STATE PRISONER CONVICTED OF DELIVERING A THREATENING COMMUNICATION TO A FEDERAL JUDGE
United States Attorney Melinda Haag
Northern District of California
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: JACK GILLUND
February 21, 2012 (415) 436-6599
WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/CAN Jack.Gillund@usdoj.gov
SAN FRANCISCO – A federal jury in San Diego found Eric Anthony Lopez guilty of delivering a threatening communication to United States District Court Judge Irma E. Gonzalez of the Southern District of California, United States Attorney Melinda Haag announced. Because the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California was recused from the case, the case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California.
Lopez, who is serving a 25-year-to-life sentence in California prison after being convicted of first-degree murder in 2003, was convicted after a two-day jury trial in San Diego last week of a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 876(c). Lopez sent a letter to Judge Gonzalez, threatening to “bring death” to her and “eliminate” her by introducing the judge to “Your Grim Reaper ‘Old Bacill[u]s Anthracis’ aka Anthrax.”
The sentencing of Lopez is scheduled for May 14, 2012, before U.S. District Court Judge Larry Burns in San Diego. The maximum statutory penalties for a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 876(c) are: 10 years in prison; three years of supervised release; and a fine of $250,000. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.
Richard Cheng and Christina McCall are the Assistant U.S. Attorneys who are prosecuting the case. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
MS-13 GANG LEADER IN SAN FRANCISCO SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON
United States Attorney Melinda Haag
Northern District of California
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: JACK GILLUND
February 16, 2012 (415) 436-6599
WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/CAN Jack.Gillund@usdoj.gov
Seventh MS-13 member to receive life sentence in San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO –Danilo Velasquez, aka “Triste”, a local leader of La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, was sentenced yesterday in federal court in San Francisco by U.S. District Judge William H. Alsup to life in prison, announced U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and Director John Morton of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Velasquez was convicted in November 2011 by a federal jury of racketeering-related charges. At sentencing, Judge Alsup described the defendant as a “vicious murderer.”
Velasquez was part of the violent, transnational gang known as MS-13, which claimed part of the Mission District of San Francisco as its territory and operated in the Bay Area since the 1990s. Velasquez joined the “20th Street” clique, or local MS-13 chapter, in 2004. Since its inception, MS-13 members have warred with rival gang members and sought to extort payments from other criminals in its territory. When the federal government indicted the majority of the 20th Street clique members on Oct. 22, 2008, Velasquez assumed leadership on the streets. The evidence presented at trial showed how Velasquez, with others, conspired to commit a variety of crimes to further the goals of the gang, including attacking and killing rival gang members and others who defied or challenged MS-13.
During Velasquez’s trial, the government presented evidence of multiple murders committed by MS-13 members in 2008. Several of the victims were not involved in gangs or any illegal activity, including a 14-year-old, but were mistaken to be rival gang members by MS-13 members.
The evidence at trial showed that on Feb. 19, 2009, Velasquez and fellow gang members Luis Herrera, aka “Killer” and Jaime Balam, aka “Tweety”, went looking to kill rival gang members in the San Francisco Bay area. In the Excelsior District of San Francisco, they spotted a car of young Latino professionals - two were college graduates of UC Berkeley, one a law student at UC Hastings, one a bank employee, and another a student at City College in San Francisco who was working his way through school at the time. According to evidence presented at trial, these victims were targeted because some of the men wore baseball caps in colors associated with rival gang members. None of the victims were gang members themselves.
Herrera, Velasquez and Balam followed the victims’ car into Daly City, boxed the car in at a red light, whereupon Velasquez and Balam flanked the victims’ car carrying semi-automatic handguns and began shooting. By the time they finished firing, they had severely wounded two of the passengers and murdered a third passenger, Moises Frias Jr. Frias, who was 21-years-old, suffered nine gunshot wounds, including several to the head. He died en route to the hospital.
Herrera pleaded guilty mid-trial to seven racketeering related counts, including use of a firearm causing the death of Frias. As part of his plea, Herrera admitted that he was part of the MS-13 hunting party that followed the victims’ car and murdered Frias. Herrera was sentenced on Jan. 24, 2012, to 35 years in prison. Balam remains a fugitive.
