News published on Federal Newswire in January 2018

News from January 2018


NIST Report on Blockchain Technology Aims to Go Beyond the Hype

News Release: Beguiling, baffling or both-that’s blockchain. Aiming to clarify the subject for the benefit of companies and other organizations, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released a straightforward introduction to blockchain, which underpins Bitcoin and other digital currencies.


Previously Removed Alien Sentenced for Failing to Register as a Sex Offender

News Release: Acting United States Attorney Robert C. Stuart announced that Wilson Secadia-Garcia, a national of Guatemala, was sentenced on Jan. 23, 2018, in Lincoln, Nebraska, by United States District Senior Judge Richard G. Kopf, to 41 months imprisonment for reentry of a removed alien after an aggravated felony conviction and for failure to register as a sex offender.


News Release: National Park Service (NPS) Southeast Regional Director Stan Austin announced the selection of J.D. Lee as superintendent of Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina and Virginia. Lee is currently the deputy superintendent of Florida’s Big Cypress National Preserve. He will assume his new role on Feb. 18, 2018.


News Release: Tampa, Florida - United States Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez announces that Jose Alberto Hernandez (45, Tampa) has pleaded guilty to making a false statement in an application for a U.S. Passport and to making a false statement in connection with an application for U.S. citizenship. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.


News Release: CHICAGO - A Chicago futures trader admitted in federal court that he caused more than $13 million in losses through a fraudulent trading scheme that resulted in the collapse of his firm.


Man Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison for Three Carjackings

News Release: SAN JUAN, P.R. - Today, U.S. District Court Judge Francisco A. Besosa sentenced Bernard Díaz-Pérez to 25 years in prison for committing three carjackings, announced United States Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez. The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the carjackings. Díaz-Pérez had plead guilty to the three carjackings on Feb. 28, 2017.


AFTER LACKLUSTER RESPONSE FROM DOJ REGARDING SESSIONS’ RECUSAL, NADLER, JEFFRIES & LIEU CALL ON DOJ TO RELEASE ALL DOCS RELATED TO SESSIONS’ RECUSAL & SUBMIT A SUBSTANTIVE RESPONSE

News Release: On March 31, 2017, three Democratic members of the House Committee on the Judiciary wrote to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to ask him about the precise scope of his recusal from any investigation of the Trump campaign, given public comments he had made about the need for “some convictions" to stop “the leakers, in the various agencies." Nearly a year later, on Jan. 16, 2018, the Committee received a brief response from the Department of Justice (DOJ).


News Release: Montgomery, Ala. - This week, Misty Michelle Fannin, 41, of Tallassee, Alabama, Jacqueline Suzanne Brownfield, 33, of Wetumpka, Alabama, and Akash Kumar, 27, of Montgomery, Alabama, were arrested in connection with the ongoing investigation and prosecution of a “pill mill," announced United States Attorney Louis V. Franklin, Sr.


Red Valley Man Sentenced for Sexual Abuse of a Minor

News Release: PHOENIX - On Monday, Eric Begay, 44, of Red Valley, Ariz., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge David G. Campbell to 42 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by 15 years of supervised release with sex offender conditions. Begay had previously pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of a minor.


South Dakota U.S. Attorney's Office Collects Over $2.5 Million In Fiscal Year 2017

News Release: United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced that the District of South Dakota collected over $2,508,255.71 in Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 from civil and criminal actions. Of this amount, $1,565,057.52 was collected in criminal actions, and $943,198.19 was collected in civil actions.


Bridgeport Man Pleads Guilty to Distributing Heroin to Seymour Overdose Victim

News Release: John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that RICHARD ESTABA, also known as “Raw," 23, of Bridgeport, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to one count of possession with intent to distribute, and distribution of, heroin.


Las Cruces Man Pleads Guilty to a Federal Methamphetamine Trafficking Charge

News Release: ALBUQUERQUE - Gilberto Garcia, 42, of Las Cruces, N.M., pled guilty this morning in federal court to a methamphetamine trafficking charge under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.


Illegal Alien Sentenced to 262 Months in Federal Prison for Drug Conspiracy

News Release: Jackson, Miss. - Jose Christian Nunez-Belemontes, 33, an illegal alien from Mexico living in Jackson, was sentenced yesterday by Senior U.S. District Judge William H. Barbour, Jr., to 262 months in federal prison, followed by four years of supervised release, for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst.


Augusta Woman Sentenced to Three Months for Stealing Mail

News Release: Bangor, Maine: United States Attorney Halsey B. Frank announced that Amanda K. Wentzell, 26, of Augusta, Maine, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court by Judge John A. Woodcock, Jr., to three months in prison and three years of supervised release for stealing mail when she was a U.S. Postal Service (USPS) employee. She was also ordered to pay $510 in restitution. She pleaded guilty to the charge on May 10, 2017.


News Release: Emilio I. Vazquez, of Coral Gables, was arrested on a criminal complaint charging him with wire fraud in connection with hurricane relief efforts to Puerto Rico.


U.S. Department of Labor Issues Citations and $69,058 in Penalties to Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. for Endangering Employees

News Release: SOCIAL CIRCLE, GA - The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued seven serious citations against Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. for exposing its employees to burn, hazardous energy, amputation, and caught-in safety hazards. The company faces proposed penalties of $69,058.


BLM Removes 2,000 Barrels and 560 Tons of Waste from Imlay Drum Site

News Release: WINNEMUCCA, Nev - The Bureau of Land Management has removed approximately 2,000 barrels of waste and 560 tons of contaminated slag and other material from a waste dump under the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act. The waste dump, known as the Imlay Drum Site, is located two miles west of the town of Imlay, Nevada in Pershing County.


Chicago Futures Trader Pleads Guilty to Causing More Than $13 Million in Losses from Fraudulent Trading Scheme

News Release: CHICAGO - A Chicago futures trader admitted in federal court that he caused more than $13 million in losses through a fraudulent trading scheme that resulted in the collapse of his firm.


Former Supervisory Deputy Jailer at Kentucky River Regional Jail Pleads Guilty to Assaulting an Inmate

News Release: LEXINGTON, Ky. - A former supervisory deputy jailer at an Eastern Kentucky detention center has entered a guilty plea to a federal charge related to his role in an unprovoked violent assault of a detainee.


Biloxi Man Pleads Guilty to Drug Conspiracy

News Release: Jackson, Miss. - Donte L. Evans, 43, of Biloxi, pled guilty today before United States District Judge Henry T. Wingate for his role in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Acting Special Agent in Charge Thomas M. Annello of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in New Orleans.