with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana assisted with the case.
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