Velasquez’s trial was the second of three consecutive federal trials of members of the 20th Street clique of MS-13. Six of Velasquez’s fellow MS-13 gang members were convicted in August 2011 after a five-month trial that involved more than 150 witnesses. The six gang members - Marvin Carcamo, aka “Psycho”; Angel Noel Guevara, aka “Peloncito”; Erick Lopez, aka “Spooky”; Moris Flores, aka “Slow Pain”; Jonathan Cruz-Ramirez, aka “Soldado”; and Guillermo Herrera, aka “Sparky” and Luis Herrera’s brother - were each sentenced to life in prison in December 2011.
Today, a federal jury convicted the sole defendant in the third trial, Manuel Franco, aka “Dreamer,” on one count of violent crime in aid of racketeering (VICAR) conspiracy.
These cases were prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Wilson Leung, Wil Frentzen, Derek Owens, Andrew Scoble and David Hall of the Organized Crime Strike Force of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, and Trial Attorney Theryn G. Gibbons of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section. These cases were investigated by Daly City Police Department, San Francisco Police Department and ICE Homeland Security Investigations.
U.S. SHIPPING COMPANY CONVICTED FOR OIL POLLUTION ON HIGH SEAS
United States Attorney Melinda Haag
Northern District of California
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: JACK GILLUND
February 16, 2012 (415) 436-6599
WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/CAN Jack.Gillund@usdoj.gov
Horizon Lines LLC to pay $1.5 million for years of dumping by one of its ships
SAN FRANCISCO - Horizon Lines, LLC was sentenced Tuesday in front of the Honorable Richard Seeborg after pleading guilty to felony charges concerning violations of international and national oil pollution laws that occurred on a large container ship called the S/S Horizon Enterprise, United States Attorney Melinda Haag announced. As part of a plea agreement, the company was ordered to pay $1,500,000, with $500,000 of the monies going to environmental projects in the San Francisco Bay area.
Horizon Lines pled guilty to two counts of making false statements based on their knowing failure to maintain an accurate Oil Record Book in which all transfers and discharges of oil and oily waste are required to be recorded.
“Horizon’s intentional tampering with its pollution control equipment showed a blatant disregard for the environment,” U.S. Attorney Haag said. “This case demonstrates our commitment to enforcing U.S. and international oil pollution laws to protect our natural resources.”
According to the plea agreement, engineers aboard the S/S Horizon Enterprise intentionally tricked pollution control equipment that would otherwise ensure oily waste does not go overboard. This created the possibility that oily waste could be released into the ocean. To disguise this conduct from the U.S. Coast Guard, who is charged with inspecting ships to ensure compliance with U.S. and international oil pollution laws, engineers made false entries in the ship’s Oil Record Book which gave the false impression that the ship’s pollution control equipment had been operated properly when they knew it had not. Horizon Lines admitted that similar conduct had occurred on board this ship going back several years.
In addition to paying the $1 million fine and $500,000 for environmental projects in the Bay Area, the company must also implement a comprehensive, environmental compliance plan to minimize the chance that such wrongful conduct could again occur on the S/S Horizon Lines or any other vessel in the company’s fleet.
“We are pleased this case has been resolved, but even more satisfied to hear the company is taking steps to prevent any further incidents of pollution,” said Capt. Cynthia Stowe, the Coast Guard Captain of the Port of San Francisco. “U.S. Coast Guard inspectors and investigators are hard at work each and every day inspecting ships for compliance with environmental protection laws and regulations. When violations are found, we will continue to work closely with our partners to ensure violators are brought to justice and steps are taken to protect and restore the maritime ecosystems and natural resources important to the environmental and economic health of our nation and coastal communities.”
The case was prosecuted by the Special Prosecutions and National Security Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Francisco. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigative Division and United States Coast Guard Investigative Services.
ALASKA RESIDENT SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS IN PRISON FOR SEXUALLY ABUSING HIS MINOR STEP-DAUGHTER NEARLY TWO DECADES AGO
United States Attorney Melinda Haag
Northern District of California
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: JACK GILLUND
February 16, 2012 (415) 436-6599
WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/CAN Jack.Gillund@usdoj.gov
SAN JOSE, Calif. – Antonio Bates was sentenced yesterday to 15 years in prison, for his aggravated sexual abuse of a child under 12, United States Attorney Melinda Haag announced.
Bates pleaded guilty on May 18, 2011, to aggravated sexual abuse of a child under 12, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2241(c). According to the plea agreement, Bates admitted to sexually abusing his step-daughter while they lived on military bases at Fort Riley, Kan., in Germany, and Fort Hunter-Liggett, in Monterey, Calif., from approximately 1990 through July 1996.
Bates, 46, from Anchorage, Alaska, was indicted by a federal grand jury on Nov. 17, 2010. On April 20, 2011, the grand jury returned a Superseding Indictment, containing 11 counts. Bates was charged with sexually abusing his minor step-daughter while they lived at Fort Hunter-Liggett from 1994 through July 1996.
The FBI initiated the investigation when the victim notified the Anchorage, Alaska Police Department of the abuse, more than 10 years after the sexual abuse ended.
“Our office takes sexual abuse crimes, particularly those against children, very seriously,” U.S. Attorney Haag said. “We are grateful that the victim came forward and hope this lengthy sentence brings her some measure of relief.”
The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Lucy H. Koh, following a guilty plea to count three of the Superseding Indictment, aggravated sexual abuse with child under 12, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2241(c). Judge Koh also sentenced the defendant to a five-year period of supervised release, registration as a sex offender, and ordered the defendant to pay the victim $26,444 in restitution. The defendant, in custody since his arrest in November 2010, begin serving his sentence immediately.
Grant Fondo and Amber Rosen are the Assistant United States Attorneys who prosecuted the case with the assistance of legal assistants Kamille Singh and Jeanne Carstensen, and Victim/Witness Specialist Deborah Kusber. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Anchorage, Alaska Police Department.
FORMER OWNER OF CIGARETTES CHEAPER! SENTENCED TO FIVE YEARS FOR BANK FRAUD
United States Attorney Melinda Haag
Northern District of California
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: JACK GILLUND
February 9, 2012 (415) 436-6599
WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/CAN Jack.Gillund@usdoj.gov
Defendant and father sentenced for submitting false borrowing reports to Comerica
SAN JOSE, Calif. – Ned Roscoe was sentenced yesterday to five years in prison, and his father John Roscoe was sentenced to five years probation with 12 months home detention, United States Attorney Melinda Haag announced. Ned and John Roscoe were former owners and officers of Cigarettes Cheaper!, which at its height had nearly 800 retail stores nationwide and $1 billion in annual revenue.
Following a month-long jury trial, Ned Roscoe, 51, of Fairfield, Calif., was convicted on Feb. 22, 2011, of all 28 charges. During the trial, evidence showed that Ned Roscoe had conspired to defraud and make false statements to Comerica Bank, committed 13 acts of bank fraud, and made 13 false statements to Comerica Bank when he knowingly submitted weekly borrowing base reports of inventory to Comerica from Aug. 22, 2003, through Nov. 14, 2003, with inflated inventory valuations, eventually inflating the inventory by more than $16 million. The jury also found that Ned Roscoe had caused an additional false statement be made to Comerica Bank when he directed an employee to falsely explain the cause of the inventory inflation. U.S. District Court Judge Ronald M. Whyte, who sentenced Ned Roscoe, found that Ned Roscoe’s actions caused a loss to the bank of more than $10.7 million.
John Roscoe, 82, of Green Valley, Calif. pleaded guilty on Jan. 21, 2011, to conspiracy to make false statements to Comerica Bank. According to the plea agreement, John Roscoe admitted that from Aug. 22, 2003, through Nov. 24, 2003, Ned Roscoe intentionally prepared, or caused to be prepared, falsely inflated valuations of Company inventory reported to Comerica, that John Roscoe agreed with Ned Roscoe that he prepare, or cause to be prepared, these borrowing base reports, and that John Roscoe agreed that they be submitted to Comerica Bank. John Roscoe further admitted that he was aware that an employee was directed to falsely explain the cause of the inventory inflation.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation initiated its investigation in 2004 after a referral from Comerica Bank. Ned and John Roscoe were indicted by a federal grand jury on June 16, 2007. On Sept. 30, 2011, the grand jury returned a second superseding indictment, containing 28 counts.
The sentences were handed down by Judge Whyte, who also sentenced Ned Roscoe to a five year period of supervised release. Ned Roscoe is scheduled to begin serving his sentence on March 21, 2012. John Roscoe will begin serving his sentence immediately. Judge Whyte scheduled a hearing for March 5, 2012, to determine the amount of restitution Ned and John Roscoe will have to pay to Comerica.
Eumi Choi and Grant Fondo are the Assistant U.S. Attorneys who are prosecuting the case with the assistance of Kamille Singh. The prosecution is the result of a three-year investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